PRINCIPLES OF MACROECONOMICS - 2023/4

Module Overview

In this module we pose the 'big' questions about the economy, study the relevant data, build models that help explain what we observe, and evaluate these models.

Module provider

Economics

Module Leader

WANG Zhe (Economics)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

The module encompasses inequality, labour and financial markets, fiscal and monetary policy, and economic growth in the short-run and in the long-run.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

If not possible to complete the group policy report during the term, then an alternative assessment will be an individual policy report. 

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate that they have achieved the module’s learning outcomes and, by association, developed their digital capabilities, employability skills, and global and cultural intelligence among other module attributes.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• 
  A midterm test, which is connected to learning outcome 1 (20%). Students are challenged to solve problems in macroeconomics under time constraint, which develops their resourcefulness and resilience, as well as preparing them for the world of work where data-based decisions may need to be made fast.
  


• 
  A policy report, which is connected to learning outcomes 2 and 3 (40%). Students’ employability is enhanced by assuming the professional role of an economic policy adviser using data to offer government economic policy insights and make recommendations to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The “Economic Policy Report” requires students to have practiced on sourcing and working with data, and exhibit resourcefulness in their approach to delivering output of a professional presentational standard.
  


• 
  A final examination, which is connected to learning outcome 1 (40%). Here students can critically engage with the literature in the context of a topic in macroeconomics.
  

Formative assessment

Weekly self-tests with built-in feedback are provided to enhance student learning in the way described earlier.

Feedback

The module features a designated forum facilitating guided discussions on global and cultural aspects of the module’s content. The feedback provided in these discussions is developmental in nature by encouraging students to become critically thinking global citizens.

Feedback on the module’s summative assessments is in the following forms:

Solutions and guidance to the multiple-choice test (assessment 1) are released at the end of the assessment. The Economic Policy Report benefits from feedback which is made available through special forms. These are posted on each student’s individual space on SurreyLearn, within the University’s designated deadlines and include comments on student performance and advice on how to improve, where appropriate.

Module aims

• To help students understand how macroeconomic analysis is based on microeconomic behaviour and aggregation
• Enhance students' global and cultural capabilities by adopting a global perspective to analyse the mechanics of different economic models with an emphasis on inequality within and across countries
• Improve students' digital capabilities by using statistical software to analyse data and apply economic concepts

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to ensure that students achieve the module’s learning outcomes and develop competencies in the corresponding aspects of the curriculum framework (employability, digital capabilities, global and cultural intelligence, resourcefulness and resilience).

Students have access to pre-recorded mini videos summarizing the learning outcomes of the week and encompassing basic concepts in macroeconomics in advance of the weekly live sessions. The captured content (mini videos) is focused on using real world examples to motivate the material, proposing models to understand the relevant empirical observations, and discussing the limitations of these models.

The live sessions comprise of workshops and tutorials. Workshops build on the pre-recorded videos to enhance student learning outcomes via solving exercises interactively, discussing case studies and engaging in online polling. Guided discussions focus on the global dimensions of economic experience, problems, and solutions. Tutorials are focused on providing students with more practice in solving problems with the aim of building their confidence.  

There is also weekly guided learning in the form of self-tests with built-in feedback. These tests do not carry any marks and are mapped to the week’s material to ensure that students have had several opportunities to achieve the week’s learning outcomes.

Students who actively participate in the module's activities will be well prepared to engage with the module’s assessments. On passing the module they will be ready to progress to ECO2052 Intermediate Macroeconomics 1 in level 5, where more advanced concepts and applications are encountered.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ECO1019

Other information

The School of Economics is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:

Employability. Through the module’s learning and assessment activities, and especially the economic policy report, students develop independent judgement and cognitive skills that enable them to reflect critically on their own practice.

Digital Capabilities. Students will work with suitable programming software in the context of their individual report. This is done at an introductory level and builds on skills learned in ECO1017 Economic Data Analysis.

Global and Cultural Intelligence. By considering examples and case studies from different cultures/countries relating to the module’s content and discussing these in class and in the designated discussion forum, students are encouraged and supported to develop an appreciation for the world around them beyond their immediate context.

Resourcefulness and Resilience. Students will demonstrate their ability to respond to problem-based task requirements and supported to develop a positive attitude to feedback.

 

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2023/4 academic year.