Active Learning in Undergraduate Education Using the Iowa Electronic Markets (iem)

University Of Iowa, Iowa City IA

Investigators

Abstract

Economics (82) The development of learning environments to facilitate undergraduate education in economics and political science is important because economics and politics impact citizens' lives dramatically but many students have little understanding of them. Teaching economics effectively has proven difficult because economic science rests on a framework of mathematical equations that many students find quite abstract. This project is developing, testing and implementing curricular materials to make use of the successfully developed Iowa Electronic Market technology (IEM) in a range of undergraduate courses in economics (and political science). Most existing courses that study the function of markets for trading financial assets, goods, services, and opinions will, in principle, benefit from these materials. The project is developing complete, internet-accessible instructional materials, which will adapt to a wide range of learning approaches including distance and web-based education. Their common theme is to use the IEM as a laboratory exercise, allowing active learning in much the same way laboratories facilitate learning in other sciences. This helps overcome the abstract nature of economics while giving students incentives to learn technical concepts. During this project, over 60 faculty from more than 30 HBCUs, HSIs and rural community colleges are learning to use the IEM with their specific student populations and learning environments. Materials are introducing students to the Internet (through IEM trading) and encouraging students to use it as an information source to make more informed economic decisions. Thus, this project addresses all four themes of the Division of Undergraduate Education: teacher preparation, diversity, faculty development and the integration of technology into the classroom.