Dr. Strangelove or how I learnt to stop worrying and love microeconomics: film clips as a pedagogical tool in economic theory

Microeconomics is perceived by students as one of the toughest subjects they face at the undergraduate level in order to obtain an Economics or Business degree. This is due to a sometimes rather stringent mathematical content, which is essential to teach economic concepts keeping a proper rigorous approach. In this article we present an experience of using a film clip to support teaching in the microeconomics field. In this case, we chose a cut from Stanley Kubricks' film "Dr. Strangelove", which topic is closely related to game theory, an area of knowledge that lies at the core of any intermediate or advanced microeconomics course. The fragment was selected in order to get the maximum subject related content out of the film spending the minimum class time. Methods: The clip was played in front of too different undergraduate level groups, accounting for a total number of 65 students. Results were derived from behavioural observation in a guided debate on the clip's content and the marks obtained by students in a questionnaire that was administrated to them immediately after the film's view. Questions were aimed for the students to connect the content of the film with the concepts previously taught in class. Results: Students proved a higher degree of interest and attention than that shown in other class sessions of the course, both during the view and the following debate on the content. Additionally, questionnaire marks were on average higher than those obtained by students in other tests. On the whole, students proved a better comprehension of the economic concepts involved after the film's view, compared with that shown in previous sessions. Conclusions: Although film views are a rather innovative tool in the area of microeconomics, our experience shows that it can be a useful complement of usual lessons when teaching certain economic concepts that are explained to students on a mathematical basis. In this regard, the film clip used in this paper helped students to get a better understanding of those concepts and boosted their interest on the topic. We believe that the growing trend of media tools use at the undergraduate level must also be implemented gradually in the economic theory field.