Exploring a Monetary Union among Nations through Active Learning

Abstract

This article presents a classroom project that employs various techniques of active learning including role-playing, collaborative group work and writing. The project explores the recent creation of the European Monetary Union (EMU) with special emphasis on the introduction of the euro. The project assumes that the Americas have begun preliminary discussion on forming a monetary union of their own—complete with a single currency and single central bank. Students act as country representatives in the negotiation for an American Monetary Union (AMU). The purpose of the project is to give students a chance to examine the broader issues of regional currency arrangements and to understand how the process of monetary unification operates.

Key Words:

• active learning
• teaching strategies
• student-teacher interaction
• lecturing

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ophelia D. Goma

Ophelia D. Goma is an assistant professor of economics in the Department of Economics and Management at DePauw University, in Greencastle, Indiana.