The Teaching Resource in Business and Economics (TRIBE) is a free resource, created and curated by Westminster Business School and part-funded by the Commercial Education Trust (CET) which aims to foster the deeper learning of business and economics by coupling theory with real world examples in order to help students contextualise their studies. Spearheaded by Senior Lecturer in Economics and Quantitative Methods, Karen Kufuor, and endorsed by the school Dean, Professor Barbara Allan, TRIBE has recently superseded its subscription targets and secured a further £26,000 in external funding. To read the introduction to TRIBE please visit the first blog entry in this series, and to read some testimonials please visit the second entry.
In order to gain a better understanding of the aims and scope of the project, we interviewed Lead Academic Karen Kufuor to learn more about the future of TRIBE.
Can you tell us about TRIBE?
K: TRIBE is a free educational resource offered by Westminster Business School and part-funded by the Commercial Education Trust which features current affairs and news curated by a number of students both at the University and in local colleges. The CET provided £50,000 spread over two years, which funded two academics overseeing the two areas ‘economics’ and ‘business’ and it also pays for marketing activities, and paid work-experience conducted by Westminster students. In the most recent bout of funding, £6,000 of additional financing was secured specifically for marketing activities.
What gap does TRIBE fill in the current media landscape?
K: TRIBE bridges the gap between school, college and independent life. Students from GCSE onwards who are studying business and economics, right through to higher education.
Can you tell us about your vision for the future of TRIBE?
K: I would hope to see TRIBE being integrated in schools, universities and colleges throughout the country and even beyond. I look at TRIBE as a tool that is perfect for preparing students for academic life, bridging the gap between school, college and university where the onus is placed on independent learning, getting students in the habit of keeping up to date, without this being teacher-lead.
What scope does TRIBE have to continue?
K: TRIBE works really well within the business school, and I hope to see it integrated more and more into modules at the University. For instance, I’ve been working with an academic on the Macroeconomics module and ensure that I feed TRIBE with articles that pertain to the content of her lectures.
Tell us more about TRIBE events, why are they important?
K: I’ve been working with the Economics and Entrepreneurship societies at the Business School, as I believe this helps them to build graduate skills that will help employability for those involved in the organising of these events. These will continue to be streamed on the TRIBE scoop.it with engagement on social media platforms as we’ve done in the past. We also hope to run some webinars, aimed predominately at A Level students.
