Title: Instructor as coach: strategies for engaging diverse students in introductory macroeconomics

Authors: Michele I. Naples

Addresses: Department of Economics, The School of Business, The College of New Jersey, P.O. Box 7718, Ewing NJ 08628-0718, USA

Abstract: Introductory economics is populated by non-majors, and increasingly by diverse student populations. The challenge is to engage students in the material despite any difficulties and initial poor performance. This paper adapts the management strategy of coaching employees to the instructor's role in order to increase student engagement, help them learn by explaining, and improve comprehension of alternative paradigms. A holistic coach interrogates the sources of poor performance and disengagement, creates connection, and addresses underlying problems with the student to galvanise success; s/he makes explicit the course's implicit assumptions to include all students. Grading strategies, devices for student cooperation on Zoom, and student-empowering tools are explored.

Keywords: pedagogy; diversity; teams; retention; coach; inclusion; communication; economics; engagement; pluralism.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEE.2024.141789

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 2024 Vol.15 No.1, pp.18 - 32

Received: 26 Aug 2023
Accepted: 23 Jan 2024
Published online: 01 Oct 2024 *

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