The Heart of Teaching Economics: Lessons from Leading Minds.

Ramrattan, Lall ; Szenberg, Michael

The Heart of Teaching Economics: Lessons from Leading Minds, by Simon W. Bowmaker, (Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2010).

Introduction

The Heart of Teaching Economics: Lessons from Leading Minds by Simon Bowmaker contains gems that no one concerned with economics can afford to ignore. These treasures are targeted toward students, teachers and lovers of economics. The material contained in the volume will affect the "mind set and attitudes" of teachers according to Robert Solow (Foreword). The book supports the theme that a love of economics and good teaching are correlated. Good teaching is not just textbook teaching, but extends to a coherent view of economic ideas. It complements research, widens the differential in the achievement level between the average and the most talented students, nurtures students to reveal their talents, develops them fully, and, what is most important, closes the gap between the actual and the potential self.

Bowmaker's volume contains 21 interviews circumscribed by four themes: talking about teaching, the role of teachers, the fruits of a teacher's experience, and teaching vs. research. The book addresses these questions in three parts, namely, "Fundamentals," "Tools," and "Applications." Each face-to-face interview answers seven questions: Background, General Thought on Teaching, The Learning Process, Teaching Philosophy and Techniques, Course Content, Design and Textbooks, and finally, Teaching Economics in the Future. Bowmaker's most serious message is centered on what to learn and how to learn. In this regard we find core principles in the various subdisciplines in economics in this book, and a variegated way to impart and know them.

The book offers recommendations for teaching that is suggested by the nature of economics itself. Sir John Hicks separated three aspects: "There is much of economic theory which is pursued for no better reason than its intellectual attraction ... Secondly, there is a part of economic theory which is pursued for the sake of ideology; it is concerned with ideal arrangements, whether of the Left or the Right ... In the third place, there is optimum theory, allocation theory, given ends and scarce resources" (Hicks, 1979, viii-ix).

A teacher can take the cue from Adam Smith that economics is based on moral philosophy as he expounded in his earlier book Theory of Moral Sentiments. We find there the "doctrine that our judgments concerning our own conduct have always a reference to the sentiments of some other being ... that our judgments concerning the conduct of others are founded in sympathy" (Smith, 197, 49). In modern parlance, we can read into this spiritual connectivity with passionate delivery, giving time and energy of ourselves, genuine generosity and kindness, empathy, spiritual uplift, and finally, the best moral dictum: love your students as your children. We must be mindful, however, that some of what Adam Smith expounded comes under the categories of either preaching or nondescript ideas. But "the preaching ... becomes almost nonexistent in Ricardo's Principles, quite sparse in Mills's Principles, and virtually nonexistent in Marshall's Principles" (Stigler, 1982, 4) [Italics original].

A tremendous amount of material is covered in this book of interviews. Everyone is expected to find their own gems buried in its pages, and our approach cannot be exhaustive. We have distilled some of the best concepts in this book for several topical areas including formalism, creativity and novelty, learning techniques, old vs. new, and imitative learning, among others.

Formalism

Subjects such as mathematical economics and econometrics are by nature formal. Yet we find that the authors do not approach them from a truly formal point of view. A truly formal point of view of teaching mathematical economics would be to follow the Moore method for instance. The method of R. L. Moore requires a syllabus listing definitions, axioms and theorems. The class is conducted in a manner where students are called to the board to prove those theorems, without any lecture from the teacher (Krantz, 1999, 32). Even in mathematics teachers are skeptical of the method, and it is not unknown to have modified Moore's method and even to choose no Moore method at all. The formalists' method in this book falls somewhat in between the Moore and the modified Moore method.

In the application of math and stats to economics, the Nobel laureate Ragnar Frisch wrote, "I have started with a detailed discussion of a few particularly simple special cases. But I have not applied to these simple cases the elementary and easy method which might have been sufficient to solve the problem in these particular cases. In this way, the reader is brought--in a quite intuitive manner, usually without the aid of any proof--to understand the steps leading to the generalization. The generalization then becomes almost evident" [Italics inserted] (Frisch, 1966, v). This might be likened to the idea of a sketch of the proof usually employed by mathematicians. We find in Alfred Marshall, however, a tendency to put all mathematical analyses in the appendices of his Principles of Economics. On the other hand, Augustin Cournot, Leon Walras, and Paul Samuelson had a permanent home for mathematics in their writings.

