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Teaching Economics to those who did not choose it as their main field of study is challenging. According to Sotomarino and Esparza (2022), complications may arise because of student’s previous training in basic economic concepts, mathematics, and statistics, as well as weak abstraction and inference skills necessary in this area of knowledge. Therefore, it is essential to identify the students’ profiles and previous knowledge to design appropriate learning experiences that facilitate their achievement of learning objectives.
At the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), we were tasked with teaching a course on Economics Applied to Tourism for students of the Faculty of Gastronomy, Hospitality and Tourism (GHOT) whose focus is oriented to developing new products and services. Notably, the students did not previously learn micro and macroeconomic issues, which generated special conditions and challenges for the course delivery. Knowing the profile of the student body is crucial to adapting the class to their needs. In this article, we share our experience.
According to Lora and Ñopo (2009), economics students in Latin American universities are somewhat dissatisfied due to this subject’s lack of innovative teaching methods. Hence, it is imperative to improve the teaching of Economics and involve students from the beginning and throughout their learning process.
Prototype for teaching economics to non-economists
We designed learning experiences relating to everyday situations of interest to GHOT students in their fields of action. We applied economic concepts in practical cases, role-playing, and serious game dynamics to achieve the desired learning.
It was vital for us as teachers that students understand the relevance of the economics course in their professional and personal lives and put concepts into practice from the beginning of their careers. Teaching the course presented a methodological challenge, which is why we made the following adjustments to the methodology in the course planning process:
Adjust the theory
Historically, theory is taught first in economics class, followed by mathematics exercises to apply the learning. However, from the first session, we wanted to change to a more dynamic model with real market situations. For example, we presented the students with a challenge based on the latest national news where they had to identify whether there was an economic component. Their answers were submitted to group discussion through questions, such as: What measures did the government adopt? Do you consider that this scenario affects the tourism sector, and if so, what is the impact? How does this problem or event affect other sectors?
The theoretical sessions only included visible topics that the students would apply practically, resulting in the natural incorporation of examples related to the three specialties of Gastronomy, Hospitality, and Tourism.
Redesign the practical sessions
The practical sessions were redesigned based on what would be most tangible in the work group dynamics. The practical sessions began with a study of the real tourism market, identifying a specific sector, such as hotel chains in areas with a high influx of tourists and, particularly, the “Selina” chain. The objective was to analyze data collected from primary and secondary sources to investigate the main post-pandemic changes that affected these sectors. The analysis of Selina in the Peruvian market was of great interest to the class. The value proposition of this hotel chain goes hand in hand with the young persons’ profiles; the students could tell their experiences.
Start the practices with a motivating pitch
As teachers, we constantly search for current market information to start the class on a motivating note. For example, we designed the practice exercises to apply to the student’s areas of interest in their three careers, such as the patriotic holidays and Holy Week ad campaigns and analyzing commercials with high international impact in the tourism sector, to motivate their participation. These were like the ten-minute pitches to present business ideas to investors. In this case, the students were the ones who had to buy the idea. This dynamic allowed us to engage the whole class from the beginning of the session.
Create a Guiding Question Session
After the motivational pitches, we used guiding questions that adapted vocabulary so students could better understand the topics. For example, we asked questions about sensitivity to changes in price instead of asking about elasticity and consumer preferences instead of mentioning demand factors and competitors rather than market supply. This helped students perceive that everyday concepts and terminology can be applied daily.
Design cases and role-play
The course design included role-plays in various situations. For example, students were asked to be part of the “Commission for the Promotion of Peru’s Exports and Tourism,” whose main activity was to analyze the impact of price changes based on sensitivity and support their decision before the Ministry of Tourism. In another activity, they were to “invest in a new hotel complex with international capital,” where they were members of the board of directors and could give their advice as stakeholders. Another practice requested that they assume the role of financial advisors during an economic slowdown and differentiate a restaurant with fusion cuisine. The activities imposed a limited budget to make students understand budgetary restrictions and consider the opportunity cost of investments.
Present proposals supported by their assessments
The working groups presented their findings to the class, supporting their assessments with secondary information and incipient primary (depending on the group’s dynamics). They also answered questions from their classmates. This dynamic was taught in 16 school weeks; its sustainability came from the students’ interest and desire to be in contact with active participants in the sector.
After the practical activities, we took ten minutes for feedback to share students’ impressions and comments, such as: “I mistakenly thought that Economics would only involve working with mathematical formulas;” “The concepts are interconnected at all levels;” “Now I understand much better that decision-making involves more Economics than I thought.”
This change in the teaching methodology meant that the students developed and reinforced competencies where opinion was supported by reliable macroeconomic theoretical and empirical sources that could be verified in the tourism sector. They identified much better the determinants of supply and demand for tourism, gastronomic, and hotel products and the market structure in which they operate. Finally, they evaluated the impacts of State interventions and the market imperfections in tourism products.
