Before the microteaching seminar, I reviewed all the lecture slices. Now I face a challenge: how I can design a microteaching based on what I learnt from the object-based teaching in Arts and design for Finance and Economics. I asked myself so many times in these days for a thinking any objects I can use for the microteaching: a coin? a paper money? But definitely not calculating numbers. Because what I learnt from the object-based teaching is to use anything in the daily life, even with some imaginations, could engage the students in the class activities. Then I realized, I can use the imagination, but from our real life.
I tried to think about the life experience linking with the economic theory, one picture from my mind is when I bargain a price in the flea market with someone else. It is quite common if anyone has experienced in shopping in the flea market before. Me and seller we both want in a win-win situation, and it is highly depending on a bargain strategy. Besides of calculating the numbers, I think this could be quite practice in the small size class then I started designing the microteaching contents.
Once I decide to use the bargain strategy as a practice, I need to consider how to engage everyone in. To mimic the real life is a much easier way to do. Thus, I created the format of the activity: two people as a group for bargaining profits. Also, from the real life, what the people would do in the bargaining is trying to get the maximize profits, but not losing the customers in the end. Thus, I also designed a scenario: acting like buyer and seller in the flea market, one of the people has money in the hand to give another people. But if the other people think the price is too low to harm for their benefits, they could turn down the offer, which means both get nothing in the end.
Following the principles, finally, my microteaching contents are decided: two people as a group, one person has money and the other has nothing. The person who has money could give an offer to the other person: how much money he/she would like to give. The other person has two options once he/she has the offer: accept or reject. If the other person rejects the offer, both of them get nothing. But if the other person accepts the offer, both of them will get some money in the end. But before accepting the offer, I expected a bargaining happen between the two people. Based on the results, I could talk with the economic theory about the rational decision-making, and strategic management thinking.
I was quite nervous about this activity as it is my first time to have a try in the small sized class but the results were quite inspired and motivated for me. It is not relevant to the numbers, or calculations, but at least everyone engaged and I got what I want in the end. From this microteaching experiment, I get my confidence to carry over this activity to the students eventually.