Using Economics Podcasts to Engage Students of Different Learning Styles

Abstract

Preliminary results from an assessment of the use of economics-themed podcast listening in introductory economic courses indicate that students with auditory/verbal learning styles improve their understanding and application of economic concepts more than students with other learning styles. Literature has considered the role of student learning styles in student performance in introductory courses in various disciplines (e.g. Thomas et al., SIGCSE Bull, 2002). Others have considered in a nondiscipline-specific context the impact of teaching style compared to student learning style on student performance (e.g. Lopus and Hoff, The Journal of Private Enterprise, 2009). Recent research focuses on the use of podcasts to enhance online learning (Bollinger, Supanakorn & Boggs, Computers & Education, 2010; Caladine, Enhancing e-learning with media-rich content and interactions, 2008) and on the use of podcasts of instructors’ live lectures to supplement online and real time courses (Copley, Innovation in Education and Teaching International, 2007; McKinney, Dyck and Luber, Computers & Education, 2009). The podcasts utilized in this paper are not the recorded lectures often discussed in recent literature, but publicly available economic-themed audio-only podcasts focusing on economics related current and cultural events that are used as required instructional element for introductory economics courses. Listening to economic-themed podcasts outside of class along with traditional textbook reading reinforces concepts by presenting them across a variety of instructional methods. Podcasts also provide a method to bring economic content to students with a variety of learning styles. Required podcast assignments may be particularly useful for auditory learners, who learn and remember best by listening (Bozorgmanesh et al., Nature and Science, 2011; Taylor, Journal of Political Science Education, 2009). While it is common to integrate strategies for auditory, visual (those who learn Int Adv Econ Res (2013) 19:201–202 DOI 10.1007/s11294-013-9396-1