METHODS/APPROACH OF TEACHING ECONOMICS

A. LECTURE APPROACH Approach: Long being used in classroom teachings The teacher take the lead role and controls the whole lesson like writing down notes, talking, explaining etc The students plays a passive role by just copying the notes and listening to the explanation given by the teacher The classroom is arranged in with tables and chairs in a formal setting with tight discipline and students are not allowed to move or converse among each other. Rationale/Reasons: To present the lessons/materials in a systematic approach To identify and explain problems and issues To analyze a controversial issue To motivate and stimulate students Preparations/Framework: The teacher should identify the respective topics and collects relevant teaching materials tart off the lessons in a interesting manner !xpand the topic from easy to hard facts ustain the students" interest throughout the teaching ummarize the lessons in an effective manner Suitable topics: #overnment policies like $iscal %olicy, &onetary %olicies etc Advantage: The teacher is able to complete/cover a wider range of lessons in a teaching period The use of teaching aids is minimal thus saving the teacher"s preparation time 'an be used in any situation and (ble to take in more students in a session of teaching Disadvantage: )ot effective for lower secondary students in view of their mental ability tudents are passive thus they are unable to show their understanding

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tudents are more engrossed in taking notes and thus gives up the opportunity to understand the teachings

PROJECT METHOD Approach: %roject method is closely related to problem+solving approach as it involves expository or experimental skills. ,nder this approach, the students are re-uested to collect data, information or issues related to the source of problem being presented The findings are normally presented in a written report This approach/method can be implemented as an individual or group assignment Rationale/Reasons: To train students to work as an individual or in a group thus giving them the expository or experimental benefits Preparations/Framework: The topics or activities of the project has to be formulated according to the interest and the capabilities of the students !ither the teacher prepares the materials for the project or assign students to get/bring the relevant materials The class is divided into various groups and each group is assigned to a topic/work task The group members interact and discusses the project The teacher should monitor and evaluate the project at all times to ensure the teaching objectives are always achieved. Suitable topics: (nalyzing or identifying various economic systems. .dentifying various job opportunities in various economic sectors Advantage: The use of this approach can enhance the good values in the students such as working together/ responsibility/ leadership/ originality/ striving to do well and not giving up easily etc Disadvantage: Time consuming to be implemented effectively

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QUESTIONING APPROACH Approach: 1uestioning is generally used as testing students" understanding and performance in teaching and learning. .t is an important techni-ue used in classroom communication, especially during the -uestion+answer sessions. Rationale/Reasons: To draw students" attention ,sed as formative test to ascertain students" weaknesses To ascertain students" performance 2students" knowledge or understanding3 To stimulate students" cognitive, affective or reflective thinking To guide students to form concept or generalization and respond correctly To control students" behavior so as to maintain a conducive climate for teaching and learning To foster interpersonal relationship between teacher+student Preparations/Framework: !ffective -uestioning re-uires careful planning and correct application of -uestioning techni-ue %lanning good -uestions include the wordings, ideas, and levels of the -uestions which are contextual and suitable for the development of students" potentials. The techni-ues of asking -uestions should include the following4 - (sk clearly, briefly and confidently together with non+verbal behaviors such as facial expression and attractive intonation - (sk -uestions, one at a time, and give reasonable sufficient time for student to respond - 5istribute the -uestion to the whole class before directing a particular student to answer - (void asking rhetorical -uestions - %rovide hints or rephrase the -uestion when the student could not answer - #ive positive motivation and encouragement when the student is able to answer Suitable topics: (ll topics

Advantage: ( proactive and interactive communication which enable the teacher to direct and students to response. Disadvantage: Time consuming to be implemented effectively DEMONSTRATION METHOD Approach: 5emonstration is also a kind of teaching techni-ue which involves the use of a teacher"s skill to demonstrate or show the ways or steps to perform a certain activity in the class. Rationale/Reasons: ( certain skill cannot be just explained and it has to be demonstrated in order to enhance a student"s understanding. tudents are then encouraged to practice what they have perceived or seen and use a hands+on approach to master the skill. Preparations/Framework: .n order to produce effective teaching activity by using demonstration method, a teacher should understand and follow the following principles4 Before Demonstration - Teacher ought to determine the topic, objectives and contents of the demonstration before the start of a lesson - Teaching aids should be prepared and arranged according to the pre+determined teaching procedures. - %lace of demonstration should be arranged to ensure that all pupils are able to observe the whole process clearly - 7efore starting the demonstration, teacher has to inform all pupils about the aim of the demonstration, and the focus on the activity to be observed so that they can work out on their own without any misconception or misunderstanding. During Demonstration - The teacher should at all time face the pupils during the presentation of the said demonstration. - (ny doubtfulness during the process should be rectified by repeating the process or directing another pupil to the demonstration. - 1uestioning techni-ue can be adopted during the process to draw the pupils" attention.

