Increasing the Effectiveness and Adoption of an International Trade Tutorial Simulation: A Quasi-Experiment

International trade is a standard topic in principles of macroeconomics courses. It is a challenging topic for undergraduate students, specifically comparative advantage and the terms of trade. A tutorial simulation was previously created and validated as an effective aid to student understanding of the topic. Changes were made to the previous tutorial simulation both in content and the method of delivery. The effects of these changes on student adoption and tutorial efficacy were studied through a quasi- experimental design. The revised tutorial is shown to increase student use of the tutorial as a study aid and to increase student understanding of the topic.