The Dismal Educator

Introduction to Frank's Book Econ Naturalist

2011-12-30T14:13:00.000-08:00

Here is presentation I created based on Robert Frank's book Econ Naturalist. I will be using this book for the micro section of Econ 106

Econ Naturalist Introduction on Prezi

Jeff Sach

2011-12-29T21:39:00.001-08:00

This was an interesting interview that could be used in class.
It is Jeff Sach on CBC Canada.
Here is the link to Jeff Sachs biography.

Opportunity cost

2011-12-28T21:18:00.001-08:00

Opportunity Cost on Prezi

First Night Econ 106

2011-12-28T20:02:00.000-08:00

Econ 106 Spring 2012 on Prezi

I used the template created by Marc Cohen

Gap Minder

2011-12-25T16:27:00.000-08:00

use this site for Econ 106
Here are some downloads
Here is the link for how to use in Class

Economics for Humans

2011-12-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

This caught my attention Economics for Humans
It deals with GDP and measurements

Suessonomics

2011-12-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

This could be an interesting exercise for my Econ 106. Have them write a rhyme for an economic concept.

Socratic Method

2011-10-31T19:56:00.000-07:00

I had considered applying the Socratic method in my classes. However, I never figured out how to do it in an Economics course. I am glad I never tried it because faculty members at other schools are denied tenure. Here is an Article.

2011-10-26T12:48:00.001-07:00

Richard Wilkinson: How economic inequality harms societies | Video on TED.com

Musical Approach To Econ

2011-10-17T07:33:00.001-07:00

I need to learn how to rap!

Reading on Game Theory

2011-06-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.—Sun Tzu

I am thinking that students would be interested in game theory. They like the element of surprise. Last semester they would become extremely engaged only if I challenged their common beliefs. They would try to prove me wrong only to lose because I would set up the rules of the game. I need to come up with some more that will challenge their beliefs.

Debating Books

2011-03-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

During the past two weeks I have been reading spousonomics and next I will start reading The Invisible Hook: the hidden economics of pirates. I may assign one or the other to my Econ 106 next Fall.
After reading both books the question I need to ask will students be more interested in the married life or piracy?

2011-03-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

For a long time now I have been thinking of taking a drawing class to improve my teaching. I imagined drawing pictures that tell stories for students and gets them engaged in the lesson similar to what is done in the video below. But I ran across a website called Behaviorgap.com which does the same thing but with very little artistic ability (picture above).

Double-dip recession from Marketplace on Vimeo.

Excitement Today

2011-03-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

This Hawk showed up today in the middle of my lecture and the students were excitied by seeing him there. I watched students who were forcing themselves to stay awake wake up in an instant. Was it the surprise element or the fact that something real was in front of them?

Diminishing Marginal Utility Experiment

2011-03-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I conducted the Chocolate experiment with my class. On Monday I gave them the lecture on Jeremy Bentham, Utility and Marginal Utility. Most of them accepted the idea as presented and said "that makes sense"!
On Wednesday (yesterday) I conducted the experiment but made sure the result would not match the results as presented in the lecture. I gave them a variety of chocolate so that the Marginal Utility would not fall. To my surprise the students picked up on this and criticized my experiment (see the end of the first video).

After this first round, I ran the experiment as it was meant to be run. I gave all of the credit to the students and the experiment worked out as Jeremy predicted.

Maybe Next Semester

2011-02-20T21:09:00.000-08:00

I just order the book Spousonomics after hearing an interview with the authors on Marketplace. If this book is any good, next year I will use it for Econ 106.
Topics covered match the course outline for the class. According to the table of contents on Amazon and on their website, topics in the book are 1) Division of Labor 2) Incentives 3)Supply and Demand and 4) Moral Hazard. I would need another book to cover the macro topics listed in the course outline.

Second Week Of Class

2011-02-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

I have started listening and creating lectures based on lectures given by various famous economists at top schools. I find these lectures on i-tunes U and spend the weekends listening taking notes.
Next I think about how I can simplify the material for my introductory class and create power points. Today I tested one of these PowerPoint in class and it was a success.
The students wanted to know more and I gave them the link to the episode on i-tunes U. Actually one girl with an i-pod touch asked me if she had downloaded the correct course or not?
This lecture was a simplified version of one given by Robert Shiller given to his Financial Market class at Yale.

Mike has recommended that you check out Financial Markets - Video

2011-02-09T19:53:00.001-08:00

Mike has recommended that you check out Financial Markets - Video:

Financial Markets - Video

Robert Shiller

Finance

30 Ratings

iTunes Store

Please note that you have not been added to any email lists.
Copyright © 2011 Apple Inc. All rights reserved

Econ haiku

2011-01-14T20:03:00.001-08:00

The following haikus are from freakomomics website:
No. 1, posted by Tim:

Demand curve slopes down
Because the more cake I eat,
The less cake I want.
No. 2, posted by Calum:

A friend and I, jailed;
We agreed to stay silent
(But I still confessed).
No. 3, posted by LiaStarLight:

No matter how hard
I shake my money maker,
It is not enough.
No. 4, posted by Nate C.:

Sales of ice cream seem
To correlate with crime rate?
Simply summer heat.
No. 5, posted by Sean:

Can we work it out
If there aren’t transaction costs?
But of Coase we can.
No. 6, posted by Sophie:

Haiku writers know
The opportunity cost
Of a syllable.

