My Economics Classroom

Standards and Backward Mapping

A2 Economics 

The concept of backward mapping has its roots in the idea that our lessons, activities and teaching strategies should be logically derived from the results we wish our students to achieve, and not from the available materials/books we feel convenient using in a particular topic. Starting from identifying results, we determine which evidence would be acceptable to prove the goal has been achieved, and then move towards the best strategies to achieve the goal. Let's see how this process can look like in case of a high school Economics class!

I've been teaching A2 Economics (grade 13) in an international school as a part of the Overseas University Preparatory Program. The school has been developing its own curriculum which is based on CIE (Cambridge International Examinations) program. More information about the CIE syllabus is available here: http://www.cambridgeinternational.org/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-international-as-and-a-level-economics-9708/

The standard I chose is "Understand the roles, goals, and effects of government involvement in microeconomy".  This is a very broad standard which covers a variety of the ways a government can intervene to correct the market failure and income inequality. The students will have to understand that the government can use a wide range of policies to tackle the problems caused by market failure, such as pollution, smoking, lack of interest in museums/visiting a doctor/educating, eating unhealthy food, huge gap between rich and poor etc. Since there are different options for correcting each of these situations, they will evaluate the alternative approaches and choose the most effective ones in a particular situation. They will analyze how government can intervene not only in the product market but also in the factor market - labor market. The students will be aware of the possible negative consequences and the failure of the government in correcting the problems of market failure and income inequality.

I chose it since this standard since the evaluation of the government policies in one of the most important skills students need to have by the end of the A2 studies. It also provides many opportunities for Project Based Learning and Problem Based Learning  - my students will become government officials who are aware of advantages and disadvantages of different microeconomic tools and make choices that are the best for the country! Finally,  my lessons will be focused on this standard during this whole month.

So, which skills will my students have by the end of this unit? They will be able to: 

1. Evaluate government policies in correcting market failure

2. Evaluate government policies in reducing income inequality

3. Evaluate the application of MRP theory in an imperfect labor market

4. Analyze how government and other factors affect  labor market

Here are some of the assessments I use to make sure my students adopted these skills:

• Small group work on Case studies targeting evaluation of the government policies in a specific country. This type of activity helps the students practice evaluation of the government policies. Collaboration with a small number of students (normally, pairs or groups of three) enforces sharing ideas and shaping their critical thinking. This activity focuses on achieving skills 1 and 2. 

• Small group work on creating mind maps (online or using posters).  Mind maps could be used to show all possible government policies for a specific market failure, so it helps with understanding level, but they could also be used to enforce evaluation of the policies by including advantages and disadvantages of the provided options. The same activity is used for MRP theory application in an imperfect labor market and the factors in the labor market so it can target skills 3 and 4. Collaboration is the main power again! 

• ABCD cards - group activity in which students are answering and creating multiple-choice questions that demonstrate the influences of different government policies in microeconomy. It's a fun and interactive activity that helps them identify and interpret the effects of different government policies in both factor and product markets, and it focuses on the use of graphs to illustrate these consequences. 

• Essay writing (e.g. Discuss whether minimum wage helps to reduce the gap between rich and poor; Discuss whether government intervention in the market always improves efficiency etc.) This is one of the main skills the students need to show at A2 exam - the ability to construct and present logical arguments in the evaluation of the government policies in the form of an essay, including a reasoned conclusion. Practicing writing essays on these topics with the help of rubric they can refer to improve their higher level skills as well as essay writing and presenting the arguments in a structured and logical way.

Finally, some of the learning activities/projects I use to:

• Debates (e.g. Should water be privatized? Should we have trade unions in education/health system?) Debates are shaping student's critical thinking and they include the use of logical arguments with the theoretical knowledge. These are crucial for their justification, analysis, and evaluation of the economic arguments

• Project Based Learning - Providing opportunities for the research and real-world application makes my students really excited about the topic! One example is to set a research project which requires them to analyze and evaluate government policies in solving the problem of pollution in a specific country (a very important topic in China!). Similar projects show the importance of being skilled in evaluation of the government policies and choosing the best possible solution!

This was a sample of the backward design - one of the most challenging, as well as the most important parts of the planning process of the teachers. Teachers in an international educational setting could experience even more challenges in terms of additional ESL needs of the students and multicultural environment. Once you incorporate it into your daily planning practice, it becomes a habit - the habit which helps your students succeed!