Interactive Teaching in Undergraduate Economics Courses: Bridging the Gap between Current and Best Practices

该项目正在向本科生经济学教师，特别是初级教师传播最佳互动学习实践和材料。该项目至关重要，因为研究表明，大多数经济学教师并不使用互动学习策略，他们的课程几乎完全是通过课堂授课。因此，很少有经济学课程的本科生受益于互动教学方法和材料对学生学习的重大贡献。该项目分三个阶段进行。在第一阶段，参与者参加一个研讨会，在那里他们以小组形式工作，学习互动学习策略和材料。在第二阶段，参与者回到他们的机构，重新思考他们的教学计划，接受他们计划使用的互动策略的在线补充指导，并实施这些策略。在第三阶段，参与者有新的机会参与教学学者社区。他们分享教学经验，发表关于教学和学习的论文和作者研究文章，并参加教学会议。该项目为参与者提供了重要的激励措施，以贯彻他们所学的东西，并修改他们的教学实践。该项目为数百名经济学教师提供了宝贵的培训，并改善了对10万多名经济学学生的教育。该项目得到了多个机构的系主任和其他经济学家的广泛支持。它是与美国经济协会(AEA)经济教育委员会共同主办的。目前正在与经济协会的妇女经济专业地位委员会及其少数群体经济专业地位委员会合作，特别重视为该项目招募少数群体和妇女。

This project is disseminating best interactive learning practices and materials to undergraduate economics instructors, especially junior faculty. The project is of vital importance because research shows that most economics instructors do not use interactive learning strategies and teach their courses almost exclusively with lecture. As a consequence, few undergraduates in economics courses benefit from the significant contributions that interactive teaching methods and materials can make to student learning. The project is being carried out in three phases. In Phase 1, participants attend a workshop where they work in teams to learn about interactive learning strategies and materials. In Phase 2, participants return to their institutions, re-think their teaching plans, receive on-line supplemental instruction for interactive strategies that they plan to use, and implement them. In Phase 3, participants have new opportunities to participate in a community of teaching scholars. They share teaching experiences, present papers and author research articles on teaching and learning, and participate in teaching conferences. The project provides participants with important incentives to follow through on what they learn and revise their teaching practices. The project provides valuable training to hundreds of economic instructors and improved education to over 100,000 economics students. There is broad support for the project among department chairs and other economists at a variety of institutions. It is co-sponsored with the Committee on Economic Education of the American Economic Association (AEA). Special emphasis is being given to recruiting minorities and women for the project in cooperation with the AEA's Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession and its Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession.