Teaching Economics outside (1)

Sometimes on a nice sunny day I wonder why I am in the classroom when we could all be enjoying the sunshine and of course learning about Economics as well. So one of my goals for the new year is to try and spend some more time outside. Here is one possible activity, and I will try and post more as I think of them!

When teaching the effect of competition, some sort of competitive activity will illustrate the benefits. The activity you choose would depend on the make-up of the class but could range from running to a tree and back, to shooting the basketball in the gym. The idea is to get some sort of activity involved where time is a factor so that a contrast could be made from competitive to non-competitive.

For example, if a running race was chosen, I would get six volunteers and then time them to do a certain distance (perhaps hopping or something similar). Whoever is fastest gets a small prize. After this is done, choose another volunteer to do the same course, but tell them they get the same prize regardless of the time. What is likely to happen is that they will do the course at a much more leisurely pace and you can make the comparison with the benefits of competitive pressure.

The topic of collusion could also be discussed - how would the reward system have to be different for collusion to be effective? In fact, a number of other topics could be considered, eg barriers to entry, profits, opportunity costs, external factors….the list goes on!

Enjoy the sunshine!