The Inner Joy of Teaching
How Golden Apple Award-winning Economics Professor Edward Cho became a professor and his advice to those entering the field
—By Nikolas Plonski
Introduction to Professor Cho
Every Tuesday and Thursday from 2:30 to 4:00 in the Fall 2022 semester, I wander into my seat in room B844, East Hall, for my first class of the day, Economics 485. This class focuses on the economic analysis of laws and policies enacted by governmental bodies. Most professors would struggle to keep an audience’s attention for an hour and thirty minutes, let alone be able to teach them economic analysis they can use for the rest of their lives. However, Professor Cho manages to do both flawlessly. When interviewing Professor Cho, he cites “the inner spark and inner joy that I get out of teaching” as the main reason for his success in the classroom. This resonates with me deeply as a current student and as someone considering a future as a college educator.
Professor Cho started his undergraduate career at the University of California San Diego with a double major in Economics and Mathematics. After undergrad, Cho worked consulting for a year but then returned to school to pursue his Economics PhD. I met with Professor Cho to discuss his background as an educator.
“It’s hard to know what you want to do until you try it.”
“One of the things that I realized is that when you’re in an early stage in life, it’s hard to know what you want until you try it.” Says Professor Cho, as he reflected upon his senior year at MIT. Prior to Professor Cho’s graduation, it was uncertain as to whether he would accept a professional position or if he would pursue a doctorate degree in economics. Ultimately, Professor Cho accepted a position as a consultant. “It’s about trying something first and then realizing, ‘I like this,’ or ‘I don’t like this,’’ says Dr. Cho. He advises people who feel lost prior to joining the workforce or continuing their education, “It’s okay to be uncertain about what career you want because I didn’t know until after I did the consulting.”
As my graduation date nears, I have considered the possibility of becoming a college educator as my career path. Much like Professor Cho’s path, I would need to take the GRE, apply for PhD programs, and hunker down for the next five to seven years. Professor Cho believes that the most challenging part of being a college educator is achieving a PhD. Professor Cho found this period incredibly hard and reflects on that time by stating, “It was a lot of work. A PhD program can be very isolating, and it’s not for everyone. So, there are plenty of other rewarding careers out there.”
However, Professor Cho also offers insight into what makes the position of a college educator so fulfilling. “If I were to look back, I would probably look back and say I underestimated the social aspect.” Professor Cho defines the social aspect of teaching as “interacting with students, helping students learn something new, how much joy you get from helping somebody.” Professor Cho continues his analysis by discussing the merits of his role from an economist’s perspective, stating that his role is “not about monetary compensation, it’s one of those on-the-job aspects that you like. So that piece of it is something I love about teaching.”
“Why does this matter?”
Among students in the economics department at the University of Michigan, Professor Cho is amongst the most well-regarded for his ability to connect with students and give engaging lectures. Professor Cho is amongst the select few professors at Michigan to receive the Golden Apple Award, which “honors those teachers who consistently teach each lecture as if it were their last, and strive not only to disseminate knowledge but to inspire and engage students in its pursuit,” per the Golden Apple Award website. Professor Cho’s ability to disseminate knowledge to his pupils has evolved from his early career to today. He states, “This has evolved a lot over my teaching career. In the beginning, it was just about being organized and presenting material clearly. That was the first stage. Because you have to start somewhere and just learn the material, then after that, how do I make it so that I can answer questions that students and the audience will have and try to anticipate what about this is clear and unclear.”
However, since these early days, his teaching style has progressed to asking the most fundamental question of teaching: “Why does this matter?” Professor Cho believes that this revelation is when “things started to click on another level” as a college educator. He refers to this revelation as “sparks” in every academic subject. Professor Cho’s ability to notice what makes students interested in a particular topic separates him from other college educators. Ever the economist, Professor Cho sees teaching and the ability to gain a student’s attention in a way that shows the importance and utility of the subject as an “investment in themselves” rather than delivering lectures rife with unimportant and uninteresting details that ultimately don’t benefit the student in their academic, social, professional, or personal life.
If you were to listen to one of Professor Cho’s lectures from outside the room, the audience would sound similar to that of a standup routine. Professor Cho’s lectures offer an enjoyable mix of jokes about his cat, Muchie, stories about his brother, and funny anecdotes about the class. For example, Professor Cho covers the topic of legally mandated health insurance in his Law and Economics class (ECON 485). He often jokes about how Munchie has health insurance. Professor Cho will often use jokes such as these to relate them to another topic, such as the economic impacts of health insurance provided by the government. Rosen Wu, a senior majoring in economics and computer science, is currently a student of Professor Cho’s in Economics 485 Law and Economics. She says that students “never get bored in his class because he has tons of humor.” Furthermore, she thinks that Professor Cho’s teaching style is effective at informing students. Rosen believes that “Prof Cho is really trying to teach his students a way of economic thinking rather than mathematical formulas or facts that are rigorously tested on exams like other courses.”
Professor Cho’s Impact
As a current and former student of Professor Cho, I can attest to his ability to make academic information relevant in daily life. For example, I first had Professor Cho in Economics 402, Intermediate Macroeconomics; Professor Cho introduced the Mundell-Fleming model to the class. This model displays the international finance trilemma, defined as “as economic theory which posits that countries may choose from three options when making fundamental decisions about their international monetary policy agreements,” per Investopedia. Ultimately, this model based on the international finance trilemma theory can show the relative valuation (increase or decrease) of a currency based on a few inputs. Ultimately, economists use this model to determine if a currency should be appreciating or depreciating compared to another currency. This can be used by governments, investment firms, and retail investors to determine if a currency will appreciate or depreciate in value. Due to Professor Cho’s lectures, I was able to use my knowledge of the Mundell-Fleming model in a job interview. University of Michigan alum and economic consulting analyst Brendan Roose, states that he developed his view on applying economics to complex legal issues in Professor Cho’s Law and Economics (Economics 485).
Professor Cho has been an outstanding educator to his students and has served as a role model for me personally. I view him as one of the best educators I have ever had in my life, and I believe that anyone pursuing the path of a college educator should strongly consider his advice and critiques of the profession. Ultimately, I’m not sure what the future holds, but I feel more prepared with Professor Cho’s lectures and guidance. After I had stopped recording the interview with professor Cho, I talked to him about his impact on me. Specifically, I learned about the Mundell-Fleming model in Economics 402 and how I applied it to a job interview. Professor Cho concluded, “That’s awesome. I’m happy to know that I’ve taught you something.”
Feature photo, profile picture of Dr. Edward Cho; Photo Credit, LSA