Briefing Notes
(a) General:
This module will be assessed through briefing notes compiled and submitted as the course progresses. At the end of the course you will have prepared a total of 5 briefing notes. The marks received for your best 3 of the last four of these briefing notes will be averaged to give your final mark for the ME1 course. Details of what is expected are provided in the module specific assessment criteria set out in the following sub-section.
The Briefing Note Assignments can be viewed or downloaded here.
(b) Module Specific Assessment Criteria
Each briefing note will be compiled by you individually or, if you and up to two other participants agree, will be jointly compiled by a group of two or three students. If you elect to work in groups, it is not necessary that the same group composition is maintained over all the Briefing Note exercises. You can form different teams for different topics, and also you can - if you wish - do some briefing Notes individually and some in groups.
Recommended final submission deadline information is supplied here (and is given with each assignment).
Briefing notes must be word processed. Each note is limited in length to a maximum of 2 sides of A4 text (minimum font size 11 point, minimum margins 2cm all sides), plus a maximum of one additional side of relevant charts/tables/diagrams plus the space required to provide full details of references. Diagrams can be hand-drawn and scanned if you find that easier than alternatives.
A key objective is that you present concise and self contained information.
You are required to present and discuss the material for your briefing note using the Forum set up for each Briefing Note. You will receive brief feedback from your tutor - and hopefully from other class participants - through the various Forums. This can be a valuable learning experience, enabling you to learn from others and critique their ideas as you go along. It will also allow you to compare your work with that of others as you proceed through the class. When you are ready to formally submit a Briefing Note for grading, you should do so using the special submission links provided. You will ultimately receive written comments with your mark. We will endeavor to provide written comments and your mark within 2 weeks of the tutorial devoted to a given topic, but cannot guarantee this turn-round time.
At the end of the course you will not only have prepared a total of 5 briefing notes, but will also have accumulated a useful resource in the form of the complete set of briefing notes compiled by you or your groups and written tutors’ comments on these. As stated above the marks received for your best 3 of the final 4 briefing notes will be averaged to give your final mark for the ME1 course.
Your assessed assignments are required to demonstrate:
(a) the ability to consolidate information from a range of sources;(b) the ability to apply core economic principles in understanding an issue;
(c) the use of economic theory to evaluate economic policies;
(d) the ability to write for an audience – specifically non-specialist readers with some economics background.
Each note must be presented as a formal piece of academic writing with normal conventions applied to citation and reference to sources. If in doubt about how to cite material, please refer to the Study Skills information on the Department’s website – in particular you should read the sections “Evaluating and Quoting Sources” and “Avoiding Plagiarism”. Inadequate referencing will be penalized.
Learning Outcomes
(A) Knowledge and Understanding
- Develop an understanding of macroeconomic concepts, policies and institutions sufficient to allow informed analysis and appraisal of macroeconomic policies (and policy options) at national and European levels.
- Understand transmission mechanisms for both monetary and fiscal policy, and how those mechanisms might vary across countries
- Appreciate the ways in which economic commentators generate and communicate analysis of the implementation of macroeconomic policy (as expressed through, for example, budgets and monetary policy implementation)
(B) Practical Professional Skills
- Write clearly and concisely for a number of different audiences
- Develop the ability to provide informed economic commentary on policy choices (and policy implementation) in the UK and in Europe.
- Demonstrate the ability to critically consider and appraise alternative macroeconomic policy options.
Why do we ask you to prepare briefing notes?
Preparation of briefing notes is a useful skill. In your current or future employment, you are quite likely to be asked to provide briefing for colleagues. A key purpose of this kind of briefing note is to convey complex information quickly to people who are not themselves experts.
Your colleagues may be tempted to put briefing notes aside in order to consider more pressing matters, but they also need to make informed decisions. You need to consider what is relevant, as well as how to lay out the information clearly to have maximum impact. As a student, the skill of preparing briefing notes will be helpful to you in preparing essays and compiling revision notes. By the end of the course you will also have compiled a comprehensive set of the briefing notes along with written tutors’ comments.
What's important when preparing a briefing note?
You should address a well-defined objective that is direct and realistic in scope.
Possible subjects for a briefing note could be a summary of some key literature, or a discussion of a particular economic mechanism, or presentation and discussion of key economic data.
Your briefing note should be oriented to the intended audience – specifically non-specialist readers with some economics background. It should be a formal piece of academic writing with normal conventions applied to citation and reference to sources.
Consider how to identify the issue and present your argument clearly; help the reader become familiar with the matter in hand; make your note free standing, that is, understandable without reference to other material; identify significant aspects, any key conflicts and main conclusions – provide supporting justification and evidence. Your note should reach a decision on the matter or form a judgment about it.
Note that appropriate referencing of work you have used in preparing your note is a requirement. (See the sections “Evaluating and Quoting Sources” and “Avoiding Plagiarism” on the Study Skills web page.)
In summary, therefore, your assessed assignments are required to demonstrate:
- the ability to consolidate information from a range of sources;
- the ability to apply core economic principles in understanding an issue;
- the use of economic theory to evaluate economic policies;
- an appreciation of general equilibrium or “system wide” issues;
- the ability to communicate effectively with other economists and with nonspecialists;
- the ability to assemble basic information on an economic issue that you have not studied in depth previously.
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