The unit is taught well, with a very constructive approach to

learning basic macroeconomics. Each topic smoothly flows onto

the next topic and the lecturer is easy to understand.. The unit

does not require extensive maths or actuarial knowledge as it is

mainly basic economic theory which will be examined.

While the theory concepts can be learnt through the

textbook/lecture slides, the lectures are important in learning how

to apply those concepts to examples. This is important because

students’ answers to exam questions should be in line with the

lecturer’s thinking/approach to a topic. Students should be

listening out for key relationships between topics, thought flows

for a certain topic and links between topics. 

The tutorials can either be in person or via zoom, and attendance

is recorded but holds no weighting to the final mark. It is

important to attend tutorials as students will need to present their

country analysis activity at some point in the semester. In these

tutorials, the tutor provides exam-style answers to weekly

questions and allows for discussion on topics covered in the

lecture. It is recommended to complete tutorial questions before

the tutorial to get the most out of class.

The in-semester tests run for 15 minutes each. Test 1 covers

topics 1-4 and Test 2 covers topics 5-8. Students will be randomly

assigned one question out of three possible options and will be

required to provide a written response and potentially a diagram

to support their answer. Students are encouraged to prepare their

response to ALL three questions in advance so that they are not

caught off guard in the assessment.

For the country analysis assessment, students will work in pairs

and be required to answer one application style question relating

to a country which is allocated to them. There is both a written

and presentation component to this assessment, so students

must be comfortable with presenting to a large group in order to

score well. The written report should provide some historical

context and reasonable justification as to the decisions made by

the student to address the report issue.

The final exam consists of 15 multiple-choice questions and 4

short answer questions. The written component is weighted more

heavily than the MCQ’s because the questions are higher order

application questions. Students must be comfortable with the

latter parts of the unit to score well in the final exam, as many of

the application style questions require preliminary knowledge

from weeks 1-4 combined with the harder topics in weeks 7-11.

The exam is a closed book exam, so it is recommended to plan

each answer before writing up the final answer. Luckily, the

Moodle tests throughout the semester prepare students very well

for how questions in the exam will be structured. There should be

more than a sufficient amount of time available to complete all

questions, provided enough preparation is done.

The most important thing to do in order to score well in this unit is

to establish what the cause and effect relationships are in each

topic. The way to do this is by listening to the lecturer and writing

down what the causes are for a topic and how that topic is

influenced by them (eg: if expenditure increases from variable x, if

unemployment decreases from variable y etc). Consistently doing

this on a week by week basis will ensure that you are developing a

strong understanding of the topics taught.