Standing on the shoulders of giants If Adam Smith can inspire us as economists he can also inspire...
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Standing on the shoulders of giants If Adam Smith can inspire us as economists he can also inspire us as teachers of economics. Here’s what an inspired
Standing on the shoulders of giants If Adam Smith can inspire
us as economists he can also inspire us as teachers of economics.
Heres what an inspired Woodrow Wilson said of Smith: He constantly
refreshed and rewarded his hearers...by bringing them to those
clear streams of practical wisdom and happy illustration which
everywhere irrigate his expositions.
Slide 4
What is surprise side economics? Lecture ideas to make
economics Less abstract More intuitive More relevant More memorable
Combines entertainment with education Element of surprise gives
advantage to live lecture Multimedia: animated slides, audio,
video, on-line Active learning component Small group work-outs in
class Live experiments: participate or watch live demo Not for
everybody!
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OLD NEW Ideas for teaching: No single way is best for all OLD
NEW
I bet you wonder how I knew about your plans to make me blue
with some other guy you knew before. Between the two of us guys you
know I love you more. It took me by surprise (drive me crazy), when
I found out yesterday. Dont you know that...
Slide 8
Could you sketch the supply and demand diagram by hand?
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08_05 QUANTITY AT C
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08_05 QUANTITY AL
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08_05 BE QUANTITY
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0 BE QUANTITY AL AT C
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Economies of Scale
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ITS MACRO ITS MACRO Put on your Big Picture Glasses
Slide 15
We will answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to
them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of
thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.
Slide 16
WELCOME TO A school for central bankers. Dedicated to teaching
the science and art of monetary policy.
Slide 17
A case where macroeconomic principles were given low weight in
the economic policy decisions
Slide 18
To get a gut-feeling for the idea of comparative advantage,
lets imagine 2 people with 2 skills: lawyer economist
Slide 19
Survey Question Do you learn more going to a live lecture or
watching online? I learn more online 15% I learn the same online
versus in lecture 42% I learn more by attending the lecture in
person 44%
Slide 20
Active learning in large lectures Classroom experiments Small
group work
Slide 21
Classroom experiments in large lectures Partial class
participation Example: double oral auction Some students
participate as buyers and sellers on stage Rest of the class
observes how the market works Total class participation Example:
free rider experiment
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Free rider experiment Students invest fixed number of tokens in
private account and/or public account Public account yields a
higher interest rate, but the dividends are shared with everyone
Six rounds No communication Results posted after each round Break
for communication between rounds 3 and 4 Cash prize for one
randomly selected person
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Free rider experiment Fall 1999-2000
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Free rider experiment and learning Students quickly recognize
similar phenomena in different settings Strong impression in the
minds of the students I believed in humanity until today!
Slide 25
Small group work in large lectures Important characteristics:
SGW mode verbal and audiovisual clues example: Economic Jedi very
small groups: pairs (with neighbor) very focused: one small problem
or subset of a problem, not a big discussion very short: 90 seconds
to 3 minutes share findings with the whole class
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Economic Jedi: The mystery of increasing poultry consumption
(1) Why has consumption of chicken and turkey increased so
dramatically over the last several decades? Small groups: Draw
initial equilibrium in poultry market In the same graph, show what
could have happened to explain the increase in the consumption of
poultry
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Economic Jedi: The mystery of increasing poultry consumption
(2) Alternatives: increase in demand: consumers are more health
conscious and have switched from red meat to poultry. increase in
supply: cheaper ways of raising chicken and turkey and getting them
to the market How would you check which hypothesis is true?
Slide 28
Economic Jedi: The mystery of increasing poultry consumption
(3) Between 1950 and 1990 the real price of poultry decreased from
$2 to $0.80 per pound. Changes in supply were more important.
Mystery solved!
Slide 29
Assessment Results More small group work and discussions
improved performance Peer review and the additional reading did not
improve performance