The work of faculty members Jim Barbour (economics) and Nim Batchelor (philosophy) was presented at the European Applied Business Research Conference in Germany. Details...
Barbour and Batchelor were invited to present their work on teaching economic justice at the 2002 conference of the European Applied Business Association, June 17-21. Accepting the invitation to present, Barbour took their paper “Reflections on the Preparation and Execution of a Course in Economic Justice” to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. In addition to this paper, Barbour presented “Journaling and learning: does the medium matter?” in a continuing session dedicated to pedagogical issues. Excerpts from the abstracts of both papers are below.
The conference is an annual event, with presenters from all over the world, representing 24 countries. There were roughly 250 participants and papers were subject to review before being accepted for presentation. The purpose of the conference is to gather faculty so as to improve both research and teaching in the business/economics area, with a special emphasis on applied research and applications of pedagogy.
Reflections on the Preparation and Execution of a Course in Economic Justice
Abstract
The process of teaching a topic that inhabits both the upper reaches of philosophy and economic theory, while swooping as near the earth as political policy is both exhilarating and terrifying. To do it well is indeed rare. We present our approach, some of the characteristics and thoughts from our students, and some of the insights that we developed along the way.
Journaling and learning: does the medium matter?
Abstract
Students were asked to keep two separate journals during a three-week trip around Europe. One journal was web-based and available for public reading. The other was in book form and purely private (except for the instructor).
Conventional wisdom indicates that a public journal, which is available for public viewing, will likely be superior to a private journal.
The hypothesis runs counter to this notion: that the private journal will be more poorly presented, but contain more academic depth than the public journal. After reviewing the journals of 22 students and performing both a content analysis and a style analysis, (it was) found that there was no significant difference between the public and private journals. Those students who wrote insightfully and well did so in both forms, while those who were neither insightful nor thoughtful, and those who wrote poorly, did so in both forms.