With Behavioral Economics, weekday MiM courses return to campus

Auditoriums filled with participants are a common sight with courses of other degree programs, but, for the MSc in Management, two years' worth of courses have been delivered exclusively via online platforms for students overseas, unable to come to Japan. Having brought in more than 50 students from 25 countries since entry restrictions were eased in late March, this spring has been a period of rebirth for our Nagoya campus, as international students have finally been able to walk our halls, come together, and discuss cases with their classmates in person.

With the debut of the hybrid auditorium facility and the majority of course registrants already arrived, the decision to hold all MiM courses taught by Japan-based faculty members on campus was made in the beginning of April. Having joined our faculty in Spring 2020, when Covid first began its spread throughout Japan and the rest of the world, Prof. Dan Qin was delighted to learn that he would finally be teaching his Behavioral Economics course to an auditorium full of students for the first time.

Of the 43 participants, the six who joined remotely worked together via Zoom during the group collaboration sessions, while the others were divided into groups that worked in small group facilities on campus. As a class, they studied models of behavioral patterns that are commonly observed, but cannot be incorporated into classical economic theory. Focusing on a selection of behavioral economic models that are essential in understanding consumer behavior, Prof. Qin emphasized the importance of intuition, real-life experience, and experimental results.