tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90967750468249783572024-03-16T08:56:35.585-07:00Economics for Teachers: Musings about Teaching EconomicsObservations and ramblings of an economist with a passion for teaching...Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.comBlogger377125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-70633509378047079872021-10-14T21:12:00.001-07:002021-10-14T21:12:43.544-07:00THE podcast on Implicit Bias<p>I keep telling myself I need to get back to blogging but, well, it's been a long pandemic... But I guess this is as good an excuse as any to post something: I am Bonni Stachowiak's guest on the <a href="https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/implicit-bias-in-our-teaching/" target="_blank">latest episode</a> of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, talking about implicit bias and how it can impact our teaching. </p><p>Doing the interview with Bonni (which was actually recorded a couple months ago) was a lot of fun. Listening to it now, I also realize how far I have come from the instructor I was when I started this blog over a decade ago. I've been away from the blog so long that I should probably spell this out: my current title is Associate Vice President for Faculty and Staff Diversity and I have responsibility for all professional learning and development related to diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as inclusive faculty and staff recruitment, and unit-level diversity planning. But I often say that in a lot of ways, I have no business being in this position - I've never studied anything in this area, I've never even taken an ethnic studies or sociology class, I'm "just" an economist. However, what I *have* done is thought a LOT about how to teach a wide range of students, and I've done a lot of work, both personally and professionally, to be reflective and self-aware in order to be a more empathetic person. And as I have learned more about what it means to 'do diversity work', I am more and more convinced that reflection, self-awareness and empathy are the keys to advancing equity and inclusion. I'll expand on that more in future posts but for now, I hope you'll <a href="https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/implicit-bias-in-our-teaching" target="_blank">listen to the podcast</a> and feel free to let me know what you think!</p>Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-76496983531718529482020-05-15T16:50:00.001-07:002020-05-17T14:53:46.325-07:00Designing effective courses means thinking through the WHAT and the HOW (in that order) I think most folks have heard by now that the California State University system (in which I work) has announced the intention to prepare for fall classes to be primarily online. I have to say, I am sort of confused why everyone is making such a big deal about this - no matter what your own institution is saying, no instructor who cares about their own mental health (let alone their students) should be thinking we are going back to 'business as usual' in the fall. In my mind, the only sane thing to do is at least <i>prepare</i> for the possibility of still teaching remotely.<br />
<br />
Fortunately, unlike this spring, we now have a lot more time for that preparation. Faculty developers across the country have been working overtime since March, and they aren't slowing down now; we are all trying to make sure we can offer our faculty the training and resources they will need to redesign fall courses for online or hybrid modalities. But one big difference between the training faculty needed this spring, and what they need to prepare for the fall, really comes down to intentional course design. Since this is one of those topics that most faculty have never thought about (because many faculty never get formal training in pedagogy and how to teach), I wanted to use this post to explain how I think about designing effective courses (and while this all applies to effective courses in any modality, it is particularly relevant for online courses).<br />
<br />
The main point here is that designing effective courses requires thinking about both foundations of course <b><i>DESIGN</i></b> and options for course <i><b>DELIVERY</b></i>. I think of the foundations of course <b><i>DESIGN</i></b> as being largely about the three main "WHAT" questions of a course:<br />
<ol>
<li>What knowledge, skills and attitudes will students learn? (goals and outcomes)</li>
<li>What evidence will students produce to show they have learned? (assessments)</li>
<li>What will students do in order to acquire the requisite knowledge, skills and attitudes, i.e., what will they do to actually learn? (activities)</li>
</ol>
For example, in an intro micro class, I want my students to learn "to analyze the impact of government policies on different markets" (1). Evidence that they have achieved this outcome would be that they can accurately analyze the impact of government policies on different markets (2) (and yes, that is basically just a repetition of the outcome; if you have done a good job of writing your learning outcomes, the evidence needed becomes quite obvious). We can the break down the specific knowledge/skills/attitudes they need i order to produce that evidence: understanding of concepts like elasticity, equilibrium, supply and demand, etc. and practice manipulating graphs (3). Good course design makes sure that these three items are <i>aligned, </i>meaning that the activities actually help students develop the knowledge / skills / attitudes you want them to develop, and the resulting knowledge / skills / attitudes are then used in assessments that actually assess whether students have learned what you want them to learn.<br />
<br />
Note that nothing in that last paragraph has anything to do with whether the course is face-to-face, fully online or some hybrid of the two, and says nothing about what I, the instructor, am going to do to help them with any of it. That leads me to course <b><i>DELIVERY</i></b>, which I think of as being largely about HOW students will do these things and HOW the instructor will support students as they do them.<br />
<br />
Continuing my same example, the outcome (1) doesn't change, but how students will learn and how they will produce their evidence of learning could look very different from instructor to instructor and for different modalities. For students to show they can "accurately analyze the impact of government policies on different markets" (2), they might answer questions on an exam, fill out a worksheet, write a paper, give a presentation, etc. Which option an instructor chooses could depend on their own background and experience, the size of the class, and/or the students they serve. And each of those options will be deployed in physically different ways in a face-to-face class versus online, and require different skills on the part of the instructor to implement.<br />
<br />
Similarly, to "understand concepts like elasticity, etc." (3), students might read a textbook or listen to me lecture, perhaps discuss with their classmates or answer some questions. Again, which option I choose will likely depend on my own style, the class, the students, and each option would be implemented differently in different modalities. In addition, all the other aspects of <b>how</b> we ensure students can learn - the support and feedback we provide, how we build relationships, the ways we motivate and incentivize students to do the work, the policies we adopt to guide behavior - these also can be implemented in different ways depending on who we are, who our students are and what modality we are teaching in.<br />
<br />
Of course, when planning a course, few instructors actually parse out course design foundations from course delivery - we tend to think about <b>what</b> we want students to do based on <b>how</b> we expect them to do it (which is often based on our experience with how things have been done in the past). And honestly, many instructors do not actually think intentionally about the <b>what</b> at all; they only focus on the <b>how</b>. And even for those faculty who <i>are</i> intentional about the <b>what</b>, the <b>how</b> is integrally connected, influencing what we think is even possible and reflecting what kind of course we aim to create.<br />
<br />
So now we can think about why this spring's transition to remote instruction was so difficult: regardless of how carefully you might have originally planned your course, the <b>how</b> was completely disrupted. Faculty had to figure out an entirely new <b>how</b> in just days, which would be challenging by itself, but was made even more so when simultaneously dealing with homeschooling, sharing home offices with others, spotty wifi and learning new tools like Zoom. Even if you were clear about your <b>what</b> (and again, most faculty aren't actually that intentional about their design in the first place), being forced to switch up your <b>how</b> in such a short time means most faculty just focused on finding the tools that would allow them to replicate their previous <b>how</b> with as little disruption as possible.<br />
<br />
And this reaction is also why every faculty developer and instructional designer has been adamant that what everyone has been doing this spring <a href="https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning" target="_blank">is <i>not</i> "online learning"</a>. We all might have been using online tools but actually designing an effective online course requires thinking carefully about the distinction and integration between the <b>what</b> and the <b>how</b>, between foundations of course <i>design </i>and course <i>delivery.</i> Yes, you need to know how to use the tools but there is a reason why, when faculty ask about tools, any faculty developer or instructional designer worth their salt will respond with, "Before we get to that, why don't you tell me what your learning goals are? What are you trying to accomplish, or have students accomplish?" Faculty need time to consider those foundational design questions and then to consider what it means to implement their answers in an online environment. They also need time to think about, and learn best practices for, how to recreate all the other aspects of <b>how</b> we ensure students can learn - providing support and feedback, building relationships, setting appropriate policies.<br />
<br />
Hopefully, whatever training your own institution provides will encourage faculty to consider the <b>what</b> before, or at least alongside, the <b>how</b>. I urge you to take that work seriously, to recognize that thinking through your goals and what you want students to do is ultimately about making it easier to choose tools and craft assignments that will help students achieve those goals. Being intentional in that work should also make it a LOT easier to pivot to a different <b>how</b> mid-semester if need be (and that is true whether you start online and can return to face-to-face or vice versa).<br />
<br />
On the off chance your institution is not offering any training that addresses the foundations of course design, feel free to use this <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSKA9K_WY0r-kKpmfTYOoJHujqcEnfSMud56eiC3nOL6W7yFFV1kU-rgVA8jiuyv0LS8CV7Gis6CIBd/pub" target="_blank">course design toolkit</a> (or this <a href="https://sdsu.instructure.com/courses/44918" target="_blank">self-paced course</a>) to work through those <b>what</b> questions on your own...Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-70458175676322181952020-04-12T06:57:00.000-07:002020-04-12T06:57:18.585-07:00Keeping Your Zoom Sessions SecureBy this time, I'm sure most people have heard about "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoombombing" target="_blank">Zoombombing</a>", where random (and sometimes not so random) people will enter a Zoom session and try to disrupt it in various ways (note for trivia enthusiasts: the term was first added to Wikipedia on March 28). Hopefully most people have also heard about the many ways to prevent this from happening. Zoom has taken steps to make things more secure by default but I thought it might be helpful to provide a simple round-up of Dos and Don't that you really need to know.<br />
<br />
<b>DO secure your session links </b>by using a <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360033559832-Meeting-and-Webinar-Passwords-?zcid=1231">password</a> and/or requiring <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/211579443-Registration-for-Meetings?zcid=1231">registration</a>. For some events (e.g., virtual happy hours that are open to anyone), I know it's easier to just give out a link publicly, but at least ask people to email you for the password.<br />
<br />
<b>DON'T use your <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362843?zcid=1231">personal meeting room</a> for public meetings</b>; use a random ID created specifically for your session. <br />
<br />
<b>DO know who is in your session by:</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Enabling the <a href="https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/02/14/secure-your-meetings-zoom-waiting-rooms/?zcid=1231">Waiting Room</a> </b>(and then DON’T admit people you can’t identify). One way to make sure you can identify who is in the waiting room is to <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360037117472-Authentication-Profiles-for-Meetings-and-Webinars?zcid=1231" target="_blank">require attendees to login</a>. <br /><i>PRO TIP: Even if someone is logged in, that doesn't mean they have set up their profile with their actual name. You can <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115000332726-Waiting-Room#h_11875115-ac6e-491b-a594-548058954ad2" target="_blank">customize your waiting room</a> to show a message that only identifiable attendees will be admitted.</i></li>
<li><b><a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005759423" target="_blank">Locking the meeting</a> once everyone is there</b>. Note that once a meeting is locked, you will not be notified that someone is in the waiting room so don't do this until everyone is there that you expect to be there.</li>
<li><b>Knowing how to <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005759423-Managing-participants-in-a-meeting?zcid=1231#h_135deff0-a391-4162-861b-204c020febb3" target="_blank">remove participants</a>.</b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<b>DO control what attendees can do by:</b>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Restricting </b><a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005759423?zcid=1231" style="font-weight: bold;">screen sharing</a>. This can be changed on the fly if you need to.</li>
<li><b>Restricting <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005706806?zcid=1231">annotation</a> and <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115004809306-Controlling-and-Disabling-In-Meeting-Chat?zcid=1231">chat</a> tools</b>. Note that you can still allow participants to send chat messages to you, the host, while restricting their ability to broadcast to everyone.</li>
<li><b><a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/203435537-Mute-All-And-Unmute-All?zcid=1231&_ga=2.229640476.1828460277.1584289344-827731685.1566335579">Muting</a> all participants (and DON'T let participants unmute themselves)</b>. Be sure to show people how to <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115001286183-Nonverbal-Feedback-During-Meetings#h_50523139-7bac-403b-9c59-1755ada65ad9" target="_blank">raise their hand</a> when they want to talk.</li>
<li><b>Knowing how to <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005759423?zcid=1231">disable video</a> / put participants “<a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362813-Attendee-On-Hold?zcid=1231">on hold</a>”</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Doing all these things can't guarantee that there won't still be some disruption but it does make it far less likely, and will ensure you can manage the culprits quickly if n</div>
<br />Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-75464768588679468972020-03-11T17:20:00.000-07:002020-03-11T17:20:08.993-07:00This is about getting through, not re-inventing your courseAs someone who has worked hard to build a lot of interactivity into my courses, I have never been interested in teaching fully online courses, in part because I have felt that the level of engaged interaction could never match that of a face-to-face class (not that there aren't some exceptional online courses out there; I just have a strong preference for the in-person connection). But the current situation is not really about building online courses that are 'just as good' as our face-to-face courses; it is about getting through this particular moment without compromising our students' learning too much. So if you are used to a lot of interaction in your F2F class, here are some options for adapting that interaction for a virtual environment:<br />