Throughout the course, each student went through different stages in their impressions. Initially, they were curious and then surprised as the course progressed because they realized that the course was designed to put into practice everything they had learned quickly.
“Magnates of Fabric” is a Serious Game for Teaching Economics
As part of the course, we also designed a practical session with the dynamics of serious games. Serious games have emerged as an alternative teaching method that has provoked teachers’ interest due to their ability to motivate and generate students’ participation and commitment while increasing their academic performance. The “Magnates of Fabric” game is a “serious” board game developed by professors Neride Sotomarino and María Elena Esparza in collaboration with Axel Muñoz and Diego Jiménez from the Avatar Group. The game objective is to make investment decisions in the textile market under continuously changing supply and demand conditions. This serious game is relevant due to the close connection between the textile market and the world of gastronomy, hospitality, and tourism; it allowed students to approach market dynamics playfully.
A significant part of the game is to ensure the company’s sustainability in the first five years of operation based on decisions made under various microeconomic environment scenarios manifested by changes in supply and demand conditions.
A final component that contributed to systematizing all the work was the interviews with experts from the sector and the selected companies. The objective was to contrast the work groups’ proposals for improvement with those expressed by the company managers. In this way, the students could reflect on their initiatives and sustain or change those they considered vital to the company’s sustainability.
In developing the course, we proposed not to emphasize arithmetic calculations but to search for information in the students’ sectors of interest. Thus, we did not want to teach a course that would not be tangible to their vision of professional practice but one that goes hand in hand with their personal and professional interests and intrinsic motivators. Therefore, a point to highlight was the group dynamics, where the members chose the topics to be applied based on what was developed in theory, expressing their interests in course research topics.
Reflection
The main results at the end of the course can be viewed from two perspectives: teachers and students. From the teaching perspective, the course underwent a structural reengineering process for a realistic approach. Also, the activities enabled the learning outcomes without de-prioritizing theoretical development. On the contrary, theory was the basis for innovation and the search for new teaching methodologies with a more participatory approach.
From the students’ perspective, the semester teaching survey results identified that the course met expectations, encouraged their search for information, and, most importantly, the students stopped seeing the Economics course as abstract. They assumed it was a fundamental course to understand the economics of the hospitality, gastronomy, and tourism sectors.
We share this experience to encourage the continuous review of the student profile and invite the academic community to dare to rethink class dynamics in an environment of increasingly more distractions and the immediacy of information is privileged. Each subject, student, and academic cycle is different; the richness of diversity allows us to be creative and explore new ways to promote educational quality.
About the Authors
Elizabeth Chris Aylas Florez (elizabeth.aylasfpucp.edu.pe) is a professor and researcher in the Academic Department of Management Sciences at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She is also a member of the Research Group on Education and Society and a Project Manager in the Office of the Vice-Rector for Research. She has experience in planning, research, and internationalization. She has a degree in Business Management from PUCP and a master’s degree in University Management from the University of Alcala.
Maria Elena Esparza Arana (meesparzapucp.edu.pe) is a professor and researcher in the Academic Department of Management Sciences at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She has a degree in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, a master’s degree in administration from the ESAN University, and a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from the Consortium of Universities in Peru. She is also a member of the Research Group on Education and Society.
References
Cornellà, Pere, Meritxell Estebanell, and David Brusi. 2020. “Gamification and Game-Based Learning. General Considerations and Some Examples for the Teaching of Geology.” [Gamification and Game-Based Learning: General Considerations and Some Examples for Teaching Geology]. Teaching Earth Sciences 28(1): 2385–3484. https://raco.cat/index.php/ECT/article/view/372920.
Hey, John D. 2005. “I Teach Economics, Not Algebra and Calculus.” Journal of Economic Education 36(3): 292–304. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30042661.
Lora, Eduardo & Hugo Ñopo. 2009. “The Training of Economists in Latin America”. Journal of Economic Analysis 24(2): 65–93 https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-88702009000200003.
Sotomarino N & Esparza M. (2022). “A Serious Game: Economics for Non-economists,” The International Journal of Learning in Higher Education. Volume 29, Issue 2, https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-7955/CGP/v29i02/1-20
Velvin, Jan, Marit Gunda Gundersen Engeset, Olaf Graven, and Lachlan MacKinnon. 2018. “Using Games for Learning to Improve Performance in Higher Education.” 2018 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering, 674–678. http://doi.org/10.1109/TALE.2018.8615323.
Editing
Edited by Rubí Román (rubi.roman@tec.mx) – Editor of the Edu bits articles and producer of The Observatory webinars- “Learning that inspires” – Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education at Tec de Monterrey.
Translation
Daniel Wetta
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