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.