Vocabulary Econ 106

2010-12-29T12:43:00.001-08:00

Need to cut down the number of vocabulary words from the novel? Should I stick to the Econ words? Or keep al the words?
I worry that I will lose the better students but at the same time I worry about students who are not readers. I am leaning toward letting English teachers worry about the reading skills of the students and stick to the economics.

Econ 106 novel

2010-12-22T03:21:00.001-08:00

Taking a chance on using a novel for Econ 106. I have created a list of vocabulary words from the reading of the first chapter . The concept is to use vocabulary quizzes and comprehension questions. The next step is to create the comprehension questions needed.

Restarting this Blog

2010-12-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

After a long time, 3 to 4 years, I have decided to get this blog rolling again. I hope to put down my observations and attempts at making Economics fun and understandable for my students. Also I will post my failures to communicate basic economic concepts. This is not an economics blog but a blog about teaching the Dismal Science better known as Economics.

Check out this podcast episode!

2006-10-30T07:41:00.000-08:00

Javanomics

My Boring Lectures

The Howl

Enjoy! -- Mike

2006-10-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

Krugman on the US housing bubble

This is why you should not buy Real Estate.

2006-10-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

Paul Krugman on the rich getting richer

Economic Literacy Site

2006-10-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

Link to the Minneapolis Federal Reserve site.

Econ a Foriegn Language?

2006-10-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

I was looking through various pages the fed has and found an old speech from June 1999 on Economic Literacy. I saw the following quote by Alice Rivlin and it made me wonder if this is how my students see my lectures. Those who have read do not have this problem but those that have not may!?

"Economic literacy is akin to having a working knowledge of a foreign language. If you are with a group of foreigners and don't speak their language at all, especially if its sounds and intonations are strange and unfamiliar to your ears, you tune out. You feel excluded, perhaps uneasy. If you have a rudimentary working knowledge of the language, you can at least follow the drift of the conversation, ask a few questions and feel that, even if you are not getting the fine points, you are not totally left out and you have a basis for acquiring more knowledge. That, it seems to me, is what economic literacy means—a rudimentary working knowledge of the concepts and language of economic activity and economic policy."

How much of rudimentary working knowledge do they have? Can I congratulate myself on discussing terminology and boring the heck out of my students before moving on to exciting debates?

2006-10-14T22:55:00.000-07:00

Greenspan's Retirement

The legacy of Greenspan Housing Bubble

2006-10-13T00:52:00.000-07:00

Professor on Credentialism

The Chinese Are Coming & Self Interest

2006-10-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

Two stories on NPR Marketplace caught my attention: The first story was about the Chinese investing in the U.S. which reminds me of the Japanese in the 1980's buying Real Estate in U.S.
The Second story (commentary) is by Adam Hanft. He pointed out:

"People are positively jubilant about spending time and effort to create
videos or discover them, and then post them for free.But why? There's no
economic benefit to them. And that defies classic economic theory that says we
are all rational beings and act only in our own self-interest."
This will make an interesting discussion with the students.

MOney Video

2006-10-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

This is from Dropping Knowledge. I will use this in class when I start teaching about money.
The Answer: Because it is a medium of exchange?

Why the Stock Market Moves by Navaro at UCI

2006-10-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

A student asked me about the stock market and I did not have a good answer. I feared giving bad advice and him losing money and getting sued.
I am going to direct him to Peter Navaro's site and have him listen to the lectures.

need to look into this

2006-10-08T20:37:00.000-07:00

I ran across this site for educators. I need to look at this site and decide if there is anything useful there or not.
Also a great site for the students is http://www.isbnspy.com/

2006-10-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

Colbert Welcomes Henry Kissinger Back to the White House

The more we think that things are changing the more they are the same!

Start Of An Excellent Blog

2006-10-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

Another excellent economist has decided to blog. I know that I will like MacroMind because he will ask questions that are relevant to our students. Also he is responsible for me being a dismal educator. He is responsible for my interest in economics as a subject, and he was one of the first people to encourage me to teach. Go toMacromind

John Kenneth Galbraith Quote

2006-10-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

John Kenneth Galbraith is one of my favorite economists. I remembered that he had coined the term "conventional Wisdom" . Searching for the original quote I ran across the following quote of his "The enemy of the conventional wisdom is not ideas but the march of events."
You can see the above proven slowly but surely in the political news.

World is getting Flatter for Educators

2006-09-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

This is another proof of Mr. Friedman's Hypothesis that the world is flat. Will online classes be taught from India? why not?

Story--Courtesy Reuters
U.S. homework outsourced as "e-tutoring" grows

By Jason Szep Thu Sep 28, 10:43 AM ET

BOSTON (Reuters) - Private tutors are a luxury many American families cannot afford, costing anywhere between $25 to $100 an hour. But California mother Denise Robison found one online for $2.50 an hour -- in India.

"It's made the biggest difference. My daughter is literally at the top of every single one of her classes and she has never done that before," said Robison, a single mother from Modesto.

Her 13-year-old daughter, Taylor, is one of 1,100 Americans enrolled in Bangalore-based TutorVista, which launched U.S. services last November with a staff of 150 "e-tutors" mostly in India with a fee of $100 a month for unlimited hours.

Taylor took two-hour sessions each day for five days a week in math and English -- a cost that tallies to $2.50 an hour, a fraction of the $40 an hour charged by U.S.-based online tutors such as market leader Tutor.com that draw on North American teachers, or the usual $100 an hour for face-to-face sessions.

"I like to tell people I did private tutoring every day for the cost of a fast-food meal or a Starbucks' coffee," Robison said. "We did our own form of summer school all summer."

