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Government Failure: Tuition Fees for Higher Education - Lesson Plan: 2 x 1 hour lessons plus some follow up time for discussion

A series of 'off the shelf' lesson plans and resources for use in the classroom. These lessons deal with Government Failure in the context of the contentious issue of top up fees for higher education and are relevant to the following specifications:

  • AQA: AS Module 1, 10.5 and 10.6
  • Edexcel: AS Unit 2
  • OCR: AS Unit 2882, 5.2.2 and 5.2.3

Aim:

These lessons not only offer the opportunity for students to cover a wide range of issues, but also to focus on government intervention in the market and how such intervention can be interpreted as 'government failure'. The topic is highly relevant to many students and there is plenty of information available. The essence of these lessons is to get students to focus on the economic arguments for and against top up fees for higher education and to arrive at some form of conclusion not based on personal preference but on the strength of the economic case.

The links given provide a range of information but the most useful one is Graduate earnings and employment from the Labour Force Survey (Autumn 05). This has a wealth of data relating to the earnings of graduates and non-graduates and could be used to give students the opportunity to carry out some data analysis which would be good exam practice.

The Activity gives students some basic background and a list of the main issues being discussed. The task expects students to flesh out those points by finding some quantitative data to help them arrive at an informed conclusion. Right through the exercise the emphasis is on stressing the economic issues behind the emotive arguments - subsidies, merit goods, funding of public services, equity and efficiency.

The opportunity exists for the Activity to be pursued as a group exercise and for there to be a presentation or class discussion of the results of the analysis. Whatever the format used, the learning objectives should be at the forefront of the desired outcome.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the lessons students should be able to:

  • Understand the meaning of the term 'government failure'
  • Apply the concepts of merit goods, public choice, subsidy, equity and efficiency to the issue of top up fees
  • Handle and manipulate data effectively to provide support for arguments made
  • Write a coherent, balanced and well argued report showing analytical and evaluative skills

Resources:

Lesson Structure:

Lesson 1

  1. Begin with a brainstorming session on what students know about top up fees. Students should write down the main issues they think are relevant on a sheet of flip chart paper and these should be pinned up around the classroom for later use and reference. Take a show of hands of those in favour of top up fees and those against. (15 minutes)
  2. Using the PowerPoint Presentation, go through the key issues on government failure (slide 6 onwards). Stress the links to the issue being discussed, i.e. the lack of information, inability to calculate costs and benefits accurately, etc. (20 minutes)
  3. Introduce the Activity - go through the bullet pointed list, outlining the main issues and stress that these can be used as a framework on which to base the report. Stress the importance of seeking ways of quantifying the issues as a means of arriving at an informed decision, and also the fact that ultimately there may be a normative choice to be made in terms of whether it is right to expect the taxpayer at large to 'subsidise' students through university. (10 minutes)
  4. Students begin their research. (15 minutes)

Lesson 2

  1. Begin the lesson by reminding students of the task and stressing the learning objectives. (5 minutes)
  2. Students carry out their research and write up their report. (55 minutes)

On completion, the report can be marked as a standard piece of work or be used as the basis for further class discussion. In any event, it will be necessary in a future lesson to review the main arguments and the initial 'brainstorming' thoughts and consider who has changed their view as a result of the exercise and who has had their worst fears realised. Conduct a show of hands at the end of the discussion and review what has changed (if anything) and why. Hopefully, the analysis will make students realise there are many wider issues that policy makers need to consider and that decision making is rarely going to please everybody!