Conference sessions in Active learning
Assessing the impact of peer evaluation in assessed group work
Presentation at DEE 2023,Empowering students for active economic citizenship: Enhancing financial proficiency through experimental learning in a university with a focus on diversity and inclusion
Presentation at DEE 2023,The Xs, the Ys, the Zs: Challenges in internalising generational gaps in teaching
Presentation at DEE 2023,Constructive alignment: e-learning and assessment
Presentation at DEE 2019,The constructive alignment pedagogical principle asserts that effective teaching creates the most appropriate learning activities, which are the ones aligned with the learning objectives (Shuell, 1986)*. Moreover, students’ engagement in such learning activities is as important, if not more, than what teachers do in the classroom. Finally, effective teaching and learning is inspired by reflective practice, from both lecturers and students. In this paper, we apply the constructive alignment principle to e-learning. Our main aim is to shed light on the drivers of e-learning optimal design, in the context of encouraging deep learning. Our empirical exercise is based on data on UCL Economics students and their journey through our undergraduate programmes. In particular, we consider the relationship between e-learning, assessment (and e-assessment) for teaching effectiveness, as measured by students’ outcomes. Despite being Economics specific, we are confident that our exercise can be replicated and extended to other disciplines. The intended outcome of this project is to identify guidelines to help lecturers design an effective e-learning environment for different kinds of students. *Shuell, T.J. (1986). 'Cognitive conceptions of learning', Review of Educational Research 56, 411-436.
Political economy: a serious play
Presentation at DEE 2019,The paper describes an in-progress experience of teaching contemporary macroeconomics through theatre as a mean of understanding and comparison of different approaches. In 2014-15 professor Morroni wrote a play, where one "junior" and two "senior" economists meet by chance and discuss about the economic crises. It was staged by a group of students. The encouraging outcome suggested to continue along two paths. First, to look for people, in the academic environment, trained in theatrical acting, to stage the play at the STOREP conference held in Catania in 2016 and in their institutions, and to make contact with a professional stage director, who, since then, has been working with the students. Secondly, to write a refined version of the text. As a result, the play has been successfully proposed in different Universities, bookshops, clubs, associations etc. in Italy. Students have reached a satisfying level in this way of expressing economic contents, and they have even written themselves a new play, in the form of a dialogue, dealing with "hot" socio-economic issues in the Italian and European debate. The author has published a refined version of the play in Italian (Mario MORRONI, Nulla è come appare. Dialoghi sulle verità sommerse della crisi economica, Reggio Emilia, Imprimatur, 2016), and, revised and updated, in English (Mario MORRONI What is the Truth About the Great Recession and Increasing Inequality? Dialogues on Disputed Issues and Conflicting Theories, Springer Nature, 2018). The show goes on!
Transformative learning and teaching in Economics
Presentation at DEE 2019,Higher education providers are offering a diverse and dynamic range of business-related specialisations where an entry-level economics course is standard. The challenge for economics curriculum designers is to ensure that their entry-level course is relevant – catering to the diverse student cohort as well as the dynamic avenues of career choices. However, entry-level economics has proven to be static and homogeneous across institutions and across time. This cohort needs to be equipped with transformative concepts that diverse graduates can integrate into a dynamic society. When a curriculum is traditionally content-driven and content-heavy, attention to the discipline’s threshold concepts are a useful tool in guiding curriculum re-design. The benchmark UK higher education economics curriculum framework is formulated around the threshold concepts of economics. Relevance is created for graduates, as threshold concepts are those that transform the way one views the world, and these are the concepts that can be integrated into graduates’ everyday experiences and challenges. Through a literature review of the application of threshold concepts in economics, the author has systematically re-designed an entry-level economics course. The threshold concept framework was utilised to transform the design of the course structure, the learning and teaching activities, as well as the assessments, while keeping the final examination format and standards unchanged. The course grades noted an improvement in the achievement of the students’ learning outcomes. Student surveys indicated an improvement in the student experience of the curriculum design and the course activities.
Joining classrooms across borders
Presentation at DEE 2019,Starting out from ubiquitous online communication platforms, we propose to explore ways to bring these into the classroom, to generate engagement and cross-border collaborative learning. First, we capitalise on the similar topics covered in a European Economy module by two universities. Second, we bring the online conversation into a structured classroom setting and use it as a tool to enhance communication skills, while exploring real-life applications of the economics of integration and fragmentation. Thus, Skype and Google Hangouts have been used in our respective lecture rooms, to generate a face-to-face conversation for two groups of second year students in Romania and the UK, between 2017 and 2019. The online discussions were designed to encourage students’ questions, feedback and reflection on the European economy, from their own countries’ perspectives. In the ensuing discussions we focussed on recent developments and significant policies affecting the European economy, and explored students’ understanding of how integration and fragmentation in the EU context affects their countries’ economies. In a first session students were invited to put questions and reflect on the economic implications of Brexit, within a Skype facilitated joint lecture framework. In a second session we collected students’ questions of potential interest, via PollEverywhere, before a joint lecture facilitated through Google Hangouts. Students were encouraged to consider questions from the partner institution in advance of the joint lecture and these became the basis of the subsequent joint lecture and debate. In a third and final session, we are inviting students to consider the priorities of the presidency of the Council of the European Union, and link these with the theory covered in their module. Relevant issues related to the digital single market and environmental policy are then discussed with students and staff in the partner institution in a Google Hangout facilitated joint lecture and debate.
Building capacities to help students learn in lectures
Presentation at DEE 2019,An action research project was initiated at the Economics department at the University of York to increase active learning in lectures. Passive students and the challenge of covering the content in time were initially thought to be the main issues to overcome. However, the research uncovered several problems facing students in lectures and seminars that had not been previously surfaced. Having used an appreciative inquiry (AI) approach, the research was able to go beyond the negative and draw out what students appreciated about their learning experience. It also motivated the participants to find creative solutions and become the catalyst for several initiatives in the department. This session will detail the findings and put forward proposals for further research that can be undertaken to better understand Economics education.
Encouraging the inquiring learner, from passive to active
Workshop at DEE 2019,Faced with passive students and ever-decreasing numbers at lectures, one Economics lecturer tries a range of interactive tools and techniques, backed by research. From the humble one-minute pause to polling software, this session provides the audience with the chance to experience these interactions for themselves and to reflect on how these techniques may be transferable to their own practice. This interactive session will analyse the lecturer's interventions through the lens of cognitive science and invite the audience to contribute their own solutions to student engagement.