In the fundamental section of the book, we meet John Taylor's teaching principles of economics emphasizing a mixture of the two sided nature of economics. He is not referring to the demand and supply sides, but the "fuzzy" and "techie" sides dealing with history, with philosophy on the fuzzy side, and math on the technical side. Professor Taylor believes in teaching models, and in using models to analyze historic periods of the economy. Similarly, he prescribed a proper mixture of graphs, equations, and stories for effective learning (28). He extends this mixture concept to an idea one can introduce in the classroom: "you should give both sides to whatever extent you can" (33).

Robert Frank's early approach was to "teach people how to master ideas and apply them" (6). This is best done in the form of a narrative, that is, a story with an interesting plot and characters that can easily be transmitted. Caroline Hoxby, who teaches public economics, also has the same approach: logical organization and stories. After transmission of ideas, memory comes with application of the idea. Robert Frank has found that placing students into the real world to pick up a question and then asking them to write 500 words about it contributes to retention of learning.

William Green, a bestseller writer, does not recommend the theorem-proof style in the teaching of econometrics (102). He tells his students that they are going to do formalism in their own research (107). He advises students to learn what the software is doing, and not just push a button for the answer. Rather than proof, he emphasizes empirical work and explains the direction, drift in the subject such as toward robust estimates and why autocorrelation is present rather than how to correct for it (109). His technique of teaching varies between teaching to teach and teaching to do econometrics.

In the technical field of games theory, Benjamin Polak says that formalism should be motivated and illustrated (88). The method of teaching he recommends is to discuss what a model means, write down crude models and have the student criticize them (92). For instance, teaching backward induction requires the student to put himself in the shoes of others (93). Using traditional methods of proof, for instance by induction, does not go well in the classroom. Instructors need to teach enough unnecessary steps so that the pattern can be discerned (85). "Some students' minds freeze on math, and so getting them over that is quite important," Polak says (89). He thinks it useful for everyone in the social sciences to learn some game theory, but would not generalize that all of social science is just a branch of game theory (90).

Creativity and Novelty

One major aspect of creativity is novelty, which is concerned with reaching new results or behavior (Chance, 1994, 148). Teaching at the Intermediate level, David Landsburg brings many creative aspects to his teaching of microeconomics. He teaches that students should not answer a question by squeezing it into a mold that they are familiar with (45). Creativity can mean "How would this answer have been different if this curve had been shaped a little differently or if this point had been in a different place?" (46).

David Lansburg uses dialogue in the classroom as a way to understand the students learning process (47). He stresses "intellectual rigor," "formal apparatus," assumptions, logical steps, conclusions about modes, and a certain playfulness in learning. Students get only 50 percent credit on exams for regurgitating materials they have learned from the instructor (46).

Ideas in the history of economics make sense when situated in context, says Steven Medema. Ideas evolve, are "historically contingent," and should be presented as such (146). Many theories were developed "in light of a particular social or economic problem" (155). Reading primary sources are important to bring out how ideas are articulated, compared, and reasoned in different epochs (147). One's understanding deepens when he investigates how a theory developed (153). Controversial ideas such as Marxism may be handled with a pros and cons approach (157).

Old vs. New Theories

New theories and research are brought in to liven up a class. Professor Gordon, who gave us a bestseller in intermediate macroeconomics, supplements the dated editions of the books he teaches with PowerPoint presentations on research materials (61). He uses models such as the IS-LM, AD-AS, and the Phillips curve for numerical and historical analysis. He believes that "there are models that really do provide answers" (72) and begins his course with wonderful examples, emphasizing the business cycle upfront to gradually increase the level of the student knowledge and then brings in the importance of incentives in economics (62). Professor Gordon is emphatic on what he leaves out in a course that is on a quarter basis--new classical, new Keynesian, and real business cycle theory (66). He is wedded to the paradigm that potential output and the natural rate of unemployment are the same, and their fluctuations are mirror images of one another (67). He uses quizzes to gauge the student learning process, and grades tend to be high: "A's, A minuses, and B pluses, so it doesn't matter how hard the exams are, they're all being graded relative to each other" (62).

