tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post8896782769472331563..comments2024-03-16T08:56:35.554-07:00Comments on Economics for Teachers: Musings about Teaching Economics: Constantly learningJennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-15561989085056111362008-09-26T07:59:00.000-07:002008-09-26T07:59:00.000-07:00@doc: I introduced unintended consequences uses th...@doc: I introduced unintended consequences uses the first chapter of Freakonomics about cheating (what do teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?) and a 1996 AER article about a Virginia policy about garbage (to encourage recycling the city started charging per bag of trash - fewer bags were picked up but avg weight of bags went up and there was more illegal dumping). I do think that next time, I will build up to UC in smaller steps - I think I need to make sure they solidly understand using incentives to encourage specific (intended) behavior first (i.e., maybe ask some questions to get them to identify simply a response to incentives and/or the intention behind a set of incentives), before moving on to the more subtle idea of people responding in ways that were not intended.Jennifer Imazekihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-35798948011378880242008-09-25T21:41:00.000-07:002008-09-25T21:41:00.000-07:00I would like the record to reflect that I personal...I would like the record to reflect that I personally chose C, but I had to think about it! Choice C was the only one that provided a clear and actual response to an incentive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-53136389834736411712008-09-25T19:12:00.000-07:002008-09-25T19:12:00.000-07:00So when you presented the material on unintended c...So when you presented the material on unintended consequences (UC), how did you do it? That is, was the problem in student preconceptions that were not sufficiently dealt with, or in the approach? (What do you think would have happened, by the way, if you'd asked the question first, then presented the material on UC, then asked either the same question or a variant of it?)<BR/><BR/>I am sincerely interested in the examples you used in teaching the concept, because it is a difficult one for students. There is a tendency, evident in what you got, for students to think that, because I got an outcome *that I did not intend* from actions I took, that's UC. In this case, thinking as I think students think, "C" cannot be right; the techer wanted 10 pages and got 10 pages (your point about teachers adapting their instructions is also relevant; when I assign papers now, I give a target word count)...It's harder for them to realize that the point is that someone else has developed a structure of incentives designed to get people to do A, and, in the course of doing A, they also do B, which is an undesireable outcome.Don Coffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07198988872512792834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-68290236182879397842008-09-25T16:20:00.000-07:002008-09-25T16:20:00.000-07:00What a great post. I recently talked to an instruc...What a great post. I recently talked to an instructor about some stumbling blocks his students constantly had. Because I was in essence a student in his discipline, (we were talking about an intro class) I was able to point out to him my stumbling blocks, namely not understanding certain foundational concepts/vocabulary he assumed the students would/should know.<BR/>I thought I understood incentives, I guess I don't :)<BR/>I picked A. My thinking was: In the US we incentivize overeating, not only in food portions (eat more for less money campaigns) but in the size of containers, dishware, etc.<BR/>No need to respond :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com