- Email: [email protected]
Putting yourself in the picture with an ‘ECONSelfie’: Using student-generated photos to enhance introductory economics courses
International Review of Economics Education 22 (2016) 16–22
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
International Review of Economics Education journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/iree
Putting yourself in the picture with an ‘ECONSelfie’: Using student-generated photos to enhance introductory economics courses Abdullah Al-Bahrania , Kim Holderb , Rebecca L. Morylc,* , Patrick Ryan Murphyd, Darshak Patele a
Northern Kentucky University, United States University of West Georgia, United States Emmanuel College, 400 Fenway, Boston, MA 02115, United States d Saint Leo University, United States e University of Kentucky, United States b c
A R T I C L E I N F O
Article history: Received 4 September 2015 Received in revised form 4 February 2016 Accepted 9 March 2016 Available online 29 March 2016 JEL codes: A20 A21 A22
A B S T R A C T
Students in economics classrooms are increasingly digital natives, raised in a culture of engagement, expression and learning through online interactions using technological devices. We have turned the concept of a ‘selfie’ into an instructional tool for students to demonstrate their understanding of economic concepts, as well as to engage personally with those concepts. A student self-assessment survey supports the expectations of the literature that our ECONSelfie assignment leverages the power of visuals and narratives to help students link themselves with introductory economics material for improved learning outcomes. ã 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: Economic education Introductory economics Media in education Teaching/learning strategies
1. Introduction Students in economics classrooms are increasingly digital natives, raised in a culture of engagement, expression and learning through online interactions using technological devices. Kozma (1991) suggests that students who actively interact with media, such as computers and mobile phones, as part of their learning are able to build knowledge. The learning theory of Connectivism (Siemens, 2005) suggests that, in this digital age, learning occurs through participation in online communities of interest and social networks. We present a structured assignment using student-generated photos, or ‘selfies’, to enhance student learning of foundational economic concepts and to increase their connection with the relevance of these concepts in their daily lives.
* Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (R.L. Moryl). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.iree.2016.03.003 1477-3880/ ã 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
A. Al-Bahrani et al. / International Review of Economics Education 22 (2016) 16–22
17
2. What are selfies Today’s students publish a virtual record of their lives online, using mobile phones, tablets and cameras to upload and share items. In 2012, 91% of teenagers posted photos of themselves on a social media profile. By the end of 2012, more than 5.5 million ‘selfies’ had been posted on social media, and a total of more than 72 million photos posted online were tagged ‘me’ (Manikandan 2013). A ‘selfie’, according to Oxford Online Dictionary, is a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam, and uploaded to a social media website. We have evolved the concept of a ‘selfie’ into an educational tool for students to demonstrate their understanding of economic concepts, as well as to engage personally with those concepts. Our ECONSelfie assignment focuses on students taking photos of themselves in ways that relate to, or demonstrate, economic concepts. 3. Pedagogical value of an econselfie The ECONSelfie assignment builds on the power of students creating their own visual narratives to practice the application of economic concepts (Frank 2007). Pedagogical research has demonstrated that, at least for young students, creating this sort of representational imagery will (1) aid comprehension and (2) make it more likely that students understand complex relationships read in text (Pressley et al., 1989). The ECONSelfie assignment also answers student demand for using technology as part of their educational experience (Prensky, 2001) and provides opportunities for differentiated assessment in the classroom (Al-Bahrani et al., 2016). Additionally, the personal nature of the ECONSelfie, along with purposeful subsequent interaction with peers, acts as a motivational device that reaches beyond traditional grading and encourages the building of supportive student learning networks in the classroom (Holder et al., 2015). In fact, the National Survey of Student Engagement polled 17,000 students at 40 different colleges and found that when students are actively engaged on their college campuses beyond the classroom, they “learn more, think more critically, and gain an appreciation for diverse perspectives”. When an ECONSelfie is shared by students through a learning management system (LMS) or in other social media environments, the assignment can further build upon the power of “Connectivism” (Siemens, 2005). Research has demonstrated that student interactions through social media (checking up on friends, viewing photos) are related to positive academic outcomes (Ellison et al., 2011, 2007; Junco 2013). Barczyk and Duncan (2013) found that use of social media (Facebook) as a supplement to face-to-face courses enhanced students’ sense of social learning and connectedness. While the ECONSelfie assignment does not need to incorporate an online sharing component, they easily lend themselves to that format as a natural extension which has the potential to bring even more pedagogical value, particularly to hybrid or online course formats. 4. The econselfie assignment As a teaching tool, the ECONSelfie assignment has been purposefully designed by the authors to be simple, instructive, and easy to implement in any classroom. It can be modified to suit the teaching style, mode of instruction (face-to-face, online, hybrid), and learning goals of any course. Students are required to take a photo of themselves (a selfie) that illustrates or contains some connection to an economic concept they have experienced. They must also write an explanation of the economic concept(s) demonstrated in their ECONSelfie. See Appendix A for the ECONSelfie assignment instructions and accompanying rubric. From this basic structure, the ECONSelfie assignment can be extended and modified as desired to meet the needs of individual instructors. For example, the student’s completed photos can be submitted as a hard copy in class, online through course management software or via email, or even include a requirement for posting to a social media site for review (see http://econimages.tumblr.com/for examples). The photos can contain either a short caption to enhance creative thinking or include a requirement for a longer one-page