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Taking risks by flying paper airplanes

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  • Alfonso-Costillo, Antonio

Abstract

We report the results of an outdoor activity conducted in game theory courses where students were invited to throw airplanes in order to win a prize. They flew self-made paper airplanes to earn points in three trials. The main purpose of these outdoor classroom experiments was to incentive students to learn by experiencing concepts of uncertainty in the gain domain (risk aversion). After throwing the airplanes, the students thought about decisions under uncertainty. Specifically, we provide a theoretical model to explain the subjects’ decisions, optimal behavior, and deviations from that behavior. Overall, our activity creates a setting to foster students’ interest in the study of decision making under uncertainty.

Suggested Citation

  • Alfonso-Costillo, Antonio, 2021. "Taking risks by flying paper airplanes," MPRA Paper 108541, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:108541
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/108541/1/MPRA_paper_108541.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Classroom experiments; flipped classroom; expected utility theory; risk taking;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • C70 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - General
    • C99 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Other

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