Latest UK Passenger Transport by mode data

Here is the latest data on Passenger Transport by mode for the Dept of Transport for those colleagues teaching OCR #F584 Transport Economics

Essential Advice for A level Economists applying for Economics Degrees

The Higher Education Academy STEM team has just published advice on the level of mathematical and statistical skills needed for degree level courses in Economics

Key finding:

• over 80% of students stated there was much more Mathematics involved in their Economics degree programme than they expected
• in the majority of cases, there is considerable emphasis on algebra and calculus in Economics degrees 
• Students with only a Mathematics at GCSE level face a steep learning curve when starting their undergraduate studies in Economics.   

Full details here: Skills in Mathematics and Statistics in Economics and tackling transition

Video: the outlook for U.K. economy and housing market

A Wall Street Journal panel of WSJ’s  consider the outlook for U.K. economy and housing market over the coming months in this free Webcast. Sign up required

Varieties of Capitalism podcast

Here is a must-listen-to podcast from Radio 4 Analysis series on Varieties of Capitalism for students looking to read around traditional textbook economics:

In this edition of Analysis, Britain politics correspondent for The Economist Jeremy Cliffe investigates the different forms of capitalism defined by the Varieties of Capitalism school - most-famous for the book of the same name published in 2001.He begins by working out what makes a 'Liberal Market Economy' and a 'Coordinated Market Economy', and then digs deeper to find out how these different models formed in the first place.

Key resource for flipped learning: EconPlusDal

The biggest impact on my economics teaching is mini-whiteboards. Flipped learning is now becoming a realistic option with an excellent series of videos from EconPlusDal. 

Here are the complete playlists

• AS Microeconomics
• AS Macroeconomics 
• A2 Theory of the Firm and extension Why? A2 Theory of the firm

Average, marginal and total revenue curves - revision diagram

A treat for my Year 12 Economists:

8 Critical Skills For A Modern Education - and Economics teaching

I am struck by how much I resonate with the list of 8 Critical Skills For A Modern Education set out by TeachThought Staff

To what extent does Economics offer opportunities to embed these skills?

OCR AS & A2 Economics Schemes

For what it is worth here are the schemes of work I use at my school as an Excel Spreadsheet which can be edited for two staff

• A2 Economics OCR SoW
• AS Economics OCR SoW

The End of Combined Economics and Business Studies courses?

The Ofqual consultation "Completing GCSE, AS and A Level Reform" ( http://comment.ofqual.gov.uk/completing-gcse-as-and-a-level-reform/appendix-b/appendix-b/) indicates that Ofqual plan to discontinue Economics and Business Studies and Applied Business. So it looks like single economics or business studies is the only option from 2015?

Using Office Lense

I often find myself teaching in a traditional classroom. Here is an example of how a Windows Phone with the Office Lens app automatically converts a snap of whiteboard notes into something more legible - even given my hand writing

Before

After