Data analytics/science and visualizations are increasingly popular across academic and professional disciplines, and widely embraced by media for data story-telling. Getting specific with data can help students more easily engage in economics by shifting from theory to more tangible and practical data about products they know. Of course, the data approach takes advantage of FRED and data tools from U.S. BEA, BLS, Fed, Eurostat, development banks, and other country statistical agencies.
In addition, it can draw students into econ departments:
* Real data creates the opportunity to use data animations in MS Excel and Tableau
* Provides skills that transfer to course in business, history (for time periods for which good economic data is available), and political science (polling)
* Links with data analytics courses in computer science departments
What are you doing? What do you find most helpful in teaching and drawing students into econ departments?
