Present and Future of the E-Learning in Economics Schools and Faculties

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to justify/motivate the existence of MOOCs of quantitative subjects, particularly of Mathematics and Statistics, in the degrees taught in Faculties of Economics and Business, complementary to the standard university courses. The changes in curricula carried out in Spain in the last decade have boosted access to these faculties’ degrees for all kind of students. However, some of these students lack skills and abilities enough to successfully tackle the first university Mathematics and Statistics courses, as these are currently designed. Empirical studies support the use of multimedia material as a very effective supporting tool for successful learning. Thus, after assessing the student’s academic performance in quantitative subjects before and after the introduction of the Bologna process, and obtaining worrying results, the implementation of the use ICTs on a regular basis is proposed in order to optimize the teaching-learning process. The data used in the study correspond to those obtained for students of the degree of Tourism and the degree in International Business, two degrees with very different characteristics and that, therefore, reflect a great diversity of the students of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Valencia.