reflection paper detailing the economics concepts, definitions and the broader application relevant to the ECONSelfie. Additionally, credit can be awarded for accuracy of depiction, inclusion of multiple concepts, difficulty of concepts, and even evaluating the creativity of the photograph submitted. The ECONSelfie exercise can be assigned once during the semester or, if the instructor prefers, it can be offered repeatedly throughout the academic session to cover a variety of different concepts associated with each section of the course. Instructors can choose to randomly assign students to portray a specific concept selected from a set of important or more challenging terms in a module or unit or allow students to choose concepts on their own. One additional option for an expansion on the ECONSelfie assignment is for students to critically review the economic content of their peer’s selfies. This adaptation can further assist in improving the clarity of their own understanding of economics, as well as lead to a productive discussion between students of the concepts covered within the course. The requirements for the sharing of the ECONSelfie photos can range from sharing only in the classroom setting; to an encouraged, but not required, option to share on a closed Facebook group; or even an open posting on a Tumblr page (with disclosure regarding release of copyright and public availability of the image). Based on our own experiences utilizing this assignment in our classrooms, we advise that instructors set boundaries as to the appropriate content of the images to be allowed in the ECONSelfie assignment in advance. For example, explaining that pictures cannot include an illegal activity, even though economic concepts are often found in illegal markets, and that all persons in pictures must be fully clothed helps
18
A. Al-Bahrani et al. / International Review of Economics Education 22 (2016) 16–22
protect all parties involved from unintended negative consequences. Additionally, the sharing of an ECONSelfie through an LMS or social media platform offers an excellent opportunity for a lesson in appropriate social network etiquette in an academic or professional setting. This approach allows students to learn how to use technology more effectively and at many intuitions, effective use of technology is an expected learning objective. It is recommended that instructors share a few examples with their students to illustrate the criteria for submission, assist with setting the expected level of academic rigor, and demonstrate how an ECONSelfie can improve concept comprehension. It is always prudent to keep in mind student privacy concerns with regards to the ECONSelfie assignment, particularly if you are requesting that students post images in a public space via social media. Al-Bahrani et al. (2015), find that some students are not comfortable sharing information on social media. An alternative option, such as emailing the ECONSelfie directly to the professor, should always be offered in case there are exceptional situations that you may not be aware of. For example, one co-author had a student who was also a business owner and manager. At work, she did not let employees have social media accounts and had consequently shut down all of her own accounts to be consistent with her business policy. A request for an alternative accommodation allowed the student to submit the information directly to the professor and still receive credit for her work. You can also encourage students to be creative with their use of the ECONSelfie, remind them that their economics concept can be demonstrated while photographing their hands or feet instead of their face. Our experience has been that this recommendation virtually eliminates student concerns about privacy for the purposes of this assignment. [68_TD$IF]5. Resources required for instructors The resources required for instructors to implement the ECONSelfie assignment are minimal. Instructors must choose a submission strategy (Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, LMS, etc.) and complete the set-up as required for the submissions to be received. Al-Bahrani and Patel (2015) provide an informative resource guide for educators who are new to social media to help them get started with using these resources both inside and outside of the classroom. Technical issues may arise as expected with the use of any new technology platform or LMS, but are minimal after the first implementation of the ECONSelfie assignment. The lowest cost option, in terms of time, for an instructor managing and grading the assignment is dependent upon their familiarity with each platform. For example, one co-author prefers that students complete the assignment using Twitter and clearly defines the submission criteria while another prefers students use Tumblr. Each coauthor on this paper, has explored different ways of submitting the assignment and there appears to be no difference in effectiveness that is dependent upon the method of turning in the ECONSelfie assignment. Another co-author utilizes the school’s LMS, which is Blackboard in this case. Blackboard allows the instructor to create the rubric within the system which makes grading easier as students submit their ECONSelfie. As with any assignment, instructors must provide an assignment description, instructions, examples and a grading rubric to students. We have minimized the upfront costs to the instructor by providing samples of each of these in Appendix A for ease of implementation. Instructors must then review and grade the submissions, utilizing the rubric provided to maintain consistency and allow for easy grading. [69_TD$IF]6. Findings of student self-assessment of the effectiveness of the econselfie assignment 369 out of 449 students enrolled in a spring semester microeconomics course at four undergraduate institutions completed a brief, confidential questionnaire at the end of the semester to determine whether the completion of the ECONSelfie assignment contributed to their understanding of (a) economic concepts, (b) how economics is relevant to their lives, and (c) how economics is relevant to the world. The survey, based on Moryl (2013), was comprised of a forced-choice Likert Scale as well as open-ended questions (see Appendix B). A summary of their responses is provided in Tables 1–4. Approximately 78% of the students felt that the ECONSelfie helped them understand economic concepts. A larger percentage of students felt these exercises helped in displaying the relevance of economics to their life (85%) and their world (83%). In addition, there is overwhelming support from students on the positive impact of writing captions on understanding economic concepts (85%) and likewise for connecting the relevance of economics on their life (84%) and their world (85%). Table 1 Reponses to Creating an ECONSelfie. Creating an ECONSelfie picture helped me understand Economic concepts
How economics is relevant to the world
Freq
%
Freq
