Hi,
I'm writing you with some econ examples.
Although maybe we economists should exchange e-mails, too? One thing that works well with econ is having the students predict real data together. They can discuss who is right and why, and then you can reveal the actual data at the end, which has a nice flavor in many cases.
*In health care economics, I ask students to predict the percentage of health outcomes (life expectancy, QALYs, etc) that can be attributed to the health care system. We discuss the reasons behind their percentages, and then I reveal the Health Affairs article answer to the question, estimated using official economist’s techniques. I have generally been amazed how closely the student answers align with what the researchers came up with. And the team or teams closest to the researcher’s answer always feel a sense of pride.
*In micro and health care, I have students estimate elasticities for different behavioral responses. What is the elasticity of demand for cigarettes? What is the elasticity of procedures w.r.t. co-pay? Medication refills w.r.t. co-pay? What is the elasticity of unemployment w.r.t. the minimum wage? Often I can find studies that estimate these elasticities, and the students get a feel for the way magnitude and direction form elasticities that are comparable across situations. They get a sense for a highly elastic and inelastic number.
*I pick a New York Times or Wall Street Journal article from a while back describing predictions of some sort (and eliminating what actually happened). Then I have them translate the article’s ideas into supply & demand curves to make predictions. Finally, you reveal what actually happened and relate this to what they came up with, highlighting what they were able to predict, and what factors they omitted from their analysis. Sometimes this takes the form of “Draw a graph of what happened to inflation over time given these real world events in each decade” (this is for principles). Also, I might have similar assignments with recent articles. For example, I had students predict the market impact of Tesla releasing their patent on the market for electric cars, the market for cars, and the market for Teslas. It will be a while before their predictions can be validated or invalidated.
*In micro, have the students build a welfare function that they could then hand over to policy-makers for making policy. They have to identify relevant stake-holders, and place importance weights on the utility functions of each stakeholder. I have them listen to This American Life’s podcast episode on disability insurance, and construct a social welfare function. They have to consider stakeholders such as uneducated people with minor disabilities, educated people with major disabilities, rural people, taxpayers, etc. They get to decide how to break down stakeholders and what form of a social welfare function (Rawlsian, utilitarian, etc) to use.
*Writing case studies that start with something like “You are in a small town and there is a monopolist hospital….” can be really good, but really time consuming. I would like to make it a goal to add one more such case study to my course per semester.
*In microeconomics, I have them build models. So, I will give them a situation (often in the form of a video), and have them design a model by choosing a choice variable, objective function, and other relevant variables. They then have to draw a picture of the variable relationships in their model (demonstrating diminishing and increasing marginal returns). They write their models on the board (we have lots of board space), and I go around and comment on the strengths and weaknesses of each model. This gives lots of room to praise their creativity in model-building, and to catch common misconceptions.
*In microeconomics, have them write up a couple of paragraphs predicting the impact of the invention of the 3-D printer on a particular industry. Then post these to Moodle, have them read other teams’ for homework, and then have the teams vote on which team had the most reliable predictions, or which team you would hire as a consulting firm. This is like the gallery walk, except it takes less class time. (NOTE: I have actually tried switching to video-making instead of paragraph writing, and the jury is still out as to weather this is superior or not. But there will definitely be someone (probably everyone) on each team with a smart phone capable of making short videos.)
I have some more examples. And I would love to collect examples from other economists. So, please e-mail me if you have good applications.
Ashley
For me, it’s not so much that my students are learning more. It’s that they are learning something very different than what I used to have them learn. They used to be expected to basically memorize stuff. I have no idea whether they understood or could USE any of what they memorized. Now, with TBL, they are challenged to understand and use the theories and models and research studies that they’re learning about. That’s what’s different! Karla
From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brown Tom
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2015 12:49 PM
I’m with Tricia.
This can be a huge undertaking for an individual faculty member. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Just don’t get discouraged if you aren't able to immediately produce the same results as a team of professors, grad students and technical experts working together on a course that will be delivered across multiple sections simultaneously.
I have been working on my undergraduate Business Ethics course by myself for three years. When I started I had the luxury of being "sort of” retired and was able to devote an effort that was completely disproportionate to my compensation. My first IRATs weren’t very good. They are getting better. My team exercises are improving. I have a long way to go.
In our first class we watch Ken Robinson’s TED Talk, "Changing Education Paradigms". It resonates with many students or at least arouses their curiosity. We agree we will try something different. I am upfront with my students that the course is a work in progress. I tell them they have both an opportunity and a responsibility to contribute to making the class better for themselves and future students, for example, I sometimes have them help create questions for the next week’s IRAT.
I have no evidence to prove my students are learning more than they used to. However, they are present, awake and actively engaged in their learning. I have never enjoyed teaching more.
-Tom
Tom Brown
Academic Director
Graduate Diploma in Business Administration
Segal Graduate School
Beedie School of Business
Simon Fraser University
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On Jan 8, 2015, at 8:54 AM, Bertram Gallant, Tricia <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I concur. This is my fifth time using TBL and I still haven’t been able to design the “perfect” application activity. I’ve designed some good ones, but they stray away from the concept of holding up cards or voting simultaneously. There is still simultaneously discussion, but not in the sense as talked about in the TBL literature. In particular, I found that voting did not stimulate active/robust class discussion, so I’ve changed most of it to interaction between teams as the simultaneous reporting.
I think, in part, it depends on the topic/concepts being learned, but I also think it is just something you have to find your own way through by trial and error. I must be doing better each term because my teaching evaluations increase every quarter, likely as my material gets clearer, the activities get honed, and I get more confident in what I’m doing.
If you are like me, you are all alone on your campus – the only one using TBL. So, it’s challenging to get support. This listserv is great but I wish I could attend theTBL conference to interact with others using TBL. It’s not possible at this time (i.e., I wouldn’t be supported by my university to go), but maybe in the future!
~ Tricia
Tricia Bertram Gallant, Ph.D.
Director, Academic Integrity Office
Lecturer, Rady School of Management
University of California, San Diego
301 University Center
9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0069
UC San Diego is a proud institutional member of the International Center for Academic Integrity
From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dan Acland
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2015 8:18 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Activities for Economics
I don't have suggestions, but have a comment I'd like to share with the whole list, because no one told me, and others might benefit from hearing this. Designing genuinely good team assignments is *seriously* hard. Way harder than anything I found on the TBL website would lead you to believe. I say this only because under-appreciating this lead to a rather shocking first outing for me. Caveat Doctor.
Dan Acland.
On Wed, Jan 7, 2015 at 12:56 PM, James Latham <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I will be using TBL for the first time in my microeconomics course this Spring. Designing activities that are effective with this approach is my biggest concern. I would love any advice on TBL activities specifically for Econ. I would greatly appreciate any activities that have worked great & any info on what NOT to use.
If you have any suggestions please reply to me directly and not the list serve. Thank you,
Michael Latham
James "Michael" Latham, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
Business & Computer Systems
Collin College - Spring Creek Campus
SCC J228
972.578.5514
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