T-shirts, moonshine, and autopsies: Using podcasts to engage undergraduate microeconomics students

This paper assesses the use of podcasts as the focus of required assignments in an introductory microeconomic course. Professionally-produced, economics-themed podcasts are introduced as a medium for supplementing traditional course material, rather than as a venue for replication of course lectures. A student self-assessment survey is used to assess the effectiveness of a variety of podcast-related assignments. The survey finds that a large majority of students find this use of podcasts helps them to understand economic concepts and how economics is relevant to the world.