This volume is an excellent outcome of an American Economic Association Committee for
Economic Education project aimed at advancing the teaching of economics within a liberal
arts context. Dave Colander and KimMarie McGoldrick assembled a most able panel of
contributors for this effort that includes dialogue on what should be taught, how it
should be taught, and how that teaching and learning should be assessed and rewarded. To
the editors’ credit, they have not attempted to dictate policy but to stimulate debate
on the topics. This volume is a must read for anyone seriously interested in the teaching
of economics at the tertiary level.’
– William E. Becker, Indiana University, Bloomington, US
The economics major is a central part of a college education. But is that
economics major doing what it is meant to do? And if not, how should it be changed? This
book raises a set of provocative questions that encourage readers to look at the economics
major in a different light than it is typically considered and provides a series of
recommendations for change.
Responding to a Teagle Foundation initiative on the role of majors in higher
education, the contributors – eminent economists and administrators – consider the
relationship between the goals and objectives of the economics major and those of a
liberal education. They address questions such as: What is the appropriate training for a
person who will be teaching in a liberal arts school? What incentives would motivate the
creation of institutional value through teaching and not simply research? They also
explore whether the disciplinary nature of undergraduate education is squeezing out the
‘big-think’ questions, and replacing them with ‘little-think’ questions, and
whether we should change graduate training of economists to better prepare them to be
teachers, rather than researchers.
Providing a stimulating discussion of the economics major by many of the leaders in US
economic education, this book will prove a thought provoking read for those with a special
interest in economics and economics education, particularly academics, lecturers, course
administrators, students and researchers.
Contents:
Preface
Michael Watts
Introduction: A Discussion, Not a Report
David Colander and KimMarie McGoldrick
PART I: THE TEAGLE REPORT
1. The Teagle Foundation Report: The Economics Major as Part of a Liberal
Education
David Colander and KimMarie McGoldrick
PART II: CHALLENGING THE CONTENT: WHAT DO WE TEACH?
2. Teaching Students to ‘Think About the Economy’
Joseph Persky
3. The Economics Major as Illiberal Education
Stephen A. Marglin
4. Moral Reasoning in Economics
Jonathan B. Wight
5. Thinking for Yourself, Like an Economist
Robert F. Garnett
6. Teaching Economics Students as if they are Geniuses
James Wible
7. The Role for Depth in a Liberal Education
Benjamin M. Friedman
PART III: CHANGING THE WAY WE TEACH ECONOMICS
8. Using Pedagogical Change to Improve Student Learning in the Economics Major
Scott Simkins and Mark Maier
9. Providing Incentives for Change: Evaluating Teaching
Ann L. Owen
10. Reflections on Introductory Course Structures
Paul W. Grimes
11. Economics and Liberal Education: Why, Where, and How
Michael K. Salemi
12. Reinvigorating Liberal Education with an Expected Proficiencies Approach to
the Academic Major
W. Lee Hansen
PART IV: STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS AND THE INTERDISCIPLINARY NATURE OF ECONOMICS
13. The Integrative Nature of the Economics Major
Jessica Holmes
14. The Availability of Interdisciplinary Economics Educators and the Actions of
Deans: Explaining the Small Contribution of Economics to a Liberal Education
Arthur H. Goldsmith
15. The Economics Major at a Crossroads
David Kennett
16. Crafting the Economics Major as an Exercise in Property Rights
Neil T. Skaggs
17. Preserving Liberal Arts Education: A Futile Endeavor
Brendan O’Flaherty
PART V: VIEWS FROM THE ADMINISTRATION
18. Good Researchers Make Good Teachers
Catharine Hill
19. Overstating the Challenges, Underestimating the Solutions
George Daly
20. How the Shifting Landscape Affects our Students
David W. Breneman
21. The Role of Incentives (and Culture) in Rebalancing the Economics Major
Bradley W. Bateman
PART VI: VIEWS FROM THE STUDENTS
22. What Economics Majors Think of the Economics Major
Steven Jones, Eric Hoest, Richie Fuld, Mahesh Dahal and David Colander
PART VII: CONCLUSION
23. Really Thinking Like an Economist
John J. Siegfried
References
Index
272 pages, Paperback
