The Future of Education

Justification: Learning costs of transaction is complex for first-year students of the course Introduction to Business Economics, since they are theoretical concepts that in most cases are raised from an abstract perspective. These costs are more evident in a business context, which is still far away from the perspective of students.

Objective: Our objective is that our students can learn in a practical way, so that they do not only read and memorize the theory of costs of transaction, but we want them to experience those costs through artificially created situations in which they play different roles. Once they have experienced them, they can identify those costs theoretically and finally, understand them.

Methodology: To achieve this objective, the following teaching experiment was designed. First, each student is given a card and is converted into a collector (art, cars, vinyl records, etc.). The card contains all the information about the object they collect (object they have, object they want, how much money they are willing to pay and how much money they are willing to receive, additional information on payment method, requirements, etc.). Once they have read the card, they have to find in the classroom another agent/student willing to make a transaction with them. They are advised that the transaction must be as detailed as possible in terms of payment methods, quantities, resolution of possible post-sale problems, etc. Finally, they present the transactions they have performed and their terms. When all (most of) the students have achieved the transactions, they detail the problems or inconveniences they have encountered and together with the teacher they are classified as costs of transactions. Thus, students analyse the problems they have had to get a transaction and they generate a large number of examples that facilitate its understanding.

Results: This teaching experiment, in addition to increasing the communicative and negotiation skills and the proactivity of students in their learning, demonstrates that it has served to facilitate the explanation (by the teacher) and the understanding (by the student) of a classically theoretical and abstract concept.