Perhaps no subject has suffered a more paradigmatic shift than Industrial Organization. Luis Cabral, who teaches the subject, propounds that "learning is a process that bounces back and forth between the concrete and the abstract and uses analogy a lot" (238). Industrial Organization has moved toward a new base defined by game theory, which in pure form can be as abstract as mathematics. But when ordinary games are used for business problems some will side with Ken Binmore, a modern game theorist, that "all of social science is just a branch of game theory" (90).

Imitation

Many scholars teach the way they were taught. As a master of economic history, Barry Eichengreen learned to teach by observing his colleagues engaging the audience (163). "One way humans learn is by observing others--how other humans identify, conceptualize and solve problems" (165). Shoshana Grossbard, who teaches family economics, feels that "to some degree we are role models to students" (257). That is, to some extent, what teachers do and teach is for the students to imitate and follow, a leader-follower strategy in some regards. But problem-solving skills are important as well. Studying topical events in history gives students "a metric by which to gauge the policy response" (Eichengreen, 169). He recommends we use models to organize and structure facts (169). For instance, Eichengreen uses models of growth, distribution and cycles to structure the stages of globalization in modern times. (170).

Learning Theory

Almost all of the respondents disclaim any theoretical knowledge of learning theory. Yet we find them giving their opinion on the matter. Those opinions are so natural that they do have a home in learning theory, and are not inconsistent with the general ideas we noted in the introduction from the masters of economics for imparting economic knowledge.

Attentional and retentional processes are conducive to learning (Chance, 1994, 173). Respondents in this book try to make their subject lively to hold attention. In his teaching of money and banking, Frederic Mishkin thinks that being enthusiastic and passionate makes teaching a lively activity (384). He and others believe that by explaining the real world with models attracts attention and retention.

Students tend to retain what they use. Dan Hamermesh asserts that "the professor has to stimulate you and get you turned on to something. If you see the value in learning, you will learn better" (199). Edward Glaeser thinks that in urban economics, students should be given a core set of tools (217). Nancy Folbre, who teaches race and gender, also feels that motivation is important for learning (291). David Cutler, who teaches health economics, would say that incentives, different views, and graphical representations are important for learning too (271). Hamermesh promises the students, "I will not give you any tool that I would not use to analyze any real-world problem in this class" (201). He thinks that a good way to gain retention is through rap, for example: "With positive externalities, it's always wise/To encourage more production--subsidize" (203). He contributes to the Freakonomics blog, and culls stories from it to tell his students (202).

In teaching developmental economics, William Easterly appeals to metaphors and intuition to gain attention. For instance, he probes the students to discover that their labor would fetch a higher price if they sell it to the world market where demand is larger than if they sell in their state alone (360). Similarly, in the area of international trade, Gene Grossman appeals to experiences that students can relate to in order to teach a complex subject such as Rybinski Theorem (344). He asks them to be a bartender making weak and strong screwdrivers that require two factors, namely orange juice and vodka. If suddenly you come by more vodka, then you naturally will want to make stronger screwdrivers. But you will also make less weak screwdrivers in the process because you would have to take away some orange juice from the production of weak screwdrivers. In the end you get a more proportional increase in the goods that use the more intensive factor, vodka, and less of the other goods.

In his teaching of environmental economics, John List tries to involve the student in the learning process through such means as questions and answers or experiments (305). Hamermesh does an experiment to teach the long-run average cost curve. He brings a colander and some balls to class to illustrate that "if you slide the colander and the balls are lined up, the ball at the bottom will be tangent to the bottom of the colander" (231). For David Laibson, teaching behavioral economics allows for weekly experiments in class (125). He follows instruction with a lesson in method, encouraging students to start writing papers (127). The tools he recommends are a combination of mathematical modeling and empiricism, judgment, and intuition (131). Big ideas such as bounded rationality, temporal conflicts, and themes about distribution define the course.

