Download 420 Presentation fall 2010 - What`s New?

Teaching Economics
HIS 420
Fall 2010
Scott Fenwick
[email protected]
UIC’s Center for Economic Education
Dr. Helen Roberts - [email protected]
• http://cee.econ.uic.edu/
Certificate for Teaching Economics
• http://cee.econ.uic.edu/certification.html
• http://cee.econ.uic.edu/undercertification.h
tml
The Survey…
#1
The Survey…
Please elaborate on your official and unofficial economics
education. What, if anything, do you think that your experience
can help you bring to an economics classroom?
- “Economics is definitely not my strongest subject. With that in
mind, if I were to teach the subject I would need to be re-teaching
myself the material. Julie once said in class that sometimes it's best
to teach something you are just yourself learning because then you
understand the learning process best. I think that's what would help
me teach the class. I understand supply and demand, beyond that I
don't really understand the material. I have a hard time with
numbers and graphs which makes economics difficult for me. It's
also a large subject area that would be hard to simplify for the
classroom.”
continued…
The Survey…
“On the official side, I remember Mr. Krebs, 5th grade teacher, offering a confusing definition of
the term "profit", which my father later trashed at home as inaccurate for it conflation of the
concepts of "profit" and "net profit." Mr. Krebs also led the class in a several day role playing game
that was meant to be infused with economic principals of scarcity & profit.
In college I took an Econ 101 course with a guy named Cal Goldberg. He was a crisp and
entertaining lecturer who said to the room full of freshmen on the first day of class, "You might say
to me--students often do--'If you know so much about money, why are you teaching classes here?
Why aren't you rich?' I answer them, "Well. I am rich.'"
That same semester, I also took a class called "2oth Century Socialist Societies" with a Polish
Communist who my friend liked to call the "Red Rabbit" for his ruddy complexion and politic, as
well as his propensity to hop frequently as he lectured. I remember much more about supply and
demand and marginal utility as delivered by Prof Goldberg than the advantages of Soviet Satellite
Communism (guaranteed 6-weeks vacation is all that sticks out) as expounded by the Red Rabbit.
On the unofficial side of my education in the dismal science, I might include an interest in (at the
very least) Keynesian spending, a belief that public education is underfunded and sapped due to a
misguided faith in free market solutions and slogans like "return on investment." And lastly, I have
a skeptical appreciation for the Freakonomics guys and their (sometimes too) clever analysis of
the unlikely and the finger wagging of Paul Krugman. I guess I agree with him that we under
spent.”
continued…
The Survey…
“I took a macroeconomics course this past summer out of
curiosity and a feeling that there was a huge hole in my education. I
can't say that I read the Wall St Journal or Economist with any more
interest or background knowledge per se, but this was a fault of the
particular course. In an econ classroom (which I am woefully
unqualified to teach), I would make the information more tangible
and relevant and less abstract/graph-heavy.”
“My experience in undergrad economics has taught me that
economics is a very complex subject. I learned that despite my hard
work in class I struggle to comprehend the material. I struggled and
barely managed to get a "C" in both macro and micro economics. If
tasked to teach economics, I will keep this in mind and try to break
down the concepts as simply as possible.”
The Survey…
continued…
-
“In high school, I took a general business class and here at UIC
I've taken Intro to Micro and Macro. Personally, I find
economics sort of common sense however I have a difficulty in
understanding anything more than the basic concepts. I will
definitely try to avoid teaching econ at any and all costs.”
-
“’unofficial" education’ - reading non-course materials, such as
Paul Krugman's column in NYTimes and other similar columns;
articles in news sources such as the New York Times, the
Economist; and reading about economics as it pertains to
history, for example, the Great Depression.”
The Survey…
The Survey…
In your opinion, what are the three most important things a
student should learn in an economics class?
Responses that appeared more than once:
1) Supply/Demand (5)
2) Consumption & Consumerism (3)
3) Trade and Globalization (3)
4) Personal Banking Skills (2)
Money: Its creation and value (2)
Scarcity (2)
Capitalism and Other Economic Systems (2)
Inflation (2)
The Survey…
The Survey…
The Survey…
Think back to the first few sessions of HIS 420. You contemplated
and discussed the philosophical underpinnings and purpose of
teaching social studies in America. You considered the notion
that our profession can be a vehicle for building "good"
citizens. How does an economics education fit in to this
conversation, this idea?
- “I think that anytime you present challenging material to students,
provide room for debate, and work with teens to become personally
self-reliant you will have better citizens. There's nothing inherent in
the study of economics that will make students good citizens or bad:
good presentation and balance is where it's at...”
The Survey…
continued…
- “Politicians may have a large impact on economic policy. Students
need to understand the extent to which the government is
responsive to individual citizens or corporations, and how to
advocate for increased social/economic justice if they decide that
government is not responding to their economic needs.”
- “I take umbrage with the whole "good citizen" concept; however,
why not know how the economy works. If nothing else, it teaches
about human behavior and motivation.”
The Survey…
continued…
- “I believe that economics teaches one to make the best of what
they have; whether it be land, income, natural resources, etc.
