November 2012 Workshop

Location/Date

November 2-3, 2012 (in conjunction with Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Professors Conference)

By Invitation Only

Overview

This hands-on workshop is focused on developing exercises for college-level introductory economics courses using FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) resources. Specifically, this workshop will bring together a community of economic educators to develop activities for the example library at the Starting Point: Teaching and Learning Economics pedagogic portal.

The workshop will begin at 1:00 pm on Friday, November 2 (following lunch at the end of the Professors Conference) and end at noon on Saturday, November 3. During the workshop we will work collectively to learn about FRED and develop economics exercises utilizing FRED data. By the end of the workshop all participants will have created a draft of at least two new exercises for use in an introductory economics course. Following the workshop, participants will have several weeks to complete the exercises they have created.

Participants

  • Jerry Amoloza, East Central College
  • Lila Balla, Lindenwood University
  • Ariel Belasen, SIU Edwardsville
  • Maria Bravo Gonzalez, St. Louis Community College - Meramec
  • Stephanie Campbell, Mineral Area College
  • Nan-Ting Chou, U. of Louisville
  • TJ Devine, Illinois College
  • Connell Jones, Henderson Community College
  • David Kern, Arkansas State University
  • Areerat Kichkha, Lindenwood University
  • Felix Kwan, Maryville University
  • Gary Lunkenheimer, Cottey College
  • Kenneth Moran, Harding University
  • Eric Nielsen, St. Louis Community College - Meramec
  • Linda Poole, Lewis and Clark Community College
  • Doug Schneiderheinze, Lewis and Clark Community College
  • Dennis Shannon, Southwestern Illinois College
  • Joseph Sobieralski, Southwestern Illinois College

Workshop Schedule

(All activities at Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)

Friday, Nov. 2 (Afternoon)

1:00 - 1:45 pm -- Background about the Starting Point project (to provide context for the workshop activities)

1:45 - 2:45 pm -- Background on FRED resources

2:45 - 3:00 pm -- Activity Development Format - introducing the format for the activities you will develop

3:00 - 3:15 pm -- Break

3:15 - 4:30 pm -- Activity development (working as individuals or pairs/groups of individuals)

4:30 - 5:00 pm -- Reporting out (progress so far and next steps)

Evening -- Dinner at local restaurant (organized by Federal Reserve)

Saturday, Nov. 3 (Morning)

8:00 - 8:45 am -- Breakfast at Federal Reserve Bank

8:45 - 9:00 am -- Expectations for the day

9:00 am - 9:30 am -- Finish first activity (save as Word file)

9:30 am - 11:00 am -- Develop second activity

11:00 am - 11:30 am -- Posting activities to the Starting Point site

11:30 am - 11:45 am -- Next steps/Feedback on submissions/Revisions

Noon -- Box lunches/Workshop ends

Stipends/Hotel Reimbursement


We are able to offer $500 stipends for college faculty members who participate in this workshop. The stipend will be paid upon completion of the exercises described above. In addition, we are able to support hotel costs (up to $200) for the additional day (Friday night- Saturday midday) that this project will require, if needed. Transportation costs are the responsibility of the participant.

  • Hotel: please submit this invoice form (Microsoft Word 22kB Oct30 12) with original receipt (up to $200). Also, complete and submit a W-9 form available here
  • Stipend: Please submit a W-9 if you have not already done so for your hotel reimbursement. The stipend will be paid upon completion of the exercises described above.

Return W-9, invoice and receipt to:

Mark Maier
Department of Economics
1500 N. Verdugo Road 
Glendale Community College
Glendale, CA 91208

Workshop Background

Support for this workshop comes from a National Science Foundation grant project: Starting Point: Teaching and Learning Economics. This project created a web-based pedagogic portal for economics instructors, providing extensive information about sixteen different pedagogic practices, as well as a library of teaching examples (exercises) supporting the use of those practices. The workshop is also being supported in collaboration with another National Science Foundation grant project: Economics at Two Year Colleges, "an initiative to promote the use of innovative economic education resources by community college instructors."

The Starting Point web site is maintained by the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College (MN), a partner in our project. We will be using the SERC site to host the exercises you create (click here for an example). While in development, these pages will be private, accessible only to project participants. Upon the author's approval and review by the project staff, they will be made public at the Starting Point site. Authors will receive credit for this publication on the site (see the example linked above).

Workshop Handouts

Workshop Resources

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has a variety of useful resources on using FRED data in the classroom. See below for samples.

Historical Data and Documents

FRED

FRED College Resources Page

FRED Instructions for Students

Workshop Followup

Activity Submission Deadlines

  • First activitysubmission due December 21, 2012
  • Second activity submission due January 31, 2012

Once submitted we will provide comments on your submission and suggestions for revisions. Please make sure to keep a copy of your activities as Word files. You will need to make your revisions to that document and cut-and-paste into the online submission form again when you submit the final draft.

AEA Conference on Teaching and Research in Economic Education - Session on "Using FRED in the Classroom"

This conference will be held May 29 to May 31, 2013 in Chicago. Submissions deadline: December 15, 2012. "Submissions may be of individual papers, complete sessions of three or four papers, workshops, or panels. We especially encourage submissions of completed sessions." We would like to submit a complete session (with you as presenters) on "Using FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) in the Classroom," highlighting the work that you are doing at this workshop, at this conference. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis will also be conducting a half-day workshop on FRED just prior to the conference. We will be in touch with you via email in the coming week or two to determine your interest in this initiative.

Workshop Listserv

If you'd like to share ideas with or get feedback from the participants of this workshop group, send email to the workshop group listserv:

Project and Workshop Leaders

Project Leaders: Starting Point – Teaching and Learning Economics National Science Foundation Project

  • Scott Simkins - North Carolina A&T State University
  • Mark Maier - Glendale Community College
  • KimMarie McGoldrick - University of Richmond

Workshop Coordinators: Economics at Community Colleges National Science Foundation Project

Workshop Coordinators: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Questions?


Please contact Scott Simkins if you have questions.

For Use by Workshop Director (Activity Submission Management)