Abstract:

The present paper aims to describe a new academic methodology applied to undergraduate students in the subject of International Economics. This methodology has been implemented during the academic year 2009/2010 and, hence, the obtained results, in terms of the achieved academic performance, will be described.
In particular, the subject International Economics is compulsory and is taught in the second year of Business Administration studies. In previous years, it was observed that students were not achieving the expected results in terms of motivation and academic performance. Therefore, in the present academic year, and with the support of a virtual platform, a new methodology has been implemented.
The theoretical part of the subject was accumulated in the first two months of the semester. During the rest of the semester, students had to work in teams a dossier, which includes a more realistic view of the subject (economic news, practical exercises, and other activities). They had the option to plan tutorials (both virtual and presential) with the professors and the autonomous student work was highly promoted. Preliminary results show an important increase in students ‘motivation, as well as an increase in the participation and students’ autonomy.

Keywords:

methodology, virtual platform, dossier, team work, students' autonomy.