Author Profile

Dirk Mateer

Dirk Mateer has been teaching college economics for sixteen years. He is currently a senior lecturer and co-director of the undergraduate studies program in economics at Penn State University, where he regularly teaches large principles sections. He is the author of Economics in the Movies (South-Western 2005). He uses a variety of methods (film clips, music videos, songs, demonstrations, group work, and other active learning processes) to stimulate students to think about economics. Mateer brings a small-class attitude to his large sections. As a result, his teaching efforts have been recognized by his students, colleagues, and national peers on more than twenty occasions.

Mateer was the winner of the inaugural Economic Communicator Contest sponsored by the Association of Private Enterprise Education and the Market-Based Management Institute. Prior to joining Penn State, he taught high school mathematics and science for two years and then worked at Goucher College (Md.) and Grove City College (Pa.).