The learning group in Regional Economics works in a similar way as the Balint medical group. During a session, a “problem” is presented by a group member, in the context of a rotation or “turn taking”. The other members do not try to ”solve the problem” by adding technical...

With students in the policy and business schools with no formal economics background in mind, we propose an intuitively appealing and simple step-by-step graphical approach to explain the Heckscher-Ohlin (HO) model. Our approach is simple because it needs only two pieces of information,...

Instructors and researchers have used the ‘flow' of knowledge (post-test score minus pre-test score) to measure learning in the classroom for the past fifty years. Walstad and Wagner (2016) and Smith and Wagner (2018) move this practice forward by disag- gregating the flow of knowledge and...

In this paper, we offer an innovative teaching tool for finance instruction, mind mapping, which visually depicts concepts and their interrelationships in a non-linear way. We review the considerable literature on the pedagogical benefits of graphics, describe how to design a mind map, recommend...

In this paper we explain and assess the benefits of integrating an interactive, online learning object into a finance course. Animation and interactivity combined with the accessibility of the online learning objects create a rich, student-controlled learning environment. We present a new...

Introductory economics courses emphasize opportunity cost, comparative advantage and specialization to show the benefits of trade. We assert that this emphasize leads to erroneous student mindset that trade requires specialization based on comparative advantage. We test students who have been...

Following the 2007-09 financial crisis, mainstream finance theory was criticized for failing to forecast the market crash, which resulted in large losses for investors. Has our finance theory, which many consider an idealization that does not take reality into account, failed investors? Do we...

I In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, universities closed to face-to-face learning, shifting entirely to online instruction midway through the spring 2020 semester. In this paper, we compare student performance in the COVID-19 affected semester to that of the previous three unaffected...

We describe our experience with integrating a semester-long economic analysis project into an intermediate macroeconomic theory course. Students work in teams of "economic advisors" to write a series of nested reports for a decision-maker that analyze the current state of the economy, and...