The outsourcing trend that fueled a boom in Asian call centers staffed by educated, low-paid workers manning phones around the clock for U.S. banks and other industries is moving fast into an area at the heart of U.S. culture: education.

It comes at a difficult time for the U.S. education system: only two-thirds of teenagers graduate from high school, a proportion that slides to 50 percent for black Americans and Hispanics, according to government statistics.

China and India, meanwhile, are producing the world's largest number of science and engineering graduates -- at least five times as many as in the United States, where the number has fallen since the early 1980s.

Parents using schools like Taylor's say they are doing whatever they can to give children an edge that can lead to better marks, better colleges and a better future, even if it comes with an Indian accent about 9,000 miles away.

SLANG & AMERICAN ACCENTS

"We've changed the paradigm of tutoring," said Krishnan Ganesh, founder and chairman of TutorVista, which offers subjects ranging from grammar to geometry for children as young as 6 years old to adults in college.

"It's not that the U.S. education system is not good. It's just that it's impossible to give personalized education at an affordable cost unless you use technology, unless you use the Internet and unless you can use lower-cost job centers like India," he said over a crackly Internet-phone line from Bangalore. "We can deliver that."

Many of the tutors have masters degrees in their subjects, said Ganesh. On average, they have taught for 10 years. Each undergoes 60 hours of training, including lessons on how to speak in a U.S. accent and how to decipher American slang.

They are schooled on U.S. history and state curricula, and work in mini-call centers or from their homes across India. One operates out of Hong Kong, teaching the Chinese language.

As with other Indian e-tutoring firms such as Growing Stars Inc., students log on to TutorVista's Web site and are assigned lessons by tutors who communicate using voice-over-Internet technology and an instant messaging window. They share a simulated whiteboard on their computers.

Denise Robison said Taylor had trouble understanding her tutor's accent at first. "Now that she is used to it, it doesn't bother her at all," she said.

TutorVista launched a British service in August and Ganesh said he plans to expand into China in December to tap demand for English lessons from China's booming middle class. In 2007, he plans to launch Spanish-language lessons and build on Chinese and French lessons already offered.

A New Delhi tutoring company, Educomp Solutions Ltd., estimates the U.S. tutoring market at $8 billion and growing. Online companies, both from the United States and India, are looking to tap millions of dollars available to firms under the U.S. No Child Left Behind Act for remedial tutoring.

Teachers unions hope to stop that from happening.

"Tutoring providers must keep in frequent touch with not only parents but classroom teachers and we believe there is greater difficulty in an offshore tutor doing that," said Nancy Van Meter, a director at the American Federation of Teachers.

But No Child Left Behind, a signature Bush administration policy, encourages competition among tutoring agencies and leaves the door open for offshore tutors, said Diane Stark Rentner of the Center on Education Policy in Washington.

"The big test is whether the kids are actually learning. Until you answer that, I don't know if you can pass judgment on whether this is a good or bad way to go," she said.
Read the Article

Economics Roundtable: Robert Shiller

2006-09-30T14:55:00.000-07:00


Yale economist Robert Shiller argues that the stock market is explained by investor psychology, not the internet or globalization as others claim. Shiller forecast the collapse of the last bubble in 2000 and offers insight here into assessing risk in the 21st century. Series: "Economics Roundtable" [Public Affairs]

Demand

2006-09-30T13:25:00.000-07:00


This is my lecture on Demand based on Textbook by David Colander. Using Google to put up my lectures.

Blocked Sites On Campus

2006-09-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

You Tube is blocked on our campus, so some of the video links are not visible on campus.
The school blocks My Space too. However, the students organization are using it and coming up with new groups all the time. A college trustee has a myspace account. He can be found in the Rio Hondo Past and Present Group.
The AGS Group post was interesting:
"... we have been having some technical difficulties with our normal Rio Hondo AGS website and so what the heck; why not create a myspace for AGS? Everyone has a myspace (well almost) and lets be frank; they check it constantly, forcing administrators at Rio Hondo to ban myspace entirely. Consequently, we figured this would be a great and quickest way to reach our members, discuss upcoming events, announce deadlines, and etc....!"

Myspace Groups

Oh I set up a MySpace account too. I am Economisto! And I found this Video there:Posted By:Econ311

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Fiscal Policy

2006-09-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

Economics Video

This is a very creative way of teaching fiscal policy.
Somebody flagged it on Youtube but it is clean!

2006-09-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

Fishball explained with Economics

Is this Mandarin or Cantonese? Is it accurate?

Basic Macro

2006-09-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

My latest gadget/software is Camtasia by Techsmith corporation. I have started creating simple powerpoint on the basic Microeconomic subjects, such as supply and demand, Equilibrium etc.
I have learned that I do not like my own voice and that I have an accent.
I started with microeconomics because it is easy to break down into simple components.
What are the Basics in Macro? GDP, Aggregate Prices, .....
Next how can I keep it simple and yet fun?

My Micro MultiMedia Page Do I have an Accent or just imagining it?

It is Tarriff Plus Subsidies in the Land of Rising Sun

2006-09-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

In previous post I wondered how do the japanese subsidize their farmers?
According to the WTO:Read the Article
The average Japanese tariff rate on agricultural imports is 20.1%, and the effective tariff rate on rice imports is the equivalent of 406%

Japanese farmers' output equals 1.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of roughly 500 trillion yen a year but the amount of farm subsidies paid by the Japanese government is equivalent to an even larger 1.4% of GDP.