Finally, there is the concept of discovery. According to David Friedman, "You never know anything unless you have invented it for yourself" (325). Instructors' models and words convey ideas to the students. "The purpose of words is to catch ideas; once you have the ideas, you don't need the words" (325). One way to teach according to this principle is to introduce puzzles. Students will think of the puzzles, and perhaps come up with their own answers before it is given to them. On the model side, Friedman believes that it is difficult to make standard model useful only because the teacher thinks it is (326). To some extent, this is the opinion of the bestselling game theorist author Ariel Rubinstein: "In my 30 years in the profession, I have not encountered a single case in which game theory has provided a real solution to a problem and have not found any evidence that it has the ability to improve strategic thinking" (94).

Pitching the level of the course

Pitching the level of teaching to a heterogeneous group of students is a difficult matter for all teachers. A frequent technique used is teaching to the median level of the students. Some respondents, however, gave other views. Robert Frank aims "at the people who are never going to take another course because the're the ones who are far more numerous than the others" (14). John Taylor qualifies his sentences so that he does not teach above the best or below the worst students in the class (32). Steven Landsburg, Steven Madema, Barry Eichengreen, and John List aim at the high end of the class only (48, 149, 168, 310). Caroline Hoxby thinks that students who want to become professional theorists or econometricians should have a deep dose of math or econometrics (187). Edward Glaeser and David Friedman target the top half of the students (221, 330). David Cutler uses many applications and tries not to be complicated (275). Nancy Folbre finds that asking students to work together in groups helps to overcome heterogeneity (293). Both David Laibson and Benjamin Polak reduce mathematics to accommodate the less analytically inclined students (89, 126). William Easterly addresses all levels by presenting the materials intuitively, with words, with graphs, and math equations (364).

Conclusions

We owe the author and the participants much gratitude for this book. The knowledge they share can come only with extensive experience over the course of a lifetime spent in the classrooms of the top educational institutions in the United States.

We find ample exemplars to approach the difficult task of teaching in this book. Teachers learn that there is not one way to teach a group of heterogeneous students and that student attention and retention can be grabbed in different ways. More importantly for teachers, this book is evidence that no single strategy is the "best" method of teaching. There are many ways to engage students, and one may teach with or without models, math, and rigor.

Bowmaker's interviews incorporate the latest discoveries in teaching. For instance, William Greene's way of introducing asymptotic distribution theory to econometric estimates brings out the cognitive aspect of teaching difficult concepts such as infinity (110). The same may be said for Hamermesh's colander and ball experiment to cognize tangency condition with the long-run average cost curve, and David Landsburg's method of changing points and curvature in microeconomics. We learn from modern neuroscience research through NOVA that the brain follows the curve as teachers used them, say, on the chalkboard. The time honored method of presenting supply and demand diagrams still stands well, therefore, with modern neuroscience research. We see also how teaching Freakonomics, rap, and metaphor enables retention. Many respondents use PowerPoint presentations as a way to integrate research into teaching.

The book represents a balanced presentation of the subdisciplines of economics. More or less representation of one area over another will be a natural concern for the readers. The teachers show us how to do ordinary things extraordinarily. Some will say that their task is impossible to accomplish without the acquisition of enemies. We think their tasks represent teaching and learning in a scientific way, and therefore, we highly recommend this book to readers.

References

Chance, Paul, Learning and Behavior, Third Edition, (Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1994).

Frisch, Ragnar, Maxima and Minima: Theory and Economic Applications, (Chicago, IL: Rand McNally & Company, 1966).

Hicks, John R., Causality in Economics, (New York: Basic Books, 1979).

Krantx, Steven G., How to Teach Mathematics, Second Edition, (Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society, 1999).

Smith, Adam, The Correspondence of Adam Smith, edited by Ernest Campbell Mossner and Ian simpson Ross, (Oxford, U. K.: The Clarendon Press, 1977).

Stigler, George J., The Economist as Preacher and Other Essays, (The University of Chicago Press, 1982).

LALL RAMRATTAN

University of California, Berkeley Extension

and

MICHAEL SZENBERG

Lubin School of Business, Pace University