方暴增: An understanding of economics beneficial in everyday life
经济学无处不在!” 说 方暴增, a faculty member in the Business Management Department of Linn-Benton 社区 College.
Fang hopes to demonstrate how a basic understanding of economics is beneficial for 任何人. In class, she will point out the inflation rate in the news and talk about the Federal Reserve and government policies. “I work with my students to help them understand how economics affects their everyday lives. That makes me feel fulfilled.”
Most of the students that Fang teaches are not economics majors. 她的介绍 classes in mico- and macroeconomics are often mandatory for other majors. “许多 my students have no interest in economics when we start, they just want to pass the 然后继续. I hope that after they finish my class, they will have an interest 在经济学方面，”她说.
Her students are diverse, ranging from high schoolers taking classes for college credit to adult learners taking noncredit courses for personal development or business reasons. And since her courses are foundational for many STEM and business fields, the students she teaches come from across the college.
Fang gets to know them and their interests through discussions and surveys so that she can cater her 教学 to her learners. For many of the non-majors, economics 可能会令人生畏. Fang works to address their fears and anxieties about the course 从一开始的材料.
“In the beginning many of my students were worried because economics seems to use a lot of mathematics and graphs,” 说 Fang. “I say ‘If you can do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division it's enough. If you can draw a straight line and a curve, 它是足够的. I hope to eliminate their concerns.”
Fang grew up on a small island in China. She completed a master’s degree in economics in China, and then worked in a Chinese college prior to coming to the United States 攻读经济学博士学位.
“你.S. has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, which was really attractive for economics research,” she 说. “It's one of the major reasons I applied 在美国的研究生院.S. I wanted to see the difference.”
Upon completion of her doctoral dissertation at Kansas State University, the five years of “too hot” summers and “really cold” winters had her looking for a 教学 在一个新的地方工作. She found her current position at 博天堂官方.
“Location was first, and Oregon is much more like my hometown. 温度是 very similar and it's easier to go to the beach,” she 说. “但我也发现 I like 教学 at a two-year college. 这是完全不同的. I have more of an opportunity to interact with students and monitor their academic performance because my average class size is only 30 to 35 students.”
Smaller class sizes allow Fang to respond to student feedback and to customize her 教学.
Take, for example, the pandemic. “We talked about households living in poverty … the household might buy only essential goods, like potatoes. But with the stimulus paychecks, would the household change its consumption habits, like buying fewer potatoes but 购买其他商品? It was a good moment to teach students.”
Fang surveyed her students and found that the students who received stimulus checks did modify their consumption behaviors.
With the knowledge that some of her students will become small business owners, Fang addresses how economics is beneficial for small business. “这对他们很有帮助 to know about demand and supply models, consumer demand, pricing elasticity,” she 说. “If you're going to lower your price and give a bigger discount, how can you 最好地增加收入? Does the increased quantity compensate for the price reduction?”
In addition to the introductory courses, Fang teaches a business quantitative methods course, which is one of the more challenging courses in her department.
“Students struggle, and especially during online courses,” she 说. 于是我记录了 mini video lectures to show them concepts and practice questions. 我调查学生 for feedback and modify my videos based on their feedback. It has been very helpful, especially for the students who are visual learners.”
Fang has settled in at 博天堂官方 and lives with her lovely family in Corvallis. 在 college, she volunteers to help international students—especially those from her home country—to overcome the stress of leaving home and studying in a new environment.
Fang hopes to bring more international students to the college.
“I hope I can encourage more Chinese students to study at 博天堂官方,” Fang 说. “这是 cost effective and beneficial for international students, and it's a good way to bring different cultural perspectives to 博天堂官方.”
了解更多关于 经济学 at Linn-Benton 社区 College.