Why is this curricular space relevant for the Technology Teacher student?
What will it do for you in your future career? Understanding the operation of the economy, even at an introductory level, will allow the future professor of Technology to explain to his students the technological phenomena in all their complexity, that is, not only considering the technical aspects of the different products and production processes but also their economic implications, a relevant example being the complex phenomena that today are due to accelerated technological change, which, on the one hand, bring increased productivity for companies and benefits for end consumers -good cost- and on the other, imply less use of resources, including human labor - bad cost.
Also, handling the basic rudiments of economic analysis will allow the future professor of Technology to be able to explain to the student that many times, the technical process that is thought to be the best to tackle a specific productive problem, is not necessarily the cheapest, and therefore it is not economically feasible to implement.
Then you can appreciate the high social and cultural relevance of the knowledge to be distributed through this curricular space, since it will allow future graduates to understand at a macroeconomic level, with enough clarity, the economic implications of technical progress and at a microeconomic level the rationality economic of the choice of the production function of the private company.
Both knowledge are essential for the future professor of Technology to obtain a complete vision of the complex world of technology and to be able to transmit it to his future or current students in the subject Technology and other related subjects that qualify his degree at the Polimodal and / or Tertiary level..
The subject will be approached in such a way as not to skew the student's thinking towards either of the two great theoretical currents within Economics:
The Classical / Neoclassical / New Classics School on the one hand and the Keynesian / PostKeynesian / New Keynesian School on the other.
That is, they will try to address all the theoretical issues where there is discussion between schools, always giving both views, although the teacher cannot remain without outlining his ideology, which is more focused on the side of the Keynesian school.
As for the didactic logic of classroom work, as it is an introductory level course, it will be a question of both microeconomics and macroeconomics topics being understood preferably in their conceptual parts, leaving aside a bit of mathematical rigor, which It is useful for intermediate and advanced economics courses.
These topics will be addressed both through the reception and significant transmission of information by the teacher and through active research by the student.
Regarding the starting conditions, the students start with practically no previous knowledge since, in general, in the Technology Teachers there are no subjects related to Economics - most of them belong to the hard sciences or the pedagogical field.
Therefore, as through this space we will try to transmit to future graduates the vision of technological phenomena in all their complexity -both technical and economic aspects-, the student will notice the indirect relationships between Economics and the rest of the program, in especially those of the hard sciences, indirect in the sense that the student will develop a certain capacity for analysis that will allow him to understand the economic context in which the actors of the different production processes operate.
Purposes and objectives
Macro lenses
- Handling economic theory has a value that exceeds that of having a simple productive knowledge - knowing how to do.
Understanding economic thought, even in a basic way, differentiating the postulates of its different schools, allows us to better interpret economic policy at the global, national and provincial levels, that is, the reason for the events that affect and condition us every day. our main decisions: where we live, where we work, where we can vacation, what car we buy and how long we get married and how many children we have, among others.
Economics theory is the guide used by the main factors of power to make the great decisions that move the world: both the US Federal Reserve and the IMF and the World Bank, the main governments and corporations of the world, our government national and provincial, etc., all of them base their decisions on the economic theory to be taught in this curricular space, at an introductory level.
Having this knowledge, the quality of the democratic participation of each one of the future teachers of Technology should improve a lot as well, since in general people are mobilized when they know the consequences of a certain policy, who is promoting it and why.
- In general, it is going to try to work without a hidden curriculum, that is, making as transparent as possible those norms, values and beliefs that are generally not explicitly stated in the classroom plans but that latently reach the students.
In this way, the professor will try to make the most of his current and past professional work beyond teaching and his theoretical ideology within the economic field.
In this sense, we will try to follow the postulates of the theorist Carls Rogers: the teacher must "take off the mask" when giving classes to achieve empathy with his students and be a true "facilitator" of knowledge.
- An important goal is to develop in future teachers of Technology a critical and political awareness regarding the global, national and provincial economic problems.
To ensure that there is a before and after of this subject in the student, that is, a greater commitment of the future professor of Technology with the socioeconomic reality that surrounds him, through the multiple channels of participation that exist, always starting from anyone of the theoretical schools with which the student feels most identified.
An attempt will be made to instill this critical attitude, for example through practical research and opinion works and in particular through the Final Colloquium, where the book "The End of Work" by Jeremy Rifkin is critically analyzed, where the complicated relationship between change is outlined. technological-world of work for future decades.
Micro lenses
- Understand economics as a social science that serves to understand certain aspects of the reality that surrounds us Adequately handle basic theoretical concepts both at the microeconomic and macroeconomic levels Apply the theoretical instruments taught in class to make economic analysis of the local, national reality and international in a basic way Understand the basic relationships between accelerated technological change and new forms of production -posfordism-, which imply going from pyramidal companies to companies organized in a network.To become aware of the effects of the acceleration of technological change on the world of work, which has led some intellectuals to speak of the “end of work”. Reflect on pertinent economic-social policy measures to overcome the current situation of technological unemployment.Know the most salient aspects of national economic history, in order to reflect on why our economy in general and our national industry in particular reached the current level of development and not a higher one. Distinguish the different commercial blocs existing in the world, emphasizing Mercosur and its implications for our country.
