ABOUT THIS COURSE
This NEW course will demonstrate how to guide your best students to achieve Grades A & A* in AQA A Level Economics examinations. Led by experienced economics examiner and teacher, Dr Martin Meenagh, the course will demonstrate teaching and learning ideas for all 3 components which will stretch and challenge able students and develop their higher level skills. Using feedback from the most recent exams, the course will outline what is expected of high ability students and explore ways to build your teaching practice around this.
Key focus areas include:
- market and government failure, and the changes in merit good ‘markets’ and government provision since 2010
- market structures, and the advantages and disadvantages of monopoly and oligopoly
- macroeconomic policy (particularly monetary and fiscal policy in an era of Qe, ultra low interest rates, bond yield problems, and food inflation/shrinkflation
- global economic issues such as trade, exchange rates, a general housing crisis, and climate change policy.
The focus is on top end students achieving top grades in the most difficult areas but wold be of benefit for all teachers looking to support students aiming high.
BENEFITS OF ATTENDING:
Attendees will:
- Gain teaching approaches and strategies for those key challenge areas eg market failure and government failure
- Take away tried and tested approaches to help students construct logical, substantiated and coherent answers gain a deepened appreciation of the role Economics can play supporting other subjects and career paths
- Increase your range of teaching methods and strategies for focussing students on returns to scale, diminishing returns, economies of scale in different market structures
- Tackle with confidence Papers Two and Three and their challenges: ‘glocalisation’ global oligopolies, and Brexit
- Explore sample answers and teaching strategies from housing, poverty, the environment, Brexit, and infrastructure projects
| COURSE DATES & LOCATION | Online | Thursday 24 June 2021 |
| WHO SHOULD ATTEND? |
|
| COURSE CODE | 8550 |
| IN-SCHOOL | You can also book this as an In-School Course |
| INCLUDED |
|
10:00am – 11:00am: Accessing A/A* Grades with Market Failure and Government Failure
- Key messages from the exam board, Examiner Reports
- Student issues with diagrams (A02 and A03)
- Constructing logical, substantiated, and coherent answers (A03 and A04)
- Healthcare and Education markets
- The return of nationalisation and regulation and practical examples of changes to internal markets
- Public Choice theories
- Connecting to Behavioural economics (A02 and A04)
- Motivating able students and anticipating their needs in a misinformation-rich environment
- Cross-disciplinary links to other subjects and teaching the ‘economics mindset.’
- Key topics in Paper One which have challenged students in the past
11:00am – 11:15am: Morning Break
11.15am – 12:30pm: Global Monopolies and Oligopolies: key challenges for Grade A/A* students
- Teaching the advantages and disadvantages of global monopolies and oligopolies (A03 and A04); case studies of Facebook, Pfizer, Astra-Zeneca, Tesla
- Focussing students on returns to scale, diminishing returns, economies of scale in different market structures
- Real world examples of competition policy in a simplified form, to allow teachers to have a grasp of how EU, UK, and US policy works (this is not a requirement of the AQA board for students but is helpful in delivering teaching
- Worked model answers, sample scripts, and powerpoint presentations
12:30pm – 1:30pm: Lunch
1:30pm – 2:45pm: Papers Two and Three: stretching and challenging able students
- Papers Two and Three and their challenges for teachers and students:, ‘glocalisation’ global oligopolies, and Brexit
- Encouraging the right sort of outside reading and work by students so that they can construct logical, coherent, and substantiated answers
- Noting overlaps and areas where students become confused after paper one : diagrams
- How to prepare for and exploit confusing news such as exchange rate crises, arguments about reserve currencies, alternatives to the dollar, non-tariff and tariff barriers, and the link between global supply chain change and global markets, with worked examples to relate the issues to structured and substantiated answers which gain A03 and A04 points
- Balancing quantitative and essay skill development in the classroom
- Sample scripts and model powerpoints
- Revision tips to ensure top level student succeed in assessment/exams
2:45pm – 2:50pm: short break
2:50pm – 3:40pm: Monetary and Fiscal policy: tactics for achieving the highest grades
- Monetary and Fiscal policy; relating stimulus, ultra low interest rates, bond yields, and Qe to the requirements of the paper and course
- How to apply answers and develop techniques for potentially disruptive topics such as the possible link between Qe and housing crises, poverty, and wealth disparity with an analysis of policies (of particular use for higher ability students looking for A*)
- Sample answers and teaching strategies from housing, poverty, the environment, Brexit, and infrastructure projects
- Making the most of AQA Resources
3:40pm: Depart
Dr Martin Meenagh
Dr Martin Meenagh is a former independent school Principal, Head of Economics, and Director of Studies. He has been teaching economics for twenty-five years at a variety of institutions and privately, and has experience of AA, Pearson, OCR, CCEA, and IB examinations. He has also taught extensively on engaging and focussed alumni courses for US ivy league programmes in America and Britain, taught at the University of Oxford, and is a non-practising barrister. He now encourages students from a variety of schools to confidently develop their knowledge and skills via private online tuition.
