hand, students now tend to be comfortable with (though not necessarily good at) using IT as part of their learning plan. These changes to our learner profiles have encouraged us to reflect on the appropriateness of the way in which we teach our discipline and to actively seek out methods that could enable us to enhance the experience of learning Economics for our students. The purpose of this short case study is to profile how LiveEcon can be used in the classroom to improve the way Economics is learnt, following extensive evaluation and development of the package at the University of Aberdeen. LiveEcon has been used both at Intermediate undergraduate level (these students had already taken a Principles level course in macroeconomics) and at conversion postgraduate level (typically these students had not had any or much prior exposure to Economics) over several years. One main purpose of introducing LiveEcon into the curriculum at the University of Aberdeen was to help students overcome a common barrier to the enjoyment of Economics, namely lack of confidence with mathematics. Many students today have, not just a lack of confidence with, but a fear of anything remotely quantitative. This may be due to negative prior experiences of mathematics (at school, for example), or a lack of repeat exposure to key techniques over a significant time period (as the school curriculum becomes thinner and more modular). Moreover, quantitative methods are not taught as part of many business degrees, so one cannot rely on students having this prerequisite. By Intermediate level, however, it becomes increasingly hard to teach effectively the complex and interrelated systems that characterise the macro economy without recourse to mathematics. Using LiveEcon was seen as a useful tool to smooth the transition to using these more sophisticated techniques allowing the student to get to – the understanding of macroeconomic policy without grinding through so much math. Moreover, the fundamentally visual and dynamic presentation embodied in LiveEcon sat comfortably with students' increased confidence with such an electronic medium. Introducing LiveEcon into the curriculum was achieved at several levels. First, the LiveEcon "tutorials" were used as a more modern form of "pre-reading" to support lecture, seminar or tutorial activity and encourage students to gain some familiarity with the key ideas before entering the classroom.
hand, students now tend to be comfortable with (though not necessarily good at) using IT as part of their learning plan. These changes to our learner profiles have encouraged us to reflect on the appropriateness of the way in which we teach our discipline and to actively seek out methods that could enable us to enhance the experience of learning Economics for our students. The purpose of this short case study is to profile how LiveEcon can be used in the classroom to improve the way Economics is learnt, following extensive evaluation and development of the package at the University of Aberdeen. LiveEcon has been used both at Intermediate undergraduate level (these students had already taken a Principles level course in macroeconomics) and at conversion postgraduate level (typically these students had not had any or much prior exposure to Economics) over several years. One main purpose of introducing LiveEcon into the curriculum at the University of Aberdeen was to help students overcome a common barrier to the enjoyment of Economics, namely lack of confidence with mathematics. Many students today have, not just a lack of confidence with, but a fear of anything remotely quantitative. This may be due to negative prior experiences of mathematics (at school, for example), or a lack of repeat exposure to key techniques over a significant time period (as the school curriculum becomes thinner and more modular). Moreover, quantitative methods are not taught as part of many business degrees, so one cannot rely on students having this prerequisite. By Intermediate level, however, it becomes increasingly hard to teach effectively the complex and interrelated systems that characterise the macro economy without recourse to mathematics. Using LiveEcon was seen as a useful tool to smooth the transition to using these more sophisticated techniques – allowing the student to get to the understanding of macroeconomic policy without grinding through so much math. Moreover, the fundamentally visual and dynamic presentation embodied in LiveEcon sat comfortably with students' increased confidence with such an electronic medium. Introducing LiveEcon into the curriculum was achieved at several levels. First, the LiveEcon "tutorials" were used as a more modern form of "pre-reading" to support lecture, seminar or tutorial activity and encourage students to gain some familiarity with the key ideas before entering the classroom.
using_liveecon_to_teach_macroeconomics.docx