Blending Economics

This year, TMS has blended my Money, Banking, and Finance course.  This effectively means that students see me in the classroom every other day, and days they don't see me, they work independently on material in the Student Learning Commons.  The goal of this concept is to see if this style of teaching increases learning outcomes while providing more independence for students.

The first two weeks of class have provided some critical feedback on the blended concept.  First, I've noticed that students are enthusiastic about the course.  Second, at this early stage, students are completing assigned materials on their own time in the library.  Finally, learning objectives need to be even more clear as independence increases.

The best development has been the self directed nature of students.  They really do get down to work when they have an assigned task for which they are held accountable.  However, they do not necessarily retain the desired content from those materials (videos, readings, and practice problems).  To correct this, I have created "What You Need To Know" document for their next batch of assignments.  This is designed to give students guideposts to assist their studying.  I will report back more on this tool as I see its impact on student learning.