Because everything is not an unlimited supply we have to know to
use it wisely. I believe this is highly important for students to realize.”
- “If a "good" citizen is an informed citizen, then a working
knowledge of economics basics is vital to "good" citizenship. Much
of today's political policies rest on economics -- bailing out the
banks, regulating foreclosures, etc.”
The Survey…
Last word…
- “Despite my viewpoint on me personally
teaching economics, I think it is priceless
for students and "good" citizens to
understand in our society. Daily news
headlines as well as our own personal
financial affairs would be impossible to
comprehend without a good grasp.”
High School Test of Economic
Literacy
• This assessment conforms to national
standards.
• You would be expected to pass this test in
order to graduate from some public high
schools in the United States.
• You have 15 minutes to complete at least
half of this multiple choice test.
Answer Key…How did you do?
1. B
21. B
2. C
22. C
3. B
23. C
4. D
24. B
5. B
25. D
6. C
26. A
7. D
27. A
8. C
28. B
9. A
29. C
10. A
30. B
11. C
31. D
12. D
32. C
13. A
33. A
14. D
34. D
15. C
35. B
16. B
36. A
17. A
37. C
18. D
38. B
19. A
39. B
20. D
40. C
Four Approaches to Teaching
Economics
• Financial Literacy
• Historical/Philosophical Foundations of
Economics
• Microeconomic Principles
• Macroeconomic Principles
Financial Literacy
• “Greater Fools” by James Surowiecki,
writer of The New Yorker’s Financial Page
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/201
0/07/05/100705ta_talk_surowiecki
Financial Literacy
• National Endowment for Financial
Education (NEFE) High School Financial
Planning Program http://hsfpp.nefe.org/
• Council for Economic Education’s
Financial Fitness for Life
http://fffl.councilforeconed.org/
Historical/Philosophical
Foundations of Economics
• Why? Because students need context in
order to better understand abstract ideas
and phenomena.
• How? Economic History, Biography,
Primary Documents
Who are these guys?
Historical/Philosophical
Foundations Lesson Plans
• NCEE Lesson Plans
http://search.store.yahoo.net/ncee/cgibin/nsearch?catalog=ncee&.autodone=htt
p://store.councilforeconed.org/nsearch.htm
l&query=history&x=0&y=0
• Scott’s Lesson Plans
http://scottfenwickteachingeconomics.wikisp
aces.com/Economists+for+Consideration
Historical/Philosophical Foundations of
Economics
• New Ideas From Dead Economists by
Todd G. Buchholz
• The Worldly Philosophers by Robert L.
Heilbroner
Historical/Philosophical Foundations of
Economics
• Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed
• An Empire of Wealth by John Steele
Gordon
Historical/Philosophical Foundations of
Economics
• The Literary Book of Economics by M.
Watts
Historical/Philosophical Foundations of
Economics
• Examples of Primary Documents:
– The Muqaddimah by I. Khaldun
– The Wealth of Nations by A. Smith
– An Essay on the Principle of Population by T.
Malthus
– Das Kapital by K. Marx
– Principles of Economics by A. Marshall
– The General Theory of Employment, Interest
and Money by J.M. Keynes
– Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp by
R. A. Radford
Historical/Philosophical
Foundations of Economics
Fear the Boom and Bust:
John Maynard Keynes
vs.
Friedrich August Von Hayek
http://econstories.tv/home.html
NCEE Lesson Plan Jigsaw
• Adam Smith and the Market Economy
• The Decline of Spain
• The Constitution: Ground Rules for the
Economy
• Growth after World War II
Microeconomic Principles
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Choice, Trade-offs & Decision Making
Opportunity Cost & Comparative Advantage
Supply & Demand
Consumer & Producer Surplus
Elasticity
Taxes
Consumer Preference – Utility
Production Decisions
Market Structures
Microeconomic Principles
-Photo Elicitation ActivityIntroduction to Economic
Principles: Essential Concepts
Macroeconomic Principles
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Gains From International Trade
Aggregate Supply & Demand
GDP: Measuring Production and Income
Unemployment & Inflation
Economic Growth & Business Cycles
Monetary Policy
Fiscal Policy
Globalization & the International Financial
System
“The Great Divergence?”
• Some data on income inequality from
Slate
• http://www.slate.com/id/2266174/slidesho
w/2266174/fs/0/entry/2266173/
Aftershock by Robert Reich
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.ph
p?storyId=130189031
Important Resources
• NCEE’s Virtual Economics DVD
http://ve.councilforeconed.org/
• National Council on Economics Education
http://www.councilforeconed.org/
• The Federal Reserve’s Educational Materials
– http://www.federalreserveeducation.org/FRED/?CFID
=5414555&CFTOKEN=88536688
– http://www.stlouisfed.org/education_resources/
Teaching Economics Wikispace
http://scottfenwickteachingeconomics.wikispaces.c
om/What's+New%3F
Your teaching ideas using its content?
Please send me an e-mail at:
[email protected]
I will compile the ideas and forward them to you all
via Julie.