%
How economics is relevant to my life Freq
%
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree NA
18 15 47 172 114 2
4.89 4.08 12.77 46.74 30.98 0.54
15 11 31 156 151 4
4.08 2.99 8.42 42.39 41.03 1.09
13 7 29 165 149 3
3.55 1.91 7.92 45.08 40.71 0.83
Number of students
368
100
368
100
366
100
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Table 2 Reponses to Writing an ECONSelfie Caption. Writing an ECONSelfie caption/description helped me understand Economic concepts
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree NA Number of students
How economics is relevant to the world
How economics is relevant to my life
Freq
%
Freq
%
Freq
%
12 9 28 163 152 3 367
3.27 2.45 7.63 44.41 41.42 0.82 100
12 9 28 163 152 3 367
3.27 2.45 7.63 44.41 41.42 0.82 100
11 9 32 162 148 5 367
3 2.45 8.72 44.14 40.33 1.36 100
Table 3 Reponses to Viewing Peers’ ECONSelfie. Viewing the ECONSelfies of my peers helped me understand Economic concepts
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree NA Number of students
How economics is relevant to the world
How economics is relevant to my life
Freq
%
Freq
%
Freq
%
5 5 49 167 44
1.85 1.85 18.15 61.85 16.3
5 9 37 157 61
1.86 3.35 13.75 58.36 22.68
4 9 50 147 56
1.5 3.38 18.8 55.26 56
270
100
269
100
266
134.94
Not all institutions provided students with the opportunity to view their peer’s submissions. However, for the students who were able to take advantage of this opportunity, only fewer than 5% of the students felt that they were not effective in helping them with understanding economic concepts, and relating economics to the world and their daily life. In our experience, students both enjoy and learn from the sharing of their ECONSelfie. Sharing of the pictures heightens student engagement, as most students exhibit a natural willingness to share in the classroom. For camera-shy students, we have found that the assignment is more accessible if you indicate that they don’t have to be ‘front and center’ in the photo. A successful ECONSelfie could include their hand holding an item, or their feet in running shoes, but it must somehow include them, as that is the idea of the assignment. The ECONSelfie assignment can be an effective and accessible learning tool for both traditional and nontraditional students. Students can apply the concepts to college life, to parenting responsibilities and to professional careers. Many students have indicated that the assignments made them analyze, on a deeper level, the relevance of economic concepts to their own lives. For example, one student decided that the opportunity cost of working long hours mattered to his GPA. Another student who sings in the choir realized that repeatedly practicing songs over and over again leads to diminishing marginal utility. And yet another was able to apply consumer and producer surplus to her sport of equestrianism and the market for winning prize horses. Fig. 1 (word cloud) illustrates the most common economic concepts that students portray in their ECONSelfie submissions. Instructors might wish to assign specific concepts to students in order to ensure a diversity of concepts covered, encourage creativity in application and reduce imitation of peers’ ideas. We have found the assignment is equally applicable to introductory micro and macro courses. The use of the ECONSelfie assignment could enhance a face-to-face class, where the instructor might encourage students to share the selfie images and discuss them in class. In an online setting, the images Table 4 Students’ view on completing the ECONSelfie Assignment. I enjoyed completing the ECONSelfie assignment:
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree NA Number of students
Freq
%
17 24 69 129 122 5 366
4.64 6.56 18.85 35.25 33.33 1.37 100
20
[(Fig._1)TD$IG]
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Fig. 1. ECONSelfie Concept Word Cloud.
could serve to liven up discussion boards and unite students within the common learning space. As with any differentiated assessment project, the use of the ECONSelfie as a teaching tool is not intended to act as a substitute for traditional quizzes, problem sets or other classroom pedagogical techniques. However, the evidence suggests that, as a supplementary resource, the ECONSelfie assignment has minimal costs but can have powerful, measurable results for student engagement and learning. In addition, we have found that the ECONSelfie continues to engage students beyond the semester. [70_TD$IF]7. Conclusions The ECONSelfie assignment is an educational tool that can be used to enhance learning and engagement for introductory economics courses, particularly highlighting to students how economics relates to the world around them. It leverages the power of visuals and narratives to help students link themselves with introductory economics material for improved learning outcomes. These types of flexible assignments allow students to connect themselves to the concepts and story of economics by taking pictures of economics-based interactions prevalent in their daily lives. They are essentially ‘putting themselves in the picture’ by making economic connections and reflecting on the process. Appendix A. All instructors participating in the study discussed in this paper agreed to assign a minimum of two ECONSelfie exercises per semester. The assignments must count toward the final course grade, require a caption (25–140 words) along with the image, and include the student in at least one image. Beyond this we allowed instructor flexibility to require more than these minimums (additional number of assignments, longer write-ups, require students to be visible in more ECONSelfies, etc.). Instructors also had flexibility on how students submit the ECONSelfie images and write-ups (through Twitter, Tumblr, LMS, etc.). As an example, below are sample assignment instructions and grading rubric. This assignment utilizes Tumblr.com for submission. This ECONSelfie should show you relating to one of the economic concepts from Chapters 1–3. Remember that you must be visible and recognizable in the selfie. The assignment requires that you: Post your ECONSelfie along with a 25–140 word caption naming and explaining the concepts you're illustrating. Points for this assignment will be awarded based on the rubric below. Submission Instructions: Send your photo via email to Tumblr (using site-specific email provided), copying your instructor’s email address as well. Use the subject line of the email to include: 1. Your name 2. Course number and section 3. Date and location of the image (Ex. January 10, St. Joe's dorm) 4. The microeconomic concept you convey In the body of the email include: 1. The required description explaining how the photo illustrates that concept (25–140 words – not including name, course name and other required elements 1–4). Descriptions will be assessed on accuracy and clarity, with additional points for creativity and connecting to additional related concepts. See rubric for full details.