I have lived in the Japanese countryside and I understand the inefficiencies of this system. But I am forgiving of this inefficiency. Look at my August 21 posting!

Why is the U.S. falling behind?

2006-09-15T12:48:00.000-07:00

This article from bloomberg states 'U.S. spends more on primary and secondary education than most developed countries, yet has larger classes, lower test scores and higher dropout ratesU.S. spends more on primary and secondary education than most developed countries, yet has larger classes, lower test scores and higher dropout rates".
What could be the cause?
Is it a statistical distortion? where schools with small budget are lumped in with affluent school districts leading to these numbers!?
Or
Is this confirming the results of the coleman report? http://webapp.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR-STUDY/06389.xml
Or
Something else?

Article

Freakonomics is Yabai in Japanese

2006-08-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a book and I saw a book called Yabai in Japanese. Yabai means strange or weird.
I recognized the orange within an apple image. It is the freakonomics book.
Apparently my wife read this book and that is why she is reading stiglitz microeconomics textbook. She is fascinated by economics as presented by Levitz and disappointed by microeconomics as presented in standard microeconomics textbook. She asked for an easy to read Microeconomics textbook. I gave her a few, but I think she will be disappointed.
I wonder could we make Micro more interesting? There are the experiments of supply and demand but something more...

Price Floor and Quality

2006-08-21T23:26:00.000-07:00

I was walking with my wife and talking about price floors. She is reading Stiglitz book in Japanese. She asked me the following question: "What is wrong with price floor if it brings quality to the good?"
It took me awhile to figure out what she was talking about. It was with the help of the electronic dictionary that I understood she is talking about price floors.
She followed that with : "Is quantity everything?"
I tried to remind her that in Japan watermelon costs around 8000 yen (about $90).
She paused and said the following: "At first I liked cheap watermelon but now...."
I waited.
She continued: " I wonder Is cheap cheap everything? What about taste?"
This made me think too.
There were three questions on my mind:
1) What is wrong with a price floor which is set up to encourage high quality goods. (This is different from U.S. farm subsidies which encourages quantity)
2) Are we happier with more? I dont know if the fruit were truly better in Japan or not but it was a treat to have a piece of fruit. Scarcity made it tastier.
3) Why is my wife (a non-economist) reading Stiglitz economic textbook?
4) How do the Japanese subsidize their farms? Is it a quota or a price floor?

Freakonomics (this is freaky)

2006-08-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

I found this article on freakonomics like a car crash. I found it disgusting but could not stop reading.
Here is another site I could not stop reading:
http://blog.organomics.org/

Every Micro teacher should read and use

2006-08-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

Every Microeconomics teacher should read this book by Steve Keen. Even if an instructor does not accept his arguments it is an interesting way to get the students to think about Economics. Usually students just memorize the formulas but I love the look in the students' eyes when I tell them about this book.
The better prepared students love to read this book and argue with me after class. I take on the neoclassical approach and I see these students (so far two) ace my standard microeconomics exam.
They love to argue and prove the teacher wrong and in the process learn about Micro.

Debunk Econ Site

Go with the Flow

2006-07-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

I had a conversation with my colleague at Rio she asked how do I like Krugman's new textbook so far?
I complained about Chapter 14 where he switches between Nominal and Real quantity of money so many times that it can becomes confusing.
However overall I recommended the book to her. She asked what do I like best about this book?
I said without thinking; "The Flow!"
This book does an excellent job explaining macroeconomics using the Circular-Flow model.

Podcasting

2006-06-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

I have not written for awhile due to my new fascination with Audio. I know my students dont like to read so they all claim to be auditory learners.
I decided to believe them and I started playing with various audio softwares and sites out there. I found a site called podomatic which makes the whole thing easy. I put up couple of "testting this is mike" postings.
Also I got myself on i-tunes so students can download me on their i-pods.
I am curious as to how many students will stop attending my lectures.

Video Projects for Economics

2006-04-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

This is a great idea. I wonder if I can get the students to do a project like this?

Why Study Econ Websitee

A Great Site

2006-04-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

This is a great site!

CPI A smart students question

2006-03-15T07:45:00.000-08:00

If the CPI overstate inflation, how do we know we are not overcorrecting for this and end up understating inflation?
What is the number telling us about the real world when we remove the volatile part of inflation? Does that mean nobody uses energy during that time!?

How economist see Valentine day

2006-02-13T22:04:00.000-08:00

This is an excellent audio file to illustrate how economist think. Marginal cost of a valentine card vs. the Marginal Benefit of giving the card.
Happy valentine day!

An Excellent Site by NYTimes

2006-02-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

This is a link that I found on Math and Econ using the New York Time.

What do they Know

2006-02-07T08:06:00.000-08:00

The NCEE has released the findings of a new poll, conducted by Harris Interactive (The Harris Poll® People), that examines adults’ and students’ current understanding of basic economic concepts.

Whimsical Streak in an Introductory Econ.

2006-01-26T12:32:00.000-08:00

I am reading the Accidental Theorist by Krugman again. The following (original published in Slate Jan 23 1997)caught my eye and I will use it in my first lecture. Not the whole thing but the following section:

"You can not do serious economics unless you are willing to be playful. Economics is not a collection of dictums laid down by pompous authority figures. Mainly it is a menageries of thought experiments-parables, if you like-that are intended to capture the logic of economics processes in a simplified way. In the end, of course, ideas must be tested against the facts. But even to know what facts are relevant, you must play with those ideas in a hypothetical settings. "

I would have to reword this but the idea of playfulness is important for student to learn and develop critical thinking versus just memorizing various laws of economics.

