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on Education |
| By: | David J. Deming; Claudia Goldin; Lawrence F. Katz; Noam Yuchtman |
| Abstract: | We examine whether online learning technologies have led to lower prices in higher education. Using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, we show that online education is concentrated in large for-profit chains and less-selective public institutions. Colleges with a higher share of online students charge lower tuition prices. We present evidence that real and relative prices for full-time undergraduate online education declined from 2006 to 2013. Although the pattern of results suggests some hope that online technology can “bend the cost curve” in higher education, the impact of online learning on education quality remains uncertain. |
| JEL: | I22 I23 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20890&r=edu |
| By: | Ortega, Francesc (Queens College, CUNY); Tanaka, Ryuichi (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies Japan) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the recent literature on the effects of immigration on the public education of the host country, emphasizing the political economy implications. In particular, we are interested on what happens to enrollment in public schools and the quality of education in these schools. Our review of the literature, which includes both quantitative and empirical studies, suggests the following conclusions. First, immigration has triggered native flight toward private schools in a wide variety of contexts. Some studies also find that the households that switch to private schools tend to be those with higher socio-economic status. Secondly, because of these changes in school choices, one consequence of large-scale immigration is that it appears to undermine the political support for public education, resulting in a deterioration in the funding and quality of public schools that seems to affect negatively the educational outcomes of disadvantaged native students. We offer some suggestions for policies that might help mitigate the negative consequences of immigration outlined above so that host countries can maximize the overall economic benefits of immigration. |
| Keywords: | education, public school, immigration, naturalization |
| JEL: | D7 F22 H52 H75 J61 I22 I24 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8778&r=edu |
| By: | CASTRO, Rui; COEN-PIRANI, Daniele |
| Abstract: | We study the evolution of educational attainment of the 1932–1972 cohorts using a calibrated model of investment in human capital with heterogeneous learning ability. The inter-cohort variation in schooling is driven by changes in skill prices, tuition, and education quality over time, and average learning ability across cohorts. A version of the model with static expectations is successful in accounting for the main patterns in the data. Rising skill prices for college explain the rapid increase in college graduation till the 1948 cohort. The measured decline in average learning ability contributes to explain the stagnation in college graduation between the 1948 and 1972 cohorts. |
| Keywords: | Educational attainment; human capital; skill prices; inequality; cohorts |
| JEL: | I24 J24 J31 O11 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtl:montde:2014-08&r=edu |
| By: | Felix Weinhardt |
| Abstract: | Children who grow up in deprived neighborhoods underperform at school and later in life but whether there is a causal link remains contested. This study estimates the short-term effect of very deprived neighborhoods, characterized by a high density of social housing, on the educational attainment of fourteen years old students in England. To identify the causal impact, this study exploits the timing of moving into these neighborhoods. I argue that the timing can be taken as exogenous because of long waiting lists for social housing in high-demand areas. Using this approach, I find no evidence for negative short-term effects on teenage test scores. |
| Keywords: | Neighborhood externalities; Education; Urban policy |
| JEL: | I21 J18 J24 R29 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:57825&r=edu |
| By: | Stephen Machin; Richard Murphy |
| Abstract: | We investigate the rapid influx of overseas students into UK higher education and the impact on the number of domestic students. Using administrative data since 1994/5, we find no evidence of crowd out of domestic undergraduate students and indications of increases in the domestic numbers of postgraduate students as overseas enrolments have grown. We interpret this as a cross-subsidisation and establish causal findings using two methods. Firstly, we use the historical share of students from a sending country attending a university department as a shift-share instrument to predict enrolment patterns. Secondly, we use a change in Chinese visa regulations and exchange rates in combination with strong subject preferences as a predictor of overseas student growth. |
