Teaching

Interactive Economics Simulations

I teach courses in international trade and intermediate microeconomics at Michigan State University, in formats ranging from large in-person lectures to fully online asynchronous courses. Across these diverse teaching contexts, a common challenge persists: students often struggle to connect abstract economic theories with their real-world applications and to truly visualize how economic systems respond to change.

To address this challenge, I've developed a comprehensive suite of interactive simulations that allow students to manipulate economic variables and immediately observe the consequences through dynamically updating graphs and numerical feedback. These tools transform passive learning—where students memorize static textbook diagrams—into active exploration where they can test "what if" scenarios, build economic intuition, and develop genuine understanding of cause-and-effect relationships.

How These Interactives Work

Each simulation features user-friendly controls (sliders, dropdowns, toggles) that let students adjust key economic parameters—demand elasticity, production costs, tax rates, market structure, and more. As students manipulate these variables, Plotly.js-powered graphs update in real time, showing how equilibrium prices change, how welfare outcomes shift, and how different economic agents (consumers, producers, government) are affected. Students receive immediate visual and numerical feedback, enabling self-correction and iterative learning.

The interactives cover the full range of intermediate microeconomics topics including supply and demand analysis, consumer choice theory, production and cost analysis, perfect competition, monopoly pricing strategies, price discrimination, game theory, oligopoly models, and market failures including externalities and public goods provision.

Dual-Mode Design

Many of these interactives exist in two versions:

Individual Practice Mode supports self-paced exploration, homework assistance, and exam preparation. Students work independently, experimenting freely without time pressure or performance anxiety.

Classroom Mode provides simplified interfaces optimized for instructor-led demonstrations, integrated with iClicker polling systems for active learning. During in-person sessions, students make predictions, discuss with peers, then observe outcomes together—transforming traditional lectures into collaborative problem-solving experiences.

Evidence of Effectiveness

Systematic student feedback from Fall 2025 (n=85-106 students) demonstrates strong outcomes:

• 72% report the interactives help them visualize economic concepts graphically

• 71% report improved comfort with economic graphs over the course of the semester

• 63% find interactive classroom sessions more engaging than traditional lectures

• 75% attendance rate compared to below 50% reported by colleagues teaching the same course

Using These Resources

The interactives below are freely available for exploration. They work in any modern web browser on laptops, tablets, or smartphones—no special software, downloads, or installations required. Students can use them as study aids, instructors can incorporate them into their own teaching, and anyone curious about economics can explore how markets work.

These tools are designed to complement, not replace, traditional textbooks and instruction. They work particularly well alongside Perloff's Microeconomics textbook, which my courses use, but the economic principles illustrated are universal.

Technical Note

The programming and technical implementation of these interactives was accomplished in collaboration with Claude (Anthropic's AI assistant), which handled HTML/JavaScript coding, Plotly.js graphing solutions, and debugging. The pedagogical design, economic content, teaching strategies, and assessment of learning outcomes are my own work. I view this human-AI collaboration as a model for how technology can enable educators to create resources that neither human nor AI could accomplish alone.

Future Development

These interactives continue to evolve based on student feedback and classroom testing. Future plans include expanding coverage to additional economics topics including international trade models, labor economics, and macroeconomic analysis, as well as enhancing accessibility features for students with diverse learning needs.

If you use these resources in your teaching or learning, I'd love to hear about your experience. Feedback helps me continue improving these tools for the broader economics education community.

Professor Steven Matusz
Department of Economics
Michigan State University