[NOTE: SDSU is a Zoom/mostly Blackboard campus so that's how I've written this but I am pretty sure that other systems have similar functionality]<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>If you use <b>clickers in class</b> to break up what is otherwise mostly lecture: Continue to deliver your lecture synchronously (at your regular class time) via <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362153-How-Do-I-Share-My-Screen-" target="_blank">screen sharing</a> in Zoom*. You can then use the <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/213756303-Polling-for-Meetings" target="_blank">Zoom polling feature</a> to ask the clicker questions, or use an online survey (google form, Polleverywhere, etc.) and paste the survey link into the chat box for students to access (less useful if you want to track individual responses). You can also have students respond to the questions in Blackboard / Canvas. These same tools work for other formative assessments (like minute papers) as well.<br />Note: It is good practice to have a space in your LMS for each session, where you can gather together all readings, slides, notes, links to associated discussion boards / surveys / quizzes. Provide students with the direct link at the beginning of the Zoom session (via the chat box) so they have it open during the class. </li>
<li>If you use <b>whiteboards</b> to write out a lot of things during class (e.g., drawing graphs, working through equations): Use Zoom's <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205677665-Sharing-a-whiteboard" target="_blank">whiteboard</a> and <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005706806-Using-annotation-tools-on-a-shared-screen-or-" target="_blank">annotation</a> features. What's particularly cool is that you can have students do the writing too (and I actually find it somewhat easier to get students to annotate a screen in Zoom than to get them to come up to a physical whiteboard in a classroom). </li>
<li>If you have students work in <b>small groups</b> during class: Try Zoom's <a href="https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206476093-Getting-Started-with-Breakout-Rooms" target="_blank">breakout rooms</a> function. You can either assign students randomly (just tell Zoom how many rooms to create and it will automatically place participants in rooms) or group them individually (tell Zoom who to put in which room). You can make 'announcements' that show up in each room (for example to tell students you will be bringing them back together in 30 seconds) and you can pop into any room you want. If I were teaching a <a href="http://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com/2012/07/team-based-learning-basics.html" target="_blank">TBL class</a> this semester, this is definitely how I would handle the team time. </li>
<li>If you have <b>full-class discussions</b>: You can try to use breakout rooms for this as well, to at least encourage students to have real discussion, just in smaller groups, but I suspect that might be frustrating if you are used to truly full-class discussions. So this might be best converted to online <a href="https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Interact/Discussions" target="_blank">discussion boards</a> instead: pose your discussion question, assign a subset of students to respond by a certain time, then a different subset of students must comment. Just be sure that you have a <a href="https://topr.online.ucf.edu/discussion-rubrics/" target="_blank">clear rubric</a> for how those posts will be graded (you may be able to make some simple adjustments to the rubric you use for your <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/searle/docs/Discussion%20Rubric%20Examples.pdf" target="_blank">in-class discussions</a> which I'm sure you must already have, right?).</li>
<li>If you have students do <b>class presentations</b>: Students can still do their presentations synchronously online, using Zoom. But you should also consider your learning goals - why are you asking students to do presentations in the first place? Unless you teach a communications class where the point is for students to develop oral presentation skills, many presentations could probably be replaced by some other asynchronous format (e.g., a paper, a video, a mixed media project) that achieves similar learning goals. If part of the point of doing presentations is to ensure other students in the class hear the content, then any alternative format could be similarly shared through the LMS. </li>
</ul>
<div>
What am I missing?</div>
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<br /></div>
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* Again, do not assume your students have computers and sufficiently stable internet access at home. Find out what accommodations your campus has for those students who typically use campus computer labs.</div>
Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-38448666248848203832020-03-11T09:16:00.000-07:002020-03-11T22:42:16.826-07:00Keep calm and keep teachingI am still trying to figure out why everyone seems to be freaking out but given that they apparently are, we are seeing more and more campuses closing / moving classes online (including my own). If you are among the many instructors who are now scrambling to keep your classes on track, I have some suggestions for dos and don'ts...<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>DO wash your hands</b>, and <b>DON'T touch your face</b>. Is anyone else feeling sort of appalled at how bad their personal hygiene apparently has been up to now? I'm surprised I don't get sick way more often than I do...</li>
<li><b>DO get good information</b> about COVID-19 in general. <i>The Atlantic</i>, which normally limits the number of articles you can access without a subscription, is giving everyone <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/category/what-you-need-know-coronavirus" target="_blank">free access</a> to some of their coverage and it is all excellent.</li>
<li><b>DO check your readiness</b> to use the technology you will need. Some institutions have developed readiness checklists (like <a href="https://sjsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5n0rjrgKTIg6TJj" target="_blank">this one</a> from San Jose State). In my mind, the two big tech-related questions are:</li>
<ul>
<li>Have you used Zoom / Skype / whatever system your campus uses for remote conferencing? </li>
<ul>
<li>In addition to simply starting a session and knowing what all the settings are, I think you also need to know 1) how to share your screen, 2) how to use interactive tools like chat, polling and 'raise your hand' features, and 3) how to record your session (and then how to make it available to students).</li>
</ul>
<li>Are you set up in Blackboard / Canvas / Moodle / whatever learning management system your campus uses? </li>
<ul>
<li>In addition to simply logging in and <i>having</i> your course there, I think you also need to know 1) how to upload documents and other files, 2) where and how to post announcements, 3) where and how to create quizzes and surveys, and 4) where and how to use interactive discussion boards / journals / other reflective writing features. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<li><b>DO track down the people who can help you</b>; at San Diego State, that unit is called <a href="https://its.sdsu.edu/covid-19/" target="_blank">Instructional Technology Services</a> but they might be called Academic Technology on your campus. You also should know how to contact your Center for Teaching and Learning (which can also have lots of different names on different campuses). Almost every campus has someone who does faculty development and who is currently very stressed out trying to figure out how to help you. </li>
<li><b>DO find the online resources designed specifically to support instructors</b> when there are campus disruptions; if you haven't already gotten something from your administration, you can see if your institution is on <a href="http://bit.ly/rtresourcelist" target="_blank">this list</a> of remote teaching support sites. If it isn't, Indiana University's <a href="https://keepteaching.iu.edu/" target="_blank">Keep Teaching</a> site is often held up as a fantastic resource.</li>
<li><b>DON'T focus just on the technology</b> and <b>DO think about your pedagogy</b>! The Chronicle article on <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/Going-Online-in-a-Hurry-What/248207" target="_blank">Going Online in a Hurry</a> has 6 steps of excellent advice which largely boil down to: Think about what you want students to learn and how different aspects of your current face-to-face class support that learning, then consider how that same learning might happen online. And COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE. </li>
<li><b>DO try to be as flexible and accommodating as possible</b>, and <b>DON'T make assumptions about your students</b>. In particular, please DON'T assume that all your students have computers and stable internet access. Hopefully, if your campus is closing, your administration has considered this and is working on accommodations for students who rely on campus computer labs and internet services. Find out what those accommodations are and share with all of your students. If your institution is not providing this information, you should be bugging someone in your administration (I'd suggest starting with your CTL Director or Chief Diversity Officer) to make sure every student has equal access to your class.</li>
<li>Along similar lines, <b>DON'T assume students know how to use all the technology</b> they will need. Even if they are "digital natives" when it comes to using technology for social purposes, many students are not very savvy about how to use technology for learning purposes, and they do not always ask when they don't know. Make sure to post links to How To videos on using Zoom and other tools, and provide super-clear instructions about whatever you ask to do within the learning management system.</li>
</ul>
<div>
And last, but not least...</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b><u><i>DON'T BE RACIST</i></u></b>. As an Asian-American, I may be more aware than most people that a LOT of the media coverage of COVID-19 has featured Asian people in the pictures and visuals. At first, that made sense, since the stories were about China and South Korea. But when stories about cases in the United States are <i>still</i> using those same visuals, I definitely noticed; after all, most of the time, there is a relative dearth of Asian faces in the media so when I see predominantly Asian faces in pictures about new cases found in Washington, California or New York, I notice. Or, as I recently posted on Facebook, "I didn't realize there were so many Asian people in America but there must be because every story about Covid19 cases in the U S. shows Asian people, which of course must mean we are a huge share of the population, right? Oh wait..." Throw in the media referring to "the Chinese virus", and the fact that the general response to this whole thing has felt irrational, it is not surprising that <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/03/02/811363404/when-xenophobia-spreads-like-a-virus" target="_blank">anti-Asian discrimination and harassment has spiked</a>. So please, be aware that your Asian students and colleagues - the vast majority of whom I am pretty sure are no more likely than you to have this thing - are likely walking around with an even higher sense of anxiety. Take a minute to consider: Could your own words and actions be contributing to that anxiety, or helping to alleviate it? I hope you will focus on the latter...</div>
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<br /></div>
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In the coming days, I am planning to post <a href="http://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com/2020/03/this-is-about-getting-through-not-re.html" target="_blank">more resources</a> to help instructors who are trying to move online. In the meantime, keep calm, wash your hands, and be kind...</div>
Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-84891040294088257772019-08-04T20:14:00.001-07:002019-08-04T20:14:49.001-07:00A new dimension of empathyThis is part II of the <a href="https://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com/2019/08/learning-to-be-authentic-leader.html" target="_blank">lessons I took away from the Executive Leadership Academy</a>...<br />
<br />
The other surprising and amazing aspect of the ELA was
meeting the other fellows, many of whom were also women and people of color. Simply
being in a room with so many people who are leaders on their campuses, who are
deeply committed to diversity and inclusion, and who are not afraid to talk
about that commitment in the context of their roles as leaders was a first for
me. Again, I’m not sure I can explain it well but I am pretty sure it was the
first time I have been in a room where I felt completely accepted, even part of
the “in crowd”, not IN SPITE of being a woman of color who cares about
diversity and inclusion, but BECAUSE of it. That feeling, in itself, has given me
a ton to think about. In particular, I keep wondering: is this what white
people (or at least white men) feel all the time, maybe without even being
aware of it?
<br />
<br />
There is a quote I like that goes something like, “When you
are accustomed to privilege, equity can feel like loss”. When I first heard
that, I thought it captured in such a simple way the source of so much of the anger
and violence we have seen from certain groups in this country in the last few
years. And I thought I understood it. But while I may have been able to
understand it on some intellectual level, I have to say that a big part of me <i>only</i>
gets it on an intellectual level – I don’t think I have ever actually <i>felt</i>
that same loss. Not that I don’t experience privilege in many ways, but I don’t
believe I have ever felt threatened, less special, when that privilege has been
extended to others.
<br />
<br />
But I keep thinking about how I felt for a brief moment at
the ELA, and how I might feel about the world if that feeling were my norm and
then that norm were threatened. I honestly have no idea if this is an
appropriate parallel, but I believe it has added a new layer to the empathy I
feel for those who are pushing back against all the diversity initiatives on my
campus that I am so excited about. That has reinforced my belief that to
be successful, we need to make sure we are truly being <i>inclusive</i>. At the
same time, it has also added a new dimension to my motivation to make sure these
initiatives are wildly successful, so that what I experienced <i>does</i>
become my (and every other person’s) norm…
Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-1083423268837769492019-08-04T17:23:00.000-07:002019-08-04T17:23:06.520-07:00Learning to be an authentic leaderThis summer I had the opportunity to attend the <a href="https://cshe.berkeley.edu/ela">Executive Leadership Academy</a> (ELA) at UC
Berkeley’s Center for Studies in Higher Education. When I arrived for the first
day, I didn’t really know what to expect. I had seen the agenda and knew that I
would learn a lot about aspects of higher ed administration that I have not
been involved with before (like fundraising, working with governing boards and
crisis management); I also figured that at least some of the sessions would not
be too new (like recruiting and retaining diverse faculty). I was correct on
both counts.<br />
<br />
But the most valuable aspect of the ELA was not really in
the content of those sessions (though that content was all excellent and I know
will prove incredibly useful in the future). The real benefit was in something
I had no way of anticipating: hearing the stories and personal experiences of
the many speakers who were from minoritized backgrounds. Almost all of the
presenters were former Presidents or Provosts and for me, hearing from
women of color, in particular, who had not only made it into those positions but who all did
so while continuing to be completely authentic and true to their cultural
backgrounds, affected me deeply, in ways that I am still processing (and will
likely continue to process for a long time to come).<br />
<br />
I don’t know if I can even explain it. It was not just
inspiring; I suspect that it was literally life-changing. I found (and continue
to find) myself questioning beliefs and assumptions that I did not even realize
were beliefs and assumptions – I thought they were simply facts and realities,
about how leaders of universities are “supposed to” talk and behave. I listened
to <a href="https://cshe.berkeley.edu/people/cassandra-manuelito-kerkvliet-phd">Cassandra
Manuelito-Kerkvliet</a>, the first Native American woman to be president of a
university outside the tribal college system, talk about practicing her
culture’s customs IN that presidential office; and I heard <a href="https://www.sonoma.edu/about/president">Judy Sakaki</a>, the first
Japanese-American woman <i>in the country</i> to be president of a four-year
university, talk about how the family heirlooms – including kimonos from her
grandparents – that she had displayed at Sonoma State were the only family
treasures she still had after losing everything else in the Tubbs fire; and I
heard SDSU’s own President, <a href="https://president.sdsu.edu/meet-the-president/about-the-president">Adela
de la Torre</a>, talk about prioritizing family, even with all the demands of a
presidency. With each presentation, I could feel something in me shift,
something that at first felt like some level of surprise to hear what I was
hearing but then thought, “Well, why NOT that?”
