Email this article 
Hide
Show all
Teaching Economics and Providing Visual “Big Pictures”
Abstract
Abstract. The goal of this paper is to investigate the importance of providing visual “big pictures” in the teaching of economics. The plurality and variety of concepts, variables, diagrams, and models involved in economics can be a source of confusion for many economics students. However, reviewing the existing literature on the importance of providing visual “big pictures” in the process of learning suggests that furnishing students with a visual “big picture” that illustrates the ways through which those numerous, diverse concepts are connected to each other could be an effective solution to clear up the mentioned mental chaos. As a practical example, this paper introduces a “big picture” that can be used as a good resource in intermediate macroeconomics classes. This figure presents twenty-seven commonly-discussed macroeconomic diagrams in the intermediate macroeconomics course, and gives little detail on some of these diagrams, aiming at helping students to get the whole picture at once on a single piece of paper. This macroeconomics big picture mostly focuses on the routes through which common diagrams in macroeconomics are connected to each other, and finally introduces the general macroeconomic equilibrium that is graphically derived through those connections.
Keywords. Teaching of Economics, Pedagogy, Undergraduate and Graduate Teaching, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Neoclassical, and Keynesians IS/LM/AS/AD Models.
JEL. A22, A23, E12, E13.
Keywords
Full Text:
Zotero
MendeleyReferences
Adams, R.D. & Victor, M. (1993). Principles of Neurology, Fifth edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
Anderson, R.C. (1984). Some reflections on the acquisition of knowledge. Educational Researcher, 13(9), 5-10. doi. 10.3102/0013189X013009005
Anderson, J.R. (1993). Problem-solving and learning. American Psychologist, 48(1), 35-57. doi. 10.1037/0003-066X.48.1.35
Arcavi, A. (2003). The Role OF Visual Representationsin the Learning of Mathematics. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 52(3), 215–241. doi. 10.1023/A:1024312321077
Arocha, J.F., & Patel, V.L. (1995). Novice Diagnostic Reasoning in Medicine: Accounting for clinical evidence. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 4(4), 355–384. doi. 10.1207/s15327809jls0404_1
Becker, W.E. (2001). Teaching Economics in the 21st Century. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(1), 109-119. doi. 10.1257/jep.14.1.109
Becker, W.E. & Watts M. (2004). Good-bye Old, Hello New in Teaching Economics. Australasian Journal of Economic Education, 1(1), 5-7.
Bransford, K.C., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R.R. (1999). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press.
Cain, K., & Oakhill, J.V. (1999). Inference making ability and its relation to comprehension failure. Reading and Writing, 11(5), 489–503. doi. 10.1023/A:1008084120205
Cashin, W. (1990). Students Do Rate Different Academic Fields Differently. inTheall M. and Franklin, J. (eds.), Student Rating of Instruction: Issues of Improving Practice, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Cooper, R. & John, A. (2011). Economics: Theory Through Applications, v. 1.0 (2 Volume Set). Version: 1.0. Pub Date: November 2011.
Colander, D. (2004). The Art of Teaching Economics. International Review of Economic Education, 3(1), 63-76. doi. 10.1016/S1477-3880(15)30144-4
DeJong, T., & Ferguson-Hessler, M.G. (1996). Types and Quality of Knowledge. Educational Psychologist , 8(2), 105–113. doi. 10.1207/s15326985ep3102_2
Gartner, M. (2009).Macroeconomics, 3rd Edition. Financial Times/Princeton Press.
Gilbert, J.K. (2010). The role of visual representations in the learning and teaching of science: An introduction. Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, 11(1), 1-13.
Hershkowitz, R., Ben-Chaim, D., Hoyles, C., Lappan, G., Mitchelmore, M. & Vinner, S. (1989) Psychological aspects of learning geometry, in P. Nesher and J. Kilpatrick (eds.), Mathematics and Cognition. (ICMI Study Series), University Press, Cambridge, 70–95.
Kozma, R.B., Russell, J., Jones, T., Marx, N., & Davis, J. (1996). The Use of Multiple Linked Representations to Facilitate Science Understanding. In S. Vosniadou, E. DeCorte, R. Glaser, H. Mandl (Eds.), International Perspectives on the Design of Technology – Supported Learning Environments (41-60). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Leemis, L., & McQueston, J. (2008). Univariate Distribution Relationships. The American Statistician, 62(1), 45-53. doi. 10.1198/000313008X270448
Leemis, L., Powell, A., & Vermeer, P. (2012). Univariate Distribution Relationships, Journal of Statistics Education, 3(3), 45-53.