| Keywords: | Overseas students; crowding out |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60451&r=edu |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | <ul> <li> Between 2000 and 2012, the proportion of young adults (25-34 year-olds) with a tertiary qualification has grown by more than 3% per year on average in OECD countries. </li> <li> On average across 24 national and sub-national entities participating in the OECD Survey of Adult Skills, 39% of adults have achieved a higher level of education than their parents. </li> <li> A 20-34 year-old with tertiary educated parents is 4.5 times more likely to participate in tertiary education than a young adult whose parents did not have a tertiary qualification. </li></ul> |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaaf:28-en&r=edu |
| By: | Booij, Adam S. (University of Amsterdam); Leuven, Edwin (University of Oslo); Oosterbeek, Hessel (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates peer effects originating from the ability composition of tutorial groups for undergraduate students in economics. We manipulated the composition of groups to achieve a wide range of support, and assigned students – conditional on their ability – randomly. The data support a specification in which the group composition is captured by the mean and standard deviation of prior ability and their squares and interactions. Estimates from this specification imply that students of low and medium ability gain on average 0.2 SD units of achievement from switching from ability mixing to three-way tracking. Their dropout rate is reduced by 15 percentage points (relative to a mean of 0.6). High-ability students are unaffected. Analysis of survey data indicates that in tracked groups, low-ability students have more positive interactions with other students, and are more involved. We find no evidence that teachers adjust their teaching to the composition of groups. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, tracking, post-secondary education, field experiment |
| JEL: | I22 I28 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8769&r=edu |
| By: | Görlitz, Katja (Free University of Berlin); Gravert, Christina (University of Gothenburg) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the effects of a high school curriculum reform that was introduced in one German state on high school dropout. The reform increased the standards of the curriculum by reducing the freedom of choice in course selection (amongst other things) resulting in an increase in the level and the weekly teaching hours in the subjects German, a foreign language, mathematics and natural sciences. Using a quasi-experimental evaluation design exploiting variation across time and states, we identify the reform effect on students' probability to graduate from high school. The results show that high school dropout rates have increased for males and females alike. However, the effect for males vanishes two years after reform implementation, while it remains persistent for females even after three years. |
| Keywords: | high school curriculum reform, high school dropout, school performance |
| JEL: | D04 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8766&r=edu |
| By: | Debra Shepherd (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the impact of teacher subject knowledge on student performance using a nationally representative dataset of grade 6 students in South Africa. Test scores in two subjects and correlated random error models are used to identify within-pupil across subject variation in performance. Teacher knowledge is estimated to have a positive impact on performance across both the poorer and wealthier subsets of schools once controlling for teacher unobservables. The results suggest that consideration needs to be given to contextual factors such as the quality of teacher training and the working environment within schools and their relationship to the manner in which teacher knowledge is transferred to students. |
| Keywords: | teacher content knowledge, correlated random errors model, within-student, South Africa |
| JEL: | C30 I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers233&r=edu |
| By: | Azam, Mehtabul (Oklahoma State University) |
| Abstract: | Drawing on the nationally representative "Participation and Expenditure in Education" surveys, we document the incidence and cost of private tutoring at different stages of schooling over the last two decades in India. As private tutoring involve two decisions: a) whether to take private tuition or not, and b) how much to spend on private tutoring conditional on positive decision in (a), we analyze the determinants of the two decisions separately using a Hurdle model. We find that private tutoring is not a new phenomenon in India: a significant proportion of students at each stage of schooling took private tutoring even in 1986-87, and there has been no dramatic increase in those proportions. Students in urban areas and private schools are not only more likely to take private tutoring but also spend more on private tutoring. We also find that demand for private tutoring is inelastic at each stage of schooling, which implies that the private tutoring is a necessary good in the household consumption basket. We also find evidence of pro-male bias in both decisions regarding private tutoring. |
| Keywords: | private tutoring, coaching, costs, India, Hurdle model |
| JEL: | I21 I22 I24 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8770&r=edu |
