Economics Syllabus: The Syllabus full of Economics Mariya Burdina

University of Central Oklahoma

mburdina@uco.edu

Problem #1: Students don’t read the syllabus

Course policies

Expectations

What to do when…

I value my time Students perceive it differently

Old school: Syllabus Quiz

Needs to be a part of the grade to matter

Not a too significant part of the grade to matter

Many students take the quiz without reading the syllabus

Effective syllabus

Schedule and grading

Expectations from both students and a professor

Guide through the course (and more)

Graphic Syllabus (Sauer & Kocman, 2015)

Provides Rationale for course policies

Syllabus full of Economics

Use syllabus to reinforce the understanding (correct misunderstanding) of the concept

Use Economics to make students more familiar with the course policies

Incorporating concepts into the syllabus

Syllabus doesn’t have to be explained on the first day of class

First class: Mankiw’s 10 principles of Economics

Second class: Syllabus

Policy: explanation & rationale

Example: KEEP TRACK OF DEADLINES! Be

careful about the deadlines! Use your time efficiently and don’t leave things to the last minute. Do your assignments early to keep last minute emergencies from getting in your way. I WILL NOT extend the homework deadline if you miss it.

Why? There are OPPORTUNITY COST associated with extending the homework deadline. What are they?

Any other reasons? Having a deadline creates an INCENTIVE for students to study throughout the semester and not to leave things to the last minute.

Problems

Syllabus scavenger hunt

Mid semester

Spread through several assignments

Syllabus Scavenger Hunt

Which course policies are related to the following concepts?

Opportunity cost & scarcity

Incentives

Public goods and common resources

Moral hazard/ asymmetric information/ adverse selection

Matching concepts to the course policies

Deadlines, no make up tests,

Opportunity costs and incentives

Contacting tech for help

Specialization

Quizzes and other assignments

Incentives, asymmetric information

Group work

How to encourage participation?

Begging

Forcing

Explaining

Group work

Cooperative learning... is extremely effective in helping students be successful in college. This team-based approach assures active learning, and often allows for groups to work together to accomplish more than you could as an individual. Littlefield’s (1999b)

But what about economics?

Instructor’s time is scarce

Explaining to one person takes as much time as explaining it to the group

Since explanation is non-rival, the group benefits and the rest of the class benefits

Being late to class

Design a policy that deals with students being late to class

Cost and benefits of each policy

Command and control vs market based

Unintended consequences

No Make up tests Grade carried to the next test with a penalty

Opportunity cost of writing a new test

Cost and benefit of make ups

Penalty serves as an incentive to show up on time

What about evidence? If you miss a class for any reason, you must

a) Print out and complete the notes

b) Email your instructor about your absence

c) Come to the office hours

d) All of the above

If you missed a homework deadline, you should

a) Submit it at a later time with the penalty

b) Email instructor and ask for the extension

c) Complete the homework even though you are not getting any credit for it

d) Do nothing

Group work is encouraged in this class because:

a) that way your instructor can answer more questions

b) Instructor does not like individual questions

c) all the answers can be found in the notes

d) all of the above

Evidence

  Control Treatment

Mean 0.9696 1.775

Variance 0.7178 0.6916

Observations 33 40

t Stat -4.0755

P(T<=t) one-tail 0.00006

What’s next

Is the understanding of the concepts improves when using the syllabus?

Are the attitudes improving when using explanations towards course policies?