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Be sure to check the Tumblr website to ensure your image appears. Images that do not show up on the site, whether due to technical issues or otherwise, will not receive the points for posting. ECONSelfies Rubric (50 possible points) Criteria
Ratings
Include accurate caption to the photo. 25–140 word caption should explain how the image illustrates the concept you name
Caption meets requirements, is thorough, thoughtful and accurate (20 points)
Include yourself in the image Connect to more than one concept in image or caption. Correctly incorporate and name additional concepts in your caption (and image for additional points)
Full marks (5 points) Accurately demonstrate and describe additional concept (5 points)
Creativity of submission: you must be in the submission, but you can edit it or be creative in the staging
Follow submission instructions (ensure name, image and caption appear)
Points Caption is accurate, but not thorough or thoughtful to demonstrate complete understanding (15 points)
Mention additional concepts in caption, but not depicted in image (3 points) Submission is Submission is unique and creative. creative, in a way that enhances accuracy/ Creativity doesn’t precision (10 points) enhance accuracy of concept depiction, but does not diminish it. (5 points) Full marks (10 points) Submission is missing one required submission element (5 points)
No caption Caption is included included, but (0 points) not accurate, thorough, or thoughtful to demonstrate understanding (10 points) No Marks (0 points) No additional concepts (0 points)
20
5 5
Submission is not creative (many others similar submissions) (0 points)
10
No Marks (0 points)
10
Appendix B.
Econselfie survey I am currently a: (circle one) Freshman Sophomore Junior My major is: ______________________ (indicate your academic major, or write ‘undeclared’) This course is a mandatory component of my major: (circle one) YES I chose to take this course as an elective to meet a requirement for my major: (circle one) YES My gender is: (circle one) Male Please make a mark in the box indicating your agreement with the following Strongly statements. Mark “not applicable” if you cannot answer the question given disagree your experience so far. Creating an ECONSelfie picture helped me understand economic concepts Creating an ECONSelfie picture helped me to understand how economics is relevant to the world Creating an ECONSelfie picture helped me to understand how economics is relevant to my life Writing an ECONSelfie caption/description helped me understand how economics is relevant to the world Writing an ECONSelfie caption/description helped me understand economic concepts Writing an ECONSelfie caption/description helped me to understand how economics is relevant to my life
Disagree
Senior
N/A
NO NO Female
Neutral Agree
Strongly agree
Not applicable
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A. Al-Bahrani et al. / International Review of Economics Education 22 (2016) 16–22
I enjoyed completing the ECONSelfie assignments
Please list three economic concepts that you portrayed in your ECONSelfie assignment(s) 1. ___________________________ 2. ___________________________ 3. ___________________________ Were you able to view the ECONSelfies submitted by your peers? (circle one) YES NO If you answered Yes to being able to view the ECONSelfies of your peers, please complete these three questions: Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Please make a mark in the box indicating your agreement with the following agree statements. Mark “not applicable” if you cannot answer the question given your disagree experience so far. Viewing the ECONSelfies of my peers helped me understand economic concepts Viewing the ECONSelfies of my peers helped me to understand how economics is relevant to the world Viewing the ECONSelfies of my peers helped me to understand how economics is relevant to my life
Not applicable
Any comments you would like to add about the ECONSelfie assignments?
