Accelerated Learning

I have been studying and thinking about how to improve our online program and to meet the expectations of the ACCJC during their next visit to our school. During my research I found a presentation and posted it on this blog.  As I watched the video I noticed that someone from the College of Canyons was a presenter. I decided to go to their website and found myself more intrigued by the concept of Accelerated Learning.

The following is a screenshot from their website:

College of the Canyons offers a variety of courses in accelerated, or short-term, learning formats. Our GO! classes are 5-week, online courses. PACE classes are typically 8-week hybrid classes that meet both Saturdays (on campus) and online. PAL courses are offered in pairs: two 8-week Math or two 8-week English classes offered back-to-back in one semester with the same instructor and same classmates. Please click on the links above to learn more about each program

Quickly, I realized that their PACE program is a variation on a little experiment  that economics department is conducting now. The economics department offers two eight weeks classes back to back in one semester. The idea was to help students to complete both Econ 101 and Econ 102 in one semester. During the first eight weeks of the semester Econ 101 is presented and during the second eight week of the semester Econ 102 is presented. Unlike regular 16 weeks classes which meet three hours a week, these classes meet for 6 hours a week. These classes are 100% on the ground or face to face.  (NOTE: This idea was inspired by my discussions with Dr. Wetsman)
The College of Canyon has taken this concept of Accelerated Learning and has added an online component. At our school we call these classes Hybrid classes. They are basically leveraging the online technology to shorten the classes. Students in this program will take 8 weeks courses, same as our students can in Economics at our school, without having to sit in 6 hours of lecture per week. The other three hours per week is completed online. The students complete homework and complete classwork which can assess SLOs, freeing up the remaining time for lectures and/or discussions.  This allows students to complete more units in the same amount of time.
Also instead of only one Department doing this they have scheduled a series of classes which lead to a degree. This is an important point! Why? Currently, students who have signed up for the first 8 weeks Econ 101 class may or may not sign up for Econ 102 during the second eight weeks. There are many reasons for students not signing up for Econ 102. It could be that they do not meet the Prerequisite (Math 70) for Econ 102 or it could be they have realized that Economics does not suit them and wish to study another subject. However, if only one department (econ) is offering these classes, they will have a void in their scheduled during the second eight weeks.
In my opinion, this program will benefit our students.

Unions in Peril

Unemployment

I like the title of this video. An economist would have titled it "Imports equal Exports" or "globalization and employment". It is a very good video.

Are We Argentina

I do not mean to depress you, but it is the dismal scientist in me. Also these videos are good and I plan to use them in my online classes. This video points out the similarity of what is happening here and in Argentina. But are we the same?

Lost Vegas

Here is another video from the people who did the Japan video. It is on the Economic bust that is Las Vegas, or as they call it Lost Vegas. This video scares me because it shows that this recession is different than other recessions.

Lords of Finance

I was listening to an interview on Econ Talk with Ed Leamer, an econometrician from UCLA. In this interview he was talking about how stories are important in Macroeconomics. He made a comment (the true intent of his comment scape me) along the lines of macroeconomics should be taught like literature.
This weekend I started reading a book called The Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed and I think I understand Leamer's comment now. It is probably different than he meant it but I like to think this is what he meant. The Lords of Finance is written by an Economist but it reads like a good history book. He goes through the historical personalities that were in charge during the 1930's as the Great Depression hit. He paints these personalities one by one in exquisite detail. I am currently on Chapter 4 and I am totally fascinated by these forgotten financiers. I recommend this book to anyone interested in History.

Economics Video

Here is another video on the economy:

Markets and Psychology

Last week I was talking to someone and they were talking of having sold off all of their stocks and now they can sleep at night. Another person asked me if they should sell too. I replied that my crystal ball is broken. This morning I was listening to all of the podcasts which I subscribe to and found the following two interviews.
1) The first one is from Bloomberg on the Economy. The interview is with a technical analyst Ms. Yamada who is very pessimistic.

Yamada Sees 44% of NYSE Stocks Under $10 as `Shocking' March 5 (Bloomberg)
-- Louise Yamada, managing director of Louise Yamada Technical Research
Advisors, talks with Bloomberg's Tom Keene about the U.S. stock market declines,
oil and gold prices, and Treasuries.