| By: | Nicholas Bloom; Renata Lemos; Raffaella Sadun; John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | We collect data on operations, targets and human resources management practices in over 1,800 schools educating 15-year-olds in eight countries. Overall, we show that higher management quality is strongly associated with better educational outcomes. The UK, Sweden, Canada and the US obtain the highest management scores closely followed by Germany, with a gap to Italy, Brazil and then finally India. We also show that autonomous government schools (i.e. government funded but with substantial independence like UK academies and US charters) have significantly higher management scores than regular government schools and private schools. Almost half of the difference between the management scores of autonomous government schools and regular government schools is accounted for by differences in leadership of the principal and better governance. |
| Keywords: | Management; pupil achievement; autonomy; principals |
| JEL: | I2 L2 M2 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60605&r=edu |
| By: | Adriana Ferro; Pedro Freitas; Luis Catela Nunes; Ana Balcao Reis; Carmo Seabra |
| Abstract: | PISA uses a complex sampling procedure based on stratification variables chosen by the participating countries’ authorities. In this paper we analyse the representativeness of the samples used in terms of the distribution of students per grade and track of studies for Portugal. For the three exam years under analysis (2006, 2009 and 2012) a meaningful bias between the effective student distribution and PISA samples was found. We provide recalculated PISA scores that correct for the sample bias. We find that from 2009 to 2012, contrary to the stagnation denoted in the PISA results, the recalculated scores show an improvement in the Portuguese student performance. We also decompose the evolution of the scores into two effects: (i) change in the student population distribution by grade and track, and type of school; and (ii) evolution in the performance of each type of student. The results show that for the whole period the evolution of the students’ scores is the main driver of the increase in PISA results, with the change in the population structure playing a weaker role. Although we focus on the Portuguese case, similar problems of representativeness are expected to arise in other countries with high retention rates, affecting the grade of study of 15-year-olds. JEL codes: I20, I25 |
| Keywords: | PISA, sampling, educational achievement, age-based assessment |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp591&r=edu |
| By: | Alexander Lembcke |
| Abstract: | I consider how the availability of a personal computer at home changed employment for married women. I develop a theoretical model that motivates the empirical specifications. Using data from the U.S. CPS from 1984 to 2003, I find that employment is 1.5 to 7 percentage points higher for women in households with a computer. The model predicts that the increase in employment is driven by higher wages. I find having a computer at home is associated with higher wages, and employment in more computer intensive occupations, which is consistent with the model. Decomposing the changes by educational attainment shows that both women with low levels of education (high school diploma or less) and women with the highest levels of education (Master's degree or more) have high returns from home computers |
| Keywords: | Married women's labor supply; computer skills and labor supply; US CPS |
| JEL: | J22 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60269&r=edu |
| By: | Battal Dogan |
| Abstract: | School choice programs aim to give students the option to choose their school. At the same time, underrepresented minority students should be favored to close the opportunity gap. A common way to achieve this is to have a majority quota at each school, and to require that no school be assigned more majority students than its majority quota. An alternative way is to reserve some seats at each school for the minority students, and to require that a reserve seat at a school be assigned to a majority student only if no minority student prefers that school to her assignment. However, fair rules based on either type of affirmative action suffer from a common problem: a stronger affirmative action may not benefit any minority student and hurt some minority students. First, we show that this problem is pervasive: the problem disappears only if the minority students "mostly" have priority over the majority students. Then, we uncover the root of this problem: for some minority students, treating them as minority students does not benefit them, but possibly hurts other minority students. We propose a new assignment rule (Modified deferred acceptance with minority reserves), which treats such minority students as majority students, achieves affirmative action, and never hurts a minority student without benefiting another minority student. |
| Keywords: | school choice; affirmative action; minimal responsiveness |
| JEL: | C78 D71 D78 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lau:crdeep:15.02&r=edu |
| By: | Runu Bhakta (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research; `) |
