Issue 18, February 2016

The Service-Learning (ApS) is a methodology whose implementation in higher education requires linking learning academic content, skills and civic values with community service. This method also allows students to multiply their knowledge and provide personal and social meaning to the learning experience. One of the best ways to achieve such a connection is to involve the students in these activities. Our study was conducted among students of 1st course of Economics and Business Administration in the subject Principles of Macroeconomics at the Faculty of Economics and Business in the University of A Coruña (Spain). The task of these students ApS is the production and public display of socio-economic analysis of public sector intervention in economic activity, related to problems of their immediate environment (immigration, labor market, fiscal policy, etc.). These activities are aimed at different groups and have been conducted in various institutions; from schools or vocational middle grades to NGOs and similar organizations. This study examines how this practice is received from all participants, their motivations, difficulties and obstacles and dialogues that start with the rest of the activities and functions that undergraduates are queried. The findings provide insights on how to understand and improve self-learning processes of students; the connection between theory and practical experience; whether to help other students who problematize their experience and, finally, to develop personal skills in real situations as improving teamwork, public exposure or critical view; essential for the professional future of university issues. The ultimate goal is to reveal the importance of the role and social commitment of the university to university volunteer projects that articulate curriculum to addressing a particular problem encountered in society, particularly in areas of social vulnerability.

This paper aims to expose the teaching experience developed during the 2009-2010 academic year to assess the degree of achievement of the generic and specific skills established as an objective in the educational project of the subject “Economics of the Public Sector” of the Degree of Economics. The result of the project was the emission of an individual report where was assessed the level achieved by each student in each one of the proposed competences and where also was included a short qualitative description of the consequences that followed from this evaluation.

In this study the courses “Public Economics” and “Economics of Social Expenditure” of the University of Cantabria are analysed after the introduction and implementation of new methods of cooperative learning in their corresponding Educational Guides in order to respond to the demands of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The main objective is to explain how, due to the new teacher-student relationship and continuous assessment, learning and academic performance could advance. For this purpose, it is judged whether the academic performance of students studying these subjects improved. So, the results indicate that those students participating in new learning systems of continuous evaluation, can improve academic results. Finally, it is analysed what the students’ opinion is in these new methods of learning and assessment.

Several good books on inequality have emerged over recent years. They are essential for a better understanding of its trends and determinants in OECD countries. Among them, Atkinson’s Inequality is one of the most important contributions. It makes a difference providing a comprehensive review of the possible alternatives to improve equity in today's societies. This review summarizes the contents of the book, some possible teaching examples are suggested and the feasibility of the proposals suggested by the author is discussed.