Problems and Issues in
the Preliminary and
HSC Economics
Syllabus
Where in the syllabus?
 HSC Topic 3 is all about Economic Issues. The syllabus
notes that it takes a problems and issues approach to
the study of Economics, so the students need to be
guided carefully through this topic.
 However, there are problems and issues elsewhere
 Preliminary course
 Other parts of the HSC course
So what is an economic
issue?
 It is worthwhile beginning the topic with a lesson on
exactly what we mean by ‘an economic issue’ and how
we might deal with these in Economics.
 What is the difference between defining a term/concept
and defining an issue?
 Why do we identify things as issues?
What are the issues identified
in the syllabus?
 Economics Growth (theory is complex)
 Unemployment (attitudes and personal experiences can be
problematic)
 Inflation
 External Stability (concept is complex)
 Distribution of Income and Wealth (values and attitudes are
a challenge)
 Environmental Sustainability (microeconomic policy that
many will find difficult)
Prior learning
 Students often think they know about the issues
 By the time you get to HSC Topic 3, the students will
have significant familiarity with issues 1-4. They will
have had limited exposure to issues 5 and 6. In
general, the following ‘formula’ can be applied to the
study of issues, and the students find this a great
comfort
Task 1
Use the pre-test activity and assess
your own prior knowledge
A scaffold for learning
 Definition (key term/s and the issue)
 Measurement
 Trends and data
 Theory
 Causes
 Effect
 Policy
Cautions…
 Before students can compartmentalise the information
into this framework, they need a lot of assistance in
understanding just what each issue is and the theory in
particular.
 There is also a range of values and attitudes that can
impact upon the students’ ability to understand the
range of views on some issues.
and also…
 There may also be situations that individual students
are dealing with at home that can make discussions in
the classroom loaded, so take care!
 It should also be noted that policy is detailed in Topic 4,
so there are complexities to deal with in relation to how
much depth to go into in Topic 3 and to what extend
Topics 3 and 4 can be taught in an integrated fashion.
 For example, policy can be a cause or an effect of an
economic issue…
Task 2
Select ONE topic in the Preliminary
Course. Identify all of the economic issues
that arise in the teaching of that topic. Be
ready to share your findings.
Task 3
Working now in pairs, select an issue
that arises in the Preliminary Course
and complete the ‘Economic Issue’
Sheet.
Task 4
In a group, use the Economic Issues
Scaffold and see how this might be
used
to
assist
students
in
understanding one of the issues in
HSC Topic 3.
and for Friday…
Locate and bring a news item from this
week that explores an economic
problem or issue from our course
Sharing
What is the news item you brought?
Share with the group.
Task 5
 Now create one of the following using the news item:
 A three level guide
 A response to a word/phrase/sentence scaffold
 A completed scaffold for the economic issue using the
information from the news item
 Share your task. Why did you choose to scaffold the
student’s learning the way you did?
 What else could you do with the news item?
Issues and level of difficulty
 Rank the 6 issues into the level of difficulty for the
students
 Individually
 Discuss and compare your rank with that of others in the
group
What makes an issue
difficult for students?