Multi-modal approaches to teaching Economics

1. Multi-modal approaches to teaching Economics Vanessa Smith Methodist Ladies’ College, WA

2. Motivation • Increasing competition to attract students • Syllabus changes • Increasing awareness of the need for differentiated learning experiences that cater for a variety of intelligences • New opportunities presented by technology in schools and at home

3. A major problem ... it’s true, economics can come across as pretty boring. It is a singular achievement of the economics profession that it has managed to make the study of our daily lives and interactions about as exciting as a maths quiz. Jessica Irvine (2012), Zombies, Bananas and Why There are No Economists in Heaven, p. 1

4. Learning styles • Explicit consideration of learning styles may help us engage both students and teachers, boosting the profile of economics even in the face of increasing competition

5. Learning styles • Visual • Auditory • Read/write • Kinaesthetic • All students and teachers can benefit from understanding their own preferred learning style • Questionnaire at http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp is very useful

6. My philosophy • Economics is an exciting, relevant area • Theories last a long time but the applications are always changing • This sense of immediacy, excitement and relevance needs to permeate economics programs • I have found that each of the following strategies can assist in developing student engagement and understanding – and they’re lots of fun!

7. Simulation games • Have several advantages: • Make economics “real” • Experiential learning • Can be used either to introduce or consolidate materials

8. Simulation games Free games • ASX sharemarket game • www.asx.com.au/resources/sharemarket-games.htm • ECB games: €conomia and Inflation Island • www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/educational/

9. Simulation games Commercial games • SimCity • Civilisation / Age of Empires / Empire Earth • If you’re interested, you can even draw on MMOs such as World of Warcraft and Guild Wars 2 • Board games such as Monopoly or Risk

10. Simulation games Create your own games • Multiplier game: “I spend, you spend” • Elasticity emporium • Market for lemons: market failure due to asymmetric information

11. Simulation games Create your own games • There are many ideas in the Economics education literature, but these generally need to be adapted for the school context: • www.economicgames.org • http://people.virginia.edu/~cah2k/teaching.html • http://www.marietta.edu/~delemeeg/games/ • http://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/themes/games • Journal of Economic Education is very useful • Economics teaching blogs and Twitter

12. Visual strategies • Routines for drawing diagrams • Summary tables • Visual organisers • Colour • Different presentation media

13. Visual strategies Dealing with diagrams • Draw in the same order each time: Price S P1 D Q1 Quantity

14. Visual strategies Dealing with diagrams • Make effective use of colour to distinguish between “old” and “new” points: Price S P1 D2 D1 Q1 Quantity

15. Visual strategies Summary tables

16. Visual strategies Visual organisers

17. Visual strategies Causes and effects summary • Shortage (refer to diagram) • Consumers bid up prices, leading to a contraction in demand • Profit-maximising firms revise production plans upwards, leading to an expansion in supply • New equilibrium (refer to diagram) Increase in demand • Successful advertising campaign • Increase in disposable income (if this is a normal good) • Demographic or seasonal changes

18. Visual strategies Other visual tools • A3 or A5 paper • Mind maps • Draw freehand or use software such as Inspiration • Can be created on any mobile device and then shared • One-page summaries • “FBI wall”

19. Kinaesthetic strategies • Traditional approaches to teaching economics haven’t been friendly to those with a kinaesthetic preferences • These techniques can benefit everyone • They also help build a sense of identity as a class

20. Kinaesthetic strategies Creating models • Showing the general shape of price elastic and inelastic demand curves • Sidewalk chalk • Sending a hoop through the business cycle

21. Keepad clickers

22. Kinaesthetic strategies Clickers (classroom polling) • A fabulous way to liven up multiple-choice questions • Questions & alternatives are presented in PowerPoint • Students select their preferred response using a keypad • A graph showing the number of students selecting each option can be shown • Could be used for assessment

24. Kinaesthetic strategies Low-cost alternatives • Depending on your school’s mobile phone policy, it may be possible to use Poll Everywhere (www.polleverywhere.com) • Team-based approaches make it easy to find different sounds for each team • Door bells are fun, but make sure there isn’t a test going on in the next classroom!

25. Kinaesthetic strategies More multiple-choice ideas • Can be used at any stage of the lesson • Helps develop students’ metacognitive skills by encouraging them to reflect on their learning • Try getting students to write the questions • Set time limits for particular questions • Helps students get used to the speed at which they need to work in assessments

26. Auditory strategies • Music • Discussion • Videos and movies • Podcasts

27. Auditory strategies Using music • Demand and supply rap based on Mankiw’s 10 principles of economics • www.educationalrap.com/song/demand-supply/ • Illustrate the phases of the business cycle • Merle Hazard • “The first-and-only Nashville country artist to sing about derivatives, mortgage-backed securities and physics” • www.merlehazard.com

28. Auditory strategies Discussion • Using the language of economics • Students not always working with the same group • Scenario-based activities drawing on students’ experience • Economics paradoxes, such as: • paradox of value • paradox of prosperity

29. Auditory strategies Videos and movies • Clarke and Dawe, Alan Kohler • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • fabulous illustration of structural unemployment, pressures of competition and applications of price elasticity of demand • Create your own podcasts

30. Read/write strategies • Flashcard creators • Incorrect economic commentary • Writing questions & marking keys • Examining sample responses • Wikis and blogs

31. Read/write strategies Flash cards • Useful for definitions, diagrams and key points • www.quizlet.com • Free flashcard creator • Computer, mobile device or print them out • Can pay a small annual fee to allow you to upload diagrams • Flashcards can be shared – wide range of settings

32. Read/write strategies Incorrect commentary • Take a written piece of economic commentary, e.g. a newspaper article, and insert a set number of mistakes into it • Students need to find and correct the mistakes, fully explaining their work • Can be time-consuming but is well worth it • Try getting students to create the incorrect commentary then swap with their peers • Alternatively, could get students to annotate commentary

33. Read/write strategies Writing questions • Encourage students to write their own data interpretation or extended response questions • Also need to write a marking key! • Need to consider which instruction word is most appropriate • Think about the difference between discuss and evaluate

34. Read/write strategies Sample responses • As a class, examine anonymous student responses from earlier years • Students can try marking them • Identify areas of strength and strategies for improvement • Several possible sources: • Keep copies of work from earlier years • Standards guides in WA • Write your own!

35. Read/write strategies Wikis and blogs • www.wikispaces.com or similar • collaborative approach • embeds a cycle of writing, seeking feedback and reviewing

36. Next steps • Currently creating sets of quizlet flashcards for the entire Year 11 & 12 courses • Electronic submission of work • Developing a simulation game focusing on the effects of shifts in the exchange rate and the terms of trade

37. A final thought... Economics is about one thing and one thing only: maximising society’s total stock of wellbeing, and well, what could be more important than that? Jessica Irvine (2012), Zombies, Bananas and Why There are No Economists in Heaven, p. 2

38. Questions or comments? • I love discussing strategies for teaching Economics! Please feel free to contact me at • vsmith@mlc.wa.edu.au • twitter: buglegs