Listen to this!

2006-01-23T15:48:00.000-08:00

This is an interview with Art Kleiner. Toward the end of the interview he gets into what makes a good educator.

Diversity in Economics

2006-01-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

Macroeconomics & Heuristics

2006-01-15T11:24:00.000-08:00

I was reading the article "What is problem solving?" by Michael Martinez (see my last post). The Heuristic approach advocated in the paper is an interesting idea.
In the article he had the following sentence:
"All heuristics help break down a problem into pieces."
This made me think of Macroeconomics. A very big puzzle , so big that it can not be seen as one piece. Economist take pieces of information Unemployment, Inflation, Interest rate, etc. and try to reason the function, relationship between different pieces or the location of each piece in the larger picture.
I am thinking of bringing a puzzle to class and fiddle around with it so the students can visualize this idea. An old puzzle with worn out edges would be better because in real life there is NO exact fits.

Problem Solving

2006-01-14T23:13:00.000-08:00

Surfing the Web and I ran into the above article by Dr. Michael Martinez. My mind is a little "blurry" from looking at the screen for so long but I think this article is saying what I tell my students.
Failure is your best teacher!
Screw up on the homework and you will not screw up on the exam!
I let them redo their homework till they get 100% on the homework. (most do not take advantage of this)
I never give them the correct answer.
They have to figure out where they went wrong.
I felt a bit guilty. I thought that I was being easy but now I feel great knowing that there is a method to my madness.

Winter Vacation

2006-01-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

This winter vacation is too long. I am going crazy. This made me think about one of the assumptions of economics and I have to ask the following question:
How do we calculate the cost of working to a workholics?
How do we calculate the cost of working to workholics that like to complain about working?

Market Failure Vs. Failure of Market Outcome

2006-01-12T15:15:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting article by David Colander.

Looking at the crowd

2006-01-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

I was watching seminars given by various famous political gurus. These were in the lecture format given to interested graduate students at American University. Some of these lecturers were actually interesting. Watching these lectures I noticed the following:
1) Interested students do fall sleep in class. I saw a few fighting sleep and saw one doodling.
2) They wake up to ask questions. The sleepiest student was the first one to ask a question.
(sleepiest is not actual word but at this moment I can not think of a better word).

New School New Syllabi

2005-12-22T17:41:00.000-08:00

I will teach at a new school starting on January 27. I am going through and thinking about how I should change my syllabi to fit the student body at this new school. After I finish these syllabi I will post my latest syllabi and link it here.

2005-12-17T20:55:00.000-08:00

Singing Songs

2005-12-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

The Auditory portion of my brain seems to have taken over this blog. I would love to do this but I did not do well in Music.

Creating Audio Grading

2005-12-12T12:26:00.000-08:00

I am tired of writing little comments on students' papers. I think they do not read my comments. And often those that do read my comments, tend to misunderstand. These misunderstandings can be attributed to the students poor reading skills or to my poor writing skills or a combination of both.
So my solution: record my comments, in a conversational manner, on a digital audio recorder.
This could also be done for course grading. I would explain (into my audio recorder) why the student received a certain grade and email it to them. I am already doing this using a grading rubric.

Bitesize at BBC

2005-12-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting site that is operated by BBC I might have the students look at the cost section under production.

Ten Rules of Economic Thinking

2005-11-28T18:11:00.000-08:00

I was preparing myself for an interview and started thinking about what are some economic rules (objectives) that the students should leave the class with. I thought of "there is no free lunch", "people try to maximize their utility and minimize their costs", and my ADHD took over.
My eyes went to a book on my bookshelf called "Sex Drugs & Economics" by Diane Coyle.
She has listed the following:

Everything has a cost
Things always change
There are no time bombs
People do what they want
Prices make the best incentives
Supply and Demand works
There is no easy profit
Always look up the evidence
Where common sense and economics conflict, common sense is wrong
Economics is about happiness

Does Education Corrupts?

2005-11-26T12:08:00.000-08:00

I was reading on how Socrates taught his students. It seems that he started with figuring out his students’ beliefs. Next using the tools of dialogue and logic he would slowly pull them away from those beliefs. My classical training is not strong but wasn’t Socrates convicted of corrupting the youth? Is this what education supposed to do (corrupt or challenge our beliefs)?

Coincidence

2005-11-25T17:24:00.000-08:00

Recently I applied for a position at a local community college. I have been invited to be interviewed. After the interview, I am to give a ten minute teaching demonstration. The topic of the teaching demonstration is Marginal Utility!

Cheat Sheet

2005-11-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to a cheat sheet for how to find a human on various corporate sites. This site was created to deal with the frustration that customers feel.
This made me think how much of cheat sheets in any class is out of frustration and how much is out of not studying?

Diminishing Marginal Utility?

2005-11-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

I had noticed that my dog tends to let his dogfood sit in the bowl for a long time. At first I thought he did not like his dog food. I bought another brand of dog food and noticed that he still lets the food sit there.
I though maybe I am giving him too much food. I started giving him half a cup of dog food in the mornings instead of his usual one cup of dog food. After a few days I noticed that he is eating everything in his bowl.
Next I noticed he is willing to roll over and do various tricks for his plain dog food. This would not have happened when he was getting one cup in the mornings.
He is getting one and one half a cup now, more than before, and he loves it more!
Is this Diminishing Marginal Utility of dog food or something else?
Is Diminishing Marginal Utility biological?

