Building Aeroplanes in the Class By Pablo Branas-Garza, Praveen Kujal, Marie Wong, Lara Ezquerra-Guerra, Alex Bueno
May 26, 2015
Building Aeroplanes in the Class
By Pablo Branas-Garza, Praveen Kujal, Marie Wong, Lara Ezquerra-Guerra, Alex Bueno
A classroom experiment based on Bergstrom and Miller’s paper (1999)
Definition
Illustration◦ Graphs◦ Figures◦ Real life examples
Regurgitation
Application
Traditional way of teaching and learning Economics
12/04/2023
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Traditional way of teaching and learning Economics
Boring
Theoretical
Low or no participation from students
Short-lived memory
Limited scope of learning
Drawbacks
Fun way of learning economics
Learning both economic concepts and one’s attributes through experimental activities
Provide data for research work linked to the activities
GSTK – ‘Get Students to Know’ Experimental Economics project – funded by Middlesex University’s Learning and Teaching Grant
Experimental Economics
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Learning Economics through games
3 concepts to be taught:
◦Diminishing Marginal Returns
◦Long term production function
◦Error learning process in the long run
Building Aeroplanes in class
Signing of consent form
Random grouping of students
Instruction & trial
5 rounds of play & results recorded
Data analysed and graphs plotted
On-line follow-up activities
Further research work
Implementation
A formal practice in Experimental Economics to seek consent for using data from the experimental activities for further research purpose.
All personal data treated in strict confidentiality and will be disclosed to the individual concerned only
1. Consent Form
Each group had different amounts of labour (group members) and capital (drawing pens) – both varying from 1 to 5.
The size of the groups and amount of capital will be determined by the same person in all the experimental sessions so that at the end we can have observations for all the possible combinations of labour and capital.
Students were randomly allocated into different groups by one of the monitors following “the sorting protocol”
2. Random grouping
Sorting protocol: We assign the first person on the first column and row to group 1, the next person (row1 column 2) to the second group and so on. We continue with this process until all the students have been sorted.
Random grouping (cont.)
K,L=1,1K,L=1,2K,L=1,3K,L=1,4K,L=1,5K,L=2,2K,L=2,3 K,L=2,4K,L=2,5K,L=3,3K,L=3,4K,L=3,5K,L=4,4K,L=4,5K,L=5,50
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2
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Observations
Random grouping (cont.)
Self-explanatory instructions handed out
Students given 4 minutes to read and try it out
What can be learnt at this stage about the students?
Attentiveness to details Ability to adapt to changes Problem solving skills Team working and communication skills Time management skills Ability to work under pressure
3. Instruction and Trial
3. Instruction and Trial (Cont.)
Each round 3 minutes time were given to produce perfectly completed and flying aeroplanes.
Both complete and incomplete aeroplanes were counted and recorded.
What can be learnt about the students? Error learning skills Problem solving skills Team working and organisation skills Attitudes towards repetitive work
4. Five rounds of play
Students ID Role: B (in %)
Role: P ( 1- B in %)
Gender K=
1
2
3
4
5
5. Results recorded
Rounds 1 2 3 4 5
Incomplete
Complete
C + Flying
6. Data analysed and graphs plotted
Long term production function
Error Learning curves in the long run
www.gstk.eu
◦ Explanation of the 3 Economic concepts
◦ Interactive graphs for illustration
◦ Diagnostic MC questions to check understanding
◦ Simple questionnaire to collect further information
7. On-line follow up activities
1. Active participation in the learning process
2. Relate abstract Economic concepts to everyday life experience
3. Easier to remember the concepts and their explanations.
4. Learning more about themselves
Advantages of Teaching and Learning with Experimental Economics to students
Procrastination
Attentiveness to details
Team working and communication skills
Problem solving and organisation skills
Attitude towards an assignment
Risk Attitude
What do students learn about themselves from experimental economics?
Inform students how their attributes have changed (if any) over the 3 years of study at Middlesex University, London.
Production of Certificates acknowledging in private the students’ own personal attributes to be used alongside their CV to inform potential employers if they wish
Feedback to students
(1) About students’ learning attributes:
Data generated for further research
Personal Attributes
gender
Ethnicity
Programme of study Age
Year of study
Entry qualification
Examples of personal attributes observed directly and indirectly Attentiveness Procrastination Academic attainment Attendance Engagement in assignments Social networking Risk attitude Rationality ......
For example:
Relationship between labour, capital, gender and production.
Gender and the role in production process
Gender and errors in production
Data for further research related to Economic’s subject matter
Bringing life and fun to teaching and learning Economics
Enriching students’ learning experience
Raising the level of students’ engagement
Embedding modern technology into teaching and learning
Involving students in research work from day 1 at MDX
Combining research with learning and teaching
Publishing an e-book using the output from each activity
Conclusion: What Experimental Economics can achieve?