Does Active Learning Improve Student Performance? Results of a Quantity Theory Game

Abstract

We describe a game to illustrate the Quantity Theory of Money and test the marginal effect of this game on student learning. Specifically, we compared student performance on a quiz about the Quantity Theory in sections of Principles of Macroeconomics courses in which we played the game and then lectured on the Quantity Theory, to performance in sections of that course in which we gave only the conventional lecture. Mean quiz scores were not higher in the sections in which the game was played than in the other sections. The most striking effect of participation in the game was to increase the performance of stronger students while decreasing the performance of other students.

JEL Classification: A22