Latrobe university most students who take introductory economics seem to leave the course without really having learned even the most important basic economic principles , laments robert frank in the economic naturalist writing assignment. In fact, when students are given tests designed to probe their knowledge of basic economics 6 months after taking the course, they do not perform significantly better than others who never took an introductory course hansen, salemi and siegfried, 2002. Wherein lies the problem? how do instructors or lecturers overcome this? this case study will evaluate a pedagogical device pioneered by robert frank: the economic naturalist writing assignment , in which students are asked to pose an interesting question about some pattern of events or behaviour they have personally observed a real life event and to use basic economic principles to solve the question in no more than 500 words frank, 2006, 2007. In addition to being a useful means for teaching economics at a principles/introductory level, this writing assignment has practical benefits for teaching economics through real world examples and/or to students who are non specialists. I will conclude with a series of questions and answers posed by students when i piloted this writing assignment in my own teaching in 2010. Introductory economics classes have limited impact on economic understanding walstad and rebeck, 2002, 2008.

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One cause of this is that most courses try to cover too many concepts, with the result that not enough attention or time is devoted to mastering the important threshold concepts frank, 2007. Getting economists to agree on a list of threshold concepts which should be mandatory in an introductory course creates a new dilemma frank, 2007. The most important thing, according to frank, is that lecturers begin with a well articulated short list of principles, and then illustrate and apply each principle in the context of simple examples drawn from familiar settings frank, 2006. Students should then practice the principle by using it to solve simple problems taken from their own observations, and ultimately, to pose original questions which are then answered by the same basic principles frank, 2006. Another related problem is the image of economics as a dry, uninspiring, abstract subject. Scottish writer, essayist and historian, thomas carlyle, once described the discipline of economics as the dismal science. This pejorative term reflects the widely held view that this science is boring, inaccurate and gloomy or, in line with malthus, has gloomy predictions.

As a discipline, economics has been slow to adopt innovative approaches to teaching becker, 2001, 2003 becker and watts, 1996, 2001. Traditionally, most learning in the discipline is based on chalk and talk and teacher centred, passive student learning. Ben stein’s character from ferris bueller’s day off is a popular caricature of this dismal science in the classroom: highly abstract concepts delivered in a monotonous voice, which ultimately sends the students to sleep.

Most economics programs are designed with graduates and phd students in mind, even though they make up a miniscule number of students studying economics: according to frank, only 2% of american students who take an introductory economics subject major in economics frank, 2007. The comparable figure in the uk is 10–15% for students taking an economics module in a non economics program. The heterogeneous makeup of the student body in any introductory class requires an approach to teaching economics which can embed threshold concepts sloman and wride, 2009: see also in both students studying specialist economics degrees and non specialists embedding threshold concepts project, staffordshire university .

A point raised by gary becker in the mid 1990s is sadly still pertinent: students have unnecessary difficulty learning economics because textbooks generally do not have enough good examples of real world applications. Frank uses the economic naturalist writing assignment in his introductory economics courses. Students formulate their own question based on a real life observation and are encouraged to write free of algebra, graphs and complex terminology, in a manner understandable by a relative who has never studied economics the so called grandma test frank, 2007: see also . The term economic naturalist comes from an analogy frank makes with someone who has taken an introductory course in biology: what types of questions would they be able to answer afterwards? if you know a little evolutionary theory, you can see things you didn’t notice before. The theory identifies texture and pattern in the world that is stimulating to recognise and think about frank, 2007.

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Individual students may prefer particular learning styles, such as visual, aural or conceptual. Frank adopts the narrative theory of learning , which claims that the human brain absorbs information in narrative story telling form easier than in abstract form equations, graphs and theory. This can be traced to the evolution of our species as storytellers and the importance of narrative in a child’s learning experience carter, 1993, carter and doyle, 1996, doyle, 1997.

