|
|
Metaphors and Analogies in Economics and Economic Education
Langer, Tomáš ; Krpálek, Pavel (advisor) ; Šlosár, Rudolf (referee) ; Pavera, Libor (referee)
Presented thesis explores the ground at the intersection of three topics: education, relational thinking and economics. Within the sphere of economic education it investigates the use of concepts known from (i) conceptual metaphor theory, (ii) psychological model of analogical reasoning, (iii) model of generative learning from educational psychology and (iv) existing research on use of metaphors and analogies in natural sciences education. Thesis shows the potential of metaphorical origin of economic terminology for teaching economic concepts and educational use of economic media content. At the same time it proposes a notation for visualizing metaphorical mappings between domains. It addresses economic interpretation from the viewpoint of the relationship between theoretical economic models and actual economic situations, as well as from the viewpoint of the relationship between mathematical structure of the model and its economic meaning. In the first case, it shows interpretative skill, being framed within the revised Bloom taxonomy, as a complex cognitive task, in the second case it develops model of economic interpretation of mathematical structures on the basis of psychological model of analogical reasoning. In both cases it formulates highlights students should know about the analogical nature of economic models. On the basis of the model of generative learning it develops a set of visual methaphors applicable in the introductory topics of microeconomics and macroeconomics and examines effects of their use in the classes of economics. By undertaking such research it initiates the exploration of paths leading in the directions suggested by the theoretical analysis.
|
guest ::
