Title: Taking economics out of the classroom: a field assignment

Authors: Tekin Kose

Addresses: Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, Department of Economics, TED University, Ziya Gokalp Caddesi, No. 48 Kolej 06420, Ankara, Turkey

Abstract: This article introduces a field assignment, which is internationally implementable in introductory economics classes. The assignment involves a visit to a local farmer's market and a couple of grocery stores to observe and experience market interactions of economic agents as well as to collect data on prices for a pre-determined basket of goods. The assignment helps student understand that their daily life actions are highly related to economics and visualise theoretical concepts taught in classrooms such as market mechanisms, prices, market structure, gross domestic product and inflation.

Keywords: teaching economics; field assignments; farmers markets; grocery stores; economics education; introductory economics; market interactions; goods prices; market mechanisms; market structure; gross domestic product; GDP; inflation; pluralism; higher education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEE.2016.079688

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 2016 Vol.7 No.3, pp.323 - 333

Received: 12 Jan 2016
Accepted: 17 Apr 2016
Published online: 09 Oct 2016 *

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