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- (lways ensure that pupils are able to observe the demonstration directly and listen to the teachers" explanation clearly. - .f time permits, pupils can be asked to repeat the demonstration to enhance their understanding.

After Demonstration - 5iscuss with the pupils the important sections of the demonstration. This is to ensure that the pupils were following the process and steps of the demonstration accurately and accordingly. - 5iscuss with the pupils the aims of the demonstration so as to allow them to summarize the importance of it. - 'onsolidation activity should be held after the demonstration. This could be carried out through pupils" own demonstration by imitating the teacher"s skill, or recording the steps of demonstration in a note book.

Suitable topics: 'alculation of national income, disposable income, production cost etc .llustration of graphs such as the supply curve of a perfectly competitive market, etc. Advantage: 9nowledge in calculations or illustrations of graphs through demonstration techni-ue will enhance the step+by+step skill and understanding amongst the students. Disadvantage: tudents will become mundane and demand even the simplest task to be demonstration thus making them dependable on the teachers.

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SIMULATION METHOD (SOCIODRAMA AND ROLE PLAY) Approach: imulation refers to a learning situation which occurs in a controlled condition and is purposely created to resemble the actual situation, with the aim to carry out a certain activity or training to solve certain problems. imulation techni-ue will enable pupils to train themselves in a certain role play under pre+arranged and controlled condition, with the aim to present ideas of solving certain problems. %upils usually carry out their learning activity by acting in a certain situation or event, whereby each of them assumes to represent a certain character. Through simulation pupils will be able to indicate or find ways of solving a certain problem created during the act/role+play. Rationale/Reasons: (ppropriate as a set induction ; to introduce a topic at the start of a lesson to motivate and simulate the interest of students. To provide more opportunities to students to enhance and develop their hidden talents of acting/role+playing thus cultivating their .1 and !1. Preparations/Framework: %rinciples/%rocedures of imulation4 - The teacher ought to plan and create a problematic situation to be role+played. - %rior to the activity, brief explanation regarding the problem, roles of character, and the time frame for the said simulation should be made clear to the pupils. - elect pupils who are good in communicative skills to participate to ensure the success of the activity. - $or sociodrama, the acting scripts ought to be prepared and distributed in advance to pupils who have been identified to act. - .f necessary, supply acting masks for the pupils who participate.

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- 5uring the simulation session, ensure other pupils who play the role as spectators are really paying their attention towards the acting activity. - (fter the simulation session, teacher ought to encourage pupils to air their opinions regarding the ways of solving the problems during the act. - ( consensus opinion should reach among the pupils through discussion before the end of the learning period. Suitable topics: 7arter trading and its problems =ousehold"s consumption %rocedures of opening a savings/current account Advantage: ( proactive and interactive communication which enable the teacher to direct and students to response. (llow students to explore their hidden talents in acting, reasoning, and communicative skills Disadvantage: Time consuming to be implemented effectively .f not directed or implemented with utmost caution, the whole simulation activity will become meaningless and will only serve as an entertainment activity rather then an academic exercise.

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DISCUSSION METHOD (DEBATE, SEMINAR, FORUM, BUZZ, BRAINSTORMING) Approach: 5iscussion method is another method of problem+solving and is widely known as brainstorming. .t is a kind of learning activity through exchanging opinions or ideas as well as sharing information by means of conversation under the supervision of a teacher. The ideas forwarded by each pupil cannot be rejected though its construed not viable or not good but need to be enhanced further to generate some good points. %upils are encouraged to voice their opinions with the teacher just being a facilitator or providing guidance throughout the exercise. (t the final stage, the teacher guides the pupils to make an appropriate summary report of their discussion. Rationale/Reasons: To enhance the thinking skills of students To instill good values like tolerance, understanding, working together etc. To develop the maturedness and communicative skills of students. Preparations/Framework: ! Planning stage 5etermine the suitable discussion topic according to the learning objective, pupils" ability and interest %repare the re-uired materials and facilities for discussion "! #ntroduction stage $Preliminar% session& Teacher explains the aim of discussion and the ideas of the discussion topic.

