Teaching Economics

Teaching Economics

HIS 420Fall 2010

Scott [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.html

http://cee.econ.uic.edu/

http://cee.econ.uic.edu/certification.html

http://cee.econ.uic.edu/undercertification.html

http://cee.econ.uic.edu/undercertification.html

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.”

The Survey…continued…

“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.”

The Survey…continued…

- “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/2010/07/05/100705ta_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/

http://hsfpp.nefe.org/

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/cgi-bin/nsearch?catalog=ncee&.autodone=http://store.councilforeconed.org/nsearch.html&query=history&x=0&y=0

• Scott’s Lesson Plans

http://scottfenwickteachingeconomics.wikispaces.com/Economists+for+Consideration






• New Ideas From Dead Economists by Todd G. Buchholz

• The Worldly Philosophers by Robert L. Heilbroner


• Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed

• An Empire of Wealth by John Steele Gordon


• The Literary Book of Economics by M. Watts


• 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


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

• 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 Activity-

Introduction 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/slideshow/2266174/fs/0/entry/2266173/

Aftershock by Robert Reich

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?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 Wikispacehttp://

scottfenwickteachingeconomics.wikispaces.com/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.