Teaching and Educational Methods

Futures & Options Book Club: An Innovative Way to Bring Class Material to Life

Maria A. Boerngen(a) and Scott H. Irwin(b)
(a)Illinois State University, (b)University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

JEL Codes:
Keywords: active learning, book club, class discussion, futures markets, trade book

First Published Online: March 25, 2026

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Abstract

Motivating students to read textbooks or assigned readings is a widely acknowledged challenge for college instructors. Trade books written for a popular audience represent a potential resource for addressing this problem. This paper describes the adoption of a trade book in an upper-level agribusiness course. Utilizing a “book club” structure that included pre-class discussion preparation, in-class discussion days, and individual post-discussion reflections throughout the semester, this activity culminated in a class visit from the book’s primary author. We present student feedback, which indicated that students perceived the book club to be a valuable learning experience. This approach offers instructors a road map for increasing student reading and engagement with relevant literature and with their peers and is easily adaptable to a variety of classroom settings.

About the Authors: Maria A. Boerngen (corresponding author; maboern@ilstu.edu) is a Professor of Agribusiness. Department of Agriculture, Illinois State University. Scott H. Irwin is a Professor and Laurence J. Norton Chair of Agricultural Marketing, Department of Agricultural & Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Acknowledgments: This study was reviewed and approved by the Illinois State University Institutional Review Board (IRB-2024-341).

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