<br />
<br />
Throughout the week, I kept thinking about my
struggle to <a href="http://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com/2019/01/are-you-doing-leadership-do-you-call.html">call
myself a leader</a>. These women, as well as most of the men and women sitting
around me in the room, not only were unafraid to claim their role as leaders
but they seemed able to do so while remaining completely authentic to cultures
and upbringing that are so different from the “traditional” model of what a
leader a “looks like.” I can’t say that I am yet completely comfortable with
calling myself a leader – maybe there is a part of me that will always feel a
little weird about that – but I <i>can</i> say that I left with far more
confidence that I can be exactly the person I want be AND be the leader I want
to be.Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-57362017338883408542019-04-07T18:39:00.000-07:002019-04-07T18:39:39.635-07:00Fun is in the eye of the beholderIn my <a href="http://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com/2019/02/what-motivates-you-at-mid-career.html" target="_blank">last post</a>, I highlighted four criteria one might use to consider what projects and roles to take on. I posted a link to that on my personal Facebook page, with the summary comment, "Realizing that maybe what is missing from my work is fun. Next step is figuring out why and how to get more of it..." A friend pointed out that "If everyone declined things missing the fun element, every RTP committee would be empty, as would most governance" and she is absolutely right. So let me clarify that I don't need <i>everything</i> I do to be fun, and certainly not all the time, as long as at least one of the other criteria are satisfied (i.e., I feel I'm growing, or it's something I feel passionately about, or it gives me a sense of accomplishment).<br />
<br />
At the same time, if I don't feel like <i>anything</i> I'm doing is particularly "fun", then that's a problem too. And what I've realized is that while my work with the CTL generally provides a sense of accomplishment, and some aspects of the job certainly contribute to helping students in a way I feel passionate about, I really don't find any of the day-to-day work fun anymore. I also feel like I've hit a plateau in terms of what I am learning, and that doesn't seem likely to change unless my institution makes a very different decision about the resources it is willing to invest in faculty development. In contrast, because I was able to catch up on a bunch of stuff over Spring Break, I just spent a big chunk of my weekend mucking around in school finance data, and the time flew in a way I haven't experienced in a while. On a few other occasions recently, when I have had the opportunity to talk about education policy, or play around with data, or talk to people about economics, I have come away from those times feeling energized, rather than drained. Maybe it's a function of novelty - since my consumption of those activities is lower these days, my marginal benefit is higher :-). But I suspect there is something more meaningful going on. <br />
<br />
This all reminds me, once again, of that quote - and I don't know where it comes from - that a professor is someone who thinks the world would be better off if everyone knew a little more about her subject. Deep down, I am an economist, not a faculty developer, and I am happiest when I get to 'do' economics. So I need to start figuring out how to make more space for that...<br />
<br />Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-85111757766674859182019-02-24T15:38:00.000-08:002019-02-24T15:38:02.009-08:00What motivates you at mid-career?My first sabbatical was in 2006-07, right after I got tenure. I took the full year and moved back to the Bay Area for a year, feeling like I really needed to get completely away from everything about my life in San Diego, in order to think more clearly about what I really wanted. I did a ton of soul-searching that year. I remember feeling really conflicted. At that point, I had spent eleven years basically working toward one goal - tenure - and I'm not sure that I had ever really stopped to think about what would happen after that. For the first time in my academic life, I could actually step back and ask, "What am I doing? Why am I doing it? Is this what I want to keep doing for, potentially, the rest of my life? If not, what do I want to be doing instead? And is San Diego State <i>where</i> I want to do it for, potentially, the rest of my life? " Big questions.<br />
<br />
I can't say that I figured it all out but by the end of the year, I think I had identified the goals and values that really drive my work, and I realized that a) I really did love my research but b) I also wanted to spend more time on my teaching. I also admitted to myself that although there were (and still are) things about my department that drive me nuts, there is no other combination of location and institution that I'm aware of that could ever Pareto-dominate San Diego State. The dominance of the location is obvious (hello, San Diego!), but what it took me a while to appreciate was that being at SDSU is rewarding in ways that I don't believe I would ever find at an elite institution. I will never forget the first time I was at a commencement ceremony and one of my students came up to me with her parents who hugged me like I was a long lost relative, thanking me profusely for advising their daughter, the first in the family to attend college. Although I was attracted to doing ed policy research originally because I was raised to believe in education as the great equalizer, it is my job as an instructor at San Diego State, more than my academic research, that makes me feel like I am truly contributing to that ideal every day.<br />
<br />
Over the years, the soul-searching I did on that sabbatical has helped me stay grounded and to navigate priorities, particularly as I moved away from ed policy research to do more work in Econ ed. I've been able to accept my dwindling publication record in certain types of journals because the other work I was doing still fit into my larger goals and values.<br />
<br />
When I took on the CTL gig, things got a bit more complicated. At first, it was fun, and challenging, if a bit overwhelming, to think about how to help faculty across the University to be better teachers. But I have come to feel that something is missing and I wasn't quite sure what until I read a recent article in the Chronicle, <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/You-re-a-Full-Professor-Now/245403" target="_blank">"You're a Full Professor. Now What?"</a> The author, Kathryn McDaniel, talks about the challenge of deciding how to prioritize her time and she highlights four questions that she asks about new responsibilities or projects:<br />
<br />
- Is it fun?<br />
- Is it helping me grow or develop in a new area?<br />
- Is it connected to something I feel passionate about?<br />
- Does it provide me with a sense of accomplishment?<br />
<br />
McDaniel uses these questions to guide her choices about what projects and roles to take on. She has two rules: "The projects and roles I choose should inspire a "yes" to at least one of the questions." and "If something I am asked to do generates a "no" when applied to all four criteria, then I politely decline the request."<br />
<br />
This really resonated with me but as I have thought about it more, I would add another rule: my work as a whole should be satisfying ALL FOUR criteria. Not everything has to be a 'yes' to all four, but at the end of the day, I want to be able to say that I've got all four covered by all the different things I am spending time on, put together.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, it is becoming more and more clear to me that while most of my CTL work hits three of the four, there is currently almost no aspect of my job that I think is 'fun'. So I've got to spend some time figuring out what IS fun for me and how to get some of that into my work day.<br />
<br />
What criteria do you use to help prioritize your time?Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-88175760145912979522019-01-17T16:27:00.000-08:002019-01-17T16:27:57.947-08:00Do you call yourself a leader? Part IIIn my <a href="http://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com/2019/01/are-you-doing-leadership-do-you-call.html" target="_blank">last post</a>, I wrote about my resistance to calling myself a leader and how I think I've figured out where that resistance comes from: 1) it feels like bragging, 2) I don't fit the mental image I hold of what a leader looks like (i.e., white male), and 3) I don't want the responsibility I associate with being a leader. So the next questions I'm asking myself are: Does it really matter if I claim the leader label? And if it does, how do I get past this resistance I feel? Some of the conversations I had with colleagues earlier this week are helping me see that yes, it does matter, and what's particularly interesting to me is that I think some of the reasons <i>why</i> it matters are actually going to help me get over the resistance.<br />
<br />
For starters, a big reason I think it matters if I call myself a leader, and that also definitely makes it easier to do so, is that those first two sources of resistance are essentially founded on sexist and racist beliefs, and that's just bullshit (pardon my language). I mean, whether I want to call myself a leader or not, I am <i>doing</i> the work of leadership, and others see me doing that work. So if I shy away from fully owning that, I am just perpetuating the implicit bias that says girls (and particularly Asian girls) shouldn't "brag", or that says girls taking credit for their own good work is "bragging" in the first place. I do have to say, that voice inside telling me that it's presumptuous to call myself a leader is a really hard one to shake, and I know it will continue to be. But if most men don't seem to worry about this, why should I?<br />
<br />
As for the belief that leaders are "supposed to be" white men, that's a lot easier to reject. Not only is that just objectively wrong, but if people like me, a Japanese-American woman, don't step up and call ourselves leaders, how will we ever really get rid of that bias? The more I've thought this, the more I feel like I practically have a social obligation to get over myself and claim my leader identity.<br />
<br />
The third source of my resistance, that sense of obligation that I feel comes with the leader label, is also hard to shake off. But one of my colleagues at the Leadership Institute said something that really resonated with me. He talked about how he views his leadership as an honor and privilege that has been bestowed on him by colleagues and he thinks about being a leader <i>for them</i>. Others made similar comments, about focusing on the work, on serving others, and I really like that too. I think the more I can re-frame my mental beliefs about being a leader in terms of opportunity instead of obligation, the less resistance I feel. If I focus more on the fact that being a leader is an honor and allows me to serve others, instead of focusing on the expectations and responsibility, then it feels less like something scary and stressful, and more like something I can (and should) be proud to claim. I think this is also why the leader label matters - by not thinking of myself as a leader, I wonder what opportunities I may have missed out on. Are there times when I might have been able to do more, to offer more, if I had thought of myself as a leader, as someone who <i>could</i> and <i>should</i> do more?<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I suspect these ideas will be rumbling around in my head for a while and are sure to come up on this blog again. As always, I'm curious if others have similar thoughts (or complete different thoughts!) so please feel free to share in the comments... </div>
Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-41982311254452267082019-01-16T17:10:00.001-08:002019-01-17T16:28:24.820-08:00Are you doing leadership? Do you call yourself a leader? Part IThis week I participated in a Faculty Leadership Institute at school that has my brain kind of spinning. There are many things I want to write about but I am particularly grappling with the title questions right now. Basically, I know that I am "doing leadership" - for most of my life, I have always done work that others would call leadership, like I was in student government in high school and college, I always held leadership positions in other student organizations, I've been on Boards of professional associations, I've chaired committees, etc. And currently, I'm not only the CTL Director but a University Senator and the chair of one of the more "powerful" Senate committees. And I know I'm pretty darn effective at all that work.<br />
<br />
But a few years ago, when a colleague first referred to me as a 'faculty leader', I had an almost visceral negative reaction and immediately wanted to disagree with him. And in the last couple weeks, I have been in a few different situations (including this Leadership Institute) where I have been asked to think of myself as a leader and I feel a HUGE resistance to the label.<br />
<br />
As I have started to really examine why, there are three aspects of my resistance that I think I can identify. One is that it feels arrogant, presumptuous. Leaders are Important People, People who Get Things Done and, often, they are Above Others, so some part of me feels like it would be bragging to call myself a leader - and nice people don't brag. That's my judgmental nature coming out but I do know that feeling comes from values instilled in me since I was pretty young. So when I dig into that a little deeper, I also find myself wondering: is it maybe that I think nice <i>girls</i> don't brag? Or that nice <i>Japanese-American girls</i> don't brag? I don't typically bring gender or race into these sort of discussions but I can't help but wonder because a) I'm pretty sure that girls are more likely than boys to be told that it is somehow unbecoming to brag and b) I suspect that Japanese-American parents are more likely than white parents to tell their children not to call attention to themselves.<br />
<br />
Being a Japanese-American woman is <i>definitely </i>related to the second aspect of my resistance that I can identify, which is that when someone uses the label "leader", the mental image I see is more likely than not a white man. That is, when someone talks about "leaders", I picture political leaders (who are mostly white men), or business leaders (who are mostly white men) or even academic leaders (who are mostly white men, certainly in economics anyway). So in my mind's eye, "leader" conjures up "white man" and that sure ain't me.<br />
<br />
The third aspect of my resistance comes from a very different place and that is a reluctance to accept the responsibility that I feel comes with calling myself a leader. Yes, leaders are People who Get Things Done - which means that if I call myself a leader, <i>I</i> will then be expected to Get Things Done. From one perspective, that makes no sense because I am <i>already</i> doing the work (I <i>do</i>, in fact, Get Things Done) so why should it bother me to claim the label? But there is a difference between doing the work and <i>being expected</i> to do the work - the latter carries the possibility of not meeting those expectations and that's scary / stressful. It also creates a sense of obligation that I just really don't want, even if I have every confidence I can meet that obligation.<br />
<br />
