Concept Maps for Elasticities of Demand and Supply: Online Resources for Economics Students

Abstract

Online resources are gaining momentum across the education setting due to technological advancement and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This has resulted in the use of different tools and strategies in providing educational resources for today’s technology-driven learners. Technology-based learning resources tend to capture learners’ interest in this digital age. Therefore, this study provides concept maps as online resources for Economics students.A concept map is a knowledge representation in the form of a graph comprised of boxes connected with labeled arcs showing the relationships among concepts and ideas. The study was an exploratory survey study with two objectives constructing online concept maps and determining students’ views on the constructed maps. The area of the study was Nsukka Local Government Area. The population was 2,389 SS2 Students from the 32 secondary schools in Nsukka LGA. The sample size was 120 SS2 Economics students using a simple random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a rating scale titled ‘Rating Scale on Concept Maps for Elasticities of Demand and Supply
(RSCMEDS)’.Mean scores and standard deviation were used for data analysis. Findings showed that students’ views on the constructed online maps were positive. The students were of the view that the online resources suit their digital need (mean = 3.09) and that the resources are easy to read and understand (mean = 2.90). The researcher believes that the online concept maps resources will serve as better alternative to traditional lecture method used mainly in schools. And thus, they will help to promote students’ interest and achievement in learning the mapped contents in Economics.