Teaching Macroeconomics with a Life Size Game of Monopoly Dr. - - PDF document

Teaching with Monopoly Teaching and Learning Symposium 1 April 12, 2018

Teaching Macroeconomics with a Life Size Game of Monopoly

• Dr. Stephanie Powers and Mark Dukeshire

Monopoly Teaching with games... What does cognitive research say?

Teaching with Monopoly Teaching and Learning Symposium 2 April 12, 2018

Monopoly

Kolb (2014) defines experiential learning as "... a particular form of learning from life experience;

• ften contrasted with lecture and classroom learning."

"Changes in neural connections, which are fundamental for learning to take place, do not occur when learning experiences are not active."

Image source: Cecilia Ka Yuk Chan, Exploring an Experiential Learning Project Through Kolb’s Leanring Theory Using a Qualitative Research Method, European Journal of Engineering Education, 37(4), August 2012, 405­415.

Monopoly

Active learning increases... Attendance ­ up to 20% (Desloauriers et al 2011) Engagement ­ almost double (Desloauriers et al 2011) Increases short term recall (pre v post) (Hake 1998) Pass rate ­ failure rate reduced by 50% (Holt 1999) Decentralizes the monopoly of authority (Bain 2006)

Teaching with Monopoly Teaching and Learning Symposium 3 April 12, 2018

Monopoly

Improve recall by attaching emotions to information

Humans don't store all of their memories as sights and

• sounds. We store memories in terms of what they mean to
• us. (Willingham 2009)

Multisensory congruent training produces greater and more efficient learning because it better approximates natural

• settings. (Shams and Seitz 2008)

Different aspects of memory are activated in differential emotional contexts. (Van Dam 2013) "All learning has an emotional base" ­ Plato

Monopoly

Improve future learning (something to hang your hat on)

Understanding new ideas is about getting the right old ideas into working memory and rearranging them ­ making comparisons we hadn't made before and thinking about things we had previously ignored. (Willingham 2009) The cognitive load is reduced if the new information connects to what the student already knows. If cognitive load is exceeded, students are left with insufficient attention to complete a task effectively. (Ambrose et al 2010)

Teaching with Monopoly Teaching and Learning Symposium 4 April 12, 2018

Monopoly How does it work? How does it work?

Teaching with Monopoly Teaching and Learning Symposium 5 April 12, 2018

How does it work? How does it work?

Teaching with Monopoly Teaching and Learning Symposium 6 April 12, 2018

Monopoly How do you build a life size game for class?

Monopoly

• 1. Identify what games can be

adapted ­ engage all students ­ able to manipulate

• 2. Why is the current game not

usable in existing form? ­ number of players ­ time constraints ­ game flow

• 3. How do you adapt the game?

­ map learning outcomes to activities in the game ­ remove non­essentials to achieve learning outcomes ­ physical changes to the game

Monopoly ­ Can all students play simultaneously? ­ Game play changed to simulate parts

• f business cycle?

Duration Round the board to quickly Complexity of turn (community chest, chance, jail, etc.) Outcome: Feel business cycle Identify the impact of the business cycle

• n income inequality

Steps: 1) Roll 2) Move 3) Action: buy, rent, pay taxes, receive subsidies 4) Collect rent Change prices, taxes and subsidies

Teaching with Monopoly Teaching and Learning Symposium 7 April 12, 2018

Games

Settlers of Catan Want simultaneous play Class of 40 Want to manipulate trade constraints Feel benefits of trade Identify the impact of trade agreements, tariffs, and globalization Determine where trade rates come from Steps: 1) Roll for resources 2) Build 3) Negotiate trade rate 4) Trade Change access to trading partners, technology, trade agreements, and tariffs

• 1. Identify what games can be

adapted ­ engage all students ­ able to manipulate

• 2. Why is the current game not

usable in existing form? ­ number of players ­ time constraints ­ game flow

• 3. How do you adapt the game?

­ map learning outcomes to activities in the game ­ remove non­essentials to achieve learning outcomes ­ physical changes to the game

Monopoly What we have learned....

Teaching with Monopoly Teaching and Learning Symposium 8 April 12, 2018

Gamification

What we did differently the second time...

Add signals: signage to tie theory to game Move to beginning of the semester Volunteer placement and training Students stepped back after play Not everything needs to be glued down

Monopoly What we have learned from the students....

Teaching with Monopoly Teaching and Learning Symposium 9 April 12, 2018

Games

Student perception of games

Games

What was the most memorable part of Stephanie's class (6 months later):

­ Iced tea test ­ Dating game with pricing out a date at Earl's ­ The games ­ Definately in class activities ­ Interesting activities that apply real life examples to the materials ­ The games we played on the last day of class (raise hand or fist) ­ The in class activities ­ like making widgets ­ The fun games ­ Enjoyed the class activities that proved theory from class ­ Playing games and watching videos

Teaching with Monopoly Teaching and Learning Symposium 10 April 12, 2018

Monopoly

Impact of Monopoly

1) Beginning of the semester 2) After game but before theory discussion 3) End of the semester

Monopoly

Impact of Monopoly

Teaching with Monopoly Teaching and Learning Symposium 11 April 12, 2018

Monopoly "A teacher lives on and on through his students. ... Good teaching is forever and the teacher is immortal."

Jesse Stuart American writer and school teacher (1906­1984)

Monopoly

Susan Ambrose et. al, How Learning Works: 7 Research Based Principles for Smart Teaching (San Francisco: Wiley, 2010), 103‐107. Robert B. Bain, Rounding Up Unusual Suspects: Facing the authority hidden in the history classroom, Teachers College Record, 108(10), 2006, 280‐2114. Cecilia Ka Yuk Chan, Exploring an Experiential Learning Project Through Kolb’s Leanring Theory Using a Qualitative Research Method, European Journal of Engineering Education, 37(4), August 2012, 405‐415. Louis Desloauriers, Ellen Schelew, and Carl Wieman, Improved Learning in Large Enrolment Physics Classes, Science, May 13, 2011, Vol. 332, 862‐864. Richard Hake, Interactive‐Engagement v Traditional Methods: A Six‐Thousand Student Survey of Mechanics Test Data for Introductory Physics Courses, American Journal of Physics, 1998, vol. 66, 64‐74. Charles Holt, Teaching Economics with Classroom Experiments: A Symposium, Southern Economic Journal, 65(3), January 1999, 603‐610. David A. Kolb, Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development, FT press, 2014. Ladan Shams and Aaron R Seitz, Benefits of Multisensory Learning, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12(11), November 2008, 411‐418. Nick Van Dam, Inside the Learning Brain, American Society for Training and Development, April 2013. Daniel T. Willingham, Why Don’t Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom (San Francisco: Wiley, 2009), 118‐121.