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How I use a visualiser in Economics

 I read a blog about how a visualiser is used in RE by  Miss Cox and I’ve been reflecting on how I use my visualiser.

A few of the main ways that I use it are:

1.       When explaining a new concept

When I explain a new concept, I have all eyes on the board (using SLANT) and not taking notes as pupils listen to my explanation. I have been reading about the modality impact in cognitive load theory and the benefits of optimising intrinsic load with both visual and auditory working memory. What I try to do is slowly build a diagram under the visualiser whilst I am talking.

So before half term I was going through the impact of a progressive tax and after I explained what the term is (more on definitions later) I will gradually start to explain how it will reduce inequality by first drawing a quick diagram showing the gap between rich and poor pre-tax and then a second diagram highlighting the difference after-tax.

I try to avoid the split-attention impact by labelling these although I do appreciate that detracts from the modality impact somewhat. The reason I prefer to draw this under a visualiser rather than project it on a powerpoint is I can focus attention on the part I am explaining. I can also draw it step by step and ask questions as I go to ensure pupils understand each step of what I am explaining.

2.       Modelling chains of analysis

A big part of teaching economics is cause and effect. Economic agents are interdependent and each action has a ‘domino impact’ on everyone else. I like to explicitly model this under a visualiser, starting with one change and then gradually introducing different chains as I explain them.

After each chain I put my hand over the chain so pupils cannot see and test them on it. I then like ’snowballing’ questions where pupils explain the new chain and all preceding chains as we go. Doing this under a visualiser as opposed to a powerpoint gives me a lot more flexibility to do this and make changes to chains if they are unclear.

After this is clear and pupils have practiced using these chains (and explaining why they are the case) I then add to these chains with some counter-arguments to keep growing the argument.

3.       Definitions

Economics is littered with definitions and it can feel like talking a foreign language sometimes. I try to introduce a definition initially through a concrete example before going more abstract. When it is time to learn an abstract definition, I split a definition into component parts (as Pritesh has explained) explaining what each part will mean.

I then hide parts of this under my hand to test if pupils understand each part. Again, the flexibility this gives me to make adjustments and easily test different parts makes it better than using a powerpoint and similarly unlike writing on a whiteboard I can still look at my pupils when doing this.



4.       Pupil Work

I highlight pupil work under the visualiser almost every lesson. This is usually after they have written an essay. I’ve had to work at what Doug Lemov calls a ‘culture of error’ to get to the point where pupils feel comfortable with this but the more it is done, the easier this becomes.

Usually, I will focus on one particular success criteria so I go through it sentence by sentence and we look at how the answer could be made more specific or how a chain of analysis can be further extended. As we go through the year, I am hoping I can scaffold this less and I can just put an answer on the screen and pupils can identify improvements themselves without me prompting them.

I use this a lot for diagrams also. I tell my pupils they need to label their axis and curves, show equilibriums and draw arrows showing the changes. I then put a pupils’ diagram under the visualiser and pupils go through if each of this criteria has been achieved. I have found this in particular has been successful in embedding the success criteria in pupils minds as it is simple and feedback is instant.

5.       Annotating a model answer

Usually I prefer to write a model answer ‘live’ so I can explain my exact thought process but when I do give a pre-written model so pupils can refer back to it, I like to annotate it under the visualiser and pupils copy what I am annotating. This is to show them where I have hit various success criteria.

To be honest, this is one area I am not sure has been as effective as it needs to be. I suspect pupils are blindly copying what I am doing without really thinking about or understanding why different parts hits the success criteria so more work is needed on this.

6.       Going through a news story

A new addition to my visualiser arsenal this year is to put a news article I’ve printed off under the visualiser. Previously, I would have questions for pupils to answer underneath but this year I have tried to increase the challenge of this by getting pupils to do more work applying their knowledge to the news story.

So rather than set directed questions, I ask pupils to ‘find the economics’ or work out what theories are relevant to a news story. I then annotate it under the visualiser so pupils can understand how they are relevant. This is an important skill pupils will need to master in exams where they are given extracts are given quite nebulous exam questions where they need to identify and apply economic theories themselves so I am hoping modelling the thought process behind this is helpful for them.

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