BA Politics, Philosophy and Economics

Scholarships and bursaries, including the Manchester Bursary , are available to eligible home/EU students.

Some undergraduate UK students will receive bursaries of up to £2,000 per year, in addition to the government package of maintenance grants.

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This course will help students to develop the practical skills required of economics graduates. The focus will be on developing group work skills and verbal and written communication skills. Students will be expected to communicate accurately and clearly on current economic issues, findings, and methods to a range of different audiences i.e. to both economists and non-economists and in a variety of formats e.g. presentations, videos, and reports. The module will make use of a number of topics from across the pre-requisite course units in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics to practice and develop these skills.

ECON32211 and ECON32212 are anti-requisites.
This course is not suitable to be taken alongside the Applied Economics Dissertation.

The unit aims to:

- Ensure students understand the demands made on economics graduates in a range of typical graduate positions
- Develop the skills required of economic graduates
- Develop the ability to communicate about current economic issues, findings and methods
- Develop effective group working practice

By the end of the unit, students are expected to:

• To have gained insights into the skills required of economists in a range of typical graduate roles
• To have developed their ability to communicate verbally and in writing about current economic issues, findings and methods
• To have developed their ability to work effectively in teams

By the end of the unit, students are expected to develop and reinforce the following employability skills:

The module focuses on developing employability skills. As above students will reinforce:
• Written Communication Skills
• Verbal Communication Skills
• Team Work Skills
 

Syllabus (indicative curriculum content):

- Introduction to the aims and structure of the course 
- Overview of skills required of Economists in a range of graduate positions
- Communicating effectively to different audiences i.e. economists and non-economists
- Writing clearly and professionally
- Writing in different formats e.g. email/reports
- Presentation skills including delivery and use of visual aids
- Creating video presentations to deliver information
- Facilitating and participating in effective group working

Lectures: in the lectures content will be presented to students. This will include information on the skills required of economics graduates and advice on the development of these skills. Hours: 14

Tutorials: In the tutorials students will be given opportunities to develop their verbal and written communication skills and receive feedback on these skills. Hours: 6

Independent Study: Students are expected to engage in work within their group and independently using the asynchronous material provided. This includes weekly guided reading, preparation for lectures and tutorials as well as preparation and delivery of assessment items.  Hours: 180
 

Develop an understanding of the skills commonly required of economics graduates in a range of graduate roles 

Analyse a current economic problem using all the economic and econometric tools taught in the pre-requisite course units

Use analytical and statistical tools and provided sources to deliver evidence

Synthesise and organise material from various sources (including electronic and online resources), and to summarise this material concisely and clearly.

Communicate accurately and clearly on current economic issues, findings, and methods both verbally and in writing.

Work collaboratively in a small team in a professional and collegial manner to organise and complete project work.

Adapt their delivery of information to different audiences.

Formative assessment:

Practice Presentations in Tutorials (3 minute practice)

Summative assessment:

Group Project Tasks (GP):

In small groups (4 members) produce five forms of written and verbal communication. Examples of the written and verbal communication are emails, briefing  documents, reports, short presentations, recorded interviews, and/or slide decks. Students will work in small teams to produce these outputs.
(various word and time lengths): 5 x 10% = 50%

Individual Recorded Presentation (IP):

Students will deliver an individual recorded presentation on one of a number of given topics (15 minutes): 50%
 

Formative assessment:

Feedback will be given to the students via feedback forms – students can also attend office hours for more in depth feedback regarding their work.

Summative assessment:

Individual and group feedback will be given. Module level feedback will also be given.

There is no required textbook. Materials will be drawn from policy papers, journal articles, and other online resources. These readings will relate to pre-requisite modules in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Econometrics. This will be supplemented by guides and information related to skills development.