Modeling to Learn Economics
(and Learning to Model in Economics)
Clare Battista, Ph.D.
Economics
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
NETA
November 6, 2014
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Modeling to Learn (MTL)
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Modeling to clarify thinking
Modeling to discover ideas
Modeling to discover cause and effect
Modeling to discover connections
Modeling to enhance quantitative literacy
Modeling to discover solutions
Modeling to get beyond thresholds
Modeling for just in time learning
Modeling to learn.
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Model Building
• Modeling
– framework(s) for framing, understanding and
accessing all the material in the course
– Set of intellectual tools that allow students to
connect and integrate ideas across the course,
across the discipline, across disciplines
– Flexible techniques (no rules)
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Mind Mapping
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Flow Charts
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Equations
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Narrative
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Use the technology
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As instructors, MTL
makes us a bit more
meta about what we
want students to actually
learn
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Why MTL?
Revised
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
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What do we
• What
do weto
want them to WTL in Economics?
want
students
Model to Learn in
Economics?
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Abstract Thinking … Concrete – Abstract
(and back again)
Threshold concept - aggregation
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Logical Reasoning
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Deductive
Deductive
– From general to specific
– Law of Demand
– Does consumer spending
on smart phones follow the
law demand? (quantitative literacy)
on on
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• Inductive Reasoning
– From specific to the general
– Does government spending in
California stimulate the economy?
– Research the issue, collect and
analyze the data, conclude.
– General theory about the effect of policy on the
economy
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Deductive
Inductive
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Based on the article Automatic Reaction, map
out the connections that David Autor makes
between technology and inequality.
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Visualize it!
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Causes
POVERTY
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Consequences
POVERTY
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Short term vs Long term Effects
POVERTY
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Sequence in a logical order
Making
connections
and
organizing
idea
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http://www.umich.edu/~lawrace/assets/Charts/segconsequences.gif
CHUNKING INFO
INTEGRATING
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What is the impact of …?
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What are the ripple effects?
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Teach What You Have Learned
• What are the concepts and skills involved
• Name them
• Teach them
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Opportunity Cost
Shifts vs. Movements
Recessionary Gap
Business Cycle
Economic Mobility
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It is illegal for people to
sleep in their vehicles on
city streets and parking lots.
Vehicles that violate the
ordinance will be issued a
one-time warning prior to
being issued a ticket.
What’s the story?
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What’s the story?
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What’s the story?
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What’s the story?
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What’s the story?
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Keep students
off balance so
they become
comfortable on
shifting terrain
Challenge assumptions,
address fears
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Off Balance – Challenge assumptions
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Theories of poverty (7)
Muhammed Yunus (rethinking the poor)
Jessica Jackley Kiva (rethinking entrepreneurship)
Malcolm Gladwell (Capitalization Rates)
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Fear of failure
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What’s the big idea?
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Economic Inequality = f (Education)
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Read: Bernstein, Waking Up From the American Dream
Read: James, College Wage Premium
Read: Florida, Future of US Work Force in Creative Economy
Read: Levy, Education/Inequality in the Creative Age
View: Robinson, Changing Education Paradigm
Read:Frank, Vicious Circle of Income Inequality(
Read: Krugman, Graduates v. Oligarchs
Journal Prompts:
Identify and explain the "big idea" in each of the
readings/videos
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Take a Position
(requires confidence and permission)
From Business Readis Today.Experienceing Life at the Interesction of
Creativity, Data, and Technology … “OpposableMinds”
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3 Hypothetical societies
 Meritocracy or meritocratic society. In a meritocracy, economic outcomes
are based on talent, effort, skill, education and hard work. Those who work
the hardest and have the greatest talent, regardless of class, gender, race,
or other characteristics, have the highest income.
 The “fortune cookie” society. In this society, where one ends up bears no
relation to talent or energy, and is purely a matter of luck.
 The class-stratified society or birthright economy: In this society, family
background is all-important — children end up in the same relative position
as their parents. Mobility between classes is little to non-existent. This is
also referred to as a birthright economy whereby outcomes are tethered to
the socioeconomic class of parents. In this economy, children would stay in
same quintile as parents regardless of talent, effort, skill and education.
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Questions
1, Which one of these hypothetical societies would you
choose to live in? Why? Explain. Give 3 reasons why
this society is more desirable.
2. Provide 2 reasons each for why the other societies
are less desirable.
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Questions
3. In your estimation, what type of society is the U.S.? You
may choose more than one type like meritocratic and
luck, or all three. However, you must provide
percentages like 80% meritocratic and 20% luck or 5050.
4. Next, provide reasons or examples that help us
understand why you assigned the percentages the way
that you did.
5. Start thinking about how you might measure these
things.
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Review of Assignments
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Visualize it!
Mapping
What’s the story?
Teach what you have learned
Off balance:
– Challenge assumptions
– Fear of Failure
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Big Idea
Take a position
Hybrid “catch all” Journals
Reverse Engineering (scaffolding)
• Talk the Talk (name and explain)
• Walk the Walk (model it!)
• Pair Share (circumvent priming and framing)
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Deliberate Practice
• Deliberate practice describing graphs (QL)
• Deliberate practice explaining graphs (QL)
• Deliberate practice mapping cause and effect
relationships (QL)
• Deliberate practice with the big idea.
• Deliberate practice in finding the argument (cause and
effect) in the article
• Deliberate practice in making the cause and effect case
• Deliberate practice with formulating research questions
• Deliberate practice with Identifying and citing the author
(added bonus)
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