Choices

2005-11-20T15:32:00.000-08:00

I saw this story on NPR. It reminded me of my dog. At home when there is only on ball and I throw him the tennis ball he brings it back. If there is more than one ball he does not bring the ball back. He seems to get confused as to which ball he is to bring back.
I have noticed that the link is not working so I am copying and pasting the story below:

November 19, 2005 · Medicare recipients can now sign up to get prescription drug insurance through Medicare. It's the biggest change since the government program started 40 years ago. Even government officials admit signing up for the program will take some effort.
At a flu vaccine clinic in Washington, D.C., Jean Meisel is like many other Medicare recipients. She's thinking about what to do about the new prescription program. She'd like to sign up before it begins Jan. 1. But she doesn't know what plan to pick. She's not computer savvy.
But she agrees to give it a try, so we log on together, and go to www.medicare.gov. She's particularly interested in finding a plan from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). After a brief delay, more than three dozen plans appear on the screen, AARP among them.
But the type is too small for Meisel to read easily. Together, we finally find AARP, and we can see that she could join an AARP plan, if she's willing to purchase her drugs at a large chain pharmacy instead of the neighborhood pharmacy, where she's been going for years and knows the pharmacist.
Across the room, 80-year-old Thelma Robinson and her 61-year-old son Charles Hall have just gotten their flu shots. Hall gets his mother her prescription drugs. She takes about six or seven pills a day. Hall, who pays for his mother's medication, spends about $100 a month on them.
Hall is computer savvy, but dealing with Social Security via computer has scared him off. His mother got a form in the mail from the government to apply for financial assistance. He mailed it back this week and they're waiting to hear before they sign up.
In Florida, 65-year-old Ed Rubiera wrote a letter to the Orlando Sentinel saying as someone in Mensa, and with an MBA, he figured he could work things out himself. But he had a hard time on the Internet site. He says it doesn't go deep enough. He had to go to individual company Web sites and make phone calls. He's not happy about the 64 choices he has. He says it's too complex. He is, though, happy about one thing. He figures he'll save about $700 nex year. So he's already signed up.
Some people have had very good experiences. Patricia Longenecker of Elizabethtown, Pa. attended a seminar put on by a consortium of state, federal and private groups. A state official worked the computer for her, and Longenecker feels like she understands her options. Longenecker's mother is only on a few drugs now. The cost of premiums for the new program and meeting the deductible would be more than what she's paying now. Nevertheless, Longenecker says, she's looking toward the future when her mother may need more drugs, and she's planning to sign her mother up for one of the plans.
The government doesn't have any sign-up figures yet. Benefits and charges for those who sign-up before the end of the year begin Jan. 1.

The Hurricane of Excuses

2005-11-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

The students come up with all sort of excuses for not doing their homework. Is this good practice for the real world? I am thinking of playing this story for them to show them how to make excuses.

An Interesting Question

2005-11-15T11:27:00.000-08:00

The following is my reply to a questionair for a position. It is not my usuall first draft posting. The question was:
5. Describe how you would use real life experiences in order to help students learn the abstract concepts in economics.
I agree that using real life experiences is a valuable learning tool, and I have developed methodology to help the students make these connections between real life experiences and abstract concepts.

One of the most effective methods of teaching economics is the use of classroom exercises that insert students directly into the economic environments being studied. For example, in Microeconomics using playing cards I divide the class into two groups. Students with red suits are buyers and students with black suits are sellers. I ask them to trade and I make a prediction as to the price. After a few rounds of trading they end up at the predicted price. They want to know how I was able to predict the price and they quickly discover the concepts of supply, demand and equilibrium. I like to think that I am providing my microeconomic students with a lab component where they can experiment with the concept being studied. Wherever I do not have an experiment I ask them to discuss and connect concepts to “reality”, before I give them any examples.

In Macroeconomic the experimental component is more difficult to produce and I mostly rely on developing the students’ observational skill. I assign students to find news articles, or a story that illustrates the given concept being studied. The process of searching for the news story makes them think, and I hope looking at the world as an economist will becomes a habit for them.

How did I do? We will find out soon enough.

What did the Fed chief Say?

2005-11-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

This weekend I was listening to the Motely fool show on NPR. They play this game called "What Did The Fed chief Say?"
They play a section of Greenspan testimony and ask the contestants (playing for fool caps) to translate his testimony into plain English.
I am doing something similar with Newspaper articles, but I think this method of playing testimonies and asking for translation will be better. Radio is a little old fashioned for this generation. This generation respond better to Television. So if I use video it might be easier for them to make the connection between what they are studying and the real world.
As a CSPAN junky I can record and edit for in class conversation.

Thinking of what is taught in a Macro class

2005-11-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

What do most Macroeconomics classes cover?

Here is a list of items that I believe every macroeconomics course should cover:

National Income Accounting

GDP vs GNP

No Double Counting
Income = Expenditure
GDP is a flow concept not a stock concept (this one is my own pet peeve)

The Real vs. Nominal Concepts (price levels)
Redistribution effects of inflation
Using the Aggregate supply Aggregate model

To explain change in output
To explain change in prices
Shapes of the aggregate supply and the policy implications

Money

Functions of money
Forms of money

Policy
Monetary
Fractional Reserve banking
The Fed
Fiscal
Deficit
1. crowding out
Debt
1. internal debt
2. external debt
3. redistribution effects of govt. debt
International (this one is new to me but I cover the following)

Exchange rates
Exports vs. Imports

International trade good absolute comparitively sucks

2005-11-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting discussion starter on the show Market place. According to this report Trade makes poor bettter off in absolute terms but creates a big gulf between rich and poor. However most people judge their standard of living in comparative terms.

