International Economics as a class, expands the studies from Microeconomics and Macroeconomics to consider how countries trade goods and services. This requires a specific attention to currency comparative values. Discover how to find meaningful data, use it, and understand how cycles, trends, and political interventions interact across countries. Rarely do International Economics events happen without cause. Often, they happen in combinations of government policies and technological advancements. This field of study examines how companies trade goods and services with economies determining ultimate profitability.
International Economics studies the GDP of trading countries to discover financial trade-offs.
General Education Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to demonstrate the following competencies:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of economics as applied to businesses in the USA. Study how they interact with businesses in other countries, especially trading partners.
- Develop an understanding of self and the world by examining the dynamic interaction of individuals, groups, and societies. Discover how they shape and are shaped by history, culture, institutions, and ideas through business interactions, commodity and service trading.
- Utilize Social Science approaches, such as research methods, inquiry, and problem-solving. Examine the variety of perspectives about human experience using a variety of communication venues. Extend these to culminate with professionally written reports and presentations.
- Evaluate how reasoning, history, and culture informs and guides individuals, civic, and global decisions.
- Understand and appreciate similarities and differences among and between individuals, cultures, or societies across space and time.
I challenge you to “think like an economist!”
International Economics Specific Learning Outcomes
International Economics strives to magnify what has been learned in earlier economics courses (Microeconomics and Macroeconomics). Real-life experiences explore explanations for what has happened in the global economy. More to the point, look at what is happening now from an economics standpoint. Emphasis is placed on analysis and critical thinking to gain understanding of applied principals of economics on the global level.
11 International Economics Videos in Playlist
Dr. Bill Schlosser’s Economics YouTube Channel
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Dr. Bill Economics Channel
Or, click the YouTube logo!
I make YouTube videos a part of the classes I teach. On-demand videos allow a consistent message from student to student, and between classes and semesters. The YouTube video format was something that became totally available only as PowerPoint was upgraded to Office version 2016. Onscreen video recordings were enabled, and bandwidth was augmented into realistic speeds. I place videos on my YouTube Channel page for the classes I teach. At the same time, I also augment the lecture videos with class assignments delivered through the demonstration videos.
These videos help learners discover how to use these tools to make their own videos. Students were tasked to write a term report in their Word processing program of choice, like MS Word. They were asked to use the program’s features to really use the program’s features.
- Apply Style Sheets,
- Create an automated lists:
- Table of Contents,
- List of Figures,
- List of Tables,
- Literature Cited.
- Apply the References Cited mechanism to accurately cite their sources.
Everyone knows how to use these, right? “I’ve been using MS Word for my entire life. Of course I know everything!” By the end of a class with Dr. Bill, they knew so much more. Maybe more important, they learned to know, what they didn’t know.
Term Reports to Videos
After Term Reports were completed and approved, students then made a PowerPoint presentation. They wrote a script to narrate their show. Edit, then edit again. Then they recorded their narration onto their computer – their voice. After all preparations were set, students then imported their digitally mastered audio tracks into their PowerPoint show. Here they set timing and automation on each slide, and exported it an MP4 video. The presentation video is then exported to the student’s YouTube Channel where it is viewed by other class-students. This is the Discussion Board format, commented on, discussed, and made part of the class experience.
In Economics classes, students learn of Frictional Unemployment, where employees do not possess the skills expected of them. The adoption of Tech Tools for Learner Success is one of those Frictional Unemployment protections I created for students. Experiment and learn to find abstract in your concrete examples.
Measuring Student Success
I initially taught economics classes using PowerPoint slide shows to deliver lectures. Students were provided my PowerPoint presentation shows to reference. I asked all participants to prepare their term reports, but I provided no guidance to use the software. They were instructed to deliver their term report presentations as live-events: 15 minutes per student.
The end of semester class grades followed a normal bell shaped curve distribution. The average student received a B- grade. I transitioned to make all lectures delivered as YouTube videos I created, with my scripted subtitles. MS Office Word and PowerPoint technologies became a part of the class lectures and videos. Class grade results changed. The end of semester grades increased dramatically. The bell shaped curve transitioned into an inverted J-curve with 92% of students receiving an A- or A. A few classes resulted in average students earning a B or B+. In each class, only a few students out of 100 failed the course they took.
I became better at delivering the content of the course. But more importantly, students took the challenge to empower themselves to learn more than a topic in a class.