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Every time I teach principles of economics, I keep in mind that many of my students are learning about economics for the first time, and how they perceive my course may influence their perceptions of economics for a long time. This was a guiding notion in the first edition of CoreEconomics and continues with this fourth edition, renamed Economics: Principles for a Changing World. Why the change in title?

The fourth edition still represents the “core” of economic principles. But it also provides students with a global perspective on how economic problems are addressed, an appreciation of data and how data are used, and the application of technology. I believe that such an approach is best suited to the changing world we live in.

Instructors and students face two sets of problems with each principles of economics class. Instructors ask, “How many students can we reach today? Can we reach each one?” Students constantly ask, “How does this affect my life?”

I have taught over 15,000 students since 2001—in small classrooms, large auditoriums, online classes, day classes, evening classes, and even overseas. The diversity of my students has provided abundant examples of learning by experience. Each setting provides a laboratory for using innovative teaching techniques and technologies to motivate students to appreciate the endless possibilities that thinking like an economist can provide.

The challenge, of course, is reaching each and every student. This challenge is made especially difficult by the sheer amount of information now available to students and subsequently by the increasing number of ways in which students learn.

Part of the work on this edition and the last one actually led me to consider active learning methodologies. Instructors often encourage or even require students to read their textbook prior to the related lecture. If students do, class time can be used more effectively to refine the knowledge. The problem is that students often don’t read the book ahead of class.

When I started doing research on this, I eventually came to the conclusion that using a textbook in such a way may not be all that effective, and I instead was inspired to create FlipItEcon along with my co-author José Vázquez. The textbook and its technology obviously still play a critical role in learning, but they may be better suited to providing deeper understanding after the lecture. This edition was created with that active learning objective in mind. Each chapter contains a wealth of vivid examples, intuitive explanations, and visuals to help build a more comprehensive understanding of concepts.

It’s no longer enough to write a good or even great textbook. The book is just one avenue for delivering information when students are accustomed to consuming information from so many different sources. To reach students, it’s now essential to deliver information in a variety of formats beyond the textbook or even the lecture itself. I’ve thus worked with Worth Publishers to develop each of the elements of technology for Economics: Principles for a Changing World, so it is much more of an effective teaching tool for instructors.

—Eric P. Chiang