Contents
The following proposed contents, divided into four thematic axes, should be understood as a guide and not as an exhaustive program, to be rigidly fulfilled in all its points.
It is a guiding proposal of the chair and it will be fulfilled depending on the degree of satisfaction of the expectations that class by class both students and the teacher show.
Axis a: Introduction to economics. Microeconomics basics
- Introduction to Economics
Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. The two great theoretical currents today. Economic Systems. The production-possibility frontier. Technical and economic efficiency. The opportunity cost. Brief introduction to the estimation of costs and benefits in project evaluation.
- Supply, demand and the market
The markets. The traditional demand and supply curves. The constant supply (perfectly elastic). The equilibrium of the market. Displacements of both curves. Applications to reality through the analysis of newspaper articles.
Axis b: Basic concepts of macroeconomics
- Basic concepts in Macroeconomics:
- Aggregate Supply and Demand. Gross Domestic Product. External Sector and Balance of Payments.
- Public Sector: Resources and Expenditures The monetary and financial systems The foreign exchange market and the exchange rate The Central Bank Economic growth. Development and Underdevelopment The problem of inflation and unemployment The movement towards the commercial blocs in the world and Mercosur.
Axis c: Economic history of Argentina
- The economy during the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and the first years of our independence. Agro-exporting Argentina. Import substitution industrialization (ISI) -1930-75-. Last military period and the lost decade -1976-1989-. period of pro-market reforms: the nineties.
Axis d: Special topics
- Relations between Technological Progress, Economy and Society, with special emphasis on new ways of organizing production (post-Fordism), globalization, the third industrial revolution and its impact on the labor market (increased unemployment).
Teaching tasks
Contact hours
The proposed teaching strategies below are only suggested by the chair, that is, together with the development of the subject, the ones that best adapt to the reality of the study group will be selected together with the students.
- With regard to the theoretical explanations, the student will try to simplify the definitions and concepts of the basic textbooks of the subject as much as possible, in order not to lose the fundamental conceptual part In most of the topics, it will be treated that the student read bibliography suggested by the teacher or by themselves contributed, but always encouraging critical interpretation. The reading and critical analysis of economic news from specialized newspapers will also be encouraged. Practical work will be carried out on the main theoretical topics to be developed, in order for the student to transfer knowledge by solving problems, especially trying to analyze reality cases.Group work such as lectures will be carried out on certain topics in order to achieve in students skills and abilities related to independent research capacity and their own critical analysis.In the part of the subject where the Economic History of our country is studied, They will screen documentaries / films to students related to different aspects of it.
Additional hours
They will be used preferably as consultation hours.
Evaluation
2 partials will be taken, one from Axis A and the other from Axis B; both with more practical questions, of the problem solving type, than theoretical. Students must pass both partial exams to obtain regularity. There will only be 1 recovery of partials.
Axis C will not be evaluated through formal examinations, but through a Round of Critical Analysis and Discussion on the documentaries of the University of Buenos Aires on Argentine Economic History or on the two parts of the film «The Lost Republic».
Axis D will be evaluated through a Group Colloquium, where each student will present a chapter from the book "The End of Work" by J. Rifkin, a best-seller from the late 1990s that deals with accelerated technological change, increase productivity and unemployment.
The final grade will weigh the learning process that each student has had, their grades for the partial exams, their critical analysis of the documentaries about our socio-economic history and their presentation of the Final Colloquium, that is, there will be no single exam instance, but instances multiple and weighted evaluation.
Bibliography
• MAAS, Pablo and CASTILLO, José, Economía, Editorial Aique, Argentina, 2001.
• FISHER, Stanley, DORNSBUSCH, Rudiger, SCHMALENSEE, Richard, Economics, Second Edition, (Spain, Mc Graw Hill, 1989).
• FISHER, Stanley, DORNSBUSCH, Rudiger, Macroeconomics, Second Edition, (Spain, Mc Graw Hill, 1991).
• VISINTINI, Aldo, An essay on the History of Argentine Economic Policy, in Economics magazine No. 26, Banco de la Provincia de Córdoba, 1978, pp. 206 to 274.
• UBA, Documentaries on Argentine Economic History.
• SANTLLANA POLIMODAL, Economy. Ideas and great economic processes in time. The contemporary Argentine economy, (Buenos Aires, Ediciones Santillana, 2000), pp. 138 to 199.
• RIFKIN, Jeremy, The end of work, Editorial Paidós, Argentina, 1996.
