This is a tutorial designed to illustrate the principle of the (price) elasticity of demand. It is interactive in that users can respond to several questions interspersed through-out the tutorial by clicking on radio buttons next to the answers. The ?professor?s response? to the user?s selection then appears, so the user knows immediately whether the answer is correct. Additionally, the reason for the correct and incorrect response is also given. Since the tutorial was designed for a health care economics class, the author uses health care and managed health care, in particular, to illustrate the concept. (Supply elasticity, income and cross-price elasticities of demand are not discussed.)
Type of Material:
Tutorial
Technical Requirements:
This material requires a java-enabled browser. It should be able to run on any computer with an Internet connection and a relatively current browser like Internet Explorer or Netscape. (The instructions imply compatibility with Netscape Version 3.)
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Introduce the concepts of ?price elastic? and ?price inelastic? demand.
Target Student Population:
The target population is economic principles students (typically freshmen or sophomores) taking an introductory economics course. The material could be used for advanced high school economics students as well.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Students using this site should be familiar with college algebra. In addition, some previous familiarity with demand curves and elasticity or good reference materials would be necessary as the student works through the Web page.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
Students can immediately receive feedback on their responses. Justification is provided for correct and incorrect responses. The author uses the concept of ?responsiveness? to illustrate the concept of elasticity. These definitions for the terms are consistent with most treatments of the concept in any principles of economics course.
Concerns:
The supply and demand model is probably not the most appropriate choice for a discussion of health care pricing. Since demand and supply best apply to perfectly competitive markets, the high degree of government regulation and market power in the provision of health care in the United States would invalidate some of the underlying competitive assumptions. Although many classes could find this discussion useful (principles, public choice economics, health economics, etc.), there is limited flexibility to write assignments using other examples in this self-contained tutorial. And sometimes the author becomes ?preachy? about managed care systems.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The author provides examples for each of the situations and takes the student through on a step-by-step basis. The student should be able to understand the difference between elastic and inelastic demand after working through the tutorial. Assignments could be written in other contexts. The occasional use of humor is welcome. Given the limited objective of an overview of the concepts, the module is effective.
Concerns:
While the module achieves its narrow aim of giving the student a conceptual understanding of the concepts of ?price elastic? and ?price inelastic? demand, the mathematical definition of the price elasticity of demand is not defined or discussed. Also, while the concept of ?completely inelastic? demand curves are demonstrated, ?completely elastic? demand curves are ignored in this treatment. The relationship between elasticity and total revenue is hinted at,
but not discussed, in this tutorial. This is compounded by the fact that no learning objectives are provided and that expected prerequisite knowledge is not specified.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Simplicity in use is the essence of this website. Indeed, this is probably the site?s strongest feature. Clear instructions are provided by linking to another page. The instructions are very straightforward and easy to understand. The website reacts automatically and instantly indicates whether the students responses are correct and why or why not. It also allows students to change their answer and view the other rationale.
Concerns:
Compared to other economics tutorials, the interaction does not appear to be up-to-date. The tendency to scroll continuously down the page makes it difficult to back up to find earlier information easily. A recommendation would be to create multiple, single screen-sized, web pages to allow the user to ?page? through the lesson. When combined with frames and a table of contents, the user could more easily jump from one section to another. The way the page is currently laid out is not especially visually appealing. It could also be enhanced with some improved graphics.
Creative Commons:
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