This project addresses a national concern about the need for innovation in the teaching of economics. The project goal is to develop a set of macroeconomic experiments for the classroom. These experiments will allow students in introductory and intermediate macroeconomics classes to discover macroeconomic concepts for themselves. Analyzing the data they generate during the experiments helps students to critically evaluate theory. Instructors who use classroom experiments attest to their effectiveness in increasing student interest, motivation, and learning. However, the vast majority of existing classroom experiments illustrate microeconomic concepts. Very few experiments currently exist for macroeconomics courses.
The project is developing at least five macroeconomics experiments and associated writing assignments. Experimental topics will include economic growth, unemployment, inflation and interest rates, consumption and investment, business cycles, and monetary and fiscal policy. Thirteen faculty at ten different institutions have agreed to beta test the experiments in their macroeconomics classes. The effectiveness of these experiments on student learning will be assessed quantitatively on another campus using a controlled experimental design applying Bloom's taxonomy about the hierarchy of learning (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation; Benjamin Bloom, editor, "Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, David McKay Company, Inc. 1956). Each experiment will be published as a chapter in an instructor's manual on classroom experiments to be published by Addison-Wesley. Dissemination plans include a broad base of presentations at national conferences, and articles in economics journals.
