I started teaching in 2013 when I was a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide (UOA), as a tutor and tutor coordinator for the course of Intermediate Econometrics. My training and most of my teaching practice have been related to microeconomics and micro-econometrics. I have delivered ‘core’ courses for students in the field of economics and business, such as Quantitative Methods (CORPFIN7033) for the UOA Business School (288 undergraduate/postgraduate students) and Elements of Econometrics (ECON7310) for the UQ School of Economics (230 postgraduate students). I have also delivered elective courses of these programs, such as Wealth Management in China for the UOA Business School (50 postgraduate students) and China: Emergence, Implications & Challenges (235 undergraduate students) for the UQ School of Economics. Moreover, I delivered an industry-focused workshop in 2014 (two hours and around 200 attendants) for the Small and Medium Enterprises Bureau in Tianjin, China.
While redefining the concept of being a university academic, Boyer (1990) emphasised the importance of teaching as scholarship. Teaching economics requires discipline-related teaching expertise, or what Shulman (1987) called ‘pedagogical content knowledge’. My ambition is to grow my discipline-related teaching expertise through developing knowledge of effective economics-specific pedagogical practice. Learning in economics is an iterative process reliant on applying complex economic principles, so I use all available opportunities to involve my students in discussion and encourage them to share their knowledge with their peers, as suggested by Greenlaw (2006). I encourage my students to ‘think like an economist’ (Allgood et al., 2015), ‘not to hear about it, or to read about it, but to do it’, as Greenlaw (2006) argued.
I view each student who comes to the classroom as an intelligent and able individual with a life story and unique experiences that can support the learning of everyone in the class, including myself. My mission is to guide my students and help them develop an in-depth understanding of the subject matter and its application in real life. My role is akin to a guide who provides resources and support, rather than a ‘sage on the stage’ who treats students as content consumers. It is challenging at times, but it also brings me joy as I attempt to create learning opportunities that support individual students. I find that the attendance rate is highest whenever students show curiosity about the topic. So, I encourage students’ curiosity on economic principles and give them opportunities to apply their thinking to the issues they are interested in. To do this, I draw on a range of authentic economic-specific situations in my classes that students can connect with. In the classroom, I use examples from daily life. This strategy facilitates learning and encourages students to think like economists. Through reflection on my practices as both an economist and a teacher of economics, I aim to instil a ‘thinking like an economist’ ethos in my teaching.