A Discussion of “(Dis)Organization and Success in an Economics MOOC” MOOCs will change higher education forever! That was a common statement in 2012 when I was early in my professorial career so I was alarmed by claims my industry was coming to an end. Banerjee and Duflo (2014) said it…
Pedagogy
Improving Student Engagement: Discussion Boards versus Blogs
A Discussion of “More than Words: Investigating the Format of Asynchronous Discussions as Threaded Discussions or Blogs” I hope this does not offend any teachers — but I do not like discussion boards. And from what I have heard from my students, they do not either. But without them, an online class is…
Economic Thought
Populism: Its Economic Consequences
A Discussion of “Studying the (Economic) Consequences of Populism” US President Donald Trump. Marine Le Pen, head of the National Rally party in France. Hugo Chavez, late president of Venezuela. Pablo Iglesias of the Podemos party of Spain. They probably would not agree on much but they do have one…
Pedagogy
Because… Science
A Discussion of “Beyond the Flipped Class: The Impact of Research-Based Teaching Methods in a Macroeconomics Principle Class” Over the years I have been increasing my use of active learning, or flipped classroom, methods but apparently I have not gone far enough! Or, really this article is saying I am…
Economic Thought
Can Economics Illuminate the Populist Movement?
A Discussion of “A Dialogue between a Populist and an Economist” In an unusually playful academic article, Boeri, Mishra, et al. (2018) write a script of two people, Populist and Economist, arguing over the success (or failure) of economics in explaining the latest wave of populism fever that has spread…
Pedagogy
GPA: What Does This Mysterious Metric Teach Us?
A Discussion of “Grades in Economics and Other Undergraduate Courses” The Grade Point Average (GPA) is the metric we use to represent student achievement, but should we? It serves as a measure for who qualifies for honors, scholarship,s internships, and job offers. That is a lot riding on one number….
Economic Thought
A Spoonful of Populism is the Medicine We Need
A Discussion of “Is Populism Necessarily Bad Economics?” Populism is on the rise. Is that good? Is that bad? What is it anyway? Dani Rodrik (2018) has written a thoughtful article that helps us define what it is and when it can be a force for good. First, he states…
Pedagogy
Beyond the Lecture: Time to Blend
A Discussion of “Measuring the Effect of Blended Learning” Moving forward into the unknown that is teaching in higher education this fall has professors scrambling for course design that can work in person, online, or some combination of the two. We have been told at my school to plan for…
Macroeconomics
Can Emerging Market Economies Prevent Importing a Financial Crisis?
A Discussion of “When Do Capital Inflow Surges End in Tears?” Post World War II the “Powers that Be” set about building an economically interdependent global world order, governed by institutions like the IMF, the WTO and the World Bank, with the intention of preventing future global wars. If a war…
Pedagogy
How Much Does Classroom Time Matter?
A Discussion of “A Randomized Assessment of Online Learning” I teach at a small, private college which traditionally has offered a low teacher-student ratio as one of our main amenities. It’s why I teach there because teaching is my favorite part of being a professor. Then the pandemic struck this…