2) The second podcast is from market place on public radio titled "experts discuss market psychology" This is a more optimistic story.
I suggest that if you sold off everything, listen to the first story. If you are still holding on listen to the second story.

An Economist having an existential moment

I listen to a very boring economic podcast called econtalk. The economist (Russ Roberts) conducting the interviews is a free marketeer from Chicago school of economics. In this interview with Robin Hanson Mr. Roberts seems to be suffering an existential moment. Robin Hanson writes an excellent blog called overcoming bias. This interview is very useful for those of you who study Philosophy and/or are searching for the Truth!

Give it a listen by clicking here. You can skip the first 10 minute of the show which is Mr. Robert having a break down.

Two Of My Favorites

Here are two of my favorite economists. Dr. Doom and the author of Black Swan who is a successful trader. This video was very depressing for me, and reminded me why I do not watch CNBC. The anchors are shiny happy people who miss the point being made by these two who "got it right".
Here is my insight: Our society concentrates too much on simplistic talking points and ignores the fundamentals.



Happy Valentines Day

Keynesian Economics and Rationality in Economics

Here is another video about rationality and economics.

video on the financial meltdown

Here are two videos on the economy. One is funny and one is not. Which is which?


In The Know: Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole?

Interesting Cartoon on ABC News

The following is an excellent cartoon that explains how the credit crunch affects our day to day lives.

Financial Crisis Video

Juana suggested a seminar on the Financial crisis. Here are a couple of videos that explains the financial crisis very well.

Comedy Of Moral Hazard

Games

This is an interesting link to Epistemic Games. I wonder if I could create a game for Macroeconomics. Controlling the flow of funds through the economy as the Fed or as Uncle Sam.

Does Our Textbooks Cover The Important Trends?

The dollar fell against the Euro. The Chinese have a trillion U.S. dollars. Will monetary policy be run out of Beijing or Washington. We should teach our students that pretty soon the chinese will have veto power over our monetary policy. This is an idea that I do not see in the main parts of many textbooks.

Is Macro Policy as We Teach it Becoming Irrelevant?

We should include International Trade and effects of International trade in our lectures. Our Fiscal Policy Monetary policy chapters may become useless soon! Read the following article from business week. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_47/b4010001.htm
"No matter which party you belong to, or which Big Idea or school of economic policy you subscribe to, one thing is clear: Globalization has overwhelmed Washington's ability to control the economy. Whether you're a Republican supply-side tax-cutter, a Wall Street deficit hawk of either party, or a Silicon Valley techie type, your preferred levers of economic policy just don't work as well as they once did.

As recently as 10 years ago, the U.S. economy was still relatively self-contained. Then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan--often called the most powerful man in the world--could be sure that the U.S. economic machine would eventually respond when he called for higher or lower rates. Tax and spending decisions made in Washington could set the course for growth, while economic events in the rest of the world, such as the Asian financial crisis of the mid-1990s, were felt as minor bumps.

That has changed. Since 1995 imports have risen from 12% of gross domestic product to about 17%. And foreign money finances about 32% of U.S. domestic investment, up from 7% in 1995. In other words, the U.S. is more open to the global economy than ever before, and the links run in both directions. Now many of the levers affecting the U.S. economy are located not in Washington but in Beijing, London, and even Mexico City."

CPI And Inflation Are We Teaching It Right?

The following is a question from a student back in March 2006: "If the CPI overstate inflation, how do we know we are not overcorrecting for this and end up understating inflation? What is the number telling us about the real world when we remove the volatile part of inflation? Does that mean nobody uses energy during that time!?"
I really liked this question because it stumped me. I started thinking about this question because a Math teacher asked me about COLA.
Should we ask students to evaluate various types of Price Indexes? And chose the one that will help them with getting a raise? Or if they move into management select the number that would justify denying their workers a raise!

Macro's Basic and Multimedia

This is a post from my Dismal Educator Blog. I am posting it here again to get your input.
"My latest gadget/software is Camtasia by Techsmith corporation. I have started creating simple powerpoint on the basic Microeconomic subjects, such as supply and demand, Equilibrium etc.
I have learned that I do not like my own voice and that I have an accent.
I started with microeconomics because it is easy to break down into simple components.
What are the Basics in Macro? GDP, Aggregate Prices, ....."
So do you have any suggestions?
Also think about how can we keep it simple and yet fun?