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

Teaching with Monopoly 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 and Learning Symposium 1

Teaching with Monopoly April 12, 2018 Monopoly Kolb (2014) defines experiential learning as "... a particular form of learning from life experience; often 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 and Learning Symposium 2

Teaching with Monopoly April 12, 2018 Monopoly Improve recall by attaching emotions to information "All learning has an emotional base" ­ Plato 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) 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 and Learning Symposium 3

Teaching with Monopoly April 12, 2018 Monopoly How does it work? How does it work? Teaching and Learning Symposium 4

Teaching with Monopoly April 12, 2018 How does it work? How does it work? Teaching and Learning Symposium 5

Teaching with Monopoly April 12, 2018 Monopoly How do you build a life size game for class? Monopoly 1. Identify what games can be Monopoly adapted ­ Can all students play simultaneously? ­ Game play changed to simulate parts ­ engage all students of business cycle? ­ able to manipulate 2. Why is the current game not Duration usable in existing form? Round the board to quickly Complexity of turn (community chest, ­ number of players chance, jail, etc.) ­ time constraints ­ game flow Outcome: Feel business cycle Identify the impact of the business cycle 3. How do you adapt the game? on income inequality ­ map learning outcomes to activities Steps: in the game 1) Roll ­ remove non­essentials to achieve 2) Move learning outcomes 3) Action: buy, rent, pay taxes, receive ­ physical changes to the game subsidies 4) Collect rent Change prices, taxes and subsidies Teaching and Learning Symposium 6

Teaching with Monopoly April 12, 2018 Games 1. Identify what games can be Settlers of Catan adapted ­ engage all students ­ able to manipulate 2. Why is the current game not Want simultaneous play usable in existing form? Class of 40 ­ number of players Want to manipulate trade constraints ­ time constraints ­ game flow Feel benefits of trade Identify the impact of trade agreements, tariffs, and globalization 3. How do you adapt the game? Determine where trade rates come from ­ map learning outcomes to activities in the game Steps: ­ remove non­essentials to achieve 1) Roll for resources learning outcomes 2) Build ­ physical changes to the game 3) Negotiate trade rate 4) Trade Change access to trading partners, technology, trade agreements, and tariffs Monopoly What we have learned.... Teaching and Learning Symposium 7

Teaching with Monopoly April 12, 2018 Gamification What we did differently the second time... Add signals: signage to tie theory to game Not everything needs to be glued down Move to beginning of the semester Volunteer placement and training Students stepped back after play Monopoly What we have learned from the students.... Teaching and Learning Symposium 8

Teaching with Monopoly April 12, 2018 Games Student perception of games Games What was the most memorable part of Stephanie's class (6 months later): ­ Definately in class activities ­ The games ­ Iced tea test ­ Dating game with pricing out a date at Earl's ­ Playing games and ­ Enjoyed the class ­ The in class activities ­ like making widgets watching videos activities that proved ­ The fun games theory from class ­ Interesting activities that apply real life examples to the materials ­ The games we played on the last day of class (raise hand or fist) Teaching and Learning Symposium 9

Teaching with Monopoly 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 and Learning Symposium 10

Teaching with Monopoly 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. Teaching and Learning Symposium 11