In <a href="https://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com/2019/01/do-you-call-yourself-leader-part-ii.html" target="_blank">Part II</a>, I'll share how my thinking is evolving to address each of these but I'm curious whether others feel this same resistance and if so, does it come from similar places? Have you found ways to overcome it?Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-30299884298569535412019-01-11T13:24:00.000-08:002019-01-11T13:24:33.662-08:00Simple way to diversify the pipelineI don't usually mind missing the ASSA meetings - I hate to travel, I live in California so going to meetings almost always means going someplace a lot colder and an earlier time zone, and 90% of the economists I encounter at those meetings are the type of economists I dislike (and the other 10% are people I can see elsewhere). But there are occasionally sessions and papers that make me wish I had gone. One such paper in Atlanta is by Amanda Bayer, Syon Bhanot and Fernando Lozano, part of a session titled <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/conference/2019/preliminary/791?q=eNqrVipOLS7OzM8LqSxIVbKqhnGVrJQMlWp1lBKLi_OTgRwlHaWS1KJcXAgrJbESKpSZmwphlWWmloO0FxUUXDAFTA1AegsS00GyJkq1XDBuqB4X" target="_blank">Gender in the Economics Profession I</a> (the fact that there is more than one session with that title also makes me happy). The paper is "<a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/conference/2019/preliminary/paper/BZ8K3s4e" target="_blank">Does Simple Information Provision Lead to More Diverse Classrooms? Evidence from a Field Experiment on Undergraduate Economics</a>" (link is to download the preview paper from the AEA conference site) and here's the abstract:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Significant gender and racial/ethnic gaps have been observed in the economics profession, a reality with roots in the decisions of undergraduates and their professors. Indeed, despite representing almost 60 percent of the U.S. college population, women account for only 30 percent of economics majors. While disparities in knowledge of economics and its value undoubtedly exist before students set foot on college campuses, economists could do more to directly address student misperceptions and knowledge gaps. This paper reports the results of a field experiment in which faculty provided incoming students with information about economics via two emails sent in the summer as students considered courses for their first semester of college. We evaluate whether this outreach has an impact on course taking using a randomized control trial involving 2,710 students across nine U.S. colleges with a strong record of sending students to PhD programs in economics. We randomly assign all incoming women and members of underrepresented minority groups to one of three experimental conditions: a control (no email messaging), a simple “Welcome” treatment (two emails encouraging students to consider enrolling in economics courses), and a “Welcome+Info” treatment (two emails encouraging students to consider enrolling in economics courses plus information showcasing the diversity of research and researchers within economics and providing links to educational materials on the AEA’s website). The Welcome+Info treatment increases the likelihood of completing an economics course in the first semester of college by 3.0 percentage points, which is nearly 20 percent of the baseline rate. Additional exploratory analyses suggest stronger effects on first-generation college students. Our results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that how economics is presented at the undergraduate level affects who is attracted to the field.</blockquote>
That last sentence, "how economics is presented at the undergraduate level affects who is attracted to the field," highlights one of my longstanding frustrations. I hate that so many people in the world do not know the economics field that I know, that I am constantly explaining to people how the ed policy work I do is completely typical of the applied micro work that a lot of economists do, and that economics is much more about choices and behavior than business and money. Sigh.<br />
<br />
At any rate, the intervention these authors used strikes me as a pretty darn simple way to diversify our economics classrooms and I really encourage everyone to share this with your colleagues and consider how you could do something similar at your own institution!<br />
<br />
<br />Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-72497727557183350862019-01-10T16:20:00.000-08:002019-01-10T16:20:22.425-08:00Getting back to blogging...So, here I am, back to trying to blog more consistently. There are a number of things that have led to me finally getting off my butt, or out of my head, and actually sitting down at the laptop. One is that in my role as CTL Director, I repeatedly tell faculty that one aspect of being an effective teacher is being reflective - being willing to step back and look at what you're doing in the classroom, asking what is working and what isn't, how do you know what's working and what isn't, and what needs to be done to keep improving. For many years, this blog was basically my way of doing that reflection 'out loud'. I wouldn't exactly say that I've been a hypocrite in telling my faculty to do something I don't do anymore myself - I do believe I reflect regularly on my work as a faculty developer, even if not in a public forum - but I could do more, and hope blogging will help me think through a number of things in a more systematic and concrete way. I actually think self-reflection, self-awareness, is a key aspect of being an effective <i>human being, </i>not just an effective instructor, and writing / journaling has always helped me think through things so I hope blogging will help me be more reflective in general.<br />
<br />
Another thing that is motivating me to get back to blogging is a desire to re-connect with my economist self. This fall, I did get back in the classroom but it wasn't an economics classroom. I'll write more about that experience in the future but one of the huge takeaways for me was the reminder that I really don't love <i>teaching</i> as a general thing; I love <i>teaching economics</i>. That is, what I love about teaching is specifically helping students understand economics, helping them develop their skills in thinking about the world like economists; everything I do to be a better teacher is in service to that purpose. This has also made me realize that I am not destined to stay in the CTL / general faculty development role forever. There was a point in time when I thought maybe this was going to be my next career stage, a fundamental shift in my identity, but I am now pretty sure that it is only a somewhat prolonged detour, albeit one that has provided a ton of lessons and new priorities I will certainly carry with me when I return to my original trajectory. That is also something I plan to write more about in the future and I hope that blogging here will help me figure out what I'm doing as I navigate my path over the next few years.<br />
<br />
Finally, perhaps the biggest thing motivating me to get back to blogging is a desire to do more than I am currently doing to participate in what I see as a critical conversation happening in our profession, our classrooms, our country. I have <a href="http://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com/2008/05/why-im-here.html" target="_blank">always said</a> that I believe that if everyone thought a little more like economists, the world would be a better place, and while there are many ways in which our profession is deeply flawed, I still believe that one thing the world could use a little more of these days is for more people to understand (and act on) concepts like cost-benefit analysis, positive versus normative thinking, sunk versus marginal costs. In future posts, I hope to expand on why I believe that and how, in my mind, economic thinking is completely consistent with a world of greater diversity, inclusion and equality. I have no idea who will read this but whoever you are, I hope you'll stick around for that conversation...Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-81053587821400836562019-01-07T15:53:00.003-08:002019-01-07T15:53:55.928-08:00My word for 2019: DOIn the endless stream of stuff that comes at me in various news feeds, I recently saw an article about how, instead of making New Year's resolutions, you should choose just ONE WORD and basically use it as a mantra for the year, reminding you of whatever your other goals might be. Turns out this one word idea is A Thing (just google 'one word for the year') so clearly I'm not the only one who thinks it makes some sense.<br />
<br />
The word that immediately came to my mind was "DO" - as in, I need to stop <i>talking</i> about all the things I need/want to do and just go <i>do</i> them (yes, like getting back to blogging - see, it's working already!). One issue I'm having is that it's hard to think "DO" without my mind expanding that to "Just Do It", and while I have nothing against Nike (especially after the Kaepernick ad campaign :-)), it's sort of annoying to think of a brand's ad slogan every time I am trying to motivate myself. And yet... I think this is what I need. There are so many things I have been saying forever that I 'should' do, from little things like getting a broken necklace fixed to bigger things like blogging more and re-learning Spanish. Now, when I think to myself, "OK, so DO that," I feel like I have to either make a specific plan to get it done, figure out what is stopping me so I can get past that, or decide I'm not going to do whatever it is but then also stop saying I should.<br />
<br />
I should point out that I am not typically a procrastinator so if I'm putting off doing something, I tend to think it means something else is going on (that's what I mean by 'figure out what's stopping me so I can get past it'). Like, I have realized that I keep putting off writing for this blog because I don't feel like I can write the same sort of stuff I wrote about for the first several years of this blog's existence (i.e., teaching economics) but I feel like that's what people 'expect'. And I still worry about that. But it has also occurred to me that given I keep feeling like I "should" be writing more, and that I WANT to be writing more, my choices are A) continue saying "I should really blog more" but not actually do it, which doesn't help anyone and makes me feel bad about myself; B) stop blogging but also stop saying I should, which at least is consistent but also means I'm not doing something I actually want to do; C) shut down this blog and start blogging somewhere else, which would require figuring out what THAT blog should be and having to do a bunch of work to build a community of readers, which I could certainly do but it would be more of a pain; or D) just write what I want to write here, which could mean that a lot of people get annoyed with me and decide to stop reading / following / subscribing but then they also would not be any worse off than if I weren't writing here at all, and it's the least cost/highest benefit to me. So, the Pareto optimal outcome is obviously D and as a true economist, who am I to mess with that? :-)<br />
<br />
So all of this has been a long-winded way of saying that I am planning to blog here more often. I'm not sure how <i>much</i> more often but at least now, every time I think to myself that I want to write, I will also try to tell myself to go DO.<br />
<br />
Do you choose a word for the year? Or make specific New Year's resolutions? Would love to hear your plans in the comments...Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-59088487180171622402018-12-29T11:23:00.000-08:002018-12-29T11:23:47.670-08:00Econ Ed at the ASSAsHappy New Year! For the ten+ years that I have been blogging, the one post I have managed to get done every year is the list of teaching-related sessions at the annual ASSA meetings. This year, I am hoping this will be the kick-off for a renewed commitment to writing more often and more consistently (though probably not always about teaching economics)...<br />
<br />
If you are going to the meetings in Atlanta, here are all the sessions I could find in the program that are focused on teaching. As always, if I missed any, please let me know and I will update.<br />
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<b><u>The Federal Reserve Banks as Partners in Teaching and Learning Economics</u></b><br />
<div>
Paper Session<br />
Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM<br />
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, M101<br />
Chair: Diego Mendez-Carbajo, Illinois Wesleyan University<br />
<br />
<i>A Survey of Federal Reserve Economic Education Programs and Resources</i><br />
Scott Wolla, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis<br />
Andrew Hill, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia<br />
<br />
<i>Economics Scholars Program for Undergraduate Research</i><br />
Princeton Williams, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta<br />
Stephen Clayton, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas<br />
Daniel Nuckols, Austin College<br />
<br />
<i>Econlowdown.org in the Classroom</i><br />
Lucy Malakar, Lorain County Community College<br />
Diego Mendez-Carbajo, Illinois Wesleyan University<br />
<br />
<i>Active Learning with FRED Data: Theory, Practice, and Findings</i><br />
Diego Mendez-Carbajo, Illinois Wesleyan University<br />
<br />
Discussant(s)<br />
Rita Balaban, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill<br />
J. Peter Ferderer, Macalester College<br />
Laura Ahlstrom, Oklahoma State University<br />
Carlos Asarta, University of Delaware<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Research in Economic Education</b></u><br />
Paper Session<br />
Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM<br />
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, M301<br />
Chair: Georg Schaur, University of Tennessee-Knoxville<br />
<br />
<i>Towards the Next Generation of Scholarship: Challenges and Opportunities for Full Participation in PhD Training in Economics</i><br />
Thomas Jeitschko, Michigan State University<br />
<br />
<i>The Gender Gap in Undergraduate Economics Course Persistence and Degree Selection</i><br />
Laura Ahlstrom, Oklahoma State University<br />
Carlos Asarta, University of Delaware<br />
<br />
<i>Gender Bias and Temporal Effects in Standard Evaluations of Teaching</i><br />
Whitney Buser, Young Harris College<br />
Jill Kearns Hayter, East Tennessee State University<br />
Emily Marshall, Dickinson College<br />
<br />
<i>Grades in Economics and Other Undergraduate Majors</i><br />
William B. Walstad, University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br />
William Bosshardt, Florida Atlantic University<br />
<br />
Discussant(s)<br />
Wendy Stock, Montana State University<br />
Justin Roush, Georgia College & State University<br />
Jens Schubert, University of Delaware<br />
Georg Schaur, University of Tennessee-Knoxville<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>50 Years of the Journal of Economic Education</b></u>Paper Session<br />
Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM<br />
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, M104<br />
Chair: John Siegfried, American Economic Association<br />
<br />
<i>Continuity and Change in Economic Education over Fifty Years</i><br />
William B. Walstad, University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br />
<br />
<i>50 Years of Economic Education Research</i><br />
Sam Allgood, University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br />
Georg Schaur, University of Tennessee<br />
<br />
<i>50 Years of Best Teaching Practice in Economics</i><br />
Gail Hoyt, University of Kentucky<br />
KimMarie McGoldrick, University of Richmond<br />
<br />
<i>Setting an Agenda for the Future</i><br />
Sam Allgood, University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br />
KimMarie McGoldrick, University of Richmond<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>What Should Students Learn From Intermediate Theory Classes?</u></b><br />
Panel Session<br />
Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM<br />
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, A706<br />
Chair: Wendy Stock, Montana State University<br />
<br />
Panelist(s)<br />
Gregory Mankiw, Harvard University<br />
Dean Croushore, University of Richmond<br />
Thomas Nechyba, Duke University<br />
Austan Goolsbee, University of Chicago<br />
<br />
