Making Macro Memorable: The Method of Loci Mnemonic Technique in the Economics Classroom

Economics in the classroom has benefitted greatly from research in education and pedagogy, primarily focused on experiential learning, interactive techniques, and other methods intended to elicit greater student participation. There remains, however, much content in economics that students have to memorize, at least for exams if not for general knowledge. We describe how to adapt the method of loci mnemonic technique in the economics classroom for the purpose of committing relatively large amounts of information to memory. Examples of the technique are given for principles-level sets of information, and a preliminary test of the technique’s effectiveness is presented.