In comparison with the literature on students' conceptions of science and
mathematics, the body of evidence on students' conceptions in social science
appears rather small. Within this limited field, conceptions of price and
opportunity cost have attracted a substantial proportion of researchers'
attention. This article reviews the evidence generated from this research and
suggests three pointers for future research: (1) relating to the methods used;
(2) relating to conceptual structure; and (3) relating to the attention given to
values and students' conceptions of how economic activity
should be conducted.
References
1.
AlexanderP.A.
(2000) Toward a Model of Academic Development:
Schooling and the acquisition of knowledge — The sequel,
Educational Researcher,
29(2), 28–33.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1177054.
2.
AnderbergE.SvennsonL.AlvergårdC.JohanssenT.
(2008) The Epistemological Role of Language Use
in Learning: A phenomenographic intentional-expressive
approach, Educational Research Review,
3(1), 14–29.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2007.10.003.
3.
BertiA.E.GrivetA.
(1990) The Development of Economic Reasoning in
Children from 8 to 13 Years Old: Price mechanism,
Contributi di Psicologia,
3(3),
37–47.
4.
DahlgrenL.
(1984) Outcomes of Learning, in
MartonF.HounsellD.EntwistleN.
(Eds) The Experience of Learning.
Edinburgh: Scottish Academic
Press.
5.
DaviesP.HowieH.ManganJ.TelhajS.
(2002) Economic Aspects of Citizenship
Education: An investigation of students' understanding,
Curriculum Journal, 13(2),
201–223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585170210136859.
6.
DaviesP.LundholmC.
(2012) Young People's Understanding of
Socio-economic Phenomena: Conceptions about the free provision of goods and
services, Journal of Economic Psychology,
33(1), 79–89.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2011.08.003.
7.
DaviesP.ManganJ.
(2007) Threshold Concepts and the Integration of
Understanding in Economics, Studies in Higher
Education, 32(6),
711–726. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075070701685148.
8.
FerraroP.J.TaylorL.O.
(2005) Do Economists Recognize an Opportunity
Cost When They See One? A Dismal Performance from the Dismal
Science, The BE Journal of Economic Analysis and
Policy, 4,
1–12.
MarshallA.
(1920) Principles of Economics, 8th
edn.London:
Macmillan.
11.
MartonF.PangM.-F.
(2008) The Idea of Phenomenography and the
Pedagogy of Conceptual Change, in VosniadouS.
(Ed.) International Handbook of Conceptual Change, pp.
533–559. New
York:
Routledge.
12.
MartonF.PongW.-Y.
(2005) On the Unit of Description in
Phenomenography, Higher Education Research and
Development, 24(4),
335–348. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360500284706.
13.
MeyerJ.H.F.LandR.
(2005) Threshold Concepts and Troublesome
Knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for
teaching, Higher Education,
49(3),
373–388. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6779-5.
PangM.-F.MartonF.
(2003) Beyond ‘Lesson Study’: Comparing two ways
of facilitating the grasp of some economic concepts,
Instructional Science,
31(3), 175–194.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1023280619632.
17.
PangM.-F.MartonF.
(2005) Learning Theory as Teaching Resource:
Enhancing students' understanding of economic concepts,
Instructional Science,
33(2), 159–191.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11251–005 −2811–0.
18.
PongW.-Y.
(1998) Students' Ideas of Price and
Trade, Economic Awareness,
9(2),
6–10.
19.
SalemiM.
(2005) Teaching Economic Literacy: Why, what and
how, International Review of Economics
Education, 4(2),
46–57.
20.
ShanahanM.FosterG.MeyerJ.H.F.
(2006) Operationalising a Threshold Concept in
Economics: A pilot study using multiple choice questions on opportunity
cost, International Review of Economics
Education, 5(2),
29–57.
21.
ThompsonD.R.SieglerR.S.
(2000) Buy Low, Sell High: The development of an
informal theory of economics, Child
Development, 71(3),
660–677. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467–8624.00174.
22.
von
WieserF.
(1891) The Austrian School and the Theory of
Value, Economic Journal,
1(1), 108–121.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2955844.