[Editorial comment from Jennifer: Given what I have heard from some of these panelists in the past, I suspect that this session will not be particularly useful for those of us at regional/comprehensive institutions that do not serve 'elite' students - someone please let me know if I am wrong!]<br />
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<b><u>Preparing Undergraduates for Application to Graduate School</u></b><br />
Paper Session<br />
Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 12:30 PM - 2:15 PM<br />
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, A707<br />
Chair: Gail Hoyt, University of Kentucky<br />
<br />
<i>So You Want to Go to Grad School? Factors that Influence Admissions to Economics PhD Programs</i><br />
Adam T. Jones, University of North Carolina-Wilmington<br />
Peter Schuhmann, University of North Carolina-Wilmington<br />
Daniel Soques, University of North Carolina-Wilmington<br />
Allison Witman, University of North Carolina-Wilmington<br />
<br />
Discussant(s)<br />
Gautam Gowrisankaran, University of Arizona<br />
Navin Kartik, Columbia University<br />
Martin Boileau, University of Colorado Boulder<br />
Wojciech Olszewski, Northwestern University<br />
M. Daniele Paserman, Boston University<br />
Marcus Berliant, Washington University-St. Louis<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<b><u>What's Next? Moving Beyond Research Results to an Inclusive Classroom</u></b><br />
Panel Session<br />
Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 12:30 PM - 2:15 PM<br />
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, M202<br />
Chair: Cynthia Harter, Eastern Kentucky University<br />
<br />
Panelist(s)<br />
Mary C. Daly, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco<br />
Leonie Karkoviata, University of Houston-Downtown<br />
Fernando Lozano, Pomona College<br />
Omari H. Swinton, Howard University</div>
<br />
<br />
<div>
<b><u>AEA Committee on Economic Education Poster Session</u></b><br />
Poster Session<br />
Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM<br />
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, M104<br />
Chair: William Goffe, Pennsylvania State University</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>A Pixar Is Worth a Thousand Words</i><br />
Charity-Joy Acchairdo, University of Arizona<br />
G. Dirk Mateer, University of Arizona<br />
<br />
<i>A Teaching Methodology That Encourages Active Learning of Microeconomics by Students: "The Technology and Cost Minimization Problem" as an Example</i></div>
<div>
Javier Puértolas, Public University of Navarre<br />
Loreto Llorente, Public University of Navarre</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Adaptive Technology & Active Learning in Principles of Economics Classes</i><br />
Joana Girante, Arizona State University<br />
Stefan Ruediger, Arizona State University</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Behind Supply and Demand Curves: Transactions, Firms and Globalization</i><br />
Benoit Papillon, University of Quebec-Trois-Rivières</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Counting Cars: An Experiential Learning Project</i><br />
Chandini Sankaran, Boston College<br />
Tamara Sheldon, University of South Carolina</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Don’t Just Read It, Write It! - A Course Promoting Experiential Learning</i><br />
Julien Picault, University of British Columbia-Okanagan</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Enhancing Student Learning in a Flipped Principles of Economics Classroom Using Learner Logs</i><br />
Grace Onodipe, Georgia Gwinnett College<br />
Femi Ayadi, University of Houston-Clear Lake<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Gamification of Assessment: A Case Study of PaGamO</i><br />
Hang-Wei Hao, Gordon College<br />
Yabisi Wen, Gordon College</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Hybridizing Economic Development: Moving Basic Modeling Online To Turn a 100 Student Lecture Course into an Intimate, Writing Intensive, 25 Student Course with Peer-to-Peer Interaction</i><br />
Janine Wilson, University of California-Davis</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Integration of Economics from the Classroom to the Newspaper!</i><br />
Brian Sloboda, University of Phoenix<br />
Yaya Sissoko, Indiana University of Pennsylvania</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Post-Learning Diagram</i><br />
Areerat Kichkha, Lindenwood University</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Presentations to the President: A Role Play Assignment for Principles Courses</i><br />
Sara Gundersen, Valparaiso University</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Re-imagining Introductory Economics: Retrieval Learning Strategies</i><br />
Eiichiro Kazumori, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth<br />
Sarah Cosgrove, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth<br />
Robert Jones, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth<br />
Devon Lynch, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth<br />
Neal Olitsky, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Team Based Learning While Testing: Using the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique in a Cooperative Setting in an Economic Principles Course</i><br />
Kris Principe, Niagara University</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Team-Based Learning in Economics Courses: A New National Science Foundation Project</i><br />
Phil Ruder, Pacific University<br />
Scott Simkins, North Carolina AT&T State University<br />
Mark Maier, Glendale Community College</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>The Case for Mini-Cases in Teaching Economic Principles: An Application Using Tariffs</i><br />
Howard Cochran, Belmont University<br />
Marieta Velikova, Belmont University<br />
Bradley Childs, Belmont University<br />
Lakisha Simmons, Belmont University</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Using Discrete Choice Tables to Teach Consumer Choice in Introductory Economics Classrooms</i><br />
Stephen Erfle, Dickinson College<br />
Mark Holmgren, Eastern Washington University</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Can Students Learn Better with Adaptive Learning Courseware?</i><br />
Grace Eau, Georgia State University<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Decision Making: The More You Know…</u></b><br />
Paper Session<br />
Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM<br />
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, M105<br />
Chair: Jane Lopus, California State University-East Bay</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Integrating Econometrics: A Modern Undergraduate Economics Capstone Experience</i><br />
Brooke Conaway, Georgia College<br />
Christopher Clark, Georgia College<br />
JJ Arias, Georgia College<br />
Jessie Folk, Georgia College</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>What Do Teachers Know about the Fed and the Dual Mandate?</i><br />
Evgeniya Duzhak, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco<br />
Jody Hoff, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco<br />
Jane Lopus, California State University-East Bay</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Learning Outcomes in a High School Personal Finance Course: More Evidence Using the TFL</i><br />
Andrew Hill, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia</div>
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<i><br /></i>
<i>The Choice Is Yours: You Can Win With This, or You Can Win With That</i><br />
Chandini Sankaran, Boston College</div>
<div>
<br />
Discussant(s)<br />
Brenda Cude, University of Georgia<br />
William Goffe, Pennsylvania State University<br />
William Bosshardt, Florida Atlantic University<br />
John Swinton, Georgia College<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Determinants of Academic Persistence and Success</u></b><br />
Paper Session<br />
Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM<br />
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, International 10<br />
Chair: Scott Carrell, University of California-Davis</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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<i>Lack of Study Time Is the Problem, but What Is the Solution? Unsuccessful Attempts to Help Traditional and Online College Students</i><br />
Nolan G. Pope, University of Maryland<br />
Philip Oreopoulos, University of Toronto<br />
Richard W. Patterson, United States Military Academy-West Point<br />
Uros Petronijevic, York University</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Hungry for Success? SNAP Timing, SAT Scores, and College Attendance</i><br />
Timothy N. Bond, Purdue University<br />
Jillian B. Carr, Purdue University<br />
Analisa Packham, Miami University<br />
Jonathan Smith, Georgia State University</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>My Professor Cares: Experimental Evidence on the Role of Faculty Engagement</i><br />
Scott Carrell, University of California-Davis<br />
Michal Kurlaender, University of California-Davis</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Greek Life, Academics, and Earnings</i><br />
William E. Even, Miami University<br />
Austin C. Smith, Miami University</div>
<div>
<br />
Discussant(s)<br />
Joshua Goodman, Harvard University<br />
Melissa Kearney, University of Maryland<br />
Mark Hoekstra, Texas A&M University<br />
Scott Imberman, Michigan State University</div>
</div>
Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-35885659568821286682018-01-02T10:11:00.003-08:002018-01-02T10:11:53.207-08:00Econ Ed at the ASSAsHappy New Year! Below is a list of all the teaching-related sessions at the ASSA meetings in Philadelphia. Of special note: I will be part of a panel with Tyler Cowen, Bill Goffe and Jose Vazquez on Saturday morning, titled: "Is it Time to Change the Principles Curriculum?” In order to spark discussion during the panel session, we would like to obtain some very informal information of what different instructors try to achieve with their Principles courses. To that end, we have designed a very short google survey (3 questions), to collect some information from any Principles instructor willing to participate. Please help us out by going to <a href="https://goo.gl/forms/NFf1OfNOW9sxK9jm2">https://goo.gl/forms/NFf1OfNOW9sxK9jm2</a>. We will only use the responses for illustration purposes during the panel and your answers will be entirely anonymous. Thank you!!!<br />
<br />
As always, if I've missed any sessions, please let me know. Also, don't forget the CEE reception on Friday for Friends of Economic Education (Marriott, meeting room 502). Hope to see you there!<br />
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<b><i><u>Innovation in the Assessment of Economic Learning</u></i></b><br />
Panel Session<br />
Friday, Jan. 5, 2018 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM<br />
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 307<br />
Chair: Georg Schaur, University of Tennessee<br />
<br />
Panelist(s):<br />
Sam Allgood, University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br />
Amanda Bayer, Swarthmore College<br />
William Bosshardt, Florida Atlantic University<br />
William B. Walstad, University of Nebraska<br />
Olga Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz<br />
<br />
<b><i><u>Pointers and Pitfalls for Human Subject Research on Instruction in Economics and Other Social Sciences</u></i></b><br />
Panel Session<br />
Friday, Jan. 5, 2018 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM<br />
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 307<br />
Chair: Oskar Harmon, University of Connecticut<br />
<br />
Panelist(s)<br />
John A. List, University of Chicago<br />
Rebecca Maynard, University of Pennsylvania<br />
Cindy Shindledecker, University of Michigan<br />
Georg Schaur, University of Tennessee<br />
<br />
<b><i><u>The Dissagregation of Value-added Learning Scores in Economic and Personal Finance Education</u></i></b><br />
Paper Session<br />
Friday, Jan. 5, 2018 12:30 PM - 2:15 PM<br />
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 415<br />
Chair: Carlos J. Asarta, University of Delaware<br />
<br />
<i>Adjusting for Guessing and Applying a Statistical Test to the Dissagregation of Value-added Learning Scores</i><br />
Ben O. Smith, University of Nebraska-Omaha<br />
Jamie Wagner, University of Nebraska-Omaha<br />
<br />
<i>Pretest-posttest Measurement of the Economic Knowledge of Undergraduates – Estimating Guessing Effects</i><br />
William B. Walstad, University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br />
Susanne Schmidt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz<br />
Olga Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz<br />
Roland Happ, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz<br />
<br />
<i>Lesson Format and Types of Economic Learning: Long-form Versus Short-form Online Learning Modules</i><br />
Diego Méndez-Carbajo, Illinois Wesleyan University<br />
Scott A. Wolla, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis<br />
<br />
<i>Learning Outcomes in a High School Personal Finance Course: Evidence From Disaggregation of Value-added Test Scores</i><br />
Andrew T. Hill, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia<br />
Carlos J. Asarta, University of Delaware<br />
Jamie Wagner, University of Nebraska-Omaha<br />
<br />
Discussant(s):<br />
Diego Méndez-Carbajo, Illinois Wesleyan University<br />
Scott A. Wolla, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis<br />
Jamie Wagner, University of Nebraska-Omaha<br />
Susanne Schmidt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz<br />
<br />
<b><i><u>Research in Economic Education</u></i></b><br />
Paper Session<br />
Friday, Jan. 5, 2018 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM<br />
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 306<br />
Chair: Sam Allgood, University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br />
<br />
<i>Beyond the Flipped Class: the Impact of Research-based Teaching Methods in a Macroeconomics Principles Class</i><br />
Austin Boyle, Pennsylvania State University<br />
William L. Goffe, Pennsylvania State University<br />
<br />
<i>From “Traditional” to Research Based Instructional Strategies: An Assessment of Learning Gains</i><br />
Sarah B. Cosgrove, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth<br />
Neal H. Olitsky, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth<br />
<br />
<i>Low-cost Randomized Controlled Trials in Education</i><br />
Nathan Wozny, United States Air Force Academy<br />
Cary Balser, University of Notre Dame<br />
Drew Ives, United States Air Force Academy<br />
<br />
<i>A New Look at Lake Wobegone: Report Bias and Student Performance</i><br />
Chris Bollinger, University of Kentucky<br />
Tisha L. N. Emerson, Baylor University<br />
Linda English, Baylor University<br />
Gail Hoyt, University of Kentucky<br />
<br />
Discussant(s):<br />
Karen Gebhardt, Colorado State University<br />
Rita Balaban, University of North Carolina<br />
Georg Schaur, University of Tennessee<br />
Daniel Tannenbaum, University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br />
<br />
<b><i><u>Is it Time to Change the Principles Curriculum?</u></i></b><br />
Panel Session<br />
Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM<br />
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 306<br />
Chair: Jose J. Vazquez, University of Illinois<br />
<br />
Panelist(s):<br />
Tyler Cohen, George Mason University<br />
Jennifer Imazeki, San Diego State University<br />
William L. Goffe, Pennsylvania State University<br />
Jose J. Vazquez, University of Illinois<br />
<br />
<b><i><u>Great Ideas for Making the Principles of Economics Relevant II</u></i></b><br />
Panel Session<br />
Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM<br />
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Independence Ballroom I<br />
Chair: Wendy Stock, Montana State University<br />
<br />
Panelist(s)<br />
Gita Gopinath, Harvard University<br />
Topic: International Prices and Exchange Rates<br />
Kristin J. Forbes, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br />
Topic: Monetary Policy<br />
Bruce D. Meyer, University of Chicago<br />
