The Early College Experience – Economics program is the largest at UConn. In the Economics program, we have 34 partner high schools with 66 certified economics instructors. Last academic year, 1,102 students were enrolled in 68 economics courses, with a total enrollment of 1,607 students. Our program is making a meaningful impact on Connecticut students introducing them to economic concepts and way of thinking as well as preparing them for college attendance.

Every year, Dr. Smirnova, who is ECE Economics coordinator, conducts the professional development workshop for participating teachers. The workshop is aimed at providing comparability of instruction and at sharing pedagogical innovations.

This year, 23 teachers from partner schools attended the workshop on October 23. The room was buzzing with commotion as guest speakers engaged the audience with hands-on activities.

Our guest speakers were Ariel Slonim, Curriculum Designer at Marginal Revolution University (MRU) and Mary Clare Peate, Senior Economic Education Specialist at Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

The micro- and macroeconomics concepts were showcased in interactive ways, that would encourage high school students to engage in the classroom. Here are the topics:

1. Learning about Economic Decision Making with Pretzels
2. Cowbells and M&Ms: Creative Classroom Exercises for Teaching Externalities and Public Goods
3. The Inflation Rate is Falling, but Prices are Not!
4. Fact vs. Fiction: Interactive Tools to Teach the Truth About Fiscal Policy

This year, the teachers also heard from their peer, Ms. Lynn Taillon from Cheshire High School. Ms. Taillon shared her “Valentine’s Day” and “Model Decorations for Christmas” activities. Such sharing stimulated the discussion of other ideas and stories of attending teachers.

Participants went away with a lot of pedagogical materials that could be used immediately in their classrooms. All materials are stored on HuskyCT in the ECE Economics organization section.