| Abstract: | The basic objective of the study is to examine the impact of public expenditure on health and education after incorporating the linkages between health status of children and their educational achievements in India. This study has developed a simultaneous equation model among health and education of children, and public expenditure on these sectors. Three stage least squares technique is applied to get consistent and efficient estimates of the system. The results show that bad health status among children, captured by high IMR, is responsible to have lower enrolment rates and high dropout rates in primary level. In addition, public expenditure on Supplementary Nutritional Program has indirect positive impact on education through the improvements in health status of children whereas additional expenditure on elementary education has positive impact on enrolment rates, but at diminishing rate. Moreover, public expenditure on elementary education has greater impact on enrolment as compared to dropout rates. |
| Keywords: | Public Expenditure, Education, Health, SEM, 3SLS, IMR, GER, NER, Dropout Rates |
| JEL: | H51 H52 I18 I28 C33 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2014-049&r=edu |
| By: | Coda Moscarola, Flavia; Migheli, Matteo (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Financial education is today a primary issue. We experimentally test whether a programme (“treatment”) of financial education on savings, targeted to children aged 8 and 9, is effective and to what extent. We measure the interest rate required by the children before and after the treatment to accept to postpone a reward, compute its variation and compare this with that of a control group. We find that children are sensitive to the programme, and that this decreases the children’s impatience. We also find some gender differences that cast some doubts about the gender neutrality of programmes of financial education. |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:201502&r=edu |
| By: | Andrey Lovakov (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this study is to examine the specific antecedents and consequences of the commitment of university teachers to their university. Academia has specific features that distinguish universities from other types of organizations: universities have the opportunity to hire their own graduates (academic inbreeding); university teachers are able to work in several higher education institutions or combine teaching with work in business; university teachers have the opportunity to combine several professional roles (teaching, administrative work, research, etc.); university teachers have several options to change their job; publication activity is an important indicator of the efficiency and competitiveness of university teachers. This study is an online survey of 317 teachers of different disciplines from several types of state higher education institutions from different regions of Russia. The results of the regression analysis show that antecedents of affective commitment include belonging to a group of insiders (working in university from which they graduated), having an additional administrative position, role clarity, and role conflict. Structural equation modelling shows that an additional administrative position had a direct positive effect and an indirect negative effect (through role conflict) on the affective commitment to the university. Having work experience at another university predicts only a normative commitment to the university. The affective component of commitment to the university was a better negative predictor of the intention to leave the position, profession and institution. No components of the commitment predict publication activity. |
| Keywords: | organizational commitment, academic inbreeding, academic profession, universities |
| JEL: | I20 I23 J28 J40 J60 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:30psy2014&r=edu |
| By: | Ebenstein, Avraham; Lavy, Victor; Roth, Sefi |
| Abstract: | Cognitive performance is critical to productivity in many occupations and potentially linked to pollution exposure. We evaluate this potentially important relationship by estimating the effect of pollution exposure on standardized test scores among Israeli high school high-stakes tests (2000-2002). Since students take multiple exams on multiple days in the same location after each grade, we can adopt a fixed effects strategy estimating models with city, school, and student fixed effects. We focus on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO), which are considered to be two of the most dangerous forms of air pollution. We find that while PM2.5 and CO levels are only weakly correlated with each other, both exhibit a robust negative relationship with test scores. We also find that PM2.5, which is thought to be particularly damaging for asthmatics, has a larger negative impact on groups with higher rates of asthma. For CO, which affects neurological functioning, the effect is more homogenous across demographic groups. Furthermore, we find that exposure to either pollutant is associated with a significant decline in the probability of not receiving a Bagrut certificate, which is required for college entrance in Israel. The results suggest that the gain from improving air quality may be underestimated by a narrow focus on health impacts. Insofar as air pollution may lead to reduced cognitive performance, the consequences of pollution may be relevant for a variety of everyday activities that require mental acuity. Moreover, by temporarily lowering the productivity of human capital, high pollution levels lead to allocative inefficiency as students with lower human capital are assigned a higher rank than their more qualified peers. This may lead to inefficient allocation of workers across occupations, and possibly a less productive workforce. |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10302&r=edu |
