Shared Resources
Invention Activities for Econometrics
An invention activity is a teaching technique that involves giving students a difficult substantive problem that cannot be readily solved with any methods they have already learned. Research suggests that such activities prepare students to learn the “expert’s solution” better than starting with a lecture on that solution.
The following activities are described in detail in our paper Using Invention Activities to Teach Econometrics, and we have fielded them in several semesters of our own Applied Econometrics course.
Bivariate Regression
Students carefully examine several scatterplots and "invent" procedures for fitting a line through them. We expect some to suggest Ordinary Least Squares, but have seen some very creative solutions.
Categorical Explanatory Variables
Students construct a model of customer demand for coffee. They must find a good way of controlling for season, before they are taught that they should create a set of dummy variables.
Heterogeneous Effects
Students are asked to generalize a linear model to allow the effect of one variable to depend on the values of another variable before being taught about interaction terms.
Difference-in-Differences
Students are asked to estimate the effect of a policy intervention. They have data from before and after it was implemented in the target area and a nearby area that was not treated.
Regression Discontinuity
Students consider a scholarship program for high school students who exceed a test score threshold and examine six scatter plots that show the relationship between high school test scores and college enrollment.