Teaching Economics with Classroom Experiments: A Symposium

Abstract

Classroom experiments are effective because students are placed directly into the economic environments being studied. The papers in this special section span diverse applications, for example, speculation and multiple markets, coordination and voting games, and a simple macroeconomy. All experiments can be run with simple props, such as ordinary playing cards. After participating, students bring firsthand experience to the discussion to enhance the effectiveness of the Socratic method. In small classes, these exercises also enable bright undergraduates to run the experiments on their own classmates and to lead the ensuing discussions, creating a special teaching/learning environment.