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 Ratings
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| Reviewed: |
Mar 18, 2003 by Business Editorial Board |
| Overview: |
This site contains a set of lecture notes, organized by topic, providing a basic
introduction for A-level Economics students in the UK. There are 21 topics,
each presented on a single (long) page, with almost no graphs or illustrations.
Each page has a box with a set of drop-down menus with key terms that link to
resources in the general Biz/ed database -- Definitions, Internet Resources, In
the News.
Definitions links to a Glossary of terms, with related diagrams and related
URLs. Internet Resources links to related URLs, each accompanied by a 1
paragraph description and keywords. In the News links to a search engine of The
Guardian newspaper business and economics news. Results, in the form of 1
paragraph items, are presented in reverse chronological order, but without
titles or other summary information.
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| Learning Goals: |
This is a comprehensive reference resource of terms and concepts for A-level
Economics. It provides an online reference of economic concepts to assist
students in principles of economics courses.
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| Target Student Population: |
Students and teachers of UK A-level (16+) Economics. Integration of UK
institutional descriptions with theoretical tools makes this appropriate only
for UK students and teachers.
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| Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: |
This reference material is best utilized as a supplement to a Principles in
Economics course.
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| Type of Material: |
Reference material
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| Recommended Uses: |
Not to be used alone, these notes might serve as a dictionary-like resource for
students enrolled in A-level courses. This material could also be used as a
study guide in reviewing both the definitions of terms and simple, yet clear,
examples. The instructor could use it as an online glossary to supplement his
own online material.
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| Technical Requirements: |
Browser
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| Strengths: |
There is complete coverage of A-level topics, relatively concise presentation of
what normally requires a complete textbook.
There are excellent definitions of all basic economic terms. Each term is
accompanied by an illustrative example that is clear and concise.
The topics and associated sub-topics in the Table of Contents is consistent with
and follows the major Principles of Economics textbooks currently used in
universities and colleges.
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| Concerns: |
This is essentially a text-only presentation of core economic concepts,
organized taxonomically. There are almost no graphs to illustrate the textual
presentation of material that is most intuitively grasped by students in
graphical form. Where graphs do appear, they are crudely drawn, presented
without context or derivation, and are not explained (e.g., the AD/AS diagram
is used for first time in discussing Demand-pull inflation, without ever being
developed or explained).
There is no flow to the material, and few linkages between concepts. The
institutional material, potentially more interesting, is presented factually
without attempts to engage the student.
Although some data have been updated to the late 1990s, there is other outdated
information ? references to the USSR, birth rate data ending in 1988, wealth
data ending in 1983, a balance of payments example from 1985.
Cost definitions (ATC, MC, MR) appear without the graphs that make concepts
understandable.
Textbook publishers, more and more, are providing similar reference material in
companion websites and CD-ROM.
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Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool |
Rating:   |
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| Strengths: |
While the presentation of the concepts is not engaging, the links through the
Resource box on each topic page create the potential for students to find more
engaging,
relevant material. Instructors could refer to
specific concepts as links from other content pages where such terms are
presented or used.
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| Concerns: |
This is not a stand-alone resource. It would need to be used in course context,
but presuming the course has a textbook or instructor lecture notes, there
would be little value-added to these notes. There are no tools to assist the
student ? no learning exercises, key concept summaries, or learning objectives.
While the Resource box links have potential, they also have important drawbacks.
All Resource links change the page in the single browser window, making it
impossible to view the initial presentation of the concept together with the
enhanced resource. Resource links should open in a separate window.
Definitions link to a standard Biz/ed Glossary page with the Definition, Related
Diagrams, Related Glossary Terms, Related URLs, and Related Acronyms. The
Related Diagrams were most useful, but required 3 clicks to get to. These
diagrams were often in colour (so why not the diagrams in the text itself?), but
did not have explanations or derivations. There were only a handful of Glossary
pages that had any Related URLs listed.
The Internet Resources link in the Resources box linked to a Biz/ed database,
and each match has a useful 1 paragraph description and keywords for the URL.
But searches produce unwieldy quantities of information (population has 154
matches, Supply and Demand has 60 matches, trade unions has 130 matches),
presented 10 entries to a page, with no obvious priorities. For example, the
?national debt? entry yields, in order, 1) Central Bank of Kenya, 2) Russian
Ministry of Finance (in Russian),
3) Georgian Economic Trends. The search for
?World Trade Organization (WTO)? yields 25 matches, with the WTO website
appearing seventh, outranked by the World Tourism Organization and Georgian
Economic Trends.
The In the News link in the Resources box links to a search engine of The
Guardian business and economics news. Results, in the form of 1 paragraph items,
are presented in reverse chronological order, but without titlesor other
summary information. One must read through entire descriptions to judge
relevance.
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Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty |
| Rating: |
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| Strengths: |
The notes are relatively easy to use, as all material for each of the 21 topics
appears on a single page. Uniform Resources Box (with drop-down options for
links) appears at top of each page.
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| Concerns: |
There is no table of contents on the opening page (until one scrolls down to a
link at the bottom). One must click through to a subject page before contents
appears as an option at top of page.
Subject links at the top of each page simply move you down the page to the
appropriate sub-section. The pages are extremely long.
The fonts are small and light. There is little formatting, and text is hard to
read. The few graphs are crudely drawn.
Using the Resource box (links to other resources) replaces existing material in
the single browser window. Links should open in a new window so user can relate
resources to material being studied.
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| Other Issues and Comments: |
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