CONNECTING ECONOMIC THEORY TO THE REAL-WORLD EVENTS THROUGH THE CASE METHOD

The purpose of this paper is to describe our experience about using the case method into the teaching of macroeconomic theory. The case method has been introduced within subject´s methodology by two different ways: embeded in the lectures and as a complementary activity to the lecture. In the former, teachers guided students to review newspaper articles on economic news related to the contents of the lecture. In the latter, by the end of the course, students were asked to analyse an audio-based case related to the global contents of the subject. The motivation of these activities is connecting the economic theories with real economic world, in order to raise students´ interest in the subject and the development of certain skills. In this paper, we compare the contribution of each case methodology to achieve these objectives through the assessment realized by students. The results will show the contribution of each method to the learning process of students and which of them is more effective to this purpose, based on the opinion of students.