Abstract
In the constructivist approach to economic education, an understanding of economic reality is built on the student’s own economic experiences. The process results in active and engaged learning. This paper reports on in-class experiments aimed at developing a learning module focused on income inequality and poverty. How much income is required to maintain a modest, middle income, poverty line or “American Dream” living standard?
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Notes
The Economic Policy Institute provides a region-specific budget calculator (http://www.epi.com/content/budgetcalculator) with slightly different expense categories. We have felt that relying on student generated estimates based on their own experiences makes the exercise more relevant to the student. Further, some portion of the process is related not to the precise estimation of a budget, per se, but the perceptions of living standards that the students express through their estimates.
References
Albelda, R., Drago, R. W., & Shulman, S. (2004). Unlevel playing fields: Understanding wage inequality and discrimination (2nd ed.). Cambridge MA: Dollars and Sense.
Mishel, L., Bernstein, J., & Allegretto, S. (2007). The state of working America 2006/2007. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Wolff, E. N. (1997). Economics of poverty, inequality and discrimination. Cincinnati, Ohio: Southwestern College Publishing.
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Leclerc, D.C., Ford, E. & Ford, E.J. A Constructivist Learning Approach to Income Inequality, Poverty and the “American Dream”. For Soc Econ 38, 201–208 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12143-009-9039-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12143-009-9039-8