Project Title:
Active Learning Center for Economics Education
Project Director and Other Associated Faculty and Staff:
Ming Chien Lo, Asst. Prof., Economics, St. Cloud State Univ., Contact: mclo@stcloudstate.edu, Tel.: (320)308-0143
Project Design:
Generally, economics is lagging behind in adoption of active learning teaching methods and students are rarely sufficiently prepared in mathematics in order to study economics and statistics. This project will address these issues by (1) Building a foundation of active learning in Economics for SCSU and MnSCU and (2) Initiate curriculum changes in the microeconomics and statistics courses at SCSU. These goals will be promoted by creating an Active Learning Center for Economic Education at SCSU to provide training for Economics faculty and a learning laboratory for SCSU students.
Project Evaluation and Outcomes:
In the 2004-2005 academic year, several measures were taken to develop and implement a new Economics curriculum: (1) a complete draft of a manuscript was written using dynamic teaching methods with references to computer simulations. This manuscript has been posted on Project Director’s website and was used in his Business Cycles and Forecasting course in Fall 2004. (2) Creation of various programs that make use of computer simulations for graduate Econometrics courses in Spring 2005. These programs will be added to the Website. (3) Technical assistants were trained and hired for Business Cycles and Forecasting course (Fall, 2004) and Undergraduate Seminar (Spring 2005) to contribute to the computer learning experiences of students. Evaluations were conducted by soliciting comments from students in above courses that used active learning: (1) Comments from Students in Econ. 470: Business Cycles: The strong points of the course were the use of group projects that simulated real life situations; liked EViews learning which involved use of technology. Weak points of course were: need textbook that will serve EViews; need more description and handouts. (2) Comments from students in Econ. 615: Econometrics: rating of difficulty of using Monte Carlo computer simulations – 3.2 (on 5 pt. scale with 5=very difficult), ideal proportions of time that should be spent on Monte Carlo simulations – 43%. (3) Statistics based on survey of students in Econ.481-Seminar: Average use of computer lab-18.3 hours, average use of help from technical assistants-10 hrs., effectiveness of tech. assistants-4.67 (on 5 pt. scale with 5=highest).
Lessons Learned, Dissemination and Sustainability
The above evaluation data indicates that the traditional textbooks are inadequate and new materials are needed, there is a need to further improve materials for Monte Carlo simulation and that students like use of technology and are using the computer lab to supplement the class meetings. After the materials are fully tested and refined, the Project Director will disseminate them to colleagues who are interested in learning the new methodology. Also, the Project Director is working with CTL to offer a MnSCU workshop next academic year.
