Friday 27 January 2012

Prof Profile: Maryann Vaughan

Contact Info:
Hagey Hall, Room 102 
Phone (519) 888-4567, ext. 36825
Email : mvaughan@uwaterloo.ca

What courses do you teach?
 I teach always the same courses; the big econ 102 and the big econ 202, that’s my job and I like macro so I have chosen those classes. But my job in this department is to teach those big classes.

What do you think students struggle the most with?
In first year I think students struggle most with the discipline that a university class requires. I think the jump from grade 12 to first year can be overwhelming and I am a disciplinarian because I think I need that. … A new initiative of mine is taking away their toys because in order to have any chance at learning anything you have to, at the very least, be listening to me. While I can never guarantee success, that discipline is something they must learn before they can learn the material.

What topics are the hardest to understand for students? Why do you think that is?
Well, in macro, you know the topics, particularly in first year are pretty big and general and they’re things that most people have heard of. What sometimes becomes problematic is math. Math is a problem for many, particularly arts student. If anyone tells you, you don’t have to do math to do economics, they are misleading you. You can get through my macro classes with basic high school algebra but its get heavy in a big hurry. So what ends up happening to me is I’ll get a kid in first year that is really excited and wants to become an Econ major but they dropped math in grade 11. So, sometimes I have to be very brutally honest and say, “you’re not going to make it, you’re just not, unless you also start taking courses in the math faculty to get that extra knowledge."

What do you enjoy most about teaching?
I didn’t come to this job in a direct path. I did my graduate work here, I was a mature student I was a wife and mother of, at that time a 6 year old, and somebody suggested to me, why don’t you teach a course? And I thought, uhh whatever, I had no opinion about it. But, once I got in front of a classroom, you know, once I got the hang of it I realized that this is really what I was meant to do. I mean, I love teaching and I love trying to get that connection between the student and the material because I have been able to explain it to them. It is such a joyful experience, I really had no idea when I started that I would love it as much as I do which is why I am still doing it after all these years. Unless my department has other ideas, I have no plans on stopping anytime soon. I have this recurring nightmare every term that I will walk in the first day of classes and it’s going to be empty, like nobody registered for my class [laughs]. I’m still not over that. But its just, there’s something about taking a bunch of kids and sort of grabbing them, and some people fall through the cracks, and when you have 250 its inevitable but the biggest reward I get are the kids that I see later. That I meet in town, the ones that e-mail me after they’ve gone on and tell me that it was me that inspired them in first year. That’s the greatest reward, you know, it’s better than anything they pay me. Its having kids remember you.

Have you had any memorable stories in your teaching career?
Oh my Gosh, well you’ve heard most of them in class. Let me think, it’s sometimes the little things and most of the time it’s the first year students because they’re young and their naïve. I often tell this story in my class when I talk about e-mail and protocol because I think its part of my job to teach these kids that you don’t write to a professor and say “hey” because if you are going off on a co-op term you know somebody has to tell them this. So, I got an e-mail from a student in first year, asked me a simple question. I can’t remember what the question was now, but it was a simple question. I sent him a simple answer and I thought that was the end of it. A little while later he writes back and says “thank-you, I love you” I tell my class and I say well you know” I’m married and there’s a difference in our ages” and of course they laugh but it was kind of cute in a way and I will always remember it. My own daughter says I mother my students. I always remember that one as being kind of cute.

I remember a kid in a parking lot in a group of students, this was during Oktoberfest and these students had clearly been festing. They were rowdy and I was walking to my car and didn’t one of them recognize me. He yelled at the top of his lungs “HEY PROF.VAUGHAN” I thought “oh god” and I turned around and he raised his hands above his head with his fists and he said “ECON FOREVER” [laughs] and I thought “right” and I got in my car and I left. It always astonishes me what kids will say to me sometimes. Sometimes it’s goofy and sometimes it’s heartwarming.

What is a book that you recommend all aspiring economists read?
Well, you know, more then a book or even a half a dozen books.  I would recommend that students take far more time to just read a business newspaper. You should be able to tell me, did you see the inflation rate went up, because you knew and you heard that. Econ happens everyday. There’s free newspapers online and all over campus. I think yes, there are a few good books I could recommend to you but for a first year student they probably wouldn't get much out of it. Read a newspaper everyday, particularly macro is happening in the newspaper. I personally like to emphasize Canadian institutions. Who’s the finance minister? Who is the governor of the bank of Canada? This is the information that I think students are missing.

What are some interesting research questions in your area of expertise that undergraduates can investigate as a senior essay research topic?
Well, you know everyone is on about quantitative easing and there is a lot of emphasis these days on the most recent recession; the causes, the effects and how to fix it. The previous recession was far different from the previous two in that it was largely based in financial circles. You know what’s interesting about finance and Economics? Economists hadn’t for a long time hadn’t paid much attention to finance. Finance is mathematics; while those are the most interesting issues currently they are also probably the most difficult. There is just a lot of material there in terms of looking at the economy and how to get things going. Here in Canada we have depended for so long on a low dollar value and exports. Times are changing so we have to look at productivity issues. How do we grow? The euro is pretty shaky and I think it is pretty interesting to look at the Europe as a currency union and the diversity of these countries that are trying to run on a single monetary policy. I just think there are fascinating thing to look at there. 

Sunday 22 January 2012

oppourtunities available, we want you!

Project Managers
We have a few ideas about how to engage the undergraduate population and we want you to help us execute them!  Take ownership and pride in starting a project and seeing it till the end!  A few ideas we are tossing around: exam/question bank, various collaborative events, econ swag, econ lounge, general interest presentations.

Content Managers
We want you to help contribute content to the website!  Course evaluations, professor profiles, general interest articles, introductory programming tutorials and anything else you might have in mind!  

Peer Tutors
We really want to provide a clinic for upper year core classes (301, 302, 321, 401 and 402).  If you are a student that is currently in those classes or have already taken them in the past (and are willing to help somebody else in need) we want you!  We are asking for a two-hour commitment per week.  We hope to run these more like a study group than a tutorial.

Sunday 15 January 2012

bomber social

Come out to our bomber social this thursday (january 19th) from 6-8 there will be good food, good people and good times!

If you can't make it out don't worry!  You can attend a future event by regularly checking the website for updates, looking ahead on our ever-changing calendar, or connecting with us on one of three social platforms (social us).

Let us know on facebook if you are coming, the event is posted!

Friday 13 January 2012

danke schön!

Thanks to all of those who braved the crowds and visited us at our Clubs Day set up!  We met a lot of really awesome and interesting people and I know you guys will be really excited about the events we have this term!

Shout out to michel and christoph, two german guys I met as we were ready to pack up, we won't let you down!  I didn't lie about interesting people!

As always, we would love any ideas for events and/or activities that would make this term awesome!  You can contact us through email (uw.economics.society@gmail.com) or tweet us (@uWaterlooEcon)!

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting our new website!  There's not much here right now but be sure to checkout our social tab for all the ways you can connect with us!

We hope you will continue to visit us throughout the term to learn about socials, presentations, speakers and other special things we have planned for Winter 2012!

We can only hope that this website will live up to its name and be of marginal benefit. :)