Winter Stefan, Kistner Melissa, Maffia Deborah
Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany.
Heliyon. 2024 Aug 8;10(16):e36008. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36008. eCollection 2024 Aug 30.
Degrees are presumably the most important institution in education markets. However, despite their high relevance, degrees and their design features remain poorly understood within the economics of education. This study addresses this gap. We provide an accurate formal definition of what constitutes a degree and formulate the first theory of degree design. This theory is based on a technological platform view that interprets degrees as modules within a hierarchical structure resembling that of software architectures. This approach provides new opportunities to address questions of degree optimization. Furthermore, a novel strategy to optimize the design of school degrees is proposed. This strategy is expected to improve the learning environment of weaker students across all school types, leaving higher-performing students rather unaffected. The implications and limitations of our approach are also discussed.
学位大概是教育市场中最重要的制度。然而，尽管学位具有高度相关性，但在教育经济学领域，学位及其设计特征仍未得到充分理解。本研究弥补了这一空白。我们给出了学位构成的准确形式化定义，并提出了首个学位设计理论。该理论基于一种技术平台视角，将学位解释为类似于软件架构的层次结构中的模块。这种方法为解决学位优化问题提供了新机会。此外，还提出了一种优化学校学位设计的新策略。预计该策略将改善各类学校中成绩较差学生的学习环境，而对成绩较好的学生影响较小。我们还讨论了该方法的意义和局限性。
