Cynlluniau Astudio

Economics

JANUARY 2013

• Provide training in the principles of economics and their application appropriate to the type of degree concerned: single honours, joint honours or combined studies
• Stimulate students intellectually through the study of economics and to lead them to appreciate its application to a range of problems and its relevance in a variety of contexts
• Provide a firm foundation of knowledge about the workings of economic systems and to develop the relevant skills for the constructive use of that knowledge in a range of settings
• Develop in students the ability to apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired to the solution of theoretical and applied problems in economics
• Equip students with appropriate tools of analysis to tackle issues and problems of economic policy
• Develop in students, through the study of economics, a range of generic skills that will be of value in employment and self-employment
• Provide students with analytical skills and an ability to develop simplifying frameworks for studying the real world. They should be able to appreciate what would be appropriate levels of abstraction in order to study a range of economic issues
• Provide students with the knowledge and skill base, from which they can proceed to further studies in economics, related areas or in multidisciplinary areas that involve economics
• Generate in students an appreciation of the economic dimension of wider social political and environmental issues.

The learning outcomes of this programme are designed to meet the expectations of the latest QAA benchmarking statement for Economics (2007). The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, skills, qualities and other attributes in the following areas.

To achieve these aims, the Economics Major degree comprises the following elements:

1. A coherent core of economic principles. The understanding of these might be verbal, graphical or mathematical.
2. Economic principles should cover the microeconomic issues of decision and choice, the production and exchange of goods, the pricing and use of inputs, the interdependency of markets, the relationships between principals and agents, and economic welfare.
3. Economic principles should also include the macroeconomic issues of employment, national income, the balance of payments, the distribution of income, inflation, growth and business cycles, money and finance.
4. The understanding should extend to economic policy at both the microeconomic and macroeconomic levels. In all these, students should show an understanding of analytical methods and model-based argument and should appreciate the existence of different methodological approaches.
5. Relevant quantitative methods and computing techniques. These would include appropriate mathematical and statistical methods, including econometrics. Students should have exposure to the use of such techniques on actual economic, financial or social data, using suitable statistical or econometric software.
6. A knowledge and appreciation of the nature, sources and uses of economic data, both quantitative and qualitative.
7. Students should also have some knowledge of and an ability to select and apply appropriate methods that the economist might use to structure and analyse such data.
8. The applications of economics. Students should have the ability to apply a core of economic principles and reasoning to a variety of applied topics. They should also be aware of the economic principles that can be used to design, guide and interpret commercial, economic, social and environmental, policy.
9. Students should have the ability to discuss and analyse government policy and to assess the performance of the UK and other economies.

Teaching, learning and assessment methods used to enable outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated

Lectures, tutorials, seminars and problem based scenarios, group work, presentations and computer practicals. Dissemination of individual module outlines complete with reading lists, assessment methods and assignment instructions. Contact with module co-ordinators and lecturers. Feedback on assignments. University e-learning facility (ALTO).

Assessment -
Coursework - planning, preparatory research, writing and feedback.
Examination - seen, unseen and open book.
Project work - case studies, presentations and group work

10.2.1 Cognitive and intellectual skills

Students should be able to demonstrate a range of cognitive and intellectual skills together with techniques specific to economics. Key intellectual features that characterise the economist's approach include (no particular order of importance):

1. First there is the ability to abstract and simplify in order to identify and model the essence of a problem.
2. Second is the ability to analyse and reason - both deductively and inductively.
3. Third is the ability to marshal evidence and to assimilate, structure, analyse and evaluate qualitative and quantitative data.
4. Fourth is the ability to communicate results concisely to a wide audience, including those with no training in economics.
5. Fifth is the ability to think critically about the limits of one's analysis in a broader socio-economic context.
6. Sixth is the ability to draw economic policy inferences, to recognise the potential constraints in their implementation and to evaluate the efficacy of policy outcomes in the light of stated policy objectives.

Teaching, learning and assessment methods used to enable outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated

Lectures, tutorials, seminars and problem based scenarios, group work, presentations and computer practicals. Individual module outlines complete with reading lists distributed. Contact with module co-ordinators and lecturers. Feedback on assignments. On-line information.

Assessment -
Coursework - planning, preparatory research, writing and feedback.
Examination - seen, unseen and open book.
Project work - case studies, presentations and group work

10.2.2 Subject specific skills

Economics graduates should also possess subject-specific, rigorous skills. These skills may be summarised as follows.

