These pre-lecture exercises are designed to bring the real world into the classroom. A variety of excellent content is offered nowadays while the cost of accessing material is going down. This is likely an area which many faculty find themselves moving as they generate active learning ideas but some may be thinking of where to start.

Teaching intermediate economics to non economics majors requires a modified pedagogical approach. Since the model, and it's quantitative and qualitative outcomes need to be expressed to accountants, IT students, and econ majors, introducing tangible applications is paramount for success.

The biggest takeaway from implementing these assignments is to abstractly and creatively use economic theory and intuition outside of the classroom.

By introducing the real world scenarios first, I often find myself emphasizing the economic intuition instead of mathematical outcomes. To build on this notion, I try to create a lecture environment which layers the intuition onto the quantitative components to make certain outcomes easier to digest and understand.

Below are a list of resources that I and some of my colleagues have used to connect the "classroom to the boardroom"

• The Economist
• The Wall Street Journal - Teaching Articles
• Freakonomics Radio
• Planet Money Podcast

After reading, listening or watching, students are expected to answer brief questions before class using our campus-wide learning management system, Sakai. Other mediums that have garnered success are in-class polls using Polleverywhere, as well as, analog, hard copy versions of questions. Colleagues have also used a journal or blogging system in past classes with success as well.

To begin your own classroom example

• Identify a topic that you find interesting or feel has value being discussed in the classroom
  • Remember that you are likely trading off lecture time for discussion. Creating value for students is important
• Ask students to take light notes and be prepared to answer the questions you provide
  • Make students accountable by creating a low-stakes environment for assessment
• For a more advanced implementation, turn the tables and ask students to seek out real world applications of lecture topics

Before our lesson covering monopolies and perfect competition, I ask students to read two competing theories regarding competition and barriers to enter a market. Listening to and reading about Elon Musk (who endorses low barriers) and Peter Thiel (who encourages high barriers) respectively, students are then asked a series of follow-up questions.

The questions serve as a primer for in-class discussion and then for the inevitable comparison between perfectly competitive and monopolistic markets.

In some classes, students are required to submit answers online before class. By having students submit early, I am able to better moderate the discussion, keeping the conversation lively.