14.475  Environmental Economics

Feedback Survey

Announced on 16 April 2020  10:49  a.m. by Nikhil Basavappa

14.475 recitation: Zoom link and timing

Dear all,

I hope that you are well, and am briefly providing some details on recitation tomorrow.

0. The Zoom link for the recitation is https://mit.zoom.us/my/rafey

1. The recitation will start at 11am rather than our usual 10.30am; this is because I have just learned that I have an unanticipated scheduling conflict with another undergraduate course I am TAing---the course has a midterm next week, and I need to give the midterm review. I apologize for this. Ideally, the recitation will end in time for us to attend the start of the Harvard environmental economics lunch, but we may run a bit over!

2. Clare has asked me to discuss some general comments on the presentations and, in particular, tactics for research talks in economics, with some context from this year's job market.

I apologize for the last-minute nature of this email; the scheduling conflict only just arose. I am looking forward to seeing you tomorrow and wish you all the best until then!

Will

Announced on 02 April 2020  10:18  p.m. by William Minot Rafey

14.475 updates

Dear all,

I hope that you are all keeping well in these challenging times. I have outlined below arrangements for 14.475 for the rest of the semester, and will keep you updated if any additional changes need to be made as university and wider guidance evolves. I am very cognizant of the strains you are under and will try to make the transition to the new teaching format as smooth as possible. If you have any questions or concerns please do reach out.

* Classes and recitations will be held remotely via Zoom at their usual times during the second half of the semester. We will resume classes on Tuesday 31 March at 10.30am. The link to join lectures for the remainder of the semester is here: https://mit.zoom.us/j/831753884. Will will send out a separate link for you to join Friday recitations remotely.

* A link to the syllabus for the remainder of the semester is available as usual under the ‘materials’ section of the 14.475 Stellar site.

* During the first three lectures after the break, we will proceed as planned with your in-class presentations. Some specific information relevant to this:
o It would be great if presenters could join the Zoom at 10.30 so we can get you comfortable with the technology, and then aim to start the presentations around 10.35.
o Each presenter will be a co-host of the lecture they present in, which allows you to share your screen and control the slide transitions (simply select ‘share screen’ at the bottom of the Zoom window).
o Presentations should be around 30 minutes followed by 10 minutes of class questions and discussion. Given that the presenters will be facing the additional challenge of presenting remotely, I suggest that we have clarifying questions only during the presentations, and leave substantive questions and discussion for the discussion period at the end of each presentation.
o If you have concerns about your ability to present remotely during your scheduled slot please let me know as soon as possible and we will do our best to help. If anyone would find it helpful to practise connecting to Zoom and taking over as a co-host ahead of your presentation please let Will and me know and we will set this up.

* From Thursday 9 April, we will resume lectures following the topics on the syllabus:
o I will as previously let you know at the end of each lecture whether a written response is due ahead of the following lecture. No written response will be due for the lecture on April 9.
o I am keen to the extent possible to retain the interactivity of the class; I suggest that we try to retain a similar format remotely and reassess if this proves challenging after a few lectures.
o When you join the Zoom meeting your microphone will automatically be muted; if you wish to ask or answer a question during the class, please just unmute your microphone and speak. We can use the hand raising functionality if that would be helpful but I anticipate that this may not be necessary in a group of this size.

Again please do feel free to reach out at any time with questions or concerns.

With all best wishes,
Clare

Announced on 20 March 2020  5:19  p.m. by Clare Balboni

Class cancelled today

Dear all,
In light of the MIT advisory late last night that all classes today must be cancelled, there will be no 14.475 class today. I apologize for this unexpected change at short notice. I will be in touch shortly with arrangements for the resumption of remote classes after Spring Break. As always please feel free to reach out with any questions and I will do my best to answer them as we navigate these changes.
With best wishes,
Clare

Announced on 13 March 2020  6:57  a.m. by Clare Balboni

14.475 class changes

Dear all,

As outlined in President Reif’s email yesterday, class will be cancelled next week (March 17 and March 19) and will resume after Spring Break on March 31 with online instruction for the remainder of the semester. Classes are scheduled for the rest of this week so we will proceed as planned with this week’s recitation (Thursday 10.30-12) and lecture (Friday 10.15-11.35).

I know that ongoing changes may involve considerable uncertainty and disruption for many of you. I will provide as much guidance as possible about changes affecting 14.475 instruction, and please do feel free to reach out with any questions. This week’s written response will not be graded given the challenges some of you may be facing in adjusting to this week’s changes. As you saw on Tuesday, we have been piloting the online instruction technologies that we will be using after Spring Break and will be in touch with instructions on how you can connect. These have the capability for students to take over as presenters or co-hosts, so we will proceed as planned with your in-class presentations on March 31, April 2 and April 7, and will resume the rest of the syllabus via online instruction thereafter.

I will continue to share information as I have it, and am happy to answer any additional questions.

Best wishes,
Clare

Announced on 11 March 2020  9:12  a.m. by Clare Balboni