Economics Network Update
April 2008
1. Staff news
We are all set to welcome Miriam Best, an economics placement student from UWE who will be working with us full time from July for a year. Miriam will be focusing on developing the Why Study Economics? website. Jessica Thomson (née Lincoln) is due to go on maternity leave at the end of May. We say goodbye to Alan Shipman as our cataloguer, who has a new position at the Open University – though we hope to remain in touch and work with him in the future.
2. Census of economics programmes
The Economics Network has now completed the process of conducting a census of economics provision in UK higher education. Three reports are now available to download on the website focusing on introductory micro- and macroeconomics, intermediate micro- and macroeconomics and introductory maths and statistics. nomics n etwork.ac.uk/projects/census.htm
3. Learning and Teaching Development Projects
Previously known as Mini Projects – now with a name change to reflect their importance. The 2008 call for bids was issued in Spring and we had received 8 bids by the 2 of May (closing date 6 May).
4. JISC DELII elearning Projects
The four projects are 2-year projects running until March 2008 and are:
· Mathematics for Economics and Business: Online Real-World Case Studies
· Developing Metalearning Capacity in Economics (using an online learning inventory and support materials)
· Academic Performance Profiler for Economics
· The Anorak Test: Simple eLearning Tips for Economics Lecturers
nomicsnetwork.ac.uk/projects/elearning.htm
5. Handbook for Economics Lecturers
Two new chapters have been added to the Handbook:
· “Teaching Heterodox Economics Concepts” by Andrew Mearman , Department of Economics, University of the West of England, addresses the why and how of including heterodox approaches in an Economics course. It considers three different strategies, each with examples: 1) adding heterodox concepts to an orthodox module; 2) creating a dedicated module and 3) combining parallel perspectives in the same course. The chapter also offers tips and resources.
· “Undergraduate Research in Economics” by KimMarie McGoldrick, Department of Economics, University of Richmond, deals thoroughly with the topic of undergraduate research projects, from general principles through to specifics. The chapter includes two self-contained case studies and also has examples of grading rubrics and other documents.
nomicsnetwork.ac.uk/handbook
We have also commissioned new Handbook chapters on supporting international lecturers and students in economics; games and experiments and threshold concepts.
6. What’s new on the Economics Network website?
· Themed pages (by subject specialism and by teaching/learning area, such as assessment, the use of Excel, teaching assistants and new lecturers, plagiarism, maths support and employability) – the latest one – Finding audio and video materials
· Lecturer and student diaries
· Economics in Action: blog, audio podcasts and alumni videos
· YouTube versions of student videos and keynotes from the DEE conference
· Many more worksheets and other learning materials
· Many new ‘sharing experience’ case studies
· Redesigned Why Study Economics website (www.whystudyeconomics.ac.uk), including iPod versions of student videos
Themes
Theme documents are succinct guides to the important resources in an area related to teaching economics. New themes on the site include:
· Student Motivation and Active Learning
· Employability and Entrepreneurship
· Linking Research and Teaching
· Experiments and Games in the Classroom
· Finding audio and video materials
http://www. economicsnetwork.ac.uk/themes
New Learning Materials
Increasingly, lecturers are using our site to share learning materials with the community, whether as outputs of a mini-project or simply as a favour to colleagues struggling with the same issues. We give full attribution, and providing materials in Word or other easily customisable formats. Contact if you are interested.
· Mathematical Concepts for Economists case studies
These documents cover topics such as the housing market or economics of sport, spelling out the mathematical concepts used with algebra and graphs. They have been produced by staff at Nottingham Trent University to illustrate the importance of mathematics in economic analysis.
nomic s networ k .ac.uk/archive/maths_worksheets
· Case Studies in Competition and Collusion
Vindelyn Smith-Hillman at the University of Northampton teaches microeconomics using a case-study method, aiming to “foster analytical development and also cater to mainstream business students who are taking an economics minor”. Student handouts and detailed teaching notes are being put online as the result of a mini-project.
nomicsnetwork.ac.uk/projects/mini/smithhillman_casestudies
· Student Handouts on Excel
Created by David Allen at the University of the West of England, these handouts use screen shots to guide students through creating and formatting a data plot in Excel, and exporting it to Word.
nomicsnetwork.ac.uk/archive/allen_app/handout
· Worksheets for Problem-Based Learning tasks in Economics
A number of lecturers using Problem-Based Learning are sharing the materials they have developed. The latest worksheets deal are from courses in Economic Growth and Principles of Macroeconomics.
nomicsnetwork.ac.uk/themes/activelearning
· Excel PPF game
Created by James Mackley at Swansea University, this Excel application helps illustrate the Production Possibility Frontier by giving a live plot of students’ “production” in a classroom game.
nomicsnetwork.ac.uk/showcase/mackley_ppfgame
· LSE Materials
Margaret Bray has provided an online handbook for students on “Writing for Economics” and a set of teaching materials on the topic of Income Tax
nomicsnetwork.ac.uk/archive/lse_writing/
nomicsnetwork.ac.uk/archive/lse_income_tax/
7. Student survey
The Economics Network has run its fourth biennial on-line Students Survey from 13th of February until the 30th April. A total of 2021 students from 68 departments took part in it, the highest number of respondents yet. Disappointingly, some departments decided not to take part due to NSS pressures.
As usual, the departmental results will be confidential to the department and national results will be posted on our website.
8. Students competition
We had 44 submissions this year: an unprecedented number.
The judging panel has now met and agreed to give the first prize to James Pickering (Oriel College, Oxford), second prize to Robert Denham (University of Bristol) and third prize to Vivienne Tong (Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge).
Five students who were also shortlisted received commendations. They are Eleonora Fichera (University of Nottingham), Rachel Waterworth (Lancaster University), Sarah Burton (Hertford College, Oxford), Smruti Sriram (St. Peter's College, Oxford), Edoardo Gallo (Nuffield College, Oxford).
We plan to publish the three winning essays, together with the five other short listed ones, on our site in the near future.
9. USB memory sticks
As part of our publicity strategy we have produced 1GB USB memory sticks, with half of each full of our resources and half empty for the lecturer to use. We have ordered 3000 of sticks and are in the process of sending them to departments for all lecturers and GTAs of economics.
9. 2008 Learning and Teaching Awards
Please encourage colleagues to participate in this year’s awards. Again we have three categories: outstanding teaching award; student nominated award; and the eLearning award. The deadline is Friday 6th June. Each winner will receive ￡250. Additional information, including submission guidelines and online nomination forms are available at:
www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/awards/
10. Workshops
· Assessment and Feedback
London, Wednesday 7 May 2008
· Using Problem Based Learning in Teaching Economics and Business
London, Thursday 8 May 2008
· Using Threshold Concepts to plan teaching and assessment in Economics
Coventry, Thursday 15 May 2008
· Teaching Development Economics
Birmingham, Wednesday 21 May 2008
· Using Problem Based Learning in Teaching Economics and Business
Manchester, Tuesday 10 June 2008
· Economics Postgraduate Teaching Assistants/Tutors
Lancaster, Monday 16 June 2008
· Motivating International Students
Bristol, Friday 26 June 2008
Details about these workshops including online booking forms are available on our website:
nomicsnetwork.ac.uk/news/
Economics Network · May 2008 · Page 4 of 4