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Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
ERIC Number: EJ725257
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Jun-22
Pages: 13
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0485
EISSN: N/A
I Teach Economics, Not Algebra and Calculus
Hey, John D.
Journal of Economic Education, v36 n3 p292 Sum 2005
Most people learn to drive without knowing how the engine works. In a similar vein, the author believes that students can learn economics without knowing the algebra and calculus underlying the results. If instructors follow the philosophy of other economics courses in using graphs to illustrate the results, and draw the graphs accurately, then they can teach economics with virtually no algebra or calculus. The author's intermediate micro course is taught using mathematical software that does the mathematics and that draws accurate graphs from which students can see the key results. He backs up this no-algebra no-calculus approach with tutorial exercises in which students do economics and with exams that require no knowledge of algebra and calculus. The students end up feeling the economics, rather than tearing the algebra and the calculus. (Contains 9 notes.)
Heldref Publications, Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation, 1319 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036-1802. Web site: http://www.heldref.org.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A