Research on Economic Education and Economic Literacy among High School and University Students in Asia-Pacific Region

本研究将第三版经济素养测验(TEL3)翻译成日语，并对其进行测试，以确定日本高中生和大学生经济素养的现状和存在的问题。TEL3最初是由内布拉斯加州大学的沃尔斯塔德和圣克劳德州立大学的丽贝克开发并进行的。我们对2,631名日本高中生(16所高中)和2,877名大学生(29所大学)进行了TEL3测试。测试结果的主要发现是，高中生和大学生在经济素养方面有相似之处，大学生的得分比高中生高6.6%。这两组人在稀缺性或机会成本等几个基本经济学概念上表现出较少的理解，他们对微观经济学的理解相对较好，但对宏观经济学的理解较差。来自亚太地区的研究同行中国、韩国、菲律宾和新西兰以及美国和日本进行了同样的测试。根据各国的测试结果，我们于2004年8月在早稻田大学举办了亚太地区经济教育国际会议，并对这些国家的学生的经济素养进行了国际比较。该项目的调查人员和外国同行审查了这些结果，并讨论了如何改进该区域的经济教育。研究项目还制作了同样由沃尔斯塔德和丽贝克开发的日文版《终身财务状况测试》。研究人员于2004年在日本进行了这项测试，并在位于阿肯色州小石城的全国经济教育委员会NCEE年度会议上介绍了测试结果。

This research project translated the Test of Economic Literacy, 3rd edition (TEL3) into Japanese, and administered the test to determine the present status and problems of economic literacy among Japanese high school and university students. The TEL3 was originally developed and conducted by Walstad of Nebraska University and Rebeck of St.Cloud State University. We conducted the TEL3 on 2,631 Japanese senior high school students in the 10th-12th grades (16 high schools), and on 2,877 university students (29 universities). The major findings from the test results are that there are similarities in economic literacy among high school and university students, with 6.6 % higher scores by university students. The both group demonstrated little understanding in several fundamental economic concepts, such as scarcity or opportunity cost, and that they have a relatively good understanding of microeconomics but not of macroeconomics.The research counterparts from Asian-Pacific region such as China, South Korea, the Philippines and New Zealand conducted the same test as well as the United States and Japan. Based on the test result of each country, we had the International Conference on Economic Education in the Asian-Pacific region at Waseda University in August, 2004, and made international comparison on economic literacy among the students in these countries. The investigators and foreign counterparts of this project examined these results and discussed how economic education in the region might be improved. The discussion is summarized in the report shown below in the "references".The research project also made a Japanese version of "the Financial Fitness for Life Test" which was also developed by Walstad and Rebeck. The investigators conducted the test in Japan in 2004 and made a presentation about the result of the test in the Annual Conference of NCEE : National Council on Economic Education in Little Rock, Arkansas.