Putting the Invisible Hand to Work
Putting the Invisible Hand to Work Concepts and Models for Service Learning in Economics KimMarie McGoldrick and Andrea L. Ziegert, Editors Ann Arbor
Copyright by the University of Michigan 2002 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid-free paper 2005 2004 2003 2002 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Putting the invisible hand to work : concepts and models for service learning in economics / KimMarie McGoldrick and Andrea L. Ziegert, editors. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-472-09780-6 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 0-472-06780-X (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Economics Study and teaching. 2. Student service. I. McGoldrick, KimMarie. II. Ziegert, Andrea L. HB74.5.P87 2002 330'.071'55 dc21 2002002788
Acknowledgments This book would not have been possible without the help of many people, and we would like to thank all our colleagues who contributed to this book, especially Myra Strober, who believed in this project and encouraged it from the very beginning. We thank the Atlantic Philanthropic Society, which provided each of us with funding for a course release to concentrate on this project and for a one-day workshop that was structured similarly to the book itself. We would also like to thank the participants at the workshop for providing feedback on both the theoretical foundations and the course specific examples that are contained in this volume. Throughout this project Denison s John W. Alford Center for Service Learning and the University of Richmond s Center for Service Learning provided both financial and professional support. In addition we acknowledge the support of Ohio Campus Compact. Both of our institutions, the University of Richmond and Denison University, provided valuable resources necessary for the completion of this book, including secretarial work (thank you, Judy Thompson). Thanks to Ellen McCarthy at the University of Michigan Press for her enthusiasm and editorial assistance. Finally, we dedicate this book to students past, present, and future. We appreciate the commitments of former students to the experiences to which they were exposed, the fact that our current students constantly challenge us to make economics real for them, and all future students who will be challenged to put economics to work in the world in which they live.
Contents Introduction 1 Part 1. The Theory of Service Learning and Economics 1. Using the Theory of Service Learning as a Tool for Teaching Economic Theory 11 KimMarie McGoldrick 2. Using Issues to Design Effective Service-Learning Experiences in Economics: Self-Reliant, Cooperative and Online Models 27 Ronald M. Ayers 3. Economics in General Education: The Centrality of Service Learning 47 Kenneth P. Jameson 4. The Economic Approach to Service Learning: Ten Simple Guidelines 65 Rachel A. Willis 5. What Do Students Learn from Service Learning? 81 Andrea L. Ziegert 6. Getting Started in Service Learning: Resources for Economists 93 David T. Ball, Elizabeth L. MacNabb, and Carol P. Whitt Part 2. Applications of Service Learning in Economics 7. Service Learning in Land Economics: Economic Literacy in Action 121 Leah Greden Mathews
viii Contents 8. Regression Analysis for the Community: An Application of Service Learning in a Business and Economic Statistics Course 138 Gail Mitchell Hoyt 9. Poverty and Access to Health Care: An Academic Service-Learning Project in Economics 150 Arthur J. Caplan 10. Nonprofit Organizations and Service Learning: Service and Institutional Economics in an Issue- Based, Entry-Level Economics Course 168 Charles P. Rock 11. Service Learning as the Core of an Economics Course 189 Daphne T. Greenwood 12. When the Served Teach: Learning Economics from Mexicans in Guadalajara, Mexico 203 Carol M. Clark 13. What Can Volunteer Work Teach Students about the Study of Paid Work? A Discussion of a Womenand-Work Course 224 Deborah M. Figart and Beth Olsen 14. Forensic Economics: At Your Service 240 Robin L. Bartlett 15. What s Love Got to Do with It? Making Economics Relevant in Courses on Economic Development 254 Janet M. Tanski Afterword: Service Learning in Economics Future Challenges 289 KimMarie McGoldrick and Andrea L. Ziegert References 291 Contributors 301 Index 307