ࡱ> 9;8 @ bjbj ".2222222,22RRRRRRRR $R22 RR 222RRG 2R2R   r$T22$RF `_ x ]0 $F$j22222$RvT D`RRR22 Creating an Engaging, Collaborative, Relevant, and Enjoyable Classroom Dr. Steven J. Balassi, St. Marys College of California Introduction There have been many advances in teaching and technology in the past few years. Instructors have been smothered with ideas for how to use the internet and technology in their classrooms. This lead to information overload and professors are hesitant to try new things because they could soon be outdated. There are also many risks associated in using unproven technology, such as having to work out the glitches. This proposal will simplify the process and show instructors how they can use technology to free their class time. The intent of this proposal is to have students do just about everything outside of the classroom. By following this model, students will have read the chapter, seen your lecture, and completed the homework before coming to class. This allows the instructor to have a clean slate in designing the classroom experience. I use my personal classroom example below. My objective is to make the classroom an engaging, collaborative, relevant, and enjoyable experience for my students and me. I hope all of my students will be inspired and want to consider economics as a major. Originality Some of the technology below has been in use for a long time. What is original about this proposal is bringing it all together. By bringing it all together in this manner, we have freed up all of our class time. With our new freedom, we can choose what we want to do in class. Many classes in the past consisted of lectures, along with questions from the students. We can still do this, but only if we want to. We can expand our thinking and introduce anything we want in to our classrooms. By using technology to its full extent, we now have complete freedom to teach our students the way we like. Evidence I participated in the Test for Understanding College Economics (TUCE) in the fall of 07 at St. Marys College of California. This test measures the amount a student improves from the first day of class until the final exam. My students had an average improvement of 78% in their test scores. I am also participating in the TUCE this semester (SP 08) and will include those results in the final poster. The Poster The poster will be divided into three sections. The first section, on the left side, will show what the students will do before coming to class (see below for section details). The middle section will have ideas for in-class assignments, and the last section will list some ongoing assignments. Each section will briefly explain the technologies or ideas. I will also show others how they can use the technology in the classroom and the benefits of doing so. Each technology will be rated for its ease of use for students and faculty. Before-Class Assignments Read the assigned chapter. Watch or listen to the instructors chapter presentation. This can be done using Articulate Presenter, podcasts, or vodcasts. I mainly use Articulate Presenter, which allows me to talk along with the slide show provided by the textbook publisher. This allows students to go back and listen to presentations if needed. Do homework problems in Aplia or another online homework tool (LiveEcon, MyEconLab, etc.). There are practice problems which students may do first. These practice problems prepare them for the graded problems. After the due date for the graded problems has passed, students can go back and see how they did. I encourage them to read and study the explanations for those they missed. There are also other kinds of assignments in Aplia. They range from news analysis to live experiments. In-Class Assignments (Examples) A paper by Hansen, Salemi, and Siegfried (Dec 2001) lists two items which should be taught in Principles courses: Focus on problems, issues, policies, and puzzles Create more opportunities to practice economics Here are some examples which can be used in class: Question and answer time from the chapter reading. I spend time going over homework problems and concepts they are having troubles with. I encourage them to email me questions in advance so I can prepare something for them. Debates: Who has the better economic stimulus package, the Republican or Democrat nominee? Current Events: Students or Instructor choose current events for discussion. Public Policy Discussions: Should the U.S. have universal health care? How it affects you: How does the price of rising gas affect you? Problem Solving: How do we solve the problem of growing income inequality? Case Studies: Did the Fed create the recent housing or stock market bubble with its loose monetary policies? Role Playing: You are Ben Bernanke: what direction should interest rates go? Puzzles: How should California balance its budget: what tradeoffs should we implement? Ongoing Class Assignments Current events posting via a blog. I link to a current event article each week. The students must read the article and write a paragraph on it. They also may respond to prior student or my posts. This is stimulating and free for everyone. Post and answer questions on a discussion board. This will allow students to ask and have questions answered any time. Students will answer many of the questions to help each other out (this reinforces learning). Sometimes, I will answer the questions when needed. Everyone can see the questions and answers, so the activity helps more than just the student who asked the question. 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