Abstract:

With the recent introduction of the new degrees in Economics, Finance and Accounting and Business Administration and Marketing in 2011 the instructors of the microeconomics courses at the Jaume I University in Spain have created a Teaching Innovation Group devoted to the introduction of experiment based learning in the economics domain.

The main goals of the project are to facilitate and enrich student learning and to provide microeconomics teachers with useful materials to introduce innovative experiment based activities in their classroom.

The methodology used is that of experimental economics: students participate in laboratory sessions where a computer program reproduces the main characteristics of the market structures studied in introductory and intermediate microeconomics. After the students interactions determine the observed outcomes the theoretical model underlying the experiment is solved in the blackboard by the teacher. Finally, observed and predicted outcomes are graphically compared and orally discussed.

In order to facilitate this task, in 2013 we created the webpage: www.experimentosdeclase.es; where students and teacher can freely download the instructions, software, theoretical solutions and data analysis examples corresponding to each experiment. We are currently working on an English version of the page which we expect to complete for the next academic year. The attraction to new technologies and interactive environments that characterizes modern day students produces an increase in the motivation for the preparation of the microeconomics courses when we use this teaching software.

We are the only Spanish university that officially offers experimental lectures on its curriculum for the moment, and we want to share our materials so that other universities all over the world that are considering including these practices in their teaching/learning processes can benefit from our experience.

Keywords:

Innovation, microeconomics, experiments, Information Technologies.