Topic: Poverty and Inequality<br />
<br />
<b><i><u>Authors' Secrets on How to Organize Principles Courses for Success</u></i></b><br />
Panel Session<br />
Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018 12:30 PM - 2:15 PM<br />
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 415<br />
Chair: Andrew T. Hill, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia<br />
<br />
Panelist(s):<br />
Carlos J. Asarta, University of Delaware and McGraw-Hill Education<br />
Eric Chiang, Florida Atlantic University and Macmillan Learning<br />
Lee A. Coppock, University of Virginia and W.W. Norton<br />
Karen Gebhardt, Colorado State University and McGraw-Hill Education<br />
<br />
<b><i><u>AEA Committee on Economic Education Poster Session</u></i></b><br />
Poster Session<br />
Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM<br />
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 410<br />
Chair: Steven L. Cobb, University of North Texas<br />
<br />
<i>Incorporating Research Elements in First Year Economics Courses: The Role of Data-based Exercises in the Principles of Microeconomics Course</i><br />
Amy Henderson, St. Mary’s College of Maryland<br />
<br />
<i>International Trade Between the United States and Other Nations</i><br />
Brian W. Sloboda, University of Phoenix<br />
Yaya Sissoko, Indiana University<br />
<br />
<i>Active Learning</i><br />
Jason R. Reed IV, University of Notre Dame<br />
<br />
<i>Teaching Homotheticity and Homogeneity of Utility and Production Functions Using 3D-printed Prototypes: An Innovative Pedagogical Tool to Teach Delicacies of Utility and Production Functions</i><br />
Seyyed Ali Zeytoon Nejad Moosavian, North Carolina State University<br />
<br />
<i>Durable Archiving of Leading Edge Pedagogies in Economic Education</i><br />
Howard H. Cochran, Jr., Belmont University<br />
Marieta V. Velikova, Belmont University<br />
Bradley D. Childs, Belmont University<br />
Lakisha Simmons, Belmont University<br />
<br />
<i>An Active-learning Approach to Visualizing Multivariate Functions Using Balloons</i><br />
Stephen Erfle, Dickinson College<br />
<br />
<i>E-journaling: A Tool for Written Communication in Business Environment</i><br />
Areerat Kichkha, Lindenwood University<br />
<br />
<i>One Size Doesn’t Fit All: A Team Project Designing Small Scale Economic Development Projects</i><br />
Allison Shwachman Kaminaga, Bryant University<br />
Sara Gundersen, Valparaiso University<br />
<br />
<i>Hall of Fame Writing Assignments: Using Real World Problems to Encourage and Assess Higher Order Thinking</i><br />
Thomas P. Andrews, West Chester University of Pennsylvania<br />
<br />
<i>Teaching Students How Continuous Innovation Affects Supply, Producer Surplus, and Consumer Surplus</i><br />
John B. Horowitz, Ball State University<br />
Michael A. Karls, Ball State University<br />
Juan Sesmero, Purdue University<br />
T. Norman Van Cott, Ball State University<br />
<br />
<i>Classicals Versus Keynesians: A Comprehensive Table to Teach 50 Distinctions Between Two Major Schools of Economic Thought</i><br />
Seyyed Ali Zeytoon Nejad Moosavian, North Carolina State University<br />
<br />
<i>Lights, Camera, Action: A Semester-long Video Project for Active Learning in Introductory Business and Economics Classes</i><br />
Annette Redmon, University of Cincinnati<br />
Keshar Ghimire, University of Cincinnati<br />
<br />
<i>Tweeting Adam Smith</i><br />
Erin George, Hood College<br />
<br />
<i>You Can’t Teach That Online!! Best Practices for Developing and Managing a Quantitative Course for Effective Online Delivery</i><br />
Mandie Weinandt, University of South Dakota<br />
Kathryn Birkeland, University of South Dakota<br />
<br />
<i>Learning While Testing: Using the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique in Principles of Economics Courses</i><br />
Kris Principe, Niagara University<br />
<br />
<i>Using Structured Discussions Online and Measuring Both Student Performance and Question Effectiveness</i><br />
Sue K. Stockly, Eastern New Mexico University<br />
<br />
<i>Guided Writing in Lower Level Field Electives</i><br />
David R. Ross, Bryn Mawr College<br />
<br />
<i>Teaching Research Methods in Economics to Undergraduate Students</i><br />
Alejandro Dellachiesa, University of Kentucky<br />
<br />
<i>Is it Facetime or Structure and Accountability That Matter? Moving From a Flipped to a Flipped/Hybrid Classroom</i><br />
Kara D. Smith, Belmont University<br />
<br />
<b><i><u>Economic and Financial Capability Education: K-12 and College Studies</u></i></b><br />
Paper Session<br />
Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM<br />
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 415<br />
Chair: Diego Méndez-Carbajo, Illinois Wesleyan University<br />
<br />
<i>Experiential Financial Literacy: A Field Study of My Classroom Economy</i><br />
Michael Batty, Federal Reserve Board<br />
J. Michael Collins, University of Wisconsin-Madison<br />
Collin O’Rourke, University of Wisconsin-Madison<br />
Elizabeth Odders-White, University of Wisconsin-Madison<br />
<br />
<i>The Influence of Childhood Experiences on Financial Capability in Young Adulthood</i><br />
Madelaine L'Esperance, University of Wisconsin-Madison<br />
Cliff Robb, University of Wisconsin-Madison<br />
J. Michael Collins, University of Wisconsin-Madison<br />
<br />
<i>Economic Magnetism: Attracting and Repelling Majors</i><br />
Tisha L. N. Emerson, Baylor University<br />
KimMarie McGoldrick, University of Richmond<br />
<br />
<i>Gender Differences in Undergraduate Economics Course Persistence and Degree Selection</i><br />
Laura Ahlstrom, University of Delaware<br />
<br />
<i>Economic Effects of Timing of Pop-quizzes on Student Behavior in Effort Investment and Learning Output</i><br />
Tin-Chun Lin, Indiana University-Northwest<br />
<br />
Discussant(s):<br />
Andrew T. Hill, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia<br />
Laura Ahlstrom, University of Delaware<br />
Tin-Chun Lin, Indiana University-Northwest<br />
J. Michael Collins, University of Wisconsin-Madison<br />
Cliff Robb, University of Wisconsin-Madison<br />
<br />Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-11153093694036595002017-06-03T15:28:00.000-07:002017-06-03T15:28:06.710-07:00CTREE 2017Thank you to everyone who presented, discussed, chaired and attended! This was the first time I have been the chair of a conference organizing committee and while it was a lot of work, it was also a lot of fun and I'm pretty proud of the program we put together. A few highlights for me:<div>
<ul>
<li>I was psyched to see multiple papers where the authors were looking at the impact of something happening in one course by focusing on outcomes at a later point in time, like performance in the follow-on intermediate course. One of my biggest problems with a lot of the SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) literature is that in most effectiveness studies, the outcomes are within-course measures, like scores on a final exam or final course grades. While it's certainly reassuring that outcomes like these are not <i>negatively</i> affected by pedagogical changes like active learning, I have always felt that the more important questions involve what happens after students leave our classroom. Do they retain more? Do they understand at a deeper level? Can they transfer what they have learned to new and different situations? In my mind, these are the outcomes that active learning should be helping with. Of course, data on students is harder to get once they have left our class but it's great to see more people working to get at these longer-term effects.</li>
<li>Another reason I think it's important to follow students beyond the end of the semester we have them is because regardless of academic 'performance', I believe pedagogical choices that <i>engage</i> students probably also makes them more likely to become majors but there is a really small amount of research on this. Looking for some of that research is on my to-do list, prompted in part by the awesome plenary by David Wilcox at the Fed dinner on Wednesday night. Since I'm not a macro person, the Fed dinner is usually not that interesting to me but Wilcox devoted his time to discussing diversity (and the lack thereof) in the profession. I have a lot of ideas about this and hope to write more about some of them soon...</li>
<li>I was also pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the first plenary which focused on personal financial education. I have to admit, I tend to downplay the connection between personal finance and economics, in part because I really don't want people to think economics is "just" about balancing a checkbook, but Annamaria Lusardi made a compelling case for teaching financial literacy that made me realize how closely connected it is to what I think of as economic literacy. If we can do a better job of teaching financial literacy to students, they will be well on their way to understanding economic literacy more generally. </li>
</ul>
<div>
In addition to re-invigorating my passion for economics education, it was simply great to see old friends and meet new ones, as well as just put faces with all the names I had come to know from doing the program. To those who attended, I hope you found it more valuable than your next best alternative!</div>
</div>
Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-70800856828030494452017-01-04T15:09:00.003-08:002017-01-04T15:09:43.379-08:00Econ Ed at the ASSAsFor those who will be braving the Chicago winter to attend the ASSA meetings, I hope to see you at one of the teaching-related sessions! And don't forget the AEA's Committee on Economics Education's reception on Friday evening! <br />
<br />
<br />
<u><i><b>AEA Committee on Economic Education Poster Session </b></i></u><br />
Friday, Jan. 6, 2017; 8:00 AM– 10:00 AM<br />
Hyatt Regency Chicago, Toronto<br />
Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION<br />
Chair: Steve Cobb, University of North Texas<br />
<br />
MACRO Monopoly: Applying a Game-Based Economic Development Lesson<br />
Kim Holder , University of West Georgia<br />
<br />
Using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to Teach Economics Concepts<br />
Matthew Pham , Landmark College<br />
Jim Koskoris , Landmark College<br />
<br />
In Search of Best Classroom Practices<br />
Hari S. Luitel , Algoma University<br />
<br />
Oxford-Style Inspired Academic Competitive Debates With a Twist on Hot Topics of International Economics and Finance<br />
Sylwia E. Starnawska , State University of New York-Empire State College<br />
<br />
Industrial Design at the Service of Teaching Economics: 3D-Printed Prototypes and Materialized Demonstrations of Utility and Production Functions<br />
Seyyed Ali Zeytoon Nejad Moosavian , North Carolina State University<br />
<br />
An Atlas of Economics: Teaching Tools for Navigating the “Big Picture”<br />
Alexandra Naumenko , North Carolina State University<br />
Seyyed Ali Zeytoon Nejad Moosavian , North Carolina State University<br />
<br />
The Use of an Online Discussion Forum by Students to Collaborate on the Development of a Study Guide in Applied Econometrics<br />
Rod D. Raehsler , Clarion University<br />
<br />
Reshaped for High-Level Learning: Student Outcomes in the Redesign of an Undergraduate Macroeconomics Course<br />
Lawrence P. DeBoer , Purdue University<br />
Anna Josephson , Purdue University<br />
David B. Nelson , Purdue University<br />
<br />
Media Resources for Teaching Behavioral Economics<br />
G. Dirk Mateer , University of Arizona<br />
Charity Joy Acchiardo , University of Arizona<br />
Marie Briguglio , University of Malta<br />
<br />
Encouraging Students to Form Study Groups in Learning Economics<br />
Jennjou Chen , National Chengchi University<br />
Tsui-Fang Lin , National Taipei University<br />
<br />
Is Less More?<br />
Richard G. Anderson , Lindenwood University<br />
Areerat Kichkha , Lindenwood University<br />
Michael J. Mathea , Lindenwood University<br />
<br />
Inflation and Government Economic Policies<br />
Brian W. Sloboda , University of Maryland and University College<br />
<br />
Game Theory, Gamified<br />
Adam Galambos , Lawrence University<br />
<br />
Stimulation with Simulation: Oligopoly Markets at Work<br />
Mandie Weinandt , University of South Dakota<br />
<br />
Comparing Delivery Mode: Student Learning in Money and Banking<br />
Kathryn Birkeland , University of South Dakota<br />
<br />
Indexing Multimedia Resources for Digital Pedagogies in Economic Education<br />
Howard H. Cochran, Jr. , Belmont University<br />
Marieta V. Velikova , Belmont University<br />
Bradley D. Childs , Belmont University<br />
<br />
Informal Writing in Economics<br />
Ranganath Murthy , Western New England University<br />
<br />
Syllabus and Economics: Reasoning With Generation “Why”<br />
Mariya Burdina , University of Central Oklahoma<br />
Sue Lynn Sasser , University of Central Oklahoma<br />
<br />
Improving Assessment of Learning in Economics Courses With Value-Added Analysis of Test Scores<br />
William B. Walstad , University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br />
Jamie Wagner , University of Nebraska-Omaha<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><i><b>Great Ideas for Making the Principles of Economics Relevant</b></i></u><br />
<i><b> </b></i>Panel Discussion<br />
Friday, Jan. 6, 2017 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM<br />
Hyatt Regency Chicago, Regency D<br />
Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION<br />
Chair: Gail Hoyt, University of Kentucky<br />
<br />
Panelist(s)<br />
Dean Karlan , Yale University<br />
Topic: Economic Development and Poverty<br />
David Cutler , Harvard University<br />
Topic: Health Care Issues and Policy<br />
Cecilia Rouse , Princeton University<br />
Topic: The Economics of Education and Policy<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><i><b>Economic Education: Interaction of Economics, Financial Literacy, and Mathematics</b></i> </u><br />
Paper Session<br />
Friday, Jan. 6, 2017 12:30 PM – 2:15 PM<br />
Hyatt Regency Chicago, Randolph 1<br />
Hosted By: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC EDUCATORS<br />
Chair: Carlos Asarta, University of Delaware<br />
<br />
At What Age Should High School Students Take Their Capstone Personal Finance Course?<br />
Andrew T. Hill , Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia<br />
Carlos Asarta , University of Delaware<br />
<br />
Financial Literacy and Education in the First Semester of College: What Do Students Know and Learn?<br />
Elizabeth Breitbach , University of South Carolina<br />
Jamie Wagner , University of Nebraska-Omaha<br />
William B. Walstad , University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br />
<br />
Exploring Interdependence between Mathematical Ability, Economics and Financial Literacy<br />
Abdullah Al-Bahrani , Northern Kentucky University<br />
Whitney Douglas-Buser , Young Harris College<br />
Kim Holder , University of West Georgia<br />
Darshak Patel , University of Kentucky<br />
<br />
Economics Across the Curriculum: Effective Delivery of Economics Instruction to High School Students<br />
Natalia V. Smirnova , American Institute for Economic Research<br />
<br />
Discussant(s)<br />
Jamie Wagner , University of Nebraska-Omaha<br />
Kim Holder , University of West Georgia<br />
Carlos Asarta , University of Delaware<br />
<br />
<u><i><b>The Economics Major: Present and Future</b></i></u><br />Paper Session<br /> Friday, Jan. 6, 2017 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM<br /> Hyatt Regency Chicago, Atlanta<br />Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION<br />Chair: Sam Allgood, University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br /><br />
Trends in Enrollment in Economics and Other Undergraduate Majors<br />Wendy Stock , Montana State University<br /><br />
Undergraduate Economics Coursework and Financial Behaviors Over Time<br />William Bosshardt , Florida Atlantic University<br />William B. Walstad , University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br /><br />
