Students can learn simpler material on their own. The most effective teaching focuses on helping students learn more complex topics. 

The Devil is in the Details

One of the vexing questions that arises in teaching economics is how much detail to include when teaching a particular topic. A common sense guideline is to provide the level of detail that students need to know. A student's need to know depends on the goals the instructor has set for the course. For example, how much national income accounting do Economics 101 students need to know? A course that reflects the goal of fostering economic literacy would provide less detail than a course that reflects the goal of developing students to be practioners of economics.

In practice, a course that develops economic literacy might stop at a thorough investigation of GDP, while a course that aims to turn students into professional economists would likely include detailed accounts of GNP, NDP, NNP, national income, personal income, disposable income, and so forth.

How To Create an Economist

Teach a parrot the terms "supply and demand" and you've got an economist. Thomas Carlyle

Why Should Students Major in Economics?

Check out the link and let the words of the students speak for themselves.

Economically Illiterate? Take This Test and Find Out

How much do your Economics 101 students know when they walk into your class the first day? Send them to the online Economic Literacy Quiz posted on the Minneapolis Fed's web site. The quiz is a good exercise to start off the semester and it can give economics instructors insight into how much students know when they start the course.