| By: | Ghazala Azmat; Caterina Calsamiglia; Nagore Iriberri |
| Abstract: | In the psychology literature, “choking under pressure” refers to a behavioural response to an increase in the stakes. In a natural experiment, we study the gender difference in performance resulting from changes in stakes. We use detailed information on the performance of high-school students and exploit the variation in the stakes of tests, which range from 5% to 27% of the final grade. We find that female students outperform male students relatively more when the stakes are low. The gender gap disappears in tests taken at the end of high school, which count for 50% of the university entry grade. |
| Keywords: | Stakes; gender gaps; performance |
| JEL: | C30 I21 J16 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60607&r=edu |
| By: | Geuna, Aldo; Shibayama, Sotaro (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the determinants of exit from academic research which occurs when academic researchers move into positions in academe which concentrate on non-research activities such as teaching or administration, or when researchers leave academia and move into industry. Drawing on career data for 13,500 Japanese PhD graduates in hard sciences (all scientific fields except social sciences and humanities), we develop a set of econometric models to test the determinants of exit from a career in academic research. We find that academics’ scientific productivity and academic network are negatively correlated with abandoning a university research career, and that female academics, and researchers in less-prestigious universities, tend to exit academic research more easily. Individual and institutional network effects play a role mainly for senior researchers. The results indicate also that the determinants of exit are contingent on scientific field and career stage. |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:201503&r=edu |
| By: | Cory Koedel (Department of Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia); Kata Mihaly; Jonah E. Rockoff |
| Abstract: | This article reviews the literature on teacher value-added. Although value-added models have been used to measure the contributions of numerous inputs to educational production, their application toward identifying the contributions of individual teachers has been particularly contentious. Our review covers articles on topics ranging from technical aspects of model design to the role that value-added can play in informing teacher evaluations in practice, highlighting areas of consensus and disagreement in the literature. Although a broad spectrum of views is reflected in available research, along a number of important dimensions the literature is converging on a widely-accepted set of facts. |
| Keywords: | Value-added models, VAM, teacher evaluation, education production |
| JEL: | J45 M52 |
| Date: | 2015–01–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umc:wpaper:1501&r=edu |
| By: | Tan, Sui Chin; Ho, Chong Mun; Pang, Vincent |
| Abstract: | Inequality measured by using Theil index, can be decomposed into between and within–groups. Normally, studies only focus on the inequality within-group due to high percentage of inequality within-group as compared to the between-group. Therefore, the conclusions that have been made in the past have neglected the between-group inequality. In this study, education achievement is used as indicator, and between-group inequality is observed for the case study in Sabah, Malaysia. It is noted that while the education inequality in urban and rural areas as well as its overall level has decreased, the gap between two areas has become more distinct. |
| Keywords: | Between-group inequality, Education achievement, Education inequality, Theil Index. |
| JEL: | I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61627&r=edu |
| By: | Webber, Douglas A. (Temple University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the financial value over the course of a lifetime of pursuing a college degree under a variety of different settings (e.g. major, student loan debt, individual ability). Using a lifecycle simulation approach, I account for ability/selection bias and the substantial probability that entering college freshmen will not eventually graduate, two critically important factors when evaluating the value of pursuing a college degree. I find that financial proposition of attending college is an unambiguously good investment for the vast majority of individuals with low to average college costs, although majors with a lower expected return do not pay off until middle age. However, when the financial costs of attending college are high (defined here as roughly $30,000 per year), the gains from attending college are far more tenuous, particularly among those with below median ability and those pursuing an Arts/Humanities degree. I estimate the net present discounted value of attending college to vary between $95,000 and $275,000 depending on the major (STEM, Business, Social Sciences, Arts/Humanities) pursued. |
