Teaching the Economic Way of Thinking Through Op-Eds

Abstract

There are many goals an instructor may wish to accomplish in a course on economic principles. For us the definitive goal is the generation of sensible and active members of a civil society. This is an ambitious goal: it requires that students internalize the economic way of thinking and learn to exercise active citizenry. After experimenting with a variety of methods, we have concluded that requiring students to write an op-ed is the most conducive to the achievement of this goal. Here we share what we have learned in the process, hoping that the pedagogical capability of writing an op-ed will encourage others to adopt the assignment into their classrooms.

Keywords: Engagement, Op-ed, Principles of Economics, Teaching

JEL Classification: A11, A13, A22, D01, D7, D72