C3, SciFi and Econ

STEM & STEAM both require critical thinking and imagination.  Fields and areas that cannot run experiments (like Economics) use counterfactuals and data to examine how changes in underlying factors affect human decisions.  This presentation will help K-12 teachers evaluate real word choices with those images by sci-fi worlds while stressing national social science standards. Students of all ages can learn skills such as isolating causes and effects, making hypotheses, and communicating clearly.  Ideas highlight use of scientific method from interdisciplinary perspectives.  

Contrasting Science Fiction from Fantasy we will rely on Star Wars, Star Trek, Steampunk, just to name a few, to understand tech advance, market development, derived demand, income inequality, and social contracts.  Special guest Dr. Tammy Batson will highlight the role of the invisible hand, and how an entrepreneurial spirit is needed to make some of the imagination of science fiction to inspire students to invent a brighter future.   

Dr. Tammy Batson is the Director of the Northern Illinois University Center for Economic Education in DeKalb, Illinois. She is the Undergraduate Coordinator for the Department of Economics, an  entrepreneur in a family orthotic and prosthetic manufacturing laboratory, and a co-author in the 2017 book, W. B. Russell III, & S. Waters (Eds.), Cinematic social studies:  A resource for teaching and learning social studies with film with a chapter titled “Leonardo DiCaprio:  The “Economic Man” and key economic concepts in his movies.”  For her courses on contemporary economics, macroeconomics, and government and business, to name a few, she keeps classes engaged with pop culture references to discuss real-world contemporary topics.