Assignment 1
Due by: 21-03-2023 8:00 AM.
What to submit: a pdf file with a title or one sentence describing the societal/economic problem that you
want to address.
How to submit: Upload to Moodle "Assignments".
Assignment: Identify a societal/economic problem you want to solve to make society a better place.
Outline and define the problem (if you can, present data, including numbers, to outline the problem).
Indicate why it is an important problem (i.e., Are there life, health, money, or other issues?). Identify the
underlying paternalistic dictate (the assumed paternalistic rule underlying the nudge, i.e., How should
people behave and why should they behave that way?). Indicate why humans are unable to "resolve it on
their own" (why attempts at self-correction fail, what are the typical human mental processes that drive
humans to adopt this socially disadvantageous behavior - biases, psychological tendencies). Indicate what
benefits a behavioral intervention (nudge) might achieve (support your argument with numbers, if you
can).
Important: DO NOT EXPLICIT ANY TYPE OF BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION THAT COULD SOLVE THE PROBLEMPENALTY A FAILING GRADE FOR THE ASSIGNMENT.
Presentation: Present the problem you have identified to the class in a 5-minute talk. A 5-minute question
time will follow. The order of presentations will be random but defined in advance.
Gradings: Assign a grade (from 0 to 31) to each presentation for each of the following criteria:
 (Criteria 1) Clarity of presentation (e.g., did you understand what the student was saying? did the
student speak the right amount of time or too much or too little? Did the student express himself
well? Did the student have things clear in his mind, or was s/he just reading from a sheet of paper?
Etc.)
 (Criteria 2) Quality of the arguments (e.g., were the data and arguments brought up sufficiently
convincing? was the relevance of the problem sufficiently argued?)
The average of all grades that you receive from the other classmates will be your final grade for this
assignment. Grading will be managed through moodle feedback, therefore bring your preferred device to
connect to the internet (phone, tablet, PC). You will receive your final grade via Moodle as soon as the
professor computes it.
Vote: Vote for the problem you would like to see implemented in the continuation of the lab. The winning
problem will actually be implemented, and the person/group who proposed it will receive an extra point on
the final grade. You can vote two problems, and you can give one vote to your problem if you want. Voting
will be managed with in-class paper and pencil material.
Groups: Group members can individually grade each other’s group assignments. For example, consider
group #1, which is composed of member #1, member #2, and member#3. When Gropu #2 makes their
presentation, each member of group#1 can grade the presentation made by group#2. So member <à1 can
grade Group#2, as well as member#2 can grade group#2, and so on. However, each group can cast only
unified votes. Group #1 can vote as a single individual not as three individuals.
Important: KEEP YOUR PROBLEM HIDDEN FROM OTHERS UNTIL WHEN THE ASSIGNMENT IS DUE.