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| Staff photo by Ashley Rhodebeck Beloit College Microeconomics Professor Joshua Hall plays music by artists such as Weird Al or Ice Cube to teach lessons about economics. |
By Ashley Rhodebeck
Daily News staff writer
Beloit College prof plays songs to teach
Hearing music by artists such as Weird Al Yankovic, Blues Traveler and Ice Cube playing before a microeconomics class begins at Beloit College isn't uncommon or even irrelevant.
It's simply one professor's way to prime his students to think like economists.
Music, Joshua Hall said, “has something to tell us about understanding how the world works.”
Indeed, Hall, along with a friend, has created a list of 55 to 60 mainstream songs whose lyrics can be turned into an economics lesson.
For example, Hall said one of the students' favorite is Ice Cube's “My Summer Vacation,” which illustrates marketplace dynamics through a story about a drug dealer trying to garner business in the crowded Los Angeles market and finally drums up business by moving to a less competitive market out of state. However, that too eventually becomes crowded because people try to copy his success.
Another song, “The Wacky World of Mass Transit” by Del tha Funkee Homosapien, depicts a man's resolve not to ride public transportation despite the relatively cheap 80-cent fare because of the ride's unappealing factors, such as the ride making him car sick. This song, Hall said, demonstrates how other costs, not just money, factor into decisions.
Hall, a first-year assistant professor of economics at Beloit College, developed his music-integrated lesson plans about three years ago with two other men, one of whom created computer flash presentations highlighting the songs' economic ties in text as the music plays.
Before coming to Beloit College, Hall taught at universities with class sizes reaching 200 to 300 students, so playing the flash presentations five minutes before class helped quiet the lecture hall, but it also helped him interact with the students during class.
“In a large section if you want to get students involved they resent you for it,” Hall said. “They didn't feel singled out if you talked about music.”
The flash presentations don't have quite the same effect at Beloit College since its classes hover around 30 students, but Hall said they help set the mood and enliven the subject, which Hall admitted has some inherently boring aspects.
“Part of the job is to do whatever we can to make sure our passion of the subject gets through to the students,” Hall said.
The music doesn't resonate with everyone, Hall said, but students generally like it and some later e-mail him examples of other songs. Although not every example can be worked into a lesson, Hall said at least he knows the students who send him examples retained information from his lesson.
The lyrics have also made their way into some of Hall's exams, but the trick is to make the questions specific enough so the students can grasp how the songs relate to economics but general enough so they aren't given the answers.
Since Hall began tying music to his lessons, he and a fellow economics professor constructed a Web site - divisionoflabour.com/music/ - listing the songs, their lyrics and how they apply to the subject for other teachers to use. They also wrote a paper based on their work, and that has been cited by others - something Hall said feels good.
“The average academic paper is not cited,” Hall said. “The fact that someone is using what you do makes you feel good.”
Hearing music by artists such as Weird Al Yankovic, Blues Traveler and Ice Cube playing before a microeconomics class begins at Beloit College isn't uncommon or even irrelevant.
It's simply one professor's way to prime his students to think like economists.
Music, Joshua Hall said, “has something to tell us about understanding how the world works.”
Indeed, Hall, along with a friend, has created a list of 55 to 60 mainstream songs whose lyrics can be turned into an economics lesson.
For example, Hall said one of the students' favorite is Ice Cube's “My Summer Vacation,” which illustrates marketplace dynamics through a story about a drug dealer trying to garner business in the crowded Los Angeles market and finally drums up business by moving to a less competitive market out of state. However, that too eventually becomes crowded because people try to copy his success.
Another song, “The Wacky World of Mass Transit” by Del tha Funkee Homosapien, depicts a man's resolve not to ride public transportation despite the relatively cheap 80-cent fare because of the ride's unappealing factors, such as the ride making him car sick. This song, Hall said, demonstrates how other costs, not just money, factor into decisions.
Hall, a first-year assistant professor of economics at Beloit College, developed his music-integrated lesson plans about three years ago with two other men, one of whom created computer flash presentations highlighting the songs' economic ties in text as the music plays.
Before coming to Beloit College, Hall taught at universities with class sizes reaching 200 to 300 students, so playing the flash presentations five minutes before class helped quiet the lecture hall, but it also helped him interact with the students during class.
“In a large section if you want to get students involved they resent you for it,” Hall said. “They didn't feel singled out if you talked about music.”
The flash presentations don't have quite the same effect at Beloit College since its classes hover around 30 students, but Hall said they help set the mood and enliven the subject, which Hall admitted has some inherently boring aspects.
“Part of the job is to do whatever we can to make sure our passion of the subject gets through to the students,” Hall said.
The music doesn't resonate with everyone, Hall said, but students generally like it and some later e-mail him examples of other songs. Although not every example can be worked into a lesson, Hall said at least he knows the students who send him examples retained information from his lesson.
The lyrics have also made their way into some of Hall's exams, but the trick is to make the questions specific enough so the students can grasp how the songs relate to economics but general enough so they aren't given the answers.
Since Hall began tying music to his lessons, he and a fellow economics professor constructed a Web site - divisionoflabour.com/music/ - listing the songs, their lyrics and how they apply to the subject for other teachers to use. They also wrote a paper based on their work, and that has been cited by others - something Hall said feels good.
“The average academic paper is not cited,” Hall said. “The fact that someone is using what you do makes you feel good.”
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