References Al-Bahrani, A., Patel, D., 2015. Incorporating twitter, instagram, and facebook in economics classrooms. J. Econ. Educ. 46 (1), 56–67. Al-Bahrani, A., Patel, D., Sheridan, B., 2015. Engaging students using social media: the students’ perspective. Int. Rev. Econ. Educ. 19 (1), 36–50. Al-Bahrani, A., Holder, K., Patel, D., Wooten, J., 2016. Art of econ: incorporating the arts through active learning assignments in principles courses. J. Econ. Finance Educ. ([71_TD$IF][6forthcoming). Barczyk, C., Duncan, D., 2013. Facebook in higher education courses: an analysis of students’ attitudes, community of practice, and classroom community. Int. Bus. Manage. 6 (1), 1–11. Ellison, N.B., Steinfield, C., Lampe, C., 2007. The benefits of facebook “friends”: social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. J. Comput.-Mediated Commun. 12 (4), 1143–1168. Ellison, N.B., Steinfield, C., Lampe, C., 2011. Connection strategies: social capital Implications of Facebook-enabled communication practices. New Media Soc. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444810385389. Frank, R.H., 2007. The Dismal Science, Dismally Taught.. New York Times, Economic View, Sunday Business, New York Times (August 12 2007). Holder, K., Mateer, D., Rousu, M., Tierney, J., 2015. Beyond grades: monetary and non-monetary incentives to motivate your students. Working Paper . Junco, R., 2013. Inequalities in facebook use. Comput. Hum. Behav. 29 (6), 2328–2336. Kozma, R., 1991. Learning with media. Rev. Educ. Res. 61 (2), 179–211. Manikandan, G., 2013. Social media and mobile internet usage: relational study on teens and young adults? Int. J. Logist. Supply Chain Manage. Perspect. 2 (4), 607–615. Moryl, R., 2013. T-shirts, moonshine, and autopsies: using podcasts to engage undergraduate microeconomics students. Int. Rev. Econ. Educ. 13, 67–74. National Survey of Student Engagement, 2010. Major Differences: Examining Student Engagement by Field of Study—Annual Results 2010. Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, Bloomington, IN. Prensky, M., 2001. Digital-Game-Based Learning. McGraw Hill, New York and London. Pressley, M., Johnson, C., Symons, S., McGoldrick, J., Kurita, J., 1989. Strategies that improve children’s memory and comprehension of text. Elementary School J. 90 (1), 3–32. Siemens, G., 2005. Connectivism: learning theory for the digital age. Int. J. Inst. Technol. Distance Learn. 2 (1) .
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
International Review of Economics Education journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/iree
Putting yourself in the picture with an ‘ECONSelfie’: Using student-generated photos to enhance introductory economics courses Abdullah Al-Bahrania , Kim Holderb , Rebecca L. Morylc,* , Patrick Ryan Murphyd, Darshak Patele a
Northern Kentucky University, United States University of West Georgia, United States Emmanuel College, 400 Fenway, Boston, MA 02115, United States d Saint Leo University, United States e University of Kentucky, United States b c
A R T I C L E I N F O
Article history: Received 4 September 2015 Received in revised form 4 February 2016 Accepted 9 March 2016 Available online 29 March 2016 JEL codes: A20 A21 A22
A B S T R A C T
Students in economics classrooms are increasingly digital natives, raised in a culture of engagement, expression and learning through online interactions using technological devices. We have turned the concept of a ‘selfie’ into an instructional tool for students to demonstrate their understanding of economic concepts, as well as to engage personally with those concepts. A student self-assessment survey supports the expectations of the literature that our ECONSelfie assignment leverages the power of visuals and narratives to help students link themselves with introductory economics material for improved learning outcomes. ã 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: Economic education Introductory economics Media in education Teaching/learning strategies
1. Introduction Students in economics classrooms are increasingly digital natives, raised in a culture of engagement, expression and learning through online interactions using technological devices. Kozma (1991) suggests that students who actively interact with media, such as computers and mobile phones, as part of their learning are able to build knowledge. The learning theory of Connectivism (Siemens, 2005) suggests that, in this digital age, learning occurs through participation in online communities of interest and social networks. We present a structured assignment using student-generated photos, or ‘selfies’, to enhance student learning of foundational economic concepts and to increase their connection with the relevance of these concepts in their daily lives.
* Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (R.L. Moryl). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.iree.2016.03.003 1477-3880/ ã 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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17
2. What are selfies Today’s students publish a virtual record of their lives online, using mobile phones, tablets and cameras to upload and share items. In 2012, 91% of teenagers posted photos of themselves on a social media profile. By the end of 2012, more than 5.5 million ‘selfies’ had been posted on social media, and a total of more than 72 million photos posted online were tagged ‘me’ (Manikandan 2013). A ‘selfie’, according to Oxford Online Dictionary, is a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam, and uploaded to a social media website. We have evolved the concept of a ‘selfie’ into an educational tool for students to demonstrate their understanding of economic concepts, as well as to engage personally with those concepts. Our ECONSelfie assignment focuses on students taking photos of themselves in ways that relate to, or demonstrate, economic concepts. 