The Federal Budget Calculator

2005-11-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

The Brady Bunch and the AMT

2005-11-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

A funny way to explain AMT. I have to sit down and think of other ways to bring popular culture into the Econ class.

Productivity and Standard Living

2005-11-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

Productivity is defined as how much output we can get from each unit of input or as the BLS puts it:
Productivity
A measure of economic efficiency that shows how effectively economic inputs
are converted into output. Productivity is measured by comparing the amount of
goods and services produced with the inputs that were used in
production.

A question that should be posed to the students is the following:

If Productivity is increasing thereby you get more per unit of input are you better off or worst off?

Outlining and Student Praise

2005-11-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

This last few weeks, I have been busy writing cover letters, rewriting my resume, and working on supplemental questionnaire. I was applying for two full-time positions with health insurance. These last few weeks, I felt my lectures were unsatisfactory. I was not preparing as usual, so I was surprised that a student in macroeconomics came up and asked me if I would be teaching microeconomics next semester.
I said "yes" and made a joke "Are you sure you want to take me again?"
She replied "You are a good teacher. I like the way you explain things."
I said "Thank you"
She said "You do a great job outlining the reading and telling us what to look for( in the reading)"
I had never thought of what I do as outlining their reading but that is a good way to think about it.

Drinking with El Doctor again...

2005-10-31T12:02:00.000-08:00

I was drinking with El Doctor again watching the game. After the game I told him about the guy at the dog park and his statement of "that aint right!"
El Doctor got angry and gave me the following speech. "It is not a questions of wrong or right. It is not a question of how things should be.. It is a question how things are..."
That was followed with how he dislikes Republicans who moralize economics in their speeches while ignoring most basic economic rules. He pointed out these people usually talk about frugality and paying for what one uses. Yet at they don't see the immorality of borrowing and passing the bill to the next generation. He pointed out that most of these Republican Economist don't understand Scarcity. I am a moderate republican and an economist, and I have to say he is right. Actually I have written about this on September 2.

"It aint right that comparative something or another"

2005-10-28T06:27:00.000-07:00

I have been talking with some older people down at the dog park. I made the mistake of letting them know that I teach economics, and got dragged into is outsourcing good or bad, and is trade good or bad? I explained the concept of comparative advantage and they understood specialization. They accepted the economics of trade and how it makes us better off. One gentleman actually said "that is true! We are much better off then back in the 1970(the year he got married). You know we had more room but... “
Another gentleman jumped in with "that is because of the Arabs and the inflation."
But then one of them said: "what he says makes sense and I've seen it like you (the guy talking about 70s) but there is something wrong with loosing your livelihood." and with a look of disgust "it aint right to be told what you did is done more Comparatively something or another somewhere else."
I was surprised to hear this in Orange County from a guy who has a Bush sticker and other Republican memorabilia on his car.

Got an atta-boy for my syllabus

2005-10-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

I got an atta-boy today for my syllabus today. I had never thought of it as anything special but it seems that my syllabi have an impact. The praise I received has to do with the visuals in my syllabus. I use Microsoft Puplisher to create my syllabi. This is the program used to make brochures and pamphlets. I know there is an Apple version of this program called iWork .
I include lots of pictures in my syllabi to capture the students' attention.
But the real reason I am writing this post is that someone noticed my brilliance before I did! Being recognized felt good and now I have a smile on my face.

Fed Blog

2005-10-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

Interesting post on this site regarding money and the idea of money.

Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic

2005-10-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon at Barnes and Nobel looking at various titles, reading a bit here, reading a bit there, hoping to find an interesting book. Nothing new in the economics, business, marketing, how to make a million section, so I started going down isles at random. I looked at some travel books, but decided against it, and moved on to the psychology/ Self help section. I picked up a book titled: "how to make people like you in 90 seconds or less".
The authors thesis was that people decide if they like you and thereby listen to you or hate you and not listen to you in the first 90 seconds of your meeting.
I thought to myself I could use some of this in class, so I read more. He had the standard copy the body language of whoever you want to communicate with and other standard self help stuff.
He covered the idea of different people thinking differently because they communicate using different senses. He broke them down into 3 groups Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. The author advised the reader to create a message tailored to the target. I was familiar with this concept, but he had a way of figuring out anyone in a few second, which I like to test.
The following is his method of classifying people into one of the three groups:

Visual people Speak fast are sharp dressers. Visuals are very meticulous and impatient with long explanations that Kinesthetic people tend to provide.
Kinesthetic people speak slow. They try to explain feelings which they fail at and tend to drive visual people nuts. They dress for comfort in loose fitting clothing. Most Kinesthetic men have facial hair.
Auditory people speak in a moderate speed and change the tone and speed of their voice to fit the situation. They try to make a statement in the way they dress but they don't always succeed.

He also had a long written test, I came out somewhere between Visual and Kinesthetic. I have not an ounce of Auditory in me! I fit the profile I like to dress up and look good but deep down I am a slob when it comes to dressing. When talking about something that requires logic I am ultra visual and draw maps in my mind, but when it comes to any kind of relationships I rely more on my feelings and intuition.

Malthus, Gluts and Keynes

2005-10-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

Reading the article in Wikipidia, I ran across the following:

"Here, he developed a theory of demand supply mismatches which he called gluts. Considered ridiculous at the time, his theory was later confirmed by the Great Depression and works of John Maynard Keynes."
I am rusty on my economic history. I have to check this out!

