Teaching Students How To Present Complex Data With A Story

Presenter Information

Karla Borja, University of Tampa
Suzanne Dieringer, University of Tampa

Presentation Type

Presentation

Location

Student Life Center 2101

Start Date

10-4-2019 11:40 AM

End Date

10-4-2019 12:05 PM

Abstract

The authors developed a pedagogical tool that will assist students in learning how to create and present a thought-provoking story about complex macroeconomic data.

Description

As faculty teaching Principles of Economics for many years, we have noticed that during class presentations, students might understand the material to be presented, but they experience difficulties in telling an interesting and compelling story behind the economic data/graphs. The experiential project we are proposing is a pedagogical tool ––a manual or workbook–– that will assist students in learning how to develop and present a thought-provoking story about complex economic information. The key learning objective is to promote a creative thinking process in which the students will learn: 1) how to gather and analyze economic data to form business decisions; 2) how to develop an interesting story based on the data and relevant economic theory; and 3) how best to present the story to the audience using data visualization. This process will develop and improve student critical thinking skills. The manual provides students with comprehensive instructions and examples to support and model their own story. The manual reduces the need for instructors to use valuable class time explaining the project and assisting in the development of the student stories. Further, the manual provides examples and suggestions without limiting students’ creative process. The development of learning objectives and assessment tools to measure success (such as , assignments, rubrics and short quizzes) is also discussed and evaluated.