3. Pedagogical value of an econselfie The ECONSelfie assignment builds on the power of students creating their own visual narratives to practice the application of economic concepts (Frank 2007). Pedagogical research has demonstrated that, at least for young students, creating this sort of representational imagery will (1) aid comprehension and (2) make it more likely that students understand complex relationships read in text (Pressley et al., 1989). The ECONSelfie assignment also answers student demand for using technology as part of their educational experience (Prensky, 2001) and provides opportunities for differentiated assessment in the classroom (Al-Bahrani et al., 2016). Additionally, the personal nature of the ECONSelfie, along with purposeful subsequent interaction with peers, acts as a motivational device that reaches beyond traditional grading and encourages the building of supportive student learning networks in the classroom (Holder et al., 2015). In fact, the National Survey of Student Engagement polled 17,000 students at 40 different colleges and found that when students are actively engaged on their college campuses beyond the classroom, they “learn more, think more critically, and gain an appreciation for diverse perspectives”. When an ECONSelfie is shared by students through a learning management system (LMS) or in other social media environments, the assignment can further build upon the power of “Connectivism” (Siemens, 2005). Research has demonstrated that student interactions through social media (checking up on friends, viewing photos) are related to positive academic outcomes (Ellison et al., 2011, 2007; Junco 2013). Barczyk and Duncan (2013) found that use of social media (Facebook) as a supplement to face-to-face courses enhanced students’ sense of social learning and connectedness. While the ECONSelfie assignment does not need to incorporate an online sharing component, they easily lend themselves to that format as a natural extension which has the potential to bring even more pedagogical value, particularly to hybrid or online course formats. 4. The econselfie assignment As a teaching tool, the ECONSelfie assignment has been purposefully designed by the authors to be simple, instructive, and easy to implement in any classroom. It can be modified to suit the teaching style, mode of instruction (face-to-face, online, hybrid), and learning goals of any course. Students are required to take a photo of themselves (a selfie) that illustrates or contains some connection to an economic concept they have experienced. They must also write an explanation of the economic concept(s) demonstrated in their ECONSelfie. See Appendix A for the ECONSelfie assignment instructions and accompanying rubric. From this basic structure, the ECONSelfie assignment can be extended and modified as desired to meet the needs of individual instructors. For example, the student’s completed photos can be submitted as a hard copy in class, online through course management software or via email, or even include a requirement for posting to a social media site for review (see http://econimages.tumblr.com/for examples). The photos can contain either a short caption to enhance creative thinking or include a requirement for a longer one-page reflection paper detailing the economics concepts, definitions and the broader application relevant to the ECONSelfie. Additionally, credit can be awarded for accuracy of depiction, inclusion of multiple concepts, difficulty of concepts, and even evaluating the creativity of the photograph submitted. The ECONSelfie exercise can be assigned once during the semester or, if the instructor prefers, it can be offered repeatedly throughout the academic session to cover a variety of different concepts associated with each section of the course. Instructors can choose to randomly assign students to portray a specific concept selected from a set of important or more challenging terms in a module or unit or allow students to choose concepts on their own. One additional option for an expansion on the ECONSelfie assignment is for students to critically review the economic content of their peer’s selfies. This adaptation can further assist in improving the clarity of their own understanding of economics, as well as lead to a productive discussion between students of the concepts covered within the course. The requirements for the sharing of the ECONSelfie photos can range from sharing only in the classroom setting; to an encouraged, but not required, option to share on a closed Facebook group; or even an open posting on a Tumblr page (with disclosure regarding release of copyright and public availability of the image). Based on our own experiences utilizing this assignment in our classrooms, we advise that instructors set boundaries as to the appropriate content of the images to be allowed in the ECONSelfie assignment in advance. For example, explaining that pictures cannot include an illegal activity, even though economic concepts are often found in illegal markets, and that all persons in pictures must be fully clothed helps
18
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protect all parties involved from unintended negative consequences. Additionally, the sharing of an ECONSelfie through an LMS or social media platform offers an excellent opportunity for a lesson in appropriate social network etiquette in an academic or professional setting. This approach allows students to learn how to use technology more effectively and at many intuitions, effective use of technology is an expected learning objective. It is recommended that instructors share a few examples with their students to illustrate the criteria for submission, assist with setting the expected level of academic rigor, and demonstrate how an ECONSelfie can improve concept comprehension. It is always prudent to keep in mind student privacy concerns with regards to the ECONSelfie assignment, particularly if you are requesting that students post images in a public space via social media. Al-Bahrani et al. (2015), find that some students are not comfortable sharing information on social media. An alternative option, such as emailing the ECONSelfie directly to the professor, should always be offered in case there are exceptional situations that you may not be aware of. For example, one co-author had a student who was also a business owner and manager. At work, she did not let employees have social media accounts and had consequently shut down all of her own accounts to be consistent with her business policy. A request for an alternative accommodation allowed the student to submit the information directly to the professor and still receive credit for her work. You can also encourage students to be creative with their use of the ECONSelfie, remind them that their economics concept can be demonstrated while photographing their hands or feet instead of their face. Our experience has been that this recommendation virtually eliminates student concerns about privacy for the purposes of this assignment. [68_TD$IF]5. Resources required for instructors The resources required for instructors to implement the ECONSelfie assignment are minimal. Instructors must choose a submission strategy (Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, LMS, etc.) and complete the set-up as required for the submissions to be received. Al-Bahrani and Patel (2015) provide an informative