McCormick, B.H., DeFantim T.A. & Brown, M.D. (1987). Visualization in scientific computing: Definition, domain, and recommendations, Computer Graphics, 21, 3-13.
McGoldrick, K. (2009). Pluralism and Economic Education, Promoting Change: Past, Present, and Future, Economic Pluralism, Garnett R., Olsen E., & Starr, M. (eds), Routledge,221–225.
McGoldrick, K., & Peterson, J. (2009). Pluralism and Economic Education:ALearning Theory Approach. International Review of Economics Education, 8(2), 72-90. doi. 10.1016/S1477-3880(15)30067-0
Moosavian, S.A.Z.N. (2016). Teaching Economics and Providing Visual" Big Pictures". arXiv preprint arXiv:1601.01771.
Nation K. & Norbury, F. (2005). Why reading comprehension fails: Insights from developmental disorders, Topics in language disorders, 25, 21–32.
Naumenko, A. & Zeytoon N.M.S.A. (2016). Clarifying Theoretical Intricacies through the Use of Conceptual Visualization: Case of Production Theory in Advanced Microeconomics”, Presented at the 27th Annual Teaching Economics Conference - Instruction and Classroom Based Research, held by Robert Morris University & McGraw Hill/Irwin Publishing Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, 18-20 February, 2016.
Nilson, L.B. (2010). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors (3rd ed). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Ongeri J. D. (2009). Poor Student Evaluation of Teaching in Economics: A Critical Survey of the Literature. Australasian Journal of Economics Education, 6(2), 1-24.
Oczkus, L. (2004). Super Six Comprehension Strategies. Norwood, MA: Christopher – Gordon.
Pearson, P. D., Roehler, L. R., Dole J. A., & Duffy, G. G.(1992). Developing Expertise in Reading Comprehension.Samuels S.J. &Farstrup A., eds. What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction, 2nd Edition. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Rhem, J. (2006). Going Deep. The National Teaching and Learning Forum. 5(1). Retrieved December 21, 2006, from www.ntlf.com/html/pi/9512/article2.htm.
Royer, J., Cisero, C.A., & Carlo, M.S. (1993). Techniques and Procedures for Assessing Congnitive Skills. Review of Educational Research, 63, 210-224. doi. 10.3102/00346543063002201
Sviniki, M. (2004). Learning and Motivation in the Postsecondary Classroom. Bolton, MA: Anker.
Kennedy, P. (2008). A big picture for teaching macroeconomics principles. Economics Bulletin, 1(1), 1-6.
Snyder, C.,& Nicholson, W. (2012). Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions, 11th edition, South-Western CENGAGE Learning.
Wilson, D. & Dixon, W. (2009). Performing Economics: A Critique of 'Teaching and Learning. International Review of Economic Education, 8(2), 91-105. doi. 10.1016/S1477-3880(15)30066-9
Vekiri, I. (2002). What is the Value of Graphical Displays in the Learning? Educational Psychology Review, 14(3), 261-312. doi. 10.1023/A:1016064429161
Zeytoon N.M.S.A. (2015). Teaching Economics and Providing Visual “Big Pictures”, the 14th AnnualCambridge Business & Economics Conference, Cambridge, UK, 1-2 July, 2015.
Zeytoon N.M.S.A.(2016). A Comprehensive Visual “Wheel of Duality” in Consumer Theory: An Instructional Tool Usable in Advanced Microeconomics to Turn “Pain” into “Joy”, A research note in International Advances in Economic Research. (In Press)
Zimmermann, W., & Cunningham, S. (1991). Editor’s introduction: What is mathematical visualization, in W. Zimmermann and S. Cunningham (eds.), Visualization in Teaching and Learning Mathematics, Mathematical Association of America, Washington, DC, 1–8.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1453/jepe.v3i1.631
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Journal of Economics and Political Economy - J. Econ. Pol. Econ. - JEPE - www.kspjournals.org
ISSN: 2148-8347
Editor: [email protected] Secretarial: [email protected] Istanbul - Turkey.
Copyright © KSP Library
