Using Prediction Markets to Deliver Authentic Learning Experiences

Abstract

Mass higher education presents serious problems to implementing active learning. Large class sizes means that traditional active learning strategies are becoming more and more difficult to implement, due to the administrative burdens associated with them. In this chapter, the authors present prediction markets as a pedagogical tool which can be used to allow teachers to implement active learning in a large group teaching environment without imposing prohibitive administrative overheads. They outline the benefits for students in the cognitive and affective domains of learning. They move on to present a case study describing in detail how our methodology can be implemented and conclude by presenting research on the effectiveness of our approach in the cognitive domain of learning. The authors conclude that prediction markets are a powerful tool for implementing active learning in a large group teaching environment.