resource guide for educators who are new to social media to help them get started with using these resources both inside and outside of the classroom. Technical issues may arise as expected with the use of any new technology platform or LMS, but are minimal after the first implementation of the ECONSelfie assignment. The lowest cost option, in terms of time, for an instructor managing and grading the assignment is dependent upon their familiarity with each platform. For example, one co-author prefers that students complete the assignment using Twitter and clearly defines the submission criteria while another prefers students use Tumblr. Each coauthor on this paper, has explored different ways of submitting the assignment and there appears to be no difference in effectiveness that is dependent upon the method of turning in the ECONSelfie assignment. Another co-author utilizes the school’s LMS, which is Blackboard in this case. Blackboard allows the instructor to create the rubric within the system which makes grading easier as students submit their ECONSelfie. As with any assignment, instructors must provide an assignment description, instructions, examples and a grading rubric to students. We have minimized the upfront costs to the instructor by providing samples of each of these in Appendix A for ease of implementation. Instructors must then review and grade the submissions, utilizing the rubric provided to maintain consistency and allow for easy grading. [69_TD$IF]6. Findings of student self-assessment of the effectiveness of the econselfie assignment 369 out of 449 students enrolled in a spring semester microeconomics course at four undergraduate institutions completed a brief, confidential questionnaire at the end of the semester to determine whether the completion of the ECONSelfie assignment contributed to their understanding of (a) economic concepts, (b) how economics is relevant to their lives, and (c) how economics is relevant to the world. The survey, based on Moryl (2013), was comprised of a forced-choice Likert Scale as well as open-ended questions (see Appendix B). A summary of their responses is provided in Tables 1–4. Approximately 78% of the students felt that the ECONSelfie helped them understand economic concepts. A larger percentage of students felt these exercises helped in displaying the relevance of economics to their life (85%) and their world (83%). In addition, there is overwhelming support from students on the positive impact of writing captions on understanding economic concepts (85%) and likewise for connecting the relevance of economics on their life (84%) and their world (85%). Table 1 Reponses to Creating an ECONSelfie. Creating an ECONSelfie picture helped me understand Economic concepts
How economics is relevant to the world
Freq
%
Freq
%
How economics is relevant to my life Freq
%
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree NA
18 15 47 172 114 2
4.89 4.08 12.77 46.74 30.98 0.54
15 11 31 156 151 4
4.08 2.99 8.42 42.39 41.03 1.09
13 7 29 165 149 3
3.55 1.91 7.92 45.08 40.71 0.83
Number of students
368
100
368
100
366
100
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Table 2 Reponses to Writing an ECONSelfie Caption. Writing an ECONSelfie caption/description helped me understand Economic concepts
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree NA Number of students
How economics is relevant to the world
How economics is relevant to my life
Freq
%
Freq
%
Freq
%
12 9 28 163 152 3 367
3.27 2.45 7.63 44.41 41.42 0.82 100
12 9 28 163 152 3 367
3.27 2.45 7.63 44.41 41.42 0.82 100
11 9 32 162 148 5 367
3 2.45 8.72 44.14 40.33 1.36 100
Table 3 Reponses to Viewing Peers’ ECONSelfie. Viewing the ECONSelfies of my peers helped me understand Economic concepts
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree NA Number of students
How economics is relevant to the world
How economics is relevant to my life
Freq
%
Freq
%
Freq
%
5 5 49 167 44
1.85 1.85 18.15 61.85 16.3
5 9 37 157 61
1.86 3.35 13.75 58.36 22.68
4 9 50 147 56
1.5 3.38 18.8 55.26 56
270
100
269
100
266
134.94
Not all institutions provided students with the opportunity to view their peer’s submissions. However, for the students who were able to take advantage of this opportunity, only fewer than 5% of the students felt that they were not effective in helping them with understanding economic concepts, and relating economics to the world and their daily life. In our experience, students both enjoy and learn from the sharing of their ECONSelfie. Sharing of the pictures heightens student engagement, as most students exhibit a natural willingness to share in the classroom. For camera-shy students, we have found that the assignment is more accessible if you indicate that they don’t have to be ‘front and center’ in the photo. A successful ECONSelfie could include their hand holding an item, or their feet in running shoes, but it must somehow include them, as that is the idea of the assignment. The ECONSelfie assignment can be an effective and accessible learning tool for both traditional and nontraditional students. Students can apply the concepts to college life, to parenting responsibilities and to professional careers. Many students have indicated that the assignments made them analyze, on a deeper level, the relevance of economic concepts to their own lives. For example, one student decided that the opportunity cost of working long hours mattered to his GPA. Another student who sings in the choir realized that repeatedly practicing songs over and over again leads to diminishing marginal utility. And yet another was able to apply consumer and producer surplus to her sport of equestrianism and the market for winning prize horses. Fig. 1 (word cloud) illustrates the most common economic concepts that students portray in their ECONSelfie submissions. Instructors might wish to assign specific concepts to students in order to ensure a diversity of concepts covered, encourage creativity in application and reduce imitation of peers’ ideas. We have found the assignment is equally applicable to introductory micro and macro courses. The use of the ECONSelfie assignment could enhance a face-to-face class, where the instructor might encourage students to share the selfie images and discuss them in class. In an online setting, the images Table 4 Students’ view on completing the ECONSelfie Assignment. I enjoyed completing the ECONSelfie assignment:
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree NA Number of students
Freq
%
17 24 69 129 122 5 366
4.64 6.56 18.85 35.25 33.33 1.37 100
20
[(Fig._1)TD$IG]
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Fig. 1. ECONSelfie Concept Word Cloud.
