Abstract:

The Montessori Method of education was developed by Maria Montessori at the begging of the 20th century. Since then, the educational philosophy has been used worldwide, usually with child from 3 to 12 years. In our ongoing project, we seek to expand this method to university classes. Our final propose is to use non-traditional schooling approach of this philosophy to reinforce students´ engagements and improve their critical thinking.

Specifically, in this paper, we propose a quantitative exercise based on the main guidelines of Montessori Method: a thoughtfully prepared and structured (online) environment that promote students´ independency to learn voluntarily. Firstly, we present the Maddison Project Database to student. The Database (open access) contains worldwide information on comparative economic growth and income levels over the very long run, including data on GDP, GDP per capital and population in the time span year 0 to 2018. Secondly, students should choose a country to analyse. Thirdly, during the courses of Economic History, Statistics and Macroeconomics, students would work on the database, through the lens of these different disciplines. Finally, students should write a report on including and mixing information from the difference perspectives.

Keywords:

Interdisciplinary teaching, University teaching, University class assignments.