Abstract:

Teaching Economics to students from faculties other than Economics or Business, such as Law schools, is complicated. The specific profile of these students demands the introduction of new activities for complementing the lectures, additional study material and bibliographic references suggested by the syllabus. The adaptation process to the European Space for Higher Education (EEES) provides an opportunity for incorporating new methodologies for making the student play the main role in the learning process. In this context, a group of lecturers belonging to an innovation group in teaching methodologies has started a pedagogical experience in the subject of Economics in the Laws School of the University of Barcelona.

This experience consists of a voluntary self-evaluation system that allows students to improve their knowledge in the subject and, consequently, increase their academic performance. This system includes a set of theoretical and practical questionnaires and exercises which can be answered online using the MOODLE platform. A virtual forum complements both the self-evaluation and the traditional personal tutoring systems.

In order to estimate the impact of this methodology three indicators have been selected. In first place, participation reports provided by MOODLE for each activity proposed. Second, an opinion survey to collect a broad assessment of the students about this experience. Finally, a comparison between academic year 2010/2011 (year in which auto evaluation exercises are implemented) and previous academic years.

Our preliminary results indicate that the methodology encourages visits to the Virtual Campus. In addition, visits supposed not only an increase in the number of hits on new exercises but also to the rest of available didactical resources. Moreover; survey opinion reveals a high level of acceptance of proposed exercises among students. In general, new exercises are perceived as effective indicator of students’ preparation. Finally, comparative analysis supports positive effects on academic scores with different improvement rates among teaching groups.

Keywords:

Self-evaluation, MOODLE, Virtual Campus.