Keeping It Real

2005-10-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

Previously I had thought about the fact that each class needs a theme that one comes back to over and over again.
For Micro the "theme" is cost benefit analysis and welfare maximization. It all comes down to Marginal cost Marginal benefit.
For Macro I was not sure what could be a theme.
As I was teaching the Social Security debate and clarifying the difference between financial problems and the real demographic problems, it hit me!
The idea (theme) that I was looking for is: "Keep it Real"
Both economist and students tend to forget the ultimate scarcity. We use technical vocabulary to describe it: Long Run Aggregate Supply and the Production Possibility Frontier.
believe when we talk about Real output we should stress the reality of the Real. We should stress that Nominal numbers are just that Nominal. We should talk actual standards of living (real) in a way that fits their (students) experiences.
If and when the discussion turns to distribution of income it should be connected to Real per capita output and distribution of real output!
I think this will answer the question most asked by the average student: "Who Gives a Da..?"

Anger

2005-10-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

Today I became very angry and had to physicaly bite my tongue. A student in my 10:30 class received a call on his cell phone and he answered it. I looked at him shocked but he just raised his voice. I gave him an awful stare and bit my tongue so I would not use the m...f... word and much worst on him. He calmly stood up and anounced to the class that he has to get to work.
I finished my lecture and got ready for my class at noon. The Dean came to evaluate my noon class and I was still shook up. I think I did allright but I know I was not spectacular (there is too many I in that sentence).
I believe there is something wrong with this student, he is the same student I wrote about on September 16 . He lacks impulse control. I have not seen anything like him since I left my job as a special education teacher in LAUSD.
I have to break out my special education teacher training and explain this young man that his behavior will not be tolerated in my class.

OJ simpson and Teaching

2005-10-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

Watching PBS again! O.J. The Verdict on Frontline topic got me thinking. The main thesis of the show was that African Americans viewed the trial differently from how the white population viewed the trial.
Most African Americans believed that O.J. was framed by the police and thereby had reasonable doubt.
White viewers, not having experienced police brutality saw him as guilty.
This made me think about how an economic lecture is viewed by people with different backgrounds. How can this be used to create a classroom discussion? Or is this an obstacle to learning? Do white students see things differently then let say a Hispanic student? Does a well to do student have more difficulty with Scarcity than a less fortunate student?

It is not the Economics but the Vocabulary

2005-10-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

Today I gave one of my midterms. The midterm contained Multiple choice questions, Short answers and Graphing problems. My multiple choice questions come from the text book publishers. The students tend to read the textbook if they know the questions are written by the author. Also I find it difficult to create the wrong answers for multiple choice questions. Before using any question I go through and edit them for accuracy. I create my own short answer and graphing questions based on what was covered in class.
I had known that some students have difficulty with the English language, but I did not know the extent. Today a few students asked me the meaning of the following words:

zeal

unexpected

(they knew expected, it was the Un that confused them!)

ambiguous

repeal

and the one that really hurt my feelings:

Dismal

Note: My English grammar is not that great either.

Scary October 5, 2005 Talk of the nation

2005-10-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

I am scared by the "so called" conservatives in Washington. These ideological yahoos do not think about the consequences of their actions. These guys are not conservative but radicals. I have posted my opinion on this topic back on June 2 posting !
Here is a link to the NPR show Talk of Nation where they discussed the following topic:

Republicans in Congress are calling for an Academic Bill of Rights that would
require dissenting viewpoints be heard in college classrooms. They say it
would correct a long-standing lean to the left on American college
campuses.

Quotes

2005-10-01T19:45:00.000-07:00

The following are Galbraith Quotes.
I should look into how I can incorporate famous quotes into my lectures.
"The enemy of the conventional wisdom is not ideas but the march of events."
"In any great organization it is far, far safer to be wrong with the majority than to be right alone."
"Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything."

Wall Street Journal On Econ Education

2005-09-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

Physic Teacher

2005-09-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

I watched the class for a popular physic teacher. Economist try to be physicist with the various laws (such as Law of Demand etc.) that sound similar to various Laws in physic. So I decided to see how she makes physic interesting and maybe I can steal some of her ideas. She uses a method called "Peer Instruction". She starts out with putting up her learning objective for the day. She starts what seems like a standard lecture except that after every learning objective she puts up a difficult multiple choice question on the screen. She has the class divided into four sections. Each section correspond to a choice on the screen. The students will have to decide on the correct answer and move to the corresponding section. The students are given 5-10 minutes to discuss , come up with the correct answer and move to the correct section of the room for the question.
This was very fun but I noticed a problem with this technique is that prepared students build a reputation and quickly get a following. Unprepared students just wait and follow the well prepared students.

Preachers and Teachers

2005-09-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

Watching a T.V. show recommended by one of my good students. The student is a believer and a bit of a missionary. After every class I listen politely and try to listen her beliefs. I was bored and decided to check out her television viewing recommendation. This guy was boring but as the camera went to the audience one could see the fascination in the believers' eyes.
I began to wonder how much of what the crowd hears is retained?
I wondered how many of them had read the BOOK before coming to the sermon?
I believe that their fascination was with the topic and not with the preacher. Unless I missed something!
Finally I started to ask all these questions about my own classes!
How much of my lectures is retained by the students?
How many read before coming to class?
How much of that retention is due to me and how much due to their study skills?
How much of their fascination is with the myth of money and Economics? And how much of their fascination is created by me?