Everything Economics at the University of Toronto
Dear first year econ students,
At least some members of the Department of Economics do see your posts on Reddit. The Thrive Guide 2024 is the positive, actionable response. Last year, the Thrive Guide was a book length series of posts that covered everything a first year student could possibly need to know about getting that 63% in each of these courses. Unfortunately, no one had time to read it all. So, this year, it is stripped it down to the essentials. [Read more…]
It’s a myth that you can’t study for multiple choice exams. Not only can you study for them, but you can learn the art of answering these kinds of questions. Here are the elements of that art.
Bring a ruler or a blank piece of paper to ensure you are filling out the right answer on the right line on the machine-readable bubble sheet.
“You can mark your answers on the test booklet, but remember to go fill the sheet in after,” said Johnny Tong, an Instructional Support Assistant with the Department of Economics who marks tests and exams like these. “And, even if you have no idea what is right or wrong, don’t leave answers blank! No points get taken off for wrong answers on multiple choice tests for ECO101 or 102. Lucky guesses can be worth a few extra points.”
Also, don’t forget to put your name and student number on the bubble sheet before you include it with the exam booklet in case they get separated.
How would your learning change if you knew what would be on the final exam before the course even started? You now have the opportunity to reverse-engineer your learning and focus by reviewing past questions in the Old Exams Repository. It’s very valuable learning tool. Here’s why: it helps you find the essential concepts and ideas in the course so you can practice putting them into your own words rather than regurgitating what you read in the textbook.
“Students don’t need to memorize textbooks, you need to apply what you are learning,” emphasized Professor Robert Gazzale, an economics professor and New College Principal. “You shouldn’t spend too much time reading and re-reading the textbook. It’s more effective to treat the text, and all the other materials, as resources that help solve problems. Practicing and applying what you have learned is how successful students build a repository of knowledge to draw from.” [Read more…]
The Economics Study Centre is open. The most valuable resource available to new econ students is housed in Economics’ HQ at Max Gluskin House, 150 St. George Street, Room 110. Even if you aren’t having issues with ECO101 or 102, you are always welcome to drop in and talk about economics.
“Come drop by the ESC!” emphasized lead learning assistant Kevin Wang. “We’re here to make sure the ESC is a great resource to get your conceptual questions answered, meet other economics students, and get advice about navigating being an economics student.”
The learning assistants (LAs) are third- and fourth-year students who did so well in their first two years of Economics, they were chosen to help others.
Frosh? The University of Toronto was founded in 1827. That means there are almost 700,000 alumni living all over the planet. One of those 700K was Professor of Economics Dwayne Benjamin. Here is what he remembers about being a new student.
For those of us who work in an academic institution, September feels like a new year more than the one that January ushers in: our rhythms are driven by the academic calendar. With September comes a quickening of pace, within and around us: Students return to campus in full force and calendars fill up as we prepare ourselves for the more regularly scheduled programming of the school year. As we fall back into this familiar tempo, there is the (largely optimistic) sense that September is a fresh start, a feeling that is helped along by the crisp air that arrives once summer starts to give way to fall. [Read more…]