Does Pluralism in Economics Education Make Better Educated, Happier Students? A Qualitative Analysis

This paper contributes to the debate on pluralism in the economics curriculum. Here pluralism means a diversity of theoretical perspectives. One set of pedagogical arguments for pluralism are those found in 'liberal' philosophy of education. To this end, the first part of the paper presents arguments for pluralism based on 'liberal' pedagogical arguments. The paper also notes more instrumental arguments for pluralism and the barriers to such an approach. Finally, the paper considers new primary evidence from focus groups on student perceptions of economics. This evidence shows support for the arguments that a pluralist curriculum is popular and develops cognitive capacities of criticism, comparison and analysis – exactly those argued for in (liberal) pedagogical discussion – as well as judgement, understanding and writing skills. However, pluralism as a teaching strategy may be more difficult for those delivering it.

Does pluralism in economics education make better educated, happier students? A qualitative analysis.

This paper contributes to the debate on pluralism in the Economics curriculum. Here pluralism means a diversity of theoretical perspectives. One set of pedagogical arguments for pluralism are those found in ‘liberal’ philosophy of education. To this end, the first part of the paper presents arguments for pluralism based on ‘liberal’ pedagogical arguments. The paper also notes more instrumental arguments for pluralism; and barriers to such an approach. Finally, the paper considers new primary evidence from focus groups on student perceptions of economics. This evidence shows support for the arguments that a pluralist curriculum is popular and develops cognitive capacities of criticism, comparison and analysis – exactly those argued for in (liberal) pedagogical discussion – as well as judgement, understanding and writing skills. However, pluralism as a teaching strategy may be more difficult for those delivering it.Students; pedagogy, pluralism, perceptions, focus groups

Rural organization in process: A case study of Hamilton County, Iowa

This study has been sharply focused on rural organization in Hamilton County. Its purpose is (a) to analyze the types of groups in which rural people are organized and the patterns of group relationships through which they participate in local and non-local programs and services, (b) to analyze the ways in which agencies relate themselves and their programs to these types of organizations and patterns of group relationships, and (c) to show pertinent changes in different types of organizations. The study is one of a series conducted in counties selected to represent the major types of farming areas in the United States. The studies are being conducted cooperatively and through use of a common outline by the Division of Farm Population and Rural Life of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics and various land-grant colleges and universities. Hamilton County was selected to represent Corn Belt counties which do not have a large city in them and which have a high level of corn-hog production

Population change and net migration in the north central states, 1940-50

This study is a description and analysis of significant population changes and of the components of population change in the North Central states, including Kentucky, 1940-50. Projections of the future population to 1975 are also included. The economic subregion, a relatively homogeneous area sometimes cutting across state lines, is used as the most appropriate area for analysis. The 44 subregions wholly or partly in the North Central states represent combinations of 48 metropolitan and 125 non-metropolitan state economic areas, which are combinations of 1,094 counties in the 13 states. The North Central states have had a history of continuous population growth. Population increased more than sixfold over the 6,386,000 persons in 1850 to 47,405,568 in 1950. In 1850, 91 percent of the population was rural; in 1950, only 42 percent. These percentages are according to the 1940 census definitions of urban and rural population which were used throughout this study. Between 1940 and 1950 a total of 9,667,884 births and 4,617,218 deaths occurred to the population of the region, resulting in a natural increase of nearly 12 percent. Net migration, however, removed 651,425 persons leaving a net increase in population of 4,399,241, or 10 percent over that of 1940

Rural-Urban migration in Iowa, 1940-50

Throughout Iowa\u27s population history, migration of families and persons into, out of and within the state has played an important role in the growth, distribution and concentrations of the state\u27s population. Prior to 1900 the state gained more than a million persons through net immigration and since 1900 it has lost more than a million through net out-migration or the equivalent of two-fifths of its present population. The turn of the century marked the entry of Iowa into the list of states with relatively stable population numbers characterized by a comparatively slow growth. About 1900, natural increase superseded in-migration as a source of population growth, and rural to urban migration became increasingly important in redistributing population in relation to employment opportunities and resources within the state

Rural organizations and land utilization on Muscatine Island: A study of social adjustments

Muscatine Island was selected as the area for this investigation because it was relatively small, isolated and characterized by a distinctive type of farming (fig. 1). It was a problem area where farming offered only limited security, where income was low and success difficult to attain. Problems of land utilization and social organization had arisen frequently on the Island. Alternative choices in farm enterprises and in social organizations were few. In such an area the complicated relations between organizations and land use were relatively easy to isolate and describe. The central problems of this study are problems of rural organizations and their relation to land utilization. What rural organizations had developed on Muscatine Island in the past? What changes took place in Island organizations and what were the factors associated with changes which were made? What organizations were functioning at the time of this study ? What were the relations of these organizations to the problems of land utilization commonly recognized on Muscatine Island? What changes might be made in organizations which might enable them to contribute more effectively to social and economic developments? How might such changes be made

Genomic heterogeneity of historical gene flow between two species of newts inferred from transcriptome data

The role of gene flow in species formation is a major unresolved issue in speciation biology. Progress in this area requires information on the long‐term patterns of gene flow between diverging species. Here, we used thousands of single‐nucleotide polymorphisms derived from transcriptome resequencing and a method modeling the joint frequency spectrum of these polymorphisms to reconstruct patterns of historical gene flow between two Lissotriton newts: L. vulgaris (Lv) and L. montandoni (Lm). We tested several models of divergence including complete isolation and various scenarios of historical gene flow. The model of secondary contact received the highest support. According to this model, the species split from their common ancestor ca. 5.5 million years (MY) ago, evolved in isolation for ca. 2 MY, and have been exchanging genes for the last 3.5 MY Demographic changes have been inferred in both species, with the current effective population size of ca. 0.7 million in Lv and 0.2 million in Lm. The postdivergence gene flow resulted in two‐directional introgression which affected the genomes of both species, but was more pronounced from Lv to Lm. Interestingly, we found evidence for genomic heterogeneity of interspecific gene flow. This study demonstrates the complexity of long‐term gene flow between distinct but incompletely reproductively isolated taxa which divergence was initiated millions of years ago

Fixation and consensus times on a network: a unified approach

We investigate a set of stochastic models of biodiversity, population genetics, language evolution and opinion dynamics on a network within a common framework. Each node has a state, 0 < x_i < 1, with interactions specified by strengths m_{ij}. For any set of m_{ij} we derive an approximate expression for the mean time to reach fixation or consensus (all x_i=0 or 1). Remarkably in a case relevant to language change this time is independent of the network structure.Comment: 4+epsilon pages, two-column, RevTeX4, 3 eps figures; version accepted by Phys. Rev. Let