Statement of my teaching philosophy

Is the wisest master always the best teacher?  The shibboleth that teaching and research are strong complements affirms this.  But the many students I talk with as undergraduate advisor in the Economics department, who speak of lifeless lectures and the dearth of knowledge imparted, have a  very different answer.  The best teacher enlightens students, inspires students, challenges students.  The best teacher wraps the core of modern thought in the perspective of the discipline’s history, and exposes students to the frontiers of ideas as they are being formed.  The best teacher is an intellectual friend to students, who assesses honestly and fairly, who respects students and earns their respect. The best teacher constantly searches for ways to become a better teacher.

My teaching style is natural.  I am gregarious and I cannot teach against my personality.  I am also a natural teacher, as when I give expert testimony to a jury, or answer questions of listeners calling in to a popular radio station where I am known as the “94 Rock Economist.”  But in the classroom student’s expectations must be acknowledged and respected.  Students rarely take prisoners, so over the years I have sought, and now work hard to maintain, the balance between an inate ability to capture student’s attention and the need to convey knowledge and develop understanding to a high academic standard. By creating a comfortable classroom environment, I convey information and build analytical skills surreptitiously.

I employ anecdote and casual observation to encourage students to see economics in their everyday lives and shy away from too much abstraction, as economics is not an abstract discipline.  I emphasize basic principles over esoteric details not because I think the details unimportant but because too often important basic principles are ignored in the clamor to memorize details.  I include economic “games” requiring student participation at a level unheard of in economics classrooms only 15 years ago.  Bringing this cutting edge research tool into the classroom to demonstrate basic principles is a pedagogical innovation and also encourages students to sign up for the many research experiments conducted by faculty in the department.  My course administration has changed substantially over the years to give students more options and greater control over their grades.  The positive reaction from students reinforces my own satisfaction at empowering students without compromising my academic standards.