Conference sessions in Experiments, games and role-play
Economists can be creative! Alternative ways of thinking with Lego and AI
Presentation at Government Economic Service seminars,In this talk we would explore the potential of LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP) to understand and convey complex ideas more effectively, and stimulate new ways of thinking about economic problems and solutions. LSP is a creative pedagogy that emphasises hands-on, experiential learning and encourages participants to use their imagination and creativity to construct physical models that represent ideas and concepts. By reflecting on their own ideas and those of others, one can then gain a greater understanding of the topics discussed and develop a more nuanced perspective.
We would then discuss the impact of AI on various professions, with a particular focus on economics. As AI continues to advance and integrate into our practices, it is transforming the way we work by automating tasks, enhancing productivity, and providing innovative analytical capabilities. It would be interesting to explore how the tools will shape the future of our work, the challenges and opportunities presented, and the importance of developing new skills to effectively leverage AI.
Gamification - F2F, Online, Synchronous? A Case Study Comparison
Presentation at DEE 2023,The use of robotic players in online games
Presentation at DEE 2021,Mental wellbeing of first-year economics students: The effect of a game-based orientation day
Presentation at DEE 2021,Lego serious play for economics lessons
Presentation at DEE 2021,Experiencing economics: Using experiments in teaching economics
Workshop at DEE 2021,Classroom experiments
Presentation at DEE 2019,Bounded rationality is a key concept with implications across all areas of economics. To help students better understand the nature, causes and forms of bounded rationality in individual choice, we present a flexible classroom experiment. Beyond providing students with some first-hand evidence of bounded rationality, the experiment shows how a range of factors can prompt bounded rationality and illustrates how it can manifest itself in the form of different heuristics. The experiment can be conducted with any number of students and takes approximately 30 minutes to conduct, with a further 10-20 minutes to reflect and debrief.
The microfinance game: a classroom activity to understand the dynamics of microfinance
Presentation at DEE 2019,The aim of this paper is to present an innovative teaching and learning method consisting of a role-play simulation that allows students to get a first-hand experience about the dynamics and the complexity of the microfinance industry. This simulation also seeks to foster critical thinking and reflection about poverty, its multiple dimensions and the potential of microfinance to tackle poverty and inequality in different contexts. Students play different roles representing several stakeholders from the microfinance sector, and engage in discussions to implement a variety of initiatives and programs, which may generate different economic and social effects. This simulation has been organised within the course on Poverty and Inequality, from the degree in Global Studies. Our results show that this simulation may be a useful tool to teach theoretical concepts about poverty and inequality, and particularly microfinance, to undergraduate students, who have very different profiles and backgrounds. It may also be an appropriate learning tool to develop a set of key academic and personal skills.
The games students play': simulating pricing decisions in oligopolistic markets
Presentation at DEE 2017,On-line games, including simulations, have the potential to offer more effective learning experiences because they are 'interactive, engaging and immersive' (Ulicsak, 2010), and enhance students’ critical thinking, judgment, and creativity. For students of economics, these games also offer the chance to make operational decisions in simulated business environments. This paper examines the pricing decisions made by student 'teams' each playing the part of a company in a semester-long web-based business simulation 'game'. The aim is to determine how far student 'teams' use price as a 'strategic variable' and whether this tends to result in price stability or price instability. The companies operate in city markets, with four other firms as direct rivals competing for market share - with this 'interdependence' making it a classic oligopolistic market. The companies offer the same four products for sale and must determine the selling price of each over 10 operating rounds (or 'years'). The possibility of some limited differentiation due to quality differences serves to dampen price competition, but not eliminate it. The simulation 'game' generates a rich set of data. It forms part of the learning activities (alongside lectures and seminars) on a second-year module taken by some 600 business students, across a range of specialisms, but most of whom have studied an introductory business economics module in their first year. There are therefore about 120 companies, each of whom is required to make four pricing decisions each round.
Economic Experiments – a criteria-based evaluation in high school teaching
Presentation at DEE 2017,Research has already documented the benefits economic experiments can have on the economic knowledge (Dickie, 2000), the motivation resp. the interest in economic issues (Rott, 2001) or the self-reported learning-success (Haus, 2009). In these studies, the students participated in different market experiments designed along the theory of the neoclassical goods market. Nevertheless, some questions concerning the design of economic experiments are to a great extent unanswered. There is a lack of investigating the relation between the variation of experimental criteria and possible effects on the learners’ cognitive and affective level. To make a contribution to the exploration of economic experiments’ efficacy on educational learning settings, this paper first identifies criteria which should be taken into consideration in planning or conducting economic experiments based on Reich’s theories in high school teaching (1996) and Liening’s economic teaching principles (2015). Second, these criteria are implemented in economic experiments on the subject of the theorem of comparative costs within the frame of an empirical study and are examined with regard to their effect on a learning individual’s cognitive level. We use a questionnaire composed of different examined items for the assessment of motivation towards economics, perceived economic self-efficacy and economic emotionality. The (current) results indicate that an experimental variation has an impact on the motivation towards economics and the perceived economic self-efficacy. The results indicate explicitly that the impact of an experiment on the learning process may differ depending on its conception and should be taken into account when measuring their effectiveness.
Using Simulations as a Learning Method in the Area of Public Economics
Presentation at DEE 2017,This paper presents a new teaching method used within the framework of the course on Public Economics in the Grade on Business Administration at the University of Salamanca (Spain). The main objective of this new teaching approach is to offer students a first-hand experience of the decision making process as regards to the decision-making process at three different levels of Public Economics management: local, national and international. For this purpose, this method is based on three different simulations adapted to the particular problems and characteristics of each decision-making sphere. Public Economics management at the local level is simulated using the SimCity computer game and students participate individually. The decision-making process at the national level is practised through a simulation of the National Parliament. Students are randomly assigned to the different political parties and work in groups. A simulation of the ECOFIN is designed to experience the difficulties of managing Public Economics at the international level. Here students can choose to participate individually or in pairs, and English is the working language. Simulations of national and international levels require students to conduct research on the specific topics discussed during the simulations. Results show that students participating in the simulations have better understood the mechanisms of the decision making process at the three different levels. Our findings also show that their perception about Public Economics management has changed thanks to these three activities, realising that it is indeed more difficult and complex than what they expected at the beginning of the course.
Teaching monetary policy with contrasting methods
Presentation at DEE 2015,The Blackboard Wiki for learning: Conclusions from the Classroom
Presentation at DEE 2015,DEBE 2005 Keynote
Keynote at DEBE 2005,What makes a bond with seven dollars' present value trade for 80 dollars? Holt's many classroom economic experiments have challenged his students' and his own preconceptions about economic behaviour.
Audio: Presentation (23 minutes) MP3, 21MB
Audio: Questions (15 minutes) MP3, 14MB
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