The following description and analysis will provide background for the three specific instructional objectives below.

The 3 instructional objectives below were inspired by Greg Mankiw's blog and Alan Greenspan's The Age of Turbulence.


Required material for the 3 questions below

Y = 1000, C = 750, G = 200 and T = 300


1. After listening to an audio enhanced power point presentation and reading the appropriate section from their textbook (B), students in ECN 211 Introduction to Macroeconomics (A) working in pairs will use the required material above to solve for total savings, private savings and public savings in writing in 5 minutes (C) with 100% accuracy.

2. After completing problem 1 (B), students in ECN 211 Introduction to Macroeconomics (A) working in pairs will use the required material above to solve the federal budget position in writing in 5 minutes (C) with 100% accuracy.

3. After completing problem 2(B), students in ECN 211 Introduction to Macroeconomics (A) working in pairs will use the required material above describe the impact of the federal budget position on private savings and interest rates in writing in 5 minutes (C) with 100% accuracy.

Delivery note: Based upon my experience in our class I can think of a number of alternatives for this type of paired activity online. I am at a loss for the timed component in online delivery. So I am thinking of the substituting the language below for the highlighted phrases above:

an online collaborative manner.

There are a number of tools available to faciliate online collaboration for students working in pairs.

1. Google docs was a tool demonstrated in this class with clear application to this activity.
2. Use of an instructional wiki much like this one.
3. Students utilizing IM or chat.
4. Students utilizing e mail.
5. Most CMS have a group function or sharing function.