Economics for Teachers: Musings about Teaching Economics

I want to let everyone know that I am officially closing out this chapter of my blogging life. It was 17 years ago this May that I started this blog, back when blogging was still relatively new, and I was exploring ways to have my students do some writing. During the years from 2008 to 2015-ish, when I was most active with experimenting with different pedagogical approaches, this space helped me process what I was learning, and connected me with economists and other colleagues who care about teaching. As I have moved into other roles, I have been torn about what to do with this space, feeling a bit weird about posting anything not directly related to teaching. I have finally decided I need to start fresh so I will be writing (though I have no idea how regularly) on Substack .  Thank you to everyone who has read and commented over the years. I hope you'll find me on Substack, or in real life!

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 latest episode of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, talking about implicit bias and how it can impact our teaching.  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 ne...

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 prepare  for the possibility of still teaching remotely. 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 ...

By this time, I'm sure most people have heard about " Zoombombing ", 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. DO secure your session links by using a  password and/or requiring registration . 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. DON'T use your  personal meeting room  for public meetings ; use a random ID created specifically for your session.  DO know who is in your session by: Enabling the  Waiting Room ...

As 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: [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] If you use clickers in class to break up what is otherwise mostly lect...

I 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... DO wash your hands , and DON'T touch your face . 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... DO get good information about COVID-19 in general. The Atlantic , which normally limits the number of articles you can access without a subscription, is giving everyone free access to some of their coverage and it is all excellent. DO check your readiness to use the technology you will need. Some institutions have developed readiness checklists (like  this one  from San Jose State). In my mind, the two big tech-related questio...

This is part II of the lessons I took away from the Executive Leadership Academy ... 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? There is a quote I like that goes something like, “When you are a...

This summer I had the opportunity to attend the Executive Leadership Academy (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. 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...

In my last post , 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  everything  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). At the same time, if I don't feel like anything  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 se...

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 where I want to do it for, potentially, the rest of my life? " Big questions. 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 value...

In my last post , 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 why it matters are actually going to help me get over the resistance. 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...

This 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. 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 ...

I 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 Gender in the Economics Profession I (the fact that there is more than one session with that title also makes me happy). The paper is " Does Simple Information Provision Lead to More Diverse Classrooms? Evidence from a Field Experiment on Undergraduate Economics " (link is to download the preview paper from the AEA conference site) and here's the abstract: Significant gender and racial/ethnic gaps have been observed in the economics profession, a reality with roots...

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 act...

In 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. The word that immediately came to my mind was "DO" - as in, I need to stop talking  about all the things I need/want to do and just go do  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......

Happy 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)... 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. The Federal Reserve Banks as Partners in Teaching and Learning Economics Paper Session Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM Atlanta Marriott Marquis, M101 Chair: Diego Mendez-Carbajo, Illinois Wesleyan University A Survey of Federal Reserve Economic Education Programs and Resources Scott Wolla, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Andrew Hill, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Economics Scholars Program for Undergraduate Re...

Happy 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 https://goo.gl/forms/NFf1OfNOW9sxK9jm2 . We will only use the responses for illustration purposes during the panel and your answers will be entirely anonymous. Thank you!!! 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...

Thank 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: 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 negatively 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 th...

For 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! AEA Committee on Economic Education Poster Session Friday, Jan. 6, 2017; 8:00 AM– 10:00 AM Hyatt Regency Chicago, Toronto Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION Chair: Steve Cobb, University of North Texas MACRO Monopoly: Applying a Game-Based Economic Development Lesson Kim Holder , University of West Georgia Using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to Teach Economics Concepts Matthew Pham , Landmark College Jim Koskoris , Landmark College In Search of Best Classroom Practices Hari S. Luitel , Algoma University Oxford-Style Inspired Academic Competitive Debates With a Twist on Hot Topics of International Economics and Finance Sylwia E. Starnawska , State University of New York-Empire State College Industrial Design at the Se...