Learning Economics thru Case Studies : a 12 week course

How can you learn Economics?

1. Reading a textbook

2. Watching videos

3. Listening to radio programmes

4. Reading newspapers

5. Attending seminars

Think how much more effective your learning would be if with all of those five you DISCUSSED what you were reading/listening to/watching?

That is the aim of this course: Effective Studying of Economics

We start off by explaining what Economics is and the advantages of studying this way. We then look at a real life company – Netflix – and the economic environment.

For the following 12 weeks – at the rate of one a week – we study a case study. The case study comes with notes, links for further research and discussion points.

Students then discuss the questions and – this is the important point – the discussion is with each other and the Instructor.  Like being in a class going through a case study and the Lecturer asking and answering questions as key points are explained.

This procedure is followed for 12 weeks and then another real-life case study – Apple – is discussed. also with areas/homework for further research.

Then the whole procedure is repeated – same case study, same questions – but by then more students have joined, bringing with them their own ideas, analysis, strategies and questions. the initial discussion acts as an Open Textbook and the original discussion acts as prompts. The economies have moved on but the questions remain, although the answers may well have changed.

Thus in the twelve weeks – plus two weeks for the extra case studies and one week for the familiarisation section, making fifteen weeks in total – students will have become fully immersed in various economies and the businesses therein. The case studies cover businesses in:

• India

• USA

• UK

• Japan

Apart from the originality of this approach – and that this is a proven way to learn quickly and thoroughly – a lot depends on student interactions and the input of the Instructor.

• Expect to work hard.

• Expect to focus

• Expect to learn

• Expect to enjoy.