could serve to liven up discussion boards and unite students within the common learning space. As with any differentiated assessment project, the use of the ECONSelfie as a teaching tool is not intended to act as a substitute for traditional quizzes, problem sets or other classroom pedagogical techniques. However, the evidence suggests that, as a supplementary resource, the ECONSelfie assignment has minimal costs but can have powerful, measurable results for student engagement and learning. In addition, we have found that the ECONSelfie continues to engage students beyond the semester. [70_TD$IF]7. Conclusions The ECONSelfie assignment is an educational tool that can be used to enhance learning and engagement for introductory economics courses, particularly highlighting to students how economics relates to the world around them. It leverages the power of visuals and narratives to help students link themselves with introductory economics material for improved learning outcomes. These types of flexible assignments allow students to connect themselves to the concepts and story of economics by taking pictures of economics-based interactions prevalent in their daily lives. They are essentially ‘putting themselves in the picture’ by making economic connections and reflecting on the process. Appendix A. All instructors participating in the study discussed in this paper agreed to assign a minimum of two ECONSelfie exercises per semester. The assignments must count toward the final course grade, require a caption (25–140 words) along with the image, and include the student in at least one image. Beyond this we allowed instructor flexibility to require more than these minimums (additional number of assignments, longer write-ups, require students to be visible in more ECONSelfies, etc.). Instructors also had flexibility on how students submit the ECONSelfie images and write-ups (through Twitter, Tumblr, LMS, etc.). As an example, below are sample assignment instructions and grading rubric. This assignment utilizes Tumblr.com for submission. This ECONSelfie should show you relating to one of the economic concepts from Chapters 1–3. Remember that you must be visible and recognizable in the selfie. The assignment requires that you: Post your ECONSelfie along with a 25–140 word caption naming and explaining the concepts you're illustrating. Points for this assignment will be awarded based on the rubric below. Submission Instructions: Send your photo via email to Tumblr (using site-specific email provided), copying your instructor’s email address as well. Use the subject line of the email to include: 1. Your name 2. Course number and section 3. Date and location of the image (Ex. January 10, St. Joe's dorm) 4. The microeconomic concept you convey In the body of the email include: 1. The required description explaining how the photo illustrates that concept (25–140 words – not including name, course name and other required elements 1–4). Descriptions will be assessed on accuracy and clarity, with additional points for creativity and connecting to additional related concepts. See rubric for full details.
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Be sure to check the Tumblr website to ensure your image appears. Images that do not show up on the site, whether due to technical issues or otherwise, will not receive the points for posting. ECONSelfies Rubric (50 possible points) Criteria
Ratings
Include accurate caption to the photo. 25–140 word caption should explain how the image illustrates the concept you name
Caption meets requirements, is thorough, thoughtful and accurate (20 points)
Include yourself in the image Connect to more than one concept in image or caption. Correctly incorporate and name additional concepts in your caption (and image for additional points)
Full marks (5 points) Accurately demonstrate and describe additional concept (5 points)
Creativity of submission: you must be in the submission, but you can edit it or be creative in the staging
Follow submission instructions (ensure name, image and caption appear)
Points Caption is accurate, but not thorough or thoughtful to demonstrate complete understanding (15 points)
Mention additional concepts in caption, but not depicted in image (3 points) Submission is Submission is unique and creative. creative, in a way that enhances accuracy/ Creativity doesn’t precision (10 points) enhance accuracy of concept depiction, but does not diminish it. (5 points) Full marks (10 points) Submission is missing one required submission element (5 points)
No caption Caption is included included, but (0 points) not accurate, thorough, or thoughtful to demonstrate understanding (10 points) No Marks (0 points) No additional concepts (0 points)
20
5 5
Submission is not creative (many others similar submissions) (0 points)
10
No Marks (0 points)
10
Appendix B.
Econselfie survey I am currently a: (circle one) Freshman Sophomore Junior My major is: ______________________ (indicate your academic major, or write ‘undeclared’) This course is a mandatory component of my major: (circle one) YES I chose to take this course as an elective to meet a requirement for my major: (circle one) YES My gender is: (circle one) Male Please make a mark in the box indicating your agreement with the following Strongly statements. Mark “not applicable” if you cannot answer the question given disagree your experience so far. Creating an ECONSelfie picture helped me understand economic concepts Creating an ECONSelfie picture helped me to understand how economics is relevant to the world Creating an ECONSelfie picture helped me to understand how economics is relevant to my life Writing an ECONSelfie caption/description helped me understand how economics is relevant to the world Writing an ECONSelfie caption/description helped me understand economic concepts Writing an ECONSelfie caption/description helped me to understand how economics is relevant to my life
Disagree
Senior
N/A
NO NO Female
Neutral Agree
Strongly agree
Not applicable
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I enjoyed completing the ECONSelfie assignments
Please list three economic concepts that you portrayed in your ECONSelfie assignment(s) 1. ___________________________ 2. ___________________________ 3. ___________________________ Were you able to view the ECONSelfies submitted by your peers? (circle one) YES NO If you answered Yes to being able to view the ECONSelfies of your peers, please complete these three questions: Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Please make a mark in the box indicating your agreement with the following agree statements. Mark “not applicable” if you cannot answer the question given your disagree experience so far. Viewing the ECONSelfies of my peers helped me understand economic concepts Viewing the ECONSelfies of my peers helped me to understand how economics is relevant to the world Viewing the ECONSelfies of my peers helped me to understand how economics is relevant to my life
Not applicable
Any comments you would like to add about the ECONSelfie assignments?
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