Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Economics

Vocational

• Preparation for taking up career as professional economist.
• Work in post requiring sound knowledge of economic fundamentals.
• Work in post requiring sound knowledge of South African economy.

Academic

• Preparation for taking masters qualification.

General

• Develop a strategy for learning.
• Identify and solve problems.
• Collect, analyse and critically evaluate data and information.
• Work with others effectively.
• Organise his/her own time and that of others.
• Use science and technology to collect data and process within the ethical norms for academic research.
• Communicate effectively using the full range of available technologies in both written and oral form.
• Develop sound understanding of the economic challenges facing South Africa.

Economics major in first degree, with a minimum pass of 60% in final year of Economics. Students are expected to possess the necessary linguistic and numeracy skills to successfully deal with the subject matter of the course. Students are required to possess the social skills necessary to make presentations to their peers and to work effectively in groups.

Recognition of alternative prior learning procedures used for access to this programme

• Compliance with Rule R33 of the Common Rules of the University of Natal, Durban.

Demonstrate

• Identifying and solving problems, in particular, identifying and specifying the economic context.
• The ability to think logically and creatively.
• The ability to understand concepts, theories and principles.
• Be capable of accessing and analysing economic data and information.
• The ability to utilise appropriate quantitative skills at a basic level in conjunction with critical reasoning to analyse, interpret and evaluate data and information.
• Research and presentation skills.
• Independence, self-motivation and self-reliance.
• The ability to learn; in particular, the ability to understand, critically evaluate and build on the contributions of others in the chosen field.
• The ability to develop and apply appropriate theory to real-world economic problems in a critical and creative fashion, showing an awareness of the necessary assumptions and the limits they impose on the conclusions reached.
• Communication skills using a variety of techniques / methodologies.
• An awareness of technology, its applications and limitations.
• An understanding of the basic structure of any economy, with particular relevance to the South African case and its place within the world context.
• An understanding of critical issues in the South African economy (including the ethical and moral questions), and of the policy options available, as well as an awareness of the contribution that they, as economists, can make.
• Planning and organisational skills.
• Teamwork skills

Examination

• To test the student's ability
• To understand concepts, theories and principles
• To use critical reasoning in general in a logical and creative way
• To apply critical reasoning to the solution of problems
• To apply appropriate quantitative skills in the solution of problems

Class presentations: to test the student's ability

• To communicate effectively
• To utilise appropriate techniques/methodologies for the effective presentation of an argument.
• To analyse problems/ situations/ the literature critically and present the results.
• To interact with peers and work as the member of a team, where appropriate.

Assignments: to test the student's ability

• To access, synthesize, analyse and interpret data and information.
• To think creatively and utilise critical reasoning to place data and information in context.
• To use appropriate quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques.
• To interact with peers and work as the member of a team, where appropriate.

Dissertation: allows the student to be assessed on his/her ability to demonstrate

• Creatively and originally in the selection and treatment of a research topic of his/her own choice, usually but not necessarily relating to the South African economy.
• Holistic thinking and the integration of the learning experiences of all the modules in the programme as they relate to the topic chosen.
• The critical application of theory to a real-world problem.
• The application of appropriate quantitative and qualitative skills to the analysis and evaluation of data.
• The critical assessment of the results of his/her analysis, and the recognition of the limits of the analysis.
• Self-motivation, independence and self-reliance.

Integrated assessment

The University of Natal is currently reforming its assessment strategies to include the assessment of applied competence for each qualification. In the meantime, a combination of continuous assessment and traditional written examinations serve to assess the integration of all/most of the learning outcomes for each module in a qualification.

Continuous assessment: Class presentations, participation in class discussions and assignments for each module.

Final assessment: An examination for each module.

Dissertation: A research project, which will usually include an empirical research component. The dissertation is the principle vehicle for ensuring that the material learnt in each module is integrated in the study of a real-world problem.