1. Abstraction. From the study of economic principles and models, students see how one can abstract the essential features of complex systems and provide a useable framework for evaluation and assessment of the effects of policy or other exogenous events. Through this, the typical student will acquire proficiency in how to simplify while still retaining relevance. This is an approach that they can then apply in other contexts, thereby becoming more effective problem-solvers and decision-makers.
2. Analysis, deduction and induction. Economic reasoning is highly deductive, and logical analysis is applied to assumption-based models. However, inductive reasoning is also important. The development of such analytical skills enhances students' problem-solving and decision-making ability.
3. Quantification and design. Data, and their effective organisation, presentation and analysis, are important in economics. The typical student will have some familiarity with the principal sources of economic information and data relevant to industry, commerce, society and government, and have had practice in organising it and presenting it informatively. This skill is important at all stages in the decision-making process.
4. Framing. Through the study of economics, a student should learn how to decide what should be taken as given or fixed for the purposes of setting up and solving a problem, ie what the important 'parameters' are in constraining the solution to the problem. Learning to think about how and why these parameters might change encourages a student to place the economic problem in its broader social and political context. This 'framing' skill is important in determining the decision-maker's ability to implement the solutions to problems.

From learning economic principles, the typical student acquires a facility with some key concepts that are present in most of the decision problems that they are likely to face subsequently in their careers. This transferability is evidenced by the wide range of careers into which graduates in economics move. The development of these skills is particularly emphasised in the course of an undergraduate degree through the study of economic principles and economic methods.

Key skills include:

1. Communicate effectively, orally and in writing, using a range of media and formats which are widely used in Economics and its applications.
2. Demonstrate effective self-management in terms of time, planning and behaviour, motivation, self-starting, individual initiative and enterprise.
3. Demonstrate self reflection and criticality including self awareness, openness and sensitivity to diversity in terms of people, cultures, and the impact of economic decisions on a wide range of issues.
4. Demonstrate the skills of learning to learn and developing a continuing appetite for learning; reflective, adaptive and collaborative learning.

Students should also be able to demonstrate mastery of the following key concepts:

5. Opportunity cost - a problem solver or decision-maker must routinely ask 'what would have to be given up if...', where the answer does not always involve a simply calculated financial cost. It is often the case that actions are proposed that fail to recognise forgone alternatives. Opportunity cost allows the economist to think about the costs in terms of all resources. There are many examples of economic policies which enhance efficiency yet reduce equity and vice-versa, or where gains in one time period involve costs in other time periods. All of these examples encourage an appreciation of inevitable trade-offs.
6. lncentives - economists are trained to recognise and evaluate the incentives implied by particular rules, and how to establish sets of rules that actually lead people to react in ways that give rise to some intended outcome. The ability to think logically about these issues is essential in the effective design of both policy and strategy
7. Equilibrium, disequilibrium and stability - these are concepts that economists make heavy use of and the typical graduate will have seen these deployed in economic argument with great regularity. The concept of equilibrium is a state where no participant has any incentive to change behaviour. The ability to recognise disequilibria and appreciate their stability properties, and to think coherently about reactions to this, are essential ingredients of good decision-making
8. Strategic thinking - economists learn the importance of strategic thinking, and the roles of opportunities, strategies, outcomes, information and motivation in the analysis of strategic actions, including conflict, bargaining and negotiation
9. Expectations and surprises - economists learn that behaviour partly depends on experience and partly on peoples' perceptions of what is expected to happen. Thus behaviour may change when unanticipated events occur. Effective decision-making requires the skill of reacting in a context where people's behaviour is based on expectations that may be confounded by subsequent surprises. Students in economics will have been exposed to these issues and this will enhance their potential effectiveness as decision-makers
10. The relevance of marginal considerations - economists are trained to recognise that important decisions often relate to small variations in key variables and parameters. An action is worth undertaking if the additional benefit that accrues is greater than the additional cost incurred. The typical student in economics will be fully aware of the importance of the margin relative to the average
11. The possible gains from voluntary exchange - economists study and measure the net gains that people, institutions and countries can obtain from economic interaction in the form of specialisation, employment, exchange and trade. The identification and measurement of gains relative to costs and the barriers to maximising net gains are important in devising appropriate policies to optimise the use of scarce resources with respect to various individual, institutional, political. social and environmental objectives
12. Systems and dynamics - many economic decisions or events can start a complex chain of events. Economists gain an understanding of the interrelationships between economic phenomena and how effects can accumulate or die away. The ability to see beyond the direct or short-term effects is a crucial insight that economists can bring to analysing the effects of both deliberate decisions and external shocks.

Teaching, learning and assessment methods used to enable outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated

Formal teaching in lectures. Use of seminars and tutorials to reinforce subject teaching, often by means of problem based scenarios and case studies. Guided learning is provided by individual module outlines and supplementary reading lists specifying sources of relevant information, available in hardcopy and on blackboard- Group work and presentations may be used as appropriate. Prompt feedback on assignments is provided.