Economics Field Research 2018
Rationale:
In the past 20 years, economic growth has inevitably led to greater disparity in income differences, particularly between urban and rural population of a country. is it possible for economic growth to lead to the betterment of everyone in a nation? Micro-credit has also been touted to be the silver bullet in poverty alleviation. This research trip seeks to find out how micro-credit (with Chinese characteristics) is administered in the villages of Jiyuan, and how economic development may be evidenced in Jiyuan. We will also begin charting the progress in Jiyuan using this year's research as the base year.
Objectives:
Student will learn
1. Understand that economic growth is not the same as economic development
2. Knowledge: Marks of Economic Development include “Equitable Income distribution”, HDI
3. Knowledge: The role of credit in an economy and the different forms available (also in China context)
4. Knowledge: Micro-credit as a developmental tool
5. Knowledge: The art and science of good interviews
6. Skill: To determine correlation between factors
7. Skill: To develop rubric for determining effectiveness of micro-credit
8. Skill: To evaluate effectiveness of micro credit as a developmental tool
Task:
1. Each group must use rubric and track 1 family of a particular village who have used “micro-credit” and present their “before” and “after” stories to prove or disprove the effectiveness of “micro-credit” with an electronic album of family that can be followed up in the following years. (Jig saw group)
2. Creation of 5 posters (1 per group)
economic growth =/= economic development
Marks of economic development (HDI, income distribution etc)
The role of credit in a modern economy
Types of credit available in our modern world/ rural China
How do we determine correlation?
4. Keep a reflection dairy from the perspective of a rural peer from your household. What do they think of their family taking on such loans, what concerns do they have? What is the context of their need for such a loan etc. How have such a loan affected their lives?
5. Rubric for electronic album (5 persons per group) -
To be determined collaboratively by groups and teachers.
Finally graded by teachers and Mr Xie.
Timeline and Checkpoints
Meeting 1 - Goals of the Economics Field trip
Scheduling
Process
EQ: How do we know if people's quality of life has improved?
Lesson 1 - What are the questions we need to be asking?
(eg. Is this a desirable outcome? Does it happen? What does “quality of life” mean?)
Economic growth versus development / rural-urban divide
Groupings and work assignment (give poster rubric)
Week 2 16th March
Meet 60 minutes
Meeting 2 - Lesson 2 - How do we measure “improved”?
Are these measurements adequate? Comprehensive?
Marks of Economic development (Equity and HDI)
Q & A
Poster board creation
Week 3 28th March
Meet 75 minutes
Meeting 3 - Lesson 3 - How have micro-credit given rural people a chance at improving their lives? How does it work? Not work?
Types of credit and micro credit
Q & A
Feedback on observations of interviews done by psychology students (what makes a good interview?)
Assignment: Rubric creation of Interview questions and E album
Week 4. 3rd April
Meet 75 minutes
Meeting 4 - Lesson 4 - How do we ascertain cause and effect about “improved quality of life”?
Finalizing interview questions and rubric of E album
New Groupings
Logistics: packing list etc
Week 5. 4th April Put up posters
April 4th Departure for JiYuan (train into Luoyang Longmen - ETD 1415, ETA 19:11)
April 5th Trip Schedule
April 6th Trip Schedule
April 7th. Presentation of E albums - graded with Mr Xie
Evening departure (16:33 departure, ETA 21:25)
Week 6. 11th April Meet 60 minutes
Meeting 5 - Group Reflection (Lessons gleaned and field trip 2019)
Final Presentation Prep for QBD
Assessment:
Category |
Type of Assessment |
Marking criteria |
Marks |
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Poster |
Sources |
Minimum of 3-4 sources [1 source per student] Annotated articles [why is it useful and how it will be used] Citation list given in MLA8 format 3: Thorough, detailed, exceed the expectation [more than three sources], citation given in MLA8 forma 2: Satisfactory. Meet all requirements 1: Below satisfactory. Limited effort, insufficient (irrelevant) sources, citation not given in MLA8 format |
/3 |
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Poster |
Presentation |
content AO1 Terms are clearly defined, showing understanding of terms through usage. A02 Explanation of terms in clear, concise language, use of examples Presentation is organized and creative
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/20 |
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E Album |
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To be determined....
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/10 |
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Peer Diary and Post project reflection |
Summative (individual) |
5 Reflections ( 1 before trip, 1 per day during trip (3), 1 after trip)
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/25 |
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Total Summative mark |
TBD |
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Teacher comment:
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