Teaching Business & Economics

Message From the Editor

Once more we see tension developing between those who want to steer students towards traditional academic subjects and those who favour innovative courses that offer wide-ranging opportunities for progression.

Using the Summer Conference Dvds

Three DVDs were distributed with the Autumn issue of Teaching Business & Economics, along with a full list of contents and running times for each clip (on pages 4 and 5 of that issue). PowerPoint presentations Some of the conference presentations provide teaching ideas and resources, but they will be best adapted by teachers to suit their own students and colleagues. There is good case study content covering external costs and government policy, and many opportunities to make the inform...

What Is the Future for Ba and the Other Major Flag Carriers in Europe?

According to Giovanni Bisignani, director general of IATA: The state of the airline industry is grim. [...] major changes to working practices are going to face significant obstacles in the form of the trade unions and further industrial unrest On 26 October 2009 members of the Unite union at BA were balloted about industrial action in response to the job cuts that BA announced earlier in the year and the airline's decision to reduce by one the number of senior cabin crew on its flights.

Making Cash Flow Fun

Personal outcomes January 1 Grandma gives you £40 because you got a good report from school 2 You lose £5 when a £5 note drops out of your pocket without you noticing 3 You sell your DVD player for £15 4 Someone steals £10 from your purse 5 Mum gives you £5 for doing your homework 6 You get paid £30 for delivering newspapers February 1 You win £30 on a scratch card 2 You buy a new pair of shoes for £15 3 You buy your brother's bike off him for £10 4 Mum gives you £50 pocket money 5 You earn £...

Teaching Quantitative Easing

First reactions were good: it's not too long or so densely worded as to be intimidating to students, and features large, clear illustrations and muted colourings.

Is It Time to Turn to Btec? A Review of the Changes to Btec for 2010

According to the QCF, one credit can be equated to 10 hours of "learning time". BTECs are nationally recognised qualifications, and business leaders have spoken favourably of the manner in which the learning on BTEC qualifications is related to the workplace, They praise the transferable skills that BTEC students gain from their courses, including skills relating to research, initiative, team-working and the ability to analyse a range of information. * BTECs are credible alternatives to acad...

Learning for the Twenty-First Century: Perspectives On the Diploma in Business, Administration and Finance

The Diploma Aggregation Service means that as soon as the learner has built up enough composite qualifications the diploma can be awarded at any time of the young person's life. Staff in schools and colleges are sharing their resources and knowledge for the benefit of all young people in their local area, Diane Lloyd is senior lecturer in applied learning at John Moores University. During the first half of the first term we found student attitudes changing - they were communicating with a r...

The Aqa Approach to Controlled Assessment in Business Subjects

Each GCSE controlled assessment in Business Studies, Applied Business, and Business and Communication Systems, has four features. * Task setting - AQA sets the tasks to be completed, helping to ensure that all candidates tackle the same investigations, These, however, can be adapted by centres to fit in with their local circumstances. * Task taking - candidates plan for and carry out the research needed to complete the tasks that encourage an investigative approach. * Final presentation - can...

Is a Level Business Studies a Soft Subject?

The ALIS website features analyses of the results from recent years based on predictions from average GCSE grades, regression analysis of performance using the middle 50 per cent of performers in GCSEs, and a relative ratings analysis. [...] there are many interesting arguments that could be started from this evidence, particularly if it is paired with the relative performance data reported above.

The Most Effective Teachers Are in a Class of Their Own

[This] revealed the interactions between classroom practice, teacher characteristics, professional life phase, school contexts and effectiveness, as defined by pupils' context value-added scores which take account of prior learning and a range of socioeconomic factors, together with teacher and pupil perceptions of effectiveness.

Edexcel Gcse Business: Building a Business: Student Book

[...] the "exam zone" pulls together each topic through a summary of what you should know and ending in a practice question. [...] I think the book will work well with average or above-average committed learners, but it would not be engaging for all learners.

Ocr Business Studies for Gcse

Each chapter is structured in a similar way, with learning outcomes clearly stated at the start of each chapter, knowledge content interspersed with activities, evaluation points and then, at the end of the chapter, a practice examination style question with tips on what the examiner is looking for. There are a significant number of activities within each chapter that could be successfully used within the classroom to meet assessment for learning needs, Many of these activities, while provid...

Marketing: A Guide to the Fundamentals

The subject matter is comprehensively covered, with particularly good sections on pricing policy and tactics, and market research. [...] some of the better commentary, such as the section on choosing the channel mix, could be easily missed by the average reader, User-friendliness **** An undoubted strength of this book is the impressively all-encompassing index.

Macroeconomics for As Level/Business Economics: Microeconomics for A2/the Year in Review and Revision Guide 2008-2009

Microeconomics for A2, Robert Nutter, Anforme, £7.95, ISBN 978-1-905504-31-2 The Year in Review and Revision Guide 2008-2009, Stephen Romer, Anforme, £6.95, ISBN 978-1-905504-28-2 Anforme have produced these handy resources for A level economics students. The Year in Review provides a nice look at our economy and actually uses the toolkit to good effect in analysing different areas in context.

Aqa Economics A2

Students also appreciate the clear summaries of the main points of the economic arguments, such as the section on restrictions on trade which has a brief discussion of four main arguments for and against protectionism, six protectionist techniques and a short case study, all in the space of three pages. [...] it might be useful for teachers to provide figures so that students can draw the kinked demand curve or monopoly diagrams themselves to see how they work, as only a couple of sketched d...

As Economics, Harris Elearning Economics Resources/A2 Economics, Harris Elearning Economics Resources

[...] there is very little application of theory at all. Since they are purchased through an annual subscription, there is no virtue (for the consumer) in its not being able to go out of date, and there is very limited use for a resource that does not relate economic concepts and theory to the world in which we live.

The Storm: The World Economic Crisis and What It Means, Vince Cable

Vince Cable takes us through the origins of the current crisis by analysing how the subprime mortgage-lending market came about in the USA and, through ever increasingly complicated financial structures, the risk associated with that lending spread throughout the world's financial markets. Cable positions himself with a foot in either camp: financial markets are ever subject to booms, bubbles bursting and panics but on the whole the benefits of markets in goods and services as well as the be...

The Long and the Short of It

While the scope of the book is firmly centred on investment today, the author goes back to other financial crises both in this century, and to the South Sea Bubble and the even earlier tulip craze, in search of parallels and insights into financial mismanagement.