Business School
Economics in Context
www.business.brookes.ac.uk
Teaching Economics to non-Economists
Judith Piggott & Fran Smith
Business School
Economics in Context
Economics for non-Economists
Business Economics
Usually compulsory
Unpopular
Packed syllabus
Traditional lecture/seminar format
Exam
Poor attendance
Very low averages
Very high failure rates
Little knowledge carried forward
Business School
Economics in Context
Meant….
Poor reputation of Economics on Business Degrees
Threat of cutting out of such degrees in present and future
Rethink required…
Starting point = a module to provide Economic Literacy
Michael K. Salemi (2005) “Teaching Economic Literacy: Why, What
and How”, International Review of Economics Education (vol.4, issue
2)
If it isn’t essential, leave it out.
Threshold Concepts work at Staffordshire University
Business School
Economics in context
Legacy Principle/approach
To be able to take something forward, even if limited
3 Things
Engage students with contemporary issues and use theory to explain
these
Enable them to have an economic perspective on contemporary
events
Leave them with a sense of what economics does and why it is
important
Business School
Economics in Context
Two big questions – Micro and Macro
Recession
Food Prices
What economics do students need to answer the questions?
Micro –
opportunity cost;
externalities
possibility frontiers
Supply & demand
Shifts
Elasticities
Business School
Economics in Context
Macroeconomics
Economic Growth
Consumption
Investment
Interest Rates
Government expenditure/taxes
Exports/Imports
Exchange Rates
Keynesian Aggregate Demand diagram
Fiscal & Monetary Policy
Business School
Economics in Context
Semester 1 – 126 students
Semester 2 – 215
8 weeks, 3 hours a week
Seminar – PBL format
Case studies,
Simple data,
Videos
Board Game
Lecture
Seminar – practice the economic concepts – more traditional
Business School
Economics in Context
Assessment
Individual
Powerpoint slides with notes
Groupwork
Presentation of flowchart
Instant feedback and mark
Group Report
Participation & Engagement mark
Business School
Economics in Context
What happened?
Average of old module – 42% sem 1 & 49% sem 2
Average of new module – 56% sem 1 & 55% sem 2
Failure rate old module – 37% sem 1; 18% sem 2
Failure rate new module – 6% both
Some change is due to –
coursework not exam
attendance mark
Groupwork
BUT
Average for individual was around 52% both semesters
Business School
Economics in Context
3 students applied to change to Economics Fields
Staff enjoyed it more – Associate staff very enthused
Feedback from students
Semester 1
Lectures 88% satisfied but 72% only felt they maintained interest
Seminars – 63% felt they supported learning and 53% interesting/varied
Assessment – 73% felt it was interesting
Semester 2
Lecture 90% satisfied and 85% felt interest was maintained
Seminars – 95% felt learning was supported and 95% felt they were
interesting and varied
Assessment – 90% found it interesting
Finally – Did the module “improve their understanding?
96% felt it did
Business School
Economics in Context
What will I change this year?
Not the format
Assessment
Powerpont slides – keeping
Groupwork –
Usual groupwork problems
University rules prohibit now
Replaced by…
Peer assessment – individual
Into the unknown…..
It is not perfect – but a step in the right direction – for us!
Business School
Legacy Principle
One of our main objectives was to create understanding that is carried
forward
Has this happened?
This is something we have to see in the future
And perhaps to test?