----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- After observing the various postings on teaching students WN, and largely agreeing with A. Waterman's post, I thought the List might like to hear from a student. I am an Honours student at Murdoch University, Western Australia. Last year myself and another student made a presentation to our local economics society regarding our first year tertiary experience. We argued for a compulsory year long course in the history of economic thought which might naturally include reading excerpts from some of the classics. We felt without this history the economic theory we were being taught remained oblique. As a first year I remember feeling a desperate need for context, ie. a historical perspective. I was told that I was in a minority and that most students do not learn this way. I struggled through first year doggedly trying to learn neoclassical theory without knowing where it came from, how the concepts had arisen and changed over time. When I started reading WN by myself it was almost revelatory. Suddenly the theory I was being taught started to make more sense. I could see where! ideas and concepts had come from - I had the context I needed to enable my learning and the contemporary theory was no longer so intimidating. It amazes me that those who set the undergraduate economics curriculum fail to understand the important of context to learning. If you are not prepared to engage in rote learning as a first year you will not survive. If you want to challenge, argue, even simply understand your discipline you will be disappointed and probably drop out of economics. I believe a first year course in the history of economic thought should be taught simultaneously with the usual introductory neoclassical theory ( I won't argue for introductory heterodox theory as I know that will never happen!). Students are more likely to find their freshman year engaging, satisfying, and yes, even interesting, wonderfully interesting as the history of economic thought unfolds. Judith Cockburn-Campbell ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]