In Dr. Joshua Smith’s Principles of Macroeconomics course, class doesn’t end with a lecture. It ends with students on their feet, trading, haggling and debating supply and demand like they’re in a stock market pit.
Smith, who has taught at Trevecca since 2019, redesigned his class sessions after listening to student feedback. “My students told me I talk too long,” he said with a laugh. “They wanted more variety and more activities. They needed to engage with the material in a hands-on way.” Now, every session concludes with 20 to 30 minutes of interactive activity. In one recent class, students received cards identifying them as stock buyers or sellers with specific price points. They began negotiating—“I’ll buy for $8!” “No, $10!”—and within minutes the room buzzed with energy and laughter. What could have been a static lecture on supply and demand became a lived experience.
“It created this kind of lively environment where some people were laughing and some people even got a little mad,” Smith recalled. “Rather than me saying ‘trust me,’ they got to practice it themselves.”
For Smith, this innovation isn’t about making class more fun for its own sake. It’s about preparing students to think deeply and apply what they’ve learned. “I want to give them a task that’s just hard enough that they have to engage their brains with everything they’ve just heard and push themselves further,” he said.
That commitment to student engagement stems from his larger mission as a professor. “My life’s calling is to help people make more rational choices,” Smith explained. “Economics gives students analytical tools and thinking to make better choices—whether that’s in the jobs they go for, the products they buy or the way they manage employees in the future.”
Smith, a Trevecca graduate himself, returned to campus after earning his Ph.D. in economics. For him, teaching at Trevecca is about preparing graduates to live out their faith in the workplace.
“Our graduates will not only be competent and perform their jobs well, they’ll do it in a way that treats others like Jesus would,” Smith said. “Employers will notice that difference. That’s what will set them apart.”
Smith sees his work as part of a broader culture among Trevecca’s business faculty, all of whom are innovating to make learning interactive. Whether it’s guest speakers, simulations or hands-on projects, the goal is the same: connect lessons to students’ lives and future careers.
“As much as being a pastor seems like a godly thing to do, making products people need and managing businesses in a way that’s cost effective is also important,” he said. “I hope my students are encouraged to be honest, do something they’re passionate about and serve God by serving others.”