Bridging the Digital Divide: Access to Technology in the Pacific

Talking about economic developments in a country and overlooking income inequality might be a joke. Hence, in my microteaching, I aim to discuss the economic state of a country based on the calculations of income inequality. The challenge is that 15 minutes might be less; however, my plan to cover inequality despite the time constraint is as follows: I will highlight the learning outcomes, then discuss the concepts of inequality. Using relevant graphs (Lorenz curve, Histogram, and Summary Statistics), I will explain the income distribution using real-life examples. To ensure that students learn what I teach, we will do an activity together. I will provide a summary statistics table with relevant data and students will be required to graph the Lorenz curve and calculate the Gini coefficient which will reveal the extent of income inequality. Calculation of the Gini coefficient is a bit tricky, therefore, I will include a link to a YouTube video that will show how the Gini coefficient c...

As teachers, we must always be looking for new and creative ways to evaluate our students' learning. I have chosen to use debate as an eAssessment in my EC201: Intermediate Macroeconomics course. The area of macroeconomics is substantial and complex, with a multitude of theories and viewpoints that frequently call for more in-depth investigation and debate. Debates, in my opinion, are effective for encouraging students to express their understanding of the subject. Webex, which is integrated with the USP Moodle platform, will be used to facilitate the debates. Students will work in groups of three for two weeks to prepare and do their research on the topics allocated to them. On the day of the debate, each team will make their case, refute the other team, and answer audience questions. In order to ensure a clear and orderly discussion, the debate will be arranged with time limitations for opening speeches, presentations, and conclusions. I'm using this approach in part to d...