Department of Economics - Royal Holloway, University of London

Teaching and assessmentOur degrees are made up of 12 units. In each year a student takeshalf and full unit courses amounting to four units. Most coursesin the Department involve one or two hours of weekly lectures and aweekly tutorial or seminar group. In addition, there may be workshopsand classes. We adjust the teaching methods to the needs of theparticular course and in light of the differing backgrounds of students.For example, the Economics Workshop includes tutorials. Classes forMicroeconomics and Macroeconomics in the second year are larger,although additional help sessions and tutorials are provided. For thequantitative methods courses, teaching varies from classes of about20, meeting in the computer laboratory, to individual tutorial sessions.Assessment is primarily by end of year exams. Students are requiredto submit written work for each course, but in most courses thisis to help them in their studying and revision, and to provide anopportunity for advice and comments, rather than to be part of theassessment process itself. In the quantitative methods courses,continuous assessment in the form of in-class tests and a projectprovides a large component of the overall mark. For the EconomicsWorkshop, assessment is by two extended essays. The Departmentbelieves very strongly in a traditional university education and that theexamination process, where students simultaneously revise theirsubjects during a concentrated examination period, serves afundamental purpose in this. During the period of revision,students can integrate the different courses they have studied overthe year and this brings together their knowledge and understandingof Economics.13