Seeing It in a New Light: Do Cross-Disciplinary Comparisons Make Learning Economic and Financial Concepts Click?

Stefani Milovanska-Farrington (), Olivier LaForge and Jennifer Burton ()
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Stefani Milovanska-Farrington: The University of Tampa
Olivier LaForge: University of Nebraska Omaha
Jennifer Burton: University of Tampa

No 17946, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Analogies can simplify complex new material by relating it to ideas students already know. Making cross-disciplinary connections also makes the material more engaging, accessible and memorable. In this study, we perform a controlled empirical test to examine whether providing cross-discipline analogy examples enhances students’ learning. We find strong evidence of an increase in students’ self-reported understanding of the material and actual performance after exposure to analogies. Students who are less familiar with the concepts prior to the class benefit from the analogy examples the most. About 40% of the students report that examples that cross-reference their major facilitate learning the most, followed by about 25% of the students who find everyday examples the most useful. The findings have implications for the importance of designing a curriculum that prioritizes a cross-disciplinary, holistic approach that allows students to recognize analogies between various fields of study and helps them apply basic principles in various contexts in the future.

Keywords: analogy; teaching economics; controlled experiment; empirical test; introductory economics; finance; teaching finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A20 A22 I21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-06
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