e-conomics Supplements: The Antidote to Teaching and Learning Economics through Open and Distance Learning

Teaching and learning through distance education can be challenging for both the educator and the learner. The challenges are further intensified for quantitative courses such as Mathematics, Accounting, Finance and Economics. In conventional settings, learning occurs during classroom activities whe...

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Main Authors: Kek , Lilian Siew Yick, Chiam , Chooi Chea
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Published: 2009
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Online Access:https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/262/1/e-economics.pdf
https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/262/
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author Kek , Lilian Siew Yick
Chiam , Chooi Chea
author_facet Kek , Lilian Siew Yick
Chiam , Chooi Chea
author_sort Kek , Lilian Siew Yick
building OUM Library
collection Institutional Repository
content_provider Open University Malaysia
content_source OUM Knowledge Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
description Teaching and learning through distance education can be challenging for both the educator and the learner. The challenges are further intensified for quantitative courses such as Mathematics, Accounting, Finance and Economics. In conventional settings, learning occurs during classroom activities whereby learners do hands-on exercises, trial-and-error practices, and obtain on-the-spot feedback from their teachers throughout the course. Distant learners, on the other hand, mainly struggle through these courses in isolation. Educators also find it difficult to develop teaching and learning activities that cater to the needs of these isolated learners. Besides encouraging independent learning, they must also keep learners engaged, motivated and focused throughout the course. Due to the difficulty level of the courses, it is not surprising that these learners usually perform below average in their assessments. At the Open University Malaysia (OUM), The Economics Support Team (TEST) was formed to address the above issue. The team, made up of 5 subject matter experts in the field of Economics, designed a unique teaching and learning supplement, ẽ-conomics to support a level-4 course, Principles of Macroeconomics. A total of 60 learners from two OUM learning centres who participated in the study, received the ẽ-conomics supplements periodically throughout the course. At the end of the course, data was gathered from the participants using a 20-items questionnaire. The performances of the participants were then compared to the overall learner performance for the course. Results were tabulated and analysed using descriptive statistics. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of ẽ-conomics supplements in (1) enhancing teaching and learning activities (2) instill interest, motivation and confidence to learn the course; and (3) improve overall performance of learners in the course. The outcome of this study will be useful for Open and Distance Learning institutions to produce effective teaching and learning activities for Economics and other quantitative courses delivered through open distance learning. (Authors' abstract)
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institution Open University Malaysia
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spelling my.oum.2622013-05-27T04:08:32Z e-conomics Supplements: The Antidote to Teaching and Learning Economics through Open and Distance Learning Kek , Lilian Siew Yick Chiam , Chooi Chea LC5201 Education extension. Adult education. Continuing education Teaching and learning through distance education can be challenging for both the educator and the learner. The challenges are further intensified for quantitative courses such as Mathematics, Accounting, Finance and Economics. In conventional settings, learning occurs during classroom activities whereby learners do hands-on exercises, trial-and-error practices, and obtain on-the-spot feedback from their teachers throughout the course. Distant learners, on the other hand, mainly struggle through these courses in isolation. Educators also find it difficult to develop teaching and learning activities that cater to the needs of these isolated learners. Besides encouraging independent learning, they must also keep learners engaged, motivated and focused throughout the course. Due to the difficulty level of the courses, it is not surprising that these learners usually perform below average in their assessments. At the Open University Malaysia (OUM), The Economics Support Team (TEST) was formed to address the above issue. The team, made up of 5 subject matter experts in the field of Economics, designed a unique teaching and learning supplement, ẽ-conomics to support a level-4 course, Principles of Macroeconomics. A total of 60 learners from two OUM learning centres who participated in the study, received the ẽ-conomics supplements periodically throughout the course. At the end of the course, data was gathered from the participants using a 20-items questionnaire. The performances of the participants were then compared to the overall learner performance for the course. Results were tabulated and analysed using descriptive statistics. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of ẽ-conomics supplements in (1) enhancing teaching and learning activities (2) instill interest, motivation and confidence to learn the course; and (3) improve overall performance of learners in the course. The outcome of this study will be useful for Open and Distance Learning institutions to produce effective teaching and learning activities for Economics and other quantitative courses delivered through open distance learning. (Authors' abstract) 2009-09-12 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed text https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/262/1/e-economics.pdf Kek , Lilian Siew Yick and Chiam , Chooi Chea (2009) e-conomics Supplements: The Antidote to Teaching and Learning Economics through Open and Distance Learning. In: ICI9 - International Conference on Information, 12-13 August 2009, Kuala Lumpur. (Submitted) https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/262/
spellingShingle LC5201 Education extension. Adult education. Continuing education
Kek , Lilian Siew Yick
Chiam , Chooi Chea
e-conomics Supplements: The Antidote to Teaching and Learning Economics through Open and Distance Learning
title e-conomics Supplements: The Antidote to Teaching and Learning Economics through Open and Distance Learning
title_full e-conomics Supplements: The Antidote to Teaching and Learning Economics through Open and Distance Learning
title_fullStr e-conomics Supplements: The Antidote to Teaching and Learning Economics through Open and Distance Learning
title_full_unstemmed e-conomics Supplements: The Antidote to Teaching and Learning Economics through Open and Distance Learning
title_short e-conomics Supplements: The Antidote to Teaching and Learning Economics through Open and Distance Learning
title_sort e-conomics supplements: the antidote to teaching and learning economics through open and distance learning
topic LC5201 Education extension. Adult education. Continuing education
url https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/262/1/e-economics.pdf
https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/262/
url_provider http://library.oum.edu.my/repository/