The use of experiments in the undergraduate economics classroom has been shown to have pedagogical value in increasing student learning and engagement, but the startup costs of adopting classroom experiments can be high for instructors. This article serves as a guide to adoption for the first-time user of computerized (online) classroom…

Misconceptions hinder optimal student learning. They need to be addressed explicitly and formally to achieve effective teaching of economics. The author of this article outlines an activity that is designed to address misconceptions about "others" using a backward course design framework. Fink's significant learning categories,…

In this symposium, the author comments on an article written about critical thinking in economics. The author leans toward the view that undergraduate economics should continue to be focused around core tenets and basic models--what the article refers to as little-think critical thinking--while, at the same time, students should be given clear…

Many disciplines make use of mathematical concepts. However, there are often discrepancies between the way mathematical concepts are understood and taught in mathematics and the way they are used in other disciplines. The literature suggests that such discrepancies might make it hard for students in mathematics service courses to make a connection…

During the pandemic, the economic way of thinking was extraordinarily useful, leading to a quick consensus among economists of widely differing political persuasions on many issues of pandemic policy. Yet speaking to politicians, bureaucrats, and the public revealed many ways in which the economic way of thinking was foreign and sometimes…

Democracy and capitalism are two of the most consequential institutional systems in the world. However, their dynamic complexity, current turmoil, and evolution make them challenging to study. High-engagement teaching can bring the subjects alive, motivate student exploration, inform choices, animate sensible policy recommendations, and make a…

Our study examines transformative learning outcomes of a group coaching format in a postgraduate program of a German University that is based on the cognitive-developmental approach to coaching. We administered a survey based on Kirkpatrick's 4-Level Evaluation Model and its advancement by Alliger et al. that includes items from the Transformative…

In this research, we investigated whether online discussions can significantly benefit students' learning in online courses. We designed an experiment by dividing 129 students who enrolled in four fully online "Introduction to Microeconomics" courses taught by the same instructor into four groups (one control group and three experimental…

The purpose of this current study was to (1) investigate the text coverage that the BNC/COCA Word Family Lists (Nation, 2017) and the Academic Word List (Coxhead, 2000) provided in the first-year undergraduate economics textbooks, and (2) estimate the vocabulary size required to read the textbooks. A corpus of 1,343,493 words from the economics…

The author describes an assignment in an undergraduate game theory course in which students work together in class to develop a computer algorithm to identify Nash equilibria. This assignment builds basic computer science skills while applying game theory knowledge to real-world situations. Students work as a team to delineate the steps and write…

The Little Bosses' Market, now in its second year and organized by the Hualien Parent-Child Center, challenges the perspective that young children cannot learn about economics. The children participating in this activity took on the responsibilities of planning and selling their goods and services. They interacted with customers by noting prices,…

Students enrolled in online courses tend to be less successful as measured by the rate of A's, B's, and C's than students enrolled in face-to-face courses. Yet little work has been done addressing whether these gaps vary depending on students' broader relationship with the university, including whether they are degree-seeking students and whether…

Vertical integration and more generally, corporate-level strategy, are rather difficult for students to grasp, being such abstract concepts. This exercise provides a way for participants to experience issues leading to market failure (and vertical integration) by engaging them as buyers and sellers of a component for very unique car--a limousine…

The literacy-targeted (LT) introductory economics course seeks to reduce the quantity of economic concepts under study and increase students' ability to apply those concepts to improve their own decisions and to make sense of economic news. The assessment strategy of the course must target students' ability to transfer their conceptual knowledge…

The importance of creativity for survival in modern society is well recognised. However, the development of creative thinking skills through formal education still needs more attention, and the assessment of creative thinking skills using valid models in higher education is under-researched. Our paper presents the deficits and improvements in…