| FITS Faculty Project: |
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Supplemental Material for Economics 100
Intro to Econ |
| Professors in the field of economics are increasingly aware of the importance of instructional innovations that allow students to be actively involved in the learning process. This awareness has led to the increased use of technology to provide an alternative pedagogical approach to teaching economic concepts. Compared to the traditional "chalk and talk" classroom, technology enhances student learning in a variety of ways. Not only does technology provide different types of formats that facilitate the learning process (video, audio, graphs, etc.), it allows for greater outreach to issues affecting the global community. The purpose of this project is to develop interactive technological modules in two courses: Introduction to Economics (ECON100) and International Economics (ECON420). The goals for developing technology- enhanced instruction for these two courses are to allow for a self-paced, active participation of students in learning the concepts in these courses, to improve the conceptualization of economic models and theories through visual and auditory displays, to improve the quantitative reasoning skills through the use of data and computer software, and to engage students about topics in the global economy. These modules will apply a variety of technological tools including applets, spreadsheets, and web-based presentations, and will incorporate case studies that demonstrate the effective use of economic modeling to evaluate key historical economic events. Thus, the final product will be modules that allow students to experience a fusion of technology and economic learning.
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Project Description
Aided by a Faculty Fellowship and some time off from teaching, Dr. Ophelia D. Goma of DePauw’s Department of Economic and Management has been creating supplemental online resources for her students in Economics 100. “I am working on a project to develop interactive technological modules that introduce students in my Introduction to Economics course to key historical economic events,” writes Goma. “The purpose of these modules is to allow for a self-paced, active participation of students in learning the concepts in the course, to improve the conceptualization of economic models and theories through visual and auditory displays, and to engage students about historical topics in the world economy. These modules will apply a variety of technological tools including flash applets, spreadsheets, video clips and web-based presentations, and will incorporate case studies that demonstrate the effective use of economic modeling.”
“Ophelia Goma's project relies heavily on the collaboration of its team members,” says Frank Gilbert, a FITS Graduate Intern who is helping Dr. Goma build web pages for this project. Others helping with this project include Jin Kim, I.L.S. multimedia specialist, and Jim Gehring, a DePauw senior ITAP student who is interning for FITS this academic year. Frank and Jim are currently working to create the Web-based environment which will contain the primary content as well as the interactive learning modules. The Flash learning modules include information slideshows that support the web content, interactive timelines to provide a historical summary of each web environment, and interactive games (drag-and-drop, or chronological ordering) to provide opportunties for students practice and understand the content.
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Impact of the Project
Usability testing will begin during Winter Term 2006. This will give the project team time to assess their work and make any adjustments before moving forward. |
Production Details
Dr. Goma received a Faculty Fellowship to work on these interactive resources. She spent a significant amount of time during her sabbatical gathering the data and forming her ideas before coming to FITS and forming the development team. |
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Ophelia Goma
Team Members Include:
Jim Gehring, Frank Gilbert, Ophelia Goma, Jin Kim
Contact Information:
Ophelia D. Goma
Associate Professor of Economics and Managment
ogoma@depauw.edu
Jin Kim
Multimedia and Development Support Specialist
jkim@depauw.edu
Frank Gilbert
FITS Graduate Intern
fgilbert@depauw.edu
Jim Gehring
FITS ITAP Associate
jgehring@depauw.edu
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FITS
FITS Center (765) 658-4364 or (765) 658-6600
Faculty Instructional Technology Support - FITS is a program that assists faculty members in enhancing their teaching and their students learning through the latest technology. FITS is concerned with the pedagogical applications of technology, rather then with explicit technical training.
FITS 
Digital Media Lab - Located in the basement of the Roy O. West Library, the dml works closely with FITS, the Web Team, Information Services and other campus technology organizations to develop consistent and easy to use services for all faculty, students and staff.
DML
Geographic Information Systems - The DePauw GIS Center coordinates GIS activities across campus so that information and knowledge can be shared and exchanged for the benefit of the entire DePauw community. It also collaborates with Greencastle and Putnam County communities to establish a relationship that benefits both DePauw and the surrounding region. GIS
