iconomix

Swiss National Bank

iconomix newsletter autumn 2009

Teaching economics in a fun way

Editorial

Dear reader

iconomix is sprucing itself up for the autumn! Its printed material (PDFs, brochures, etc.) has a fresh, new design, which is based on the iconomix website. First in line for the new look is the à la carte section. The remaining sections will be updated over the coming months.

The first ever survey on iconomix was carried out in September 2009. In total, 232 teachers responded to the online questionnaire. And we have the results for you here!

Manuel Wälti (iconomix management) and Jean-Marc Huguenin (iconomix in French)

The financial crisis close up

Learn about the financial crisis from those who fought to bring it under control. This is exactly what 55 teachers from Swiss upper secondary schools did in Berne on 5 September 2009 when they participated in the first iconomix symposium. They heard about the chain of events leading up to the crisis, how the crisis developed and what the consequences are. The keynote speakers were Dewet Moser, Alternate Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, and Ernst Baltensperger, professor and expert in monetary macroeconomics and financial markets. In addition to the presentations, short workshops were held to give the participants an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the iconomix resources available on the subject.

The next iconomix symposium is scheduled to take place in Lausanne on 17 November 2010 and will look at salaries, in particular at performance and equality. Be sure to save the date – put it into your diary now!

Printed material gets a facelift

The printed material for iconomix has been redesigned to match the website. The new layout includes a colour-coded system, which makes the documents more user friendly. A coloured strip below the subtitle of each document indicates whether it is meant for teachers or students – red for teachers, green for students. The first to benefit from this facelift will be the à la carte section, soon to be followed by the module on common pool resources. The remaining sections will be updated one by one over the coming months.

New module: Market and price formation I

The modules section is pleased to announce the arrival of a new member: Pitgame. This new module allows students to act as buyers and sellers on a market. They get to negotiate the best purchase or sale price for a particular commodity, learn how equilibrium prices come about and discover what is meant by trading profit.

First online survey on iconomix

In September 2009, we carried out a survey on iconomix for the first time. The online questionnaire was sent to nearly 1,000 teachers who have encountered iconomix in the past, be it as workshop participants or newsletter subscribers, or because they have ordered teaching material and so on. Overall, 232 teachers completed the questionnaire, which corresponds to almost 25%. Not bad for the first time!

  • Around half of the respondents had already participated in at least one iconomix workshop. Of these, 60% reported that they had benefited greatly from it.
  • Around half of the respondents visit the iconomix platform at least once a month; some, every week.
  • Every fifth respondent orders iconomix material on a regular basis (once or twice a month), while 91% of all respondents have ordered material at least once, of which 86% have used the material in class.
  • At over 90%, acceptance among students was overwhelmingly high. Almost half of the teachers rated the students’ reaction with the best grade.

A detailed report on the survey can be ordered via the contact form. It will be available from the end of November in both German and French.

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The iconomix newsletter is published four times a year in German, French, Italian and English. It provides the latest news on the iconomix teaching programme, on workshops and on the iconomix award for students.