Economic & Government Systems
Reciprocal Learning Teacher Notes
Description of Reciprocal Learning:
Reciprocal Learning is a student-centered review strategy. In Reciprocal Learning, students
are paired off into peer partnerships. One student in the pair acts as the player and the other
acts as the coach. The player works to answer a set of questions prepared by the teacher.
The coach checks the work of the player, providing praise when the player is correct and
helpful hints when the player is incorrect. When the player is finished, the two partners
reverse roles. The role of the teacher is to facilitate the process.
It is important that the teacher discuss appropriate behavior with the students prior to
conducting the activity. Students should not only stay actively engaged in the task, but
students should respond appropriately to other students when incorrect answers are given.
Additionally, the teacher should have an alternative assignment for students who are
disruptive, off-task, or disrespectful to others.
The teacher should demonstrate the activity with students prior to conducting the activity.
Although the activity is not difficult, it can seem confusing at first. Furthermore, the teacher
may need to differentiate the activity by providing “hints” for each concept for lower groups of
students and/or provide a list of all vocabulary terms as a word bank.
Word Bank:
Federal
Confederation
Currency
Exchange
Tariff
Unitary
Market
Economy
Standard
of Living
Embargo
Oligarchic
Mixed
Gross
Domestic
Product
Quota
Autocratic
Traditional
Economy
Human
Capital
Natural
Resources
Presidential
Democracy
Command
Economy
Literacy
Rate
Entrepreneurship
Parliamentary
Democracy
Economic
Continuum
Physical
Capital
Specialization
Economic & Government Systems
Reciprocal Learning Review “Player A”
Directions:
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One group member should get a Reciprocal Learning Player A sheet and the other
group member should get a Reciprocal Learning Review Player B sheet.
Player A should start the activity by reading his/her first question out loud. Player A
should answer the question. Coach B should check the answer by looking on his/her
paper under Coach B number 1.
If Player A gets the incorrect answer, Coach B should provide hints to help Player A.
Coach B should not give the answer to Player A unless absolutely necessary.
Reverse roles. Player A becomes Coach A and Coach B becomes Player B.
Player B should read his/her first question out loud. Player B should answer the
question. Coach A should check the answer by looking on his/her paper under Coach
A number 1.
Player/Coach A and Player/Coach B should continue this process until all questions
have been answered.
Players may need to go back and do numbers that were previously missed.
Player A
1. Power to make laws and decisions for the people is shared or
divided between one central and several regional authorities
2. Voluntary association of independent states that make their
own laws and decisions, but are loosely aligned to a weak central
government
3. Rule of a few. A small group exercises control; the citizen has
a very limited role in the government
4. System of government in which the people elect a legislature,
but the real executive power is held by a cabinet composed of
members of the legislature who are individually and collectively
responsible to the legislature. A Prime Minister may be selected
by the legislature as the leader.
5. Buyers and sellers answer the three economic questions of
what, how, and for whom to produce
6. System in which economic decisions are based on customs
and beliefs.
7. A type of trade barrier that forbids trade with another country
8. A method by which money from one country is converted into
the currency of another country to pay for goods and services in
that country
9. A measurement of the total goods and services produced in
one year within a country
10. The people who perform labor and the education and training
needed to make them more productive
11. Materials or substances that occur in nature and can be used
for economic gain
12. A type of trade barrier that places a limit on the amount of a
good that can be imported into a country
Coach A
1. Unitary
2. Autocratic
3. Presidential Democracy
4. Standard of Living
5. Mixed
6. Command Economy
7. Specialization
8. Literacy Rate
9. Entrepreneurship
10. Physical Capital
11. Tariff
12. Economic Continuum
Economic & Government Systems
Reciprocal Learning Review “Player B”
Directions:
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One group member should get a Reciprocal Learning Player A sheet and the other
group member should get a Reciprocal Learning Review Player B sheet.
Player A should start the activity by reading his/her first question out loud. Player A
should answer the question. Coach B should check the answer by looking on his/her
paper under Coach B number 1.
If Player A gets the incorrect answer, Coach B should provide hints to help Player A.
Coach B should not give the answer to Player A unless absolutely necessary.
Reverse roles. Player A becomes Coach A and Coach B becomes Player B.
Player B should read his/her first question out loud. Player B should answer the
question. Coach A should check the answer by looking on his/her paper under Coach
A number 1.
Player/Coach A and Player/Coach B should continue this process until all questions
have been answered.
Players may need to go back and do numbers that were previously missed.
Player B
1. Power is held by one central authority. The central authority
has all the power to make laws and decisions for the people
2. One person possesses unlimited power; the citizen has
limited, if any, role in the government; rule of one
3. System of government in which the people elect a
representative who is constitutionally independent of the
legislature. The representative is called a president.
4. A level of material comfort as measured by the goods,
services, and luxuries available to an individual, group, or
nation
5. When the economy of a country shows characteristics of
both command and market
6. The government makes all of the economic decisions and
answers the economic questions of what, how, and for whom
to produce
7. When one country can produce a good or service at a lower
opportunity cost than another country
8. The number of people in an area that can read and write
9. When individuals or groups have an idea for a good or
service and take the risk to produce it
10. The factories, machinery, and technology used to produce
goods and services
11. A type of trade barrier that places a tax on imported goods
12. An instrument for showing how economic systems relate
to each other on a scale of more government control vs. less
government control and how government
Coach B
1. Federal
2. Confederation
3. Oligarchy
4. Parliamentary Democracy
5. Market Economy
6. Traditional Economy
7. Embargo
8. Currency Exchange
9. Gross Domestic Product
10. Human Capital
11. Natural resources
12. Quota