1. Go to the TOPICS page of the website and find the section that will be covered in class according to the syllabus.

2. Complete all required readings for the day. Skimming through the material is not sufficient (although, undoubtedly, is better than not reading at all). You will have to put effort to thoroughly read everything. As you read, it is a good idea to write notes on the margins of your textbook, or notebook, highlighting important concepts and examples.

3. Don’t try to memorize definitions. I will give you a chance to use a cheat sheet of notes (front and back) during your exams. Instead, try to understand what concepts mean, how theories work, and why ideas are significant (even if they may appear rather abstract at first). The goal of this course is not to teach you what to think, but to give you an opportunity to develop your critical thinking by examining some of the main economic issues and challenges with the economic method of analysis. This sounds simple, but achieving it is quite difficult. Thus, as you do the readings.

a. Try to explain concepts in simple words and think about their significance (to society and your own life).

b. Think of examples that illustrate these concept (theories).

c. Finally, although not required, you can use some of the external resources (videos, articles, etc…) in this website to help you learn the material better. I will show / discuss most of these resources in class.

4. Write down questions that are puzzling, or that you want to explore further, and bring them to class to encourage discussion. Once in class, don’t be afraid to ask questions. It is more likely that if you don’t understand an idea, most of the other students don’t either. It is also likely that I don’t have the answer / or there is not an easy answer. However, discussing the issue challenges us to think about it and brings us one step closer to the truth.