Centre for Economics and Business Education (CEBE)
The research of the centre focuses on two aspects of economics and business in education:
- The use of economic and business analysis in researching education policy issues.
Economists within the IEPR (Adnett, Davies, Pugh and Mangan) have made theoretical and empirical contributions to the critical evaluation of policies that aim to improve institutional effectiveness through choice, specialisation and incentives (as provided through local schooling markets, performance management and target setting). This group has conducted empirical research that has extended the scope of economics-based research in education by using combinations of qualitative and quantitative methods to examine dynamic processes in schooling and also by using quantitative methods to examine issues that have been previously neglected by economists.
A key contribution of this group has been fostering more constructive engagement between social sciences in the analysis of education policy issues. One factor that has hindered constructive dialogue between social scientists has been the difficulty in making more sophisticated theoretical insights from one discipline in social science accessible to educational researchers who are working within a different social science discipline. Economists within the IEPR have addressed this problem by showing how the economics of contracting, game theory and Nash equilibria add substantially to understanding dynamic processes and outcomes in schooling systems.
- The development of learning and teaching in business and economics
We have played leading
roles in research into learning economics and business in secondary and
higher education. This is reflected in a series of projects and publications.
We have played a major role in developing empirical research that delineates
the scope for 'threshold concepts' in teaching and learning in higher
education. The idea of 'threshold concepts' was developed within the ESRC's
TLRP project 'Enhancing Teaching and Learning Environments' and its potential
has been indicated by widespread international interest. Through our HEFCE
funded project 'Embedding Threshold Concepts in
Undergraduate Economics' we have devised approaches to identify threshold
concepts within disciplines as well as principles to guide the development
of teaching and learning strategies. We have also extended understanding
of the scope for 'Learning Study' (developed by Pang and Marton) in teacher
development. Two TDA funded projects have investigated the effectiveness
of Learning Study within initial teacher education and the development
of subject specialist teacher networks.
CEBE also hosts the following education awards underpinned by the expertise of the staff and CEBE's research and consultancy activities in the fields of business, economics and enterprise education.