Preparing Students to "Do Economics" After Graduation<br />Gail Hoyt , University of Kentucky<br />KimMarie McGoldrick , University of Richmond<br /><br />
Learning Outcomes for Economists<br />Sam Allgood , University of Nebraska-Lincoln<br />Amanda Bayer , Swarthmore College<br /><br />
Discussant(s)<br />David C. Colander , Middlebury College<br />Carly Urban , Montana State University<br />Eric P. Chiang , Florida Atlantic University<br />Lee Coppock , University of Virginia<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><i><b>Teaching the Great Recession Using Radical Economics</b></i></u><br />Paper Session<br /> Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM<br /> Swissotel Chicago, Monte Rosa<br />Hosted By: UNION FOR RADICAL POLITICAL ECONOMICS<br />Chair: Jared Ragusett, Central Connecticut State University<br /><br />
The Great Recession and College Freshmen: A Radical Perspective<br />Rachel Dennis , Buffalo State College<br />Wiliam Ganley , Buffalo State College<br /><br />
Teaching the Great Recession: A Role-Playing Exercise<br />Rojhat Avsar , Columbia College<br /><br />
An Institutionalist’s Approach to the Teaching of the Great Recession in an Undergraduate-Level Money and Banking Course<br />Valerie Kepner , King’s College<br /><br />
The Political Economy of the Great Recession at Central Connecticut State University<br />Jared Ragusett , Central Connecticut State University<br />
<i><b><u><br /></u></b></i>
<i><b><u><br /></u></b></i>
<i><b><u>New Content for Introductory Economics</u></b></i><br />Panel Discussion<br /> Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM<br /> Hyatt Regency Chicago, Crystal B<br />Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION<br />Chair: Edward L. Glaeser, Harvard University<br /><br />Panelist(s)<br />Timothy Besley , London School of Economics and Political Science<br />E. Glen Weyl , Microsoft Research and Yale University<br />Wendy Carlin , University College London<br />Samuel Bowles , Santa Fe Institute<br />Paul Solman , PBS NewsHour, Yale University, and Gateway Community College<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><i><b>Updating the Undergraduate Econometrics Curriculum</b></i></u>Paper Session<br /> Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM<br /> Hyatt Regency Chicago, Regency D<br />Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION<br />Chair: Derek Neal, University of Chicago<br /><br />
Time Series Econometrics for the 21st Century<br />Bruce E. Hansen , University of Wisconsin-Madison<br /><br />
Undergraduate Econometrics Instruction: Through Our Classes, Darkly<br />Joshua Angrist , Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br /><br />Perspectives on Teaching Introductory Econometrics<br />Jeffrey Wooldridge , Michigan State University<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><i><b>Teaching Macroeconomics Using Data</b></i></u><br />Panel Discussion<br /> Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017 12:30 PM – 2:15 PM<br /> Hyatt Regency Chicago, Randolph 1<br />Hosted By: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC EDUCATORS<br />Chair: Carlos Asarta, University of Delaware<br /><br />Panelist(s)<br />William Goffe , Pennsylvania State University<br />Diego Mendez-Carbajo , Illinois Wesleyan University<br />Mark Maier , Glendale Community College<br />Keith G. Taylor , Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><i><b>Evidence-Based Teaching in Economics</b></i></u><br />Paper Session<br /> Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM<br /> Hyatt Regency Chicago, Toronto<br />Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION<br />Chair: Jennifer Imazeki, San Diego State University<br /><br />
Evidence-Based Teaching in Economics: An Overview<br />Jennifer Imazeki , San Diego State University<br /><br />
Maximizing Efficient Student Talk: Lessons from Team-Based Learning and Cooperative Learning<br />Mark Maier , Glendale Community College<br /><br />Adaptive Learning as a Tool to Build Content Mastery<br />Karen Gebhardt , Colorado State University<br /><br />
Are Your Students Absent, Not Absent, or Present? Mindfulness and Student Performance<br />Eric P. Chiang , Florida Atlantic University<br />Albert J. Sumell , Youngstown State University<br /><br />
Discussant(s)<br />Jose J. Vazquez Cognet , University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign<br />Molly Espey , Clemson University<br />William Goffe , Pennsylvania State University<br />Oskar Harmon , University of Connecticut<br />
<br />Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-66609064457825874662016-11-04T15:43:00.000-07:002016-11-04T15:43:22.361-07:00Giving thanks for my privilege...As Director of the CTL, I have organized a series of events this year around the theme 'Teaching the Whole Student'. Each of the events focuses on a different aspect of student identity and how those identities may impact their experience in our classrooms. So far, we've had one on international students, LGBTQ+ students, and students in emotional distress; next up is military-affiliated students and in the spring, we're addressing first-gen students, bilingual students, microaggressions and sexual assault.<br />
<br />
Although I consider myself a pretty enlightened person, each of the events so far has taught me a lot and made me think a little harder about how different my own experience is/has been from many of my students. One thought that I keep coming back to is how many things about my everyday life that I take for granted, particularly things that I am able to say, do or feel (or not feel) that other people cannot. In other words, I keep thinking about my privilege.<br />
<br />
That led me to post the following on my Facebook earlier today. I'm sharing here because I think that as teachers, we have a special obligation to be aware of our privilege, and how it can make us different from our students. I'll come back and update this post throughout the month with my individual posts about privilege... <br />
<br />
"On occasion in the past, I have used Thanksgiving being in November as an opportunity to give thanks throughout the month for the many blessings in my life, both publicly and privately. This fall, for various reasons, I have been repeatedly reminded that there are many blessings I take for granted that other people simply do not have; in other words, I’ve been struck by how much privilege I enjoy. That may sound odd coming from an Asian-American woman but “privilege” is defined as a special right, advantage or immunity available only to some people and not others. Given that definition, I clearly enjoy a TON of privilege. Over two decades ago, Peggy McIntosh, wrote: “White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions...” Although she was referring specifically to white privilege, I believe that any time one is part of a majority group, or when one is part of a group that holds a certain amount of power or status, there is a similar invisible knapsack of privilege you carry (some clearly bigger than others). <br />
<br />
Right now in particular, I think we all could use a little more awareness about our own invisible knapsacks - the things we are able to do, have, say, or feel without even thinking about them but that are not available to others. So this is a heads up that throughout this month, I plan to post a bunch of FB posts giving thanks for my privilege. <br />
<br />
I’m writing this introductory post because my intention is not to make anyone feel guilty or judged. Many people think that saying “X has privilege Y” is implying that X should NOT have that privilege, that Y should be taken away from X. But I think what is usually meant (and definitely what *I* mean) is that Y should not be a *privilege*, something available only to certain people and not others, but should be available to *everyone*. So I don’t think anyone needs to feel guilty for having privilege but I DO think it’s important to acknowledge that what we have IS privilege, and to be grateful when we receive benefits by virtue of our membership in a particular group if those benefits are not available to everyone. I do also believe privilege carries a responsibility to make sure that privilege is not abused (and even better if you are doing something to make your privilege available to more people) but you can’t do that if you don’t even recognize it in the first place. <br />
<br />
Because a lot of people associate privilege with things like race or gender, I specifically want to point out that at least some of the privileges I have been thinking about are things I get because I am part of a group that I worked to be a part of – for example, I worked damn hard for the privilege I experience as a tenured professor. But that doesn’t mean I should take those benefits for granted. My larger point is simply that it’s good to recognize when we receive benefits that not everyone receives; doing so can build empathy and gratitude, both of which help us be happier people (and god knows, I could use some happy these days).<br />
<br />
My hope is that by stating my privilege publicly, those who share that privilege might be prompted to think about what it means for those who don’t share it. And for those who don’t share it, I hope they might feel a bit more understood. For now, I will be making these posts public but reserve the right to delete any comments from people I consider disrespectful. Thoughtful (as in, ‘full of thought’) comments from my many awesome friends are always welcome… <br />
<br />
p.s. I am not at all sure that this is a good idea but it’s been stuck in my brain and I think the only way to get it out is to actually post this. We’ll see what happens…"<br />
<br />
Day 1: I am thankful that as a woman of color, I can talk about race and gender issues without feeling guilty, or like people want me to apologize for the words and deeds of others.Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-9945442180710307222016-08-26T13:24:00.000-07:002016-08-26T13:24:17.673-07:00I pronounce it "ih-muh-ZEH-key"As those who actually speak Japanese have told me, it really should be "Eee-mah-zeh-key" (equal emphasis) but it's definitely NOT 'Eye-ma-zeek-key', 'Ih-mask-ee' or (don't ask me why) 'Ihm-ski'. I'm not entirely sure why it's hard for people - in my mind, my name is actually pronounced pretty much how it looks but I think the proximity of a 'z' and 'k' throws people off. Interestingly, Spanish speakers tend to be the best at pronouncing it correctly because Japanese pronunciation of vowels is similar to Spanish.<br />
<br />
But my entire life, on the first day of a class with a new teacher (and sometimes even those I'd had before), they would start calling roll, and I would brace myself as they got closer to the I's. Many times, I could tell when they got to my name on the roster because after a Joe Holmes or Jane Howard, there would be that slight pause, at which point I'd usually just jump in and call out my name for them, and the instructor would give me a thankful smile of relief.<br />
<br />
That was my experience for 20 years of classes and yet, for some reason, up until literally a month ago, it never occurred to me to make any particular effort to learn how to pronounce my own students' names. Even as I write that, I am horrified to admit it. And yet, ever since I began teaching, I have gone into the first day of class and called roll, simply prefacing my name-butchering with a lame, "Please forgive me for all the names I am about to mispronounce." Sometimes I would add, "Teachers have been mispronouncing my name my entire life" as if that somehow made it OK for me to do it to them. I think because it happens so often to me, although it's mildly annoying, I just don't think about it much and I just figured it wasn't a big deal. And honestly, it can be really hard to learn certain names and even when I try, I sometimes can't get it right and then I feel like I must be offending that person even more.<br />
<br />
But in July, I was in a workshop on inclusive pedagogy and one of the facilitators was talking about the little things that instructors can do that can make a big impact in how welcome a student feels, and she mentioned learning names. She pointed out that instead of calling roll from the roster, you could go around the room and simply have students say their own names - you could even record them so you could go home and practice saying it the way THEY say it. For some reason, a huge lightbulb went off in my head - DUH! I don't need to call out their names, I could make THEM tell ME how to say their names the way they want them said!<br />
<br />
I honestly don't know why I never thought about this before. Maybe it's because I've never had a teacher who modeled this behavior. But what if I had? What if I had had a teacher who had shown that they were making a real effort to learn my name and say it correctly? When I have come across the rare individuals who actually pronounce my
name correctly right from the beginning, it always makes a (positive)
impression on me but I think I'm often even more impressed with the people who get it wrong but then keep trying, keep asking me to repeat it, until they get it right. I would have really loved to have a teacher who made that kind of effort.<br />
<br />
To be fair, I have always made an effort to learn my students' first names and I know that they notice. I have often thought it makes a difference in getting some quieter students to participate when I can call on them by name. I have to think that if I had put equal effort into learning their last names and making sure I was pronouncing both first and last names correctly, it could have made an even bigger difference, particularly for students who are at highest risk of being marginalized (such as asian international students who I have noticed tend not to talk as much in my classes).<br />
<br />
Do you learn how to pronounce all your students' names? Any suggestions for how to do it? Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-49656101791059017022016-06-04T15:09:00.000-07:002016-06-04T15:09:21.132-07:00Random post-CTREE thoughts...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Just got back from CTREE – many thanks to everyone who
helped make it such a success! I had some great conversations, heard some
super-interesting papers, and generally got re-invigorated, not just about
teaching but about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">economics</i>. Some
random thoughts, just to get them out of my brain:</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>In the first plenary, Susan Laury mentioned an
‘experiment’ she learned from Dirk Mateer to show gains from trade. She brings a bunch
of random items to class and distributes them to a group of students and asks them to
rate their happiness with the item. They then have the option to trade; once
trading is complete, they again rate their happiness. Generally, total
happiness should increase, showing the gains from trade alone. I just wanted to
add that I do a similar activity that I got from Gail Hoyt but in that version, you make
‘tickets’ for a range of events (like concerts or sports events) and give those
to the students, and I ask them to state their willingness to pay for the ticket they get. I particularly like that version since you can get a laugh
from having tickets for events like Muppets on Ice or Monster Truck Mania.<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></li>
<li><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Next year there really needs to be a hand-on
workshop on how to DO Team-Based Learning (if anyone is curious, I’ve written
all about my TBL experience in a <a href="http://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com/2012/08/tbl-summing-up.html" target="_blank">series of posts</a> back in 2012).</li>
<li>Rush hour traffic in Atlanta really sucks! But
the MARTA train is great.</li>
<li><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>In the Thursday plenary, Thomas Nechyba talked
about re-organizing the curriculum to make it easier to encourage and support
undergraduate research. While I thought it must be great to be in the
department at Duke, I also thought, “I can’t imagine my department ever buying that.”
