Introducing Economics: A Critical Guide for Teaching Authored by: Mark H. Maier; Julie A. Nelson   College Instructors of Pre-Service Teachers Click Here to Order your FREE Examination Copy for Classroom Adoptions. Click here to view the Introduction to the book. Click here for additional teaching resources.
Cloth ISBN: 978-0-7656-1675-3 Paper ISBN: 978-0-7656-1676-0 Cloth Price Paper Price USD: $76.95 USD: $27.95 Available to all countries      Information: 240pp. Activities and Resources, Index. Publication Date: July 2007.

--Includes more than 50 sections with lists of suggested "Activities and Resources," many with Internet links
--Features boxed "Hints for Clear Teaching" tips for presenting particularly difficult topics
--Provides an annotated resource guide to more than 30 organizations involved in economics education, with associated Internet links.
--Follows the flow of topics in a typical economics course
--Addresses real-life topics that are ignored or glossed-over in traditional textbooks--economics and the environment, the distribution of income and wealth, discrimination, labor unions, globalization, the power of corporations, and more
--Offers critical guidance for meeting all 20 Voluntary National Content Standards in economics
--Also provides an overview of the political and intellectual history and contemporary state of economics education.
See www.introducingeconomics.org for more information about the book and additional teaching resources.

Selected Contents:
List of Activities and Resources
Acknowledgements

Part I. Overview
1. Introduction
2. Why Are We Teaching Economics? The History of Economics in High Schools
3. Where Did This Idea Come From? A Primer on Major Schools of Economics

Part II. Teaching Economics, Chapter by Chapter
4. What is Economics?
5. Economic Systems
6. Supply, Demand, and Markets
7. Competition and Monopoly
8. Consumer Education
9. Business Education
10. Labor and the Distribution of Wealth and Income
11. Gross Domestic Product
12. Roles of Government
13. Unemployment and Inflation
14. Money, Banking, and the Federal Reserve
15. Fiscal and Monetary Policy
16. Economic Growth and Development
17. Global Economics and Trade

Part III. Resources
18. Resource Materials

Index
About the Authors

Comment(s): "Imagine the pleasure of sitting with two smart, knowledgeable, critical, and very clear economists as you plan your economics course or try to read your economics textbook. Well, then invite Mark Maier and Julie Nelson to sit by your side. Their Introducing Economics is a pedagogical gadfly prodding our economics thinking by its critical stance while serving as the teacher's best friend through its clear writing, smart teaching ideas, and robust suggested resources. It should be on the shelf of all social studies teachers and teacher educators." -- Bob Bain, Ph.D., Associate Professor, History and Social Science Education, Carnegie Scholar, University of Michigan, and contributor to How Students Learn: History, Math, and Science in the Classroom

"Extraordinarily clear and thoughtful, this guide to economic ideas is certain to become a landmark resource, useful for anyone wishing to cultivate a critical understanding of economics today." -- Myra H. Strober, School of Education and Graduate School of Business, Stanford University

"Where was this book when I started to teach economics? Giving insight and perspective on economic principles and how they are taught, this text is a keeper--a wonderful resource for the new or veteran high school teacher. This promises to serve as a handy guide and counterweight that provides a fresh look at the 'dismal science!' Nicely knitting together chapters of theory, your head will be spinning with new ways to bring economics alive for your students!" -- Elizabeth A. Porter, Curriculum Coordinator for Social Studies, Westford (MA) Public Schools

"This is an excellent resource for teachers who wish to introduce economics in a lively, thoughtful manner for a range of ability levels. Written to be very user-friendly, it is a treasure trove of creative ideas for presenting basic concepts and current debates so that their relevance and importance is clear. Guaranteed to inspire a new generation of economists and informed citizens!" -- Pamela Sparr, Independent Economist

"One would not normally pick up a book called Introducing Economics with expectations for an exciting evening. As economist Robert Heilbroner is reported to have remarked 'Mathematics has given economics rigor, but alas, also mortis.' So the good news is that Introducing Economics manages to be both rigorous, and un-deadly .... One can only hope that every high school teacher in the United States assigned to teach economics whether as a separate class or part of another gets hold of a copy and uses its insights and resources to enrich her own thinking and that of her students. How much wiser this nation s political debates would be if we had generations of high school graduates trained to think through the economic assumptions so many of us have been taught to live by." -- Joan Dye Gussow, Mary Swartz Rose Professor Emerita, Teachers College, Columbia University

Review(s): Introducing Economics is not meant as an alternative economics textbook, but as a teacher's companion to provide some critical perspective on how the 'dismal science' is conventionally taught. ... Economics teachers will find this a readable and helpful supplement. Rethinking Schools