As President Barack Obama implements change within the White House, some OU professors are changing how they teach behind the podium.
David Ray, political science professor, has been teaching government since 1992. He usually teaches his class like any other professor — by assigning homework and leading discussions.
But with this year’s economic crisis, Ray is taking a new approach.
“We are on the edge of the worst recession since World War II,” Ray said. “I’m 63 years old, and this is the scariest time I’ve ever seen.”
So instead of simply focusing on textbook definitions and history, Ray is devoting much of his teaching time to the economy and its nationwide effects.
Aside from job-searching seniors and students whose families are in economic trouble, it seems like most OU students are unaware of the economic situation’s magnitude, Ray said.
“It’s like we live in this ‘OU bubble’ and a lot of kids really seem to think this will blow over before they have to worry about it,” he said.
Students need to care and understand what they will be dealing with in the future for a democracy to work, Ray said.
“[The economy] is a difficult concept because I hate politics, but Ray is interesting enough that I still come to class everyday,” said Blake Hodges, sociology and criminology sophomore.
Ray said he incorporates economic education through the business cycle when he teaches his two courses on government. He has students read newspaper and magazine articles and participate in class discussions and write papers.
Ray includes questions about the state of the economy on his exams, said Adam Lecours, University College freshman.
Lecours said he has learned more from Ray’s class than any government class he took in high school, especially about the economy.
“I consider myself aware of what’s going on, but [Ray] presents it in a different way,” he said. “News can be one-sided, and he teaches it from all sides.”
Ray said most professors might stray from teaching about the financial crisis because it is such a bulky and difficult issue to teach, but economics professor Qihong Liu said he tries to incorporate the economy into class discussions.
“I use real-world examples in my intermediate microeconomic theory class,” Liu said. “We had a discussion about GM’s last quarter loss, the reasons of the loss and possible remedies.”
Economics professor Cynthia Rogers said her graduate class has been discussing the implications of the economy on the state’s faculty recruiting process.
Rogers also said her class discussed the “housing market bubble” last semester.
Ben Rossavik, University College freshman, took Ray’s government class last semester and is taking generational politics with him this semester. He appreciates that Ray strives to make students aware of situations facing the country.
“You don’t find teachers like David Ray that often,” Rossavik said. “He wants us to know what we’re getting into and wants us to be realistic without being hopeless.”
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jwcrowson 3 years, 2 months ago
Oh yeah! Dr. Ray is an excellent professor. I just finished a graduate class given by him: Legislative Behavior and Processes. He's among the very very best.