Macroeconomics in practice: using WIKIS for collaborative learning

Abstract

This project is based on the creation of collaborative wikis for students of Macroeconomics to elaborate a final work in which they apply the theoretical knowledge learnt in the subject to the real world. The initiative was implemented during the course 2015-2016 and aimed at 140 students enrolled in the subject at the Degree of Finance and Accountancy of the University of Cadiz. To emphasize the link between the theories explained in class and the real world, in previous courses we have already used news and other resources. With this project, we now introduce the use of wikis, which consist on the creation of a website to allow collaborative creation and modification of contents and structure from the web browser. Students were organized in 44 teams, of about 3 members, to examine data on a certain macroeconomic variable (i.e. inflation or GDP), in a particular geographical context (i.e. G20 or EU countries). The objectives of the project include: i) to enhance learning and comprehension of theoretical knowledge and ii) to contribute to the development of skills related to the subject, such as the skill to apply the acquired knowledge, the skill to analyze and search information and teamwork. Students’ opinions gathered from a survey at the end of the course suggest that these objectives have been achieved.