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Students who come up with an interesting question are more likely to have fun and devote energy to the task, and talk to others about it, which reinforces the practical aspects of what they learned. The learning is now internalised and great stories are usually remembered forever frank, 2007. The economic naturalist writing assignment can be seen as a means of reorientating introductory classes: giving students more opportunities to practice economics hansen, salemi siegfried 2002. I adopted this assignment as part of a new 2 nd year elective i introduced at la trobe university in melbourne, australia, in 2010: economics of everyday life. All students studying business at la trobe university or any of its derivates take introductory microeconomics in their first year, yet as we know from the work of frank, their understanding of threshold concepts cannot be taken for granted. I provided a simple theory refresher at the start of the subject, and organised parallel workshops in week 1 of the semester for students who felt they needed additional help, to ensure that all students understood the basic microeconomic concepts upon which the subject is built. All students were required to write at least one reflective essay for the semester along the guidelines set by frank with one slight modification: the essay length was extended to a maximum of 750 words.

Getting students to come up with an interesting question is easy for some but hard for most at the beginning. This form of assessment is not used in other subjects and students would typically ask me to give them a question. I experimented by getting students to submit an essay proposal, so i could check that they were on the right path appropriate question, understanding of concepts involved, etc , but in hindsight this was too time consuming and led to over reliance on me. Next time i will limit my input to validating the question and encourage greater peer reflection in tutorials: students work in groups of 4–5 and give feedback on each other’s essay proposal. The most immediate benefit from this writing assignment is getting the students to see the relevance of studying economics.

The essays allowed me to make real life connections between daily problems and economics. Subject evaluation, student 1 once the learning becomes personal, students learn instinctively and naturally, which promotes critical thinking skills and deeper learning. The essay contributed to my learning in that i was able to independently research and apply economic concepts to real world observed situations. This enabled me to use my individual economic thought to try and decipher human behaviour in given circumstances.

Subject evaluation, student 2 the writing assignment is also a counter to the more prevalent means of assessment, which often rely on formalism and encourage rote learning of key concepts. I found essay writing to be a particularly effective way for me to convey economic concepts. Using mathematics and formulas is effective to an extent, however, having the opportunity to describe and critically analyse economic concepts in conjunction with real world scenarios extends the study of economics to a whole new level. The emphasis is not on teaching students the right way of thinking but to consider various hypotheses rather than simple black/white dichotomies and to apply economic principles in a consistent, logical and rational manner to arrive at the most plausible answer. The best questions, to paraphrase the subtitle of freakonomics , explore the hidden side of everything , i.e.

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These essays teach the student to develop the mind of an economist and provide meaning to social phenomena through the primary principles of incentives, rationality, logic and other classical economic concepts. While, from the outset, a particular social phenomenon may seem an absurd, irrational proposition, it is only through a clear concise economic method that we see results can be deducted in a very logical manner. Thus economic principles become the lens through which we can view the world and make sense of it. Subject evaluation, student 4 and finally, a few words about the essays actually chosen for this case study. This sample of 15 represents just over 10% of the total essays written in the subject.

The topics are quite varied: thinking at the margin and the rationality/irrationality dichotomy are explored through the purchase of fixed gear bikes, decision to exceed speed limits and search for a place to rent. How markets work and what happens when they don’t was investigated through the conventional – the decision whether to purchase the last can of coke on the shelf – and price discrimination or gouging, a popular topic among generation y: the purchase of environmentally friendly eggs, sale of soft drink on aeroplanes and designer denim shorts. A variance on the theme of markets is the informal market for personal relationships, a topic which, on the surface, appears to have little in common with economics, but the essays on online dating and the contraceptive pill prove otherwise.

Students soon learn that incentives sometimes have perverse or unintended consequences. Does mcdonald’s three minute drive thru service promote better customer service? will the new p plate rules introduced in victoria reduce road safety? it goes without saying that preference was given to essays which were interesting, illustrated the most important principles of economics and were well written. Editing, when used, was applied judiciously: to fix typos and improve the general syntax, not to change the overall argument. To quote frank for the final time , they should be viewed as intelligent hypotheses suitable for further refinement and testing frank, 2007.