Maybe someday I’ll be department chair and find out…</li>
<li><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>I need to find out more about <a href="https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/contemplative-pedagogy/" target="_blank">mindfulness</a> in the classroom.</li>
<li><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>It’s super-cool that the set-up at military
academies allows folks there to do truly randomized experiments. On the flip
side, their students are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so</i> not my
students.</li>
<li><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Sam Allgood, Gail Hoyt and KimMarie McGoldrick
have done a set of surveys on graduate student training that are fascinating.
There is a not-really-surprising disconnect between what programs believe about
the preparation of their students and what the students themselves think after
they’ve been on the job a while. The depressing part is that given the
departments don’t think their students need any additional training, it’s hard
to see how to convince them that they’re wrong. </li>
<li>We all really need to spend some time with the materials from the <a href="http://highered.ssrc.org/projects/measuring-college-learning-project/economics/" target="_blank">Measuring College Learning</a> project. Wish the Econ stuff had been available last year when I was trying to get my department to rewrite our program Learning Outcomes.</li>
</ul>
The conference really gave me the shot in the arm that I've been needing. Hopefully I can keep that motivation going... <br />
Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-70805948424300438972016-05-11T17:54:00.001-07:002016-05-11T17:54:24.846-07:00Still musing...When I <a href="http://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com/2008/05/welcome.html" target="_blank">started this blog</a> eight (OMG, has it really been EIGHT?!?) years ago, I didn't really have a plan - I just wanted to try out this blogging thing because I was thinking about having my students do it and figured that doing it myself would be the best way to learn how it all works. Over the years, I've largely used the blog to chronicle what I was doing in the classroom, mostly as a way of just reflecting and thinking about what was happening (I've always been a big journaler), but also with the thought that maybe by doing my thinking 'out loud', it might be helpful to someone, somewhere. Along the way, I feel like I've gotten to know many more economists who care about teaching and have felt part of a community that supports and reflects my own academic values, and I really can't express how awesome that has been!<br />
<br />
But now I feel like I'm at a bit of a crossroads. My position as Director of SDSU's Center for Teaching and Learning has led me in a slightly different direction - I'm still thinking about teaching all the time but now it's less about teaching economics (especially since I'm in the econ classroom a lot less) and more about pedagogy in general. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure if this is the right path for me - I have <a href="http://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com/2008/05/why-im-here.html" target="_blank">always said</a> that I don't just love to teach, I specifically love to teach <i>economics</i>, and I'm currently trying to figure out if I'll be able to bring the same passion to faculty development work around teaching in general. But those who follow the blog's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EconomicsforTeachers/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> have seen that articles about pedagogy and college teaching in general have caught my attention lately much more than articles about applications of economics. And maybe that's OK, since I assume university economists reading this blog will still find those sorts of links useful.<br />
<br />
But I'm trying to figure out what this new path means for this blog. I obviously haven't been as active here as I used to be and that isn't necessarily because I haven't had things I wanted to write about but more that I haven't known if they would be appropriate here. Is it 'OK' for me to write here about the issues I'm having adjusting to life as a faculty developer when that doesn't really have anything to do with teaching economics? A part of me thinks, 'hey, it's MY blog, I should write whatever I want' but another part of me feels sort of responsible to those who come here to read about teaching economics. I've thought about starting over with a whole different blog but the economist in me feels like that would, in some sense, be abandoning a really important aspect of who I am. I've thought about re-branding but, well, that just seems like a hassle.<br />
<br />
So what to do? Is it cool if I start writing more here about my experiences as a faculty developer without worrying so much about the economics side of things? Or if that's what I want to do, should I do that somewhere else, or re-brand? Some of you have been following this blog for a while - some of you know
me in real life and some only on the interwebs but either way, I'd
really appreciate your thoughts...Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-65547593980018304192016-02-11T18:19:00.000-08:002016-02-11T18:19:07.560-08:00Teaching 'soft skills'A recent commentary in the Chronicle suggests that "<a href="http://chronicle.com/article/To-Solve-the-Skills-Gap-in/235206" target="_blank">To Solve the Skills Gap in Hiring, Create Expectations in the Classroom</a>". The author notes that employers today report larger gaps in 'soft skills' like time management, work ethic, motivation and professionalism, than in technical skills; yet, the policies adopted by many college instructors do not do much to help students develop those necessary skills. The author refers to her own policies about expecting students to arrive to class and turn in work on time, not offering extra credit, etc.<br />
<br />
I think most instructors try to find an appropriate balance between holding students accountable for acting like adults, and understanding that sometimes, life happens. For what it's worth, I thought folks might be interested in how I handle this, at least in my upper-division writing course. In that course, I use a form of <a href="https://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=30598" target="_blank">specification grading</a> - it's not full-blown specs grading but students' grades are based on performance in three categories: grades on final drafts of papers, points on all other assignments, and "professional responsibility". I explain in the syllabus and on the first day that "professional responsibility" means fulfilling the expectations of this course in a timely and responsible fashion: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Professional Responsibility portion of your grade is based entirely on your ability to display good workplace behavior. In general, this means displaying the following skills:<br />
<ul>
<li>Time management: attend class and submit assignments on time; notify appropriate parties when circumstances require missing class or assignments.</li>
<li>Professional communication: emails are clear, well-written and relevant; discussion in and out of class is appropriate and respectful.</li>
<li>Professional conduct: follow directions; come to class prepared and use class time effectively; demonstrate self-awareness in accepting responsibility for own choices. </li>
</ul>
Warning: The most common violations of professional responsibility are 1) failure to follow directions, 2) poorly written or irrelevant emails (for example, asking a question that is clearly already answered on Blackboard) and 3) late assignments. I will start the semester assuming that you understand what constitutes professional behavior (and we will be discussing in more detail in class on the first day). After the first instance of unacceptable professional behavior, I will notify you, usually by email. After that, each incident will cost you ten points; however, I do reserve the right to waive this penalty in certain circumstances. </blockquote>
So this gets factored into their grade both through points and through
an absolute cut-off for missed assignments - missing more than 2
assignments will reduce their grade to the B range, regardless of their
points and grades on papers, missing more than 3 drops them to the C
range and missing more than 4 drops them to the D range.<br />
<br />
I also talk to them about the grades in terms of their "job performance". That is, in most jobs, you sit down with your manager periodically to review your performance and I tell my students that since their semester grades are a signal to future employers of what to expect from them as an employee, the way I think about grades corresponds to the categories that a lot employers use for those periodic reviews:<br />
<blockquote>
A (4) Excellent work, worthy of bonus and promotion <br />
B (3) Good work, shows potential <br />
C (2) Meets basic requirements<br />
D (1) Needs significant improvement<br />
F (0) Unacceptable</blockquote>
<br />
This also helps me make the point that they should not expect an A or even a B for just showing up and doing all the work - that's what they are <i>expected</i> to do. A higher grade requires they show that they can do <i>good</i> work and go the extra mile. I think literally putting into terms that corresponds to a job makes sense to students, especially given that so many of my students see school as just a means to the end of getting a good job.<br />
<br />
What do you do to help students develop these 'soft skills'?Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-23181453567215474522016-01-20T20:31:00.000-08:002016-01-20T20:31:05.323-08:00Dealing with mobile devicesThe SDSU Center for Teaching and Learning finally has a <a href="http://ctl.sdsu.edu/" target="_blank">new website</a> and I have to say hallelujah! It seems like a small thing but as someone who spends a <i>lot</i> of time on the Web, the old site was sooooo painful to deal with. But we've now moved to Wordpress so there's a blogging feature, which means I can tag stuff and people can actually find it, and there are cool plug-ins to deal with stuff like the events calendar and faculty profiles. Yeehaw!<br />
<br />
One of the challenges of moving to the new site is that I've been killing myself to get content on the site so there's actually something there worth looking at. Before we went live, I added a bunch of back-dated posts for old events, but I also am trying to create content that is actually useful for instructors who want to know more about some <a href="http://ctl.sdsu.edu/index.php/teaching_issues/" target="_blank">specific topic</a>. Given the wealth of information that already exists, I'm mostly curating links from other places but also trying to highlight 'best practices' and provide some guidance for people who may not have thought about these things much before. I'll be adding these topic pages over time and since they are mostly things of general interest to anyone who cares about teaching, I'll likely cross post here.<br />
<br />
I just added a page today on '<a href="http://ctl.sdsu.edu/index.php/2016/01/20/dealing-with-mobile-devices-in-the-classroom/" target="_blank">dealing with mobile devices in the classroom</a>', following a CTL event we had on this topic last week. Go take a look and let me know if there's anything I should add... Regular readers of this blog already know I like to <a href="http://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com/2011/06/using-polleverywhere-instead-of.html" target="_blank">use cell phones as clickers</a>, but I thought it was interesting that at last week's event, one of the suggestions that no one seemed to have heard before was the idea of breaking for a 'tech check' - that is, if you are going to restrict device use, it can be helpful to let students know you will stop periodically to allow them to check their phones. Not only can this alleviate the anxiety students might have about putting their devices away, for those who mostly lecture, it can be a reminder to break up lectures into smaller chunks (which, if you're going to lecture, is definitely a good idea!). Anyone have other suggestions for dealing with mobile devices in the classroom? Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9096775046824978357.post-57345077109327083482016-01-17T17:12:00.002-08:002016-01-17T17:13:00.613-08:00What kind of teacher are you?I'm "teaching" a new "class" this semester - the quotes are because the "class" is a faculty seminar and it's really more like I'm 'facilitating' than 'teaching'. But the work I'm putting into it feels very much like prepping a course and I had forgotten how much work this is! The seminar is on "High-Impact Teaching", which is really just a term I made up, mostly to appeal to those in my administration who are all about High-Impact Practices, and which I am using to encompass scholarly teaching and using evidence-based pedagogy (if anyone is interested, the details are <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/11QUCw5U-XmYmG3c9VuTfdlPTuPiJYReFuw4Tfn-hD6A/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
<br />
Anyway, the first meeting was Thursday and in preparation, the participants were asked to complete the <a href="http://www.teachingperspectives.com/tpi/" target="_blank">Teaching Perspectives Inventory</a> (TPI) and the <a href="http://fm.iowa.uiowa.edu/fmi/xsl/tgi/data_entry.xsl?-db=tgi_data&-lay=Layout01&-view" target="_blank">Teaching Goals Inventory</a> (TGI). I thought I'd share these tools with you all because I think these are both really interesting tools for thinking about who you are as a teacher. The items on the TGI measure your affinity for one of five perspectives: Transmission, Apprenticeship, Developmental, Nurturing and Social Reform; what I found particularly interesting was the breakdown of Beliefs, Intentions and Actions within each perspective. The idea is that no one perspective is "best" - it's just useful to better understand whether what you think you are doing actually lines up with what you want to be doing and what you believe is important. The TGI is similar but breaks things down a little differently and focuses more on the goals you believe are more or less important.<br />
<br />
I wasn't particularly surprised that I scored highest on the Apprenticeship and Developmental perspectives on the TPI, which is also consistent with my highest rating on the TGI falling in the cluster emphasizing 'Higher Order Thinking Skills'. But I am not sure what to make of the fact that my average rating on the TGI was lowest in the cluster representing 'Liberal Arts and Academic Values'...<br />
<br />
If you've never used done this sort of self-evaluation, I'm curious what you think of your results. Feel free to come share in the comments!<br />
Jennifer Imazekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15217003898479507362noreply@blogger.com0