5ivide the class into several small groups (ppoint a chairman and secretary for each group (rrange table and chairs in a suitable way to facilities discussion.

'! Discussion stage The chairman of each discussion group encourages each member to voice out his/her opinion &embers of each respective group to forward their opinions. The secretary takes down the opinion put forward Teacher moves from one group to another to provide guidance, so that the discussion is not deviated from the original theme.

(! )inding*up stage #roups are dissolved and pupils to sit back as usual The secretary of each group plays the role as reporter by presenting the result of his/her group discussion in front of the class. Teacher guides pupils to make adjustments in summing+up their reports. +! ,onclusion/-valuation stage Teacher summarizes the results of the group discussion and gives suitable comments %upils to record the teacher"s summary and other important point discussed. Suitable topics: $actors/determinants of choosing a job 'haracteristics of an .slamic economy The difference between conventional and .slamic banking The effects of total dependence on agricultural sector on )ational .ncome and work force. Advantage: ( proactive and interactive communication which enable the teacher to direct and students to response. (llow students to explore their skills in higher order thinking, reasoning, rationalizing and communication. Disadvantage: Time consuming to be implemented effectively

.f not directed or implemented with utmost caution, the whole exercise/ activity will become meaningless with no apparent discussion taking shape.

CASE STUDY METHOD Approach: (nother useful learning activity in the teaching and learning of 7asic !conomics. Aith this approach, pupils are given a task to explore to enable them to link the related factors of economics thus introducing an inductive learning situation. Rationale/Reasons: (n approach to aviate teaching and learning activities from the conventional style to give students a chance to explore related economic factor dealing in a related economic situation such as price e-uilibrium etc (n inductive learning environment to help students explore their thinking skills. Preparations/Framework: 'ase study method can be implemented as an individual task or a group task for an economic project. %reparations on the part of the teacher involves4 - tudents are divided into smaller groups with each group selecting their chairperson and reporter. - The teacher presents a case study to be solved. tudents in each group will then identify the problem, analyses the situation and gives strategies to solve the problem. - !ach group prepares their report and an open discussion is conducted to ascertain the best possible report.

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Suitable topics: The price elasticity of demand and its determinants The importance of personal budgets etc. Advantage: !ncourage students to understand the concepts of economics through an inductive approach 2connecting concept/theory with real situation3 !nhance critical thinking amongst the pupils. Disadvantage: ( case study must be a real situation 2which is difficult to ascertain3 and inducing it between the theory and situation is a difficult task. .f the case study is difficult to understand, the pupils will abort the motivation to solve it or might resort to copying thus defeating the purpose of conducting such an exercise.

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"ISITATION METHOD Approach: (nother supportive activity to help pupils get first hand knowledge/information by having a feel of a real situation. Aith this activity, the students are brought or taken on a visit to a certain place to understand their economic understanding of the happenings in the area of visit. Rationale/Reasons: Aith this approach the teacher is able to teach certain facts that are hard to bring into a classroom. This approach does not only help pupils expand their observation skills but allows them to in+depth their understanding of a situation. Preparations/Framework: 7efore the visit4 - 'hose a place of visit that"s has relevance to the topic to will be presented or has been presented. - eek the appropriate approval from all authorities such as the principal, parents, police, the guardian of the place of visit 2manager etc3, - (ddress the pupil of the safety of the visit, their behavior, objectives of the visit and the task to be carried out. 5uring the visit4 **

- 5ivide pupils according to their given task either in small groups with a group leader. - (t all times, the teacher should observe and ascertain the active participation of the pupils. - The teacher should be around to clear any misunderstanding or misconception faced by the pupils. (fter the visit4 - =old a discussion session on the facts noted down by the pupils during their visit on their given task. - The leader of each group should present their findings during their visit.

Suitable topics: Cisiting a factory to understand the functions of production in short+run, long+run, the cost behavior etc Cisiting banks such as 7ank )egara to understand the functions of the central bank towards the economy etc. Advantage: #iving a chance to gain first hand information of what have been taught or what will be taught. !ncourage students to understand the concepts of economics through an inductive approach 2connecting concept/theory with real situation3 Disadvantage: )eed to be done on a non schooling day to avoid the wastage of lesson on a schooling day !xpensive and time consuming .f done without appropriate approval, can invite legal and social implications for the school/teacher.

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