| Keywords: | student loans, returns to college, major choice |
| JEL: | I21 I22 I23 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8767&r=edu |
| By: | Seth Gershenson (American University) |
| Abstract: | The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) increased accountability pressure in U.S. public schools by threatening to impose sanctions on Title 1 schools that failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in consecutive years. Difference-in-difference estimates of the effect of failing AYP in the first year of NCLB on teacher effort in the subsequent year suggest that, on average, teacher absences in North Carolina fell by about 10 percent, and the probability of being absent 15 or more times fell by about 30 percent. Reductions in teacher absences were driven by within-teacher increases in effort and were larger among more effective teachers. |
| Keywords: | Performance standards,employee effort, teacher absences, accountability No Child Left Behind |
| JEL: | J45 J48 J22 I2 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:15-217&r=edu |
| By: | Jinkook Lee; McGovern, Mark E.; David E. Bloom; P. Arokiasamy; Arun Risbud; Jennifer O?Brien; Varsha Kale; Peifeng Hu |
| Abstract: | This paper examines health disparities in biomarkers among a representative sample of Indians aged 45 and older, using data from the pilot round of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI). Hemoglobin level, a marker for anemia, is lower for respondents with no schooling (0.7 g/dL less in the adjusted model) compared to those with some formal education. The oldest old have higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) (1.1 mg/L greater than those aged 45-54), an indicator of inflammation and a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, as do those with greater body-mass index (an additional 1.7 mg/L for those who are obese compared to those who are underweight). We find no evidence of educational or gender differences in CRP, but respondents living in rural areas have CRP levels that are 0.8 mg/L lower than urban areas. We also find state-level disparities, with Kerala residents exhibiting the lowest CRP levels (1.96 mg/L compared to 3.28 mg/L in Rajasthan). There are substantial state and education gradients in underweight and overweight. We use the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition approach to explain group-level differences, and find that state-level gradients in CRP are mainly due to heterogeneity in the association of the observed characteristics of respondents with CRP, as opposed to differences in the distribution of endowments across the sampled state populations. |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qsh:wpaper:228841&r=edu |
| By: | Predrag, Vukovic; Subić, Jonel; Cvijanović, Drago |
| Abstract: | Since the mid-nineties of the twentieth century begins a rapid expansion of rural tourism in Serbia. In the first initial phase, the development has taken place without a clear plan and program. The first achieved positive results, influenced that Serbian Government since 2008 started with appropriate funding with aim to improve rural tourism development. Also, until 2008 there was no system of education and training sessions of the local population. Farmers were not educated and trained to provide adequate quality system services. On this way was undermined the competitiveness of rural tourist destination and positive results that rural tourism could bring. Expectations are that the implementation of appropriate methods of education and training could create conditions for providing better quality services, which will bring bigger effects of rural tourism and benefits to rural areas. |
| Keywords: | rural tourism, destination, education, training, farmers |
| JEL: | I29 P46 Q00 R0 |
| Date: | 2014–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61726&r=edu |
| By: | Alexander J.A.M. Van Deursen; Anke Görzig; Marianne Van Delzen; Hanneke T.M. Perik; Anne Grace Stegeman |
| Abstract: | The performance levels of fundamental (i.e., operational and formal) and advanced (i.e., information and strategic) Internet skills and their potential predictors were assessed among a sample of Dutch primary school children. The findings suggest that primary school children possess sufficient levels of fundamental but not advanced Internet skills and, hence, might not be able to make best use of important opportunities the Internet has to offer. Children employed very ineffective and inefficient search strategies and did not combine information to make beneficial decisions. Contrary to previous survey research findings, no performance differences among boys and girls were revealed when using actual performance tests. Training programs to support advanced Internet skills among primary school children should be considered. |
| Keywords: | internet; skills; literacy; children |
| JEL: | L91 L96 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:57211&r=edu |