Syllabus- ECON 213 U.S. Economic and Business History – Fall 2012, LCC

Lansing Community College

Business & Economics Department
Section Syllabus – ECON 213
Fall 2012
CRN:   40105

Course and Section Information:

Course Code:  ECON 213
Title:  U.S. Business and Economic History
Semester:  Fall 2012
Class Meetings:  ONLINE – (no face-to-face class meetings)

Instructor & Contact Information:

Instructor: Jim Luke
Office: LCC Main Campus, GB 190.7
Phone & Voice Mail: 313-550-8884 (cell + text) (preferred), 517-483-5384 (office)
Email: lukej@lcc.edu (preferred for all email)
Office Hours: T & Th 10-11:45am and 1-4 pm; Appointments are recommended. As I am frequently in called into college-related meetings and will be on campus on other days also, it is best to request an appointment and to check Where’s Jim for availability.

I. Course Code

Credit   3

II. Prerequisite

Reading Level 5

III. Course Description

This course provides a survey of American economic and business history, change, and growth since the colonial period. Topics include an overview of business organization, the role of government and technological change, American industrial development, labor unions, and capitalization patterns.

IV. Instructional Materials

A. Required Textbooks:

There are three required texts.

(note: links will open Amazon.com page for the book. Students are free to obtain the books from any source they wish and are encouraged to price-shop.)
Issues in American Economic History(Paperback)
by Roger LeRoy Miller (Author), Robert L. Sexton(Author)

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: South-Western College Pub; 1 edition (April 2, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0324290179
  • ISBN-13: 978-0324290172
  • Should be available at Gibsons Bookstore.  Amazon price for new: $37.32.  see
    this link for Amazon.     Limited copies of new books available at Amazon in early August.  You may want to also try half.com
    for lower priced used copies.

Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power by John Steele Gordon

  • Paperback: 496 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial (October 25, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060505125
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060505127
  • Should be available at Gibsons Bookstore. Price on Amazon:  $10.87    Link to Amazon here

A Short History of American Capitalism by Meyer Weinberg

B.  Required Other Materials and Resources  –More information and instructions are
provided in specific assignments online.

  • All course materials are delivered via the Angel, LCC online course managent system. Students must use Angel regularly.
  • Other online resources and software, including Google Sites and other resources are required.  Links and directions will be provided online.  Free versions of all are available.
  • Online videos may also be required.  These videos may be viewed from most browsers.  Links will be provided in Angel.

V.  Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, the successful student will be able to:

  1. Identify and critique the economic causes of the American Revolution.
  2. Identify the transportation/communication innovations which laid the foundation for industrialization and growth in the American economy in the 19th and 20th centuries.
  3. Discuss how transportation/communication innovations and infrastructure guided, facilitated, and enabled the growth of the American economy in the 19th and 20th centuries. Identify and discuss the forces that transformed the American economy from an agricultural foundation to an industrial and post-industrial economy.
  4. Recall the major forces of technological change from 1865 to 1917.
  5. Identify, discuss, and contrast the major forces of technological change in each of the early 19th, late 19th, early 20th, mid-to-late 20th centuries.
  6. Trace and discuss the development of government policies towards business and the economy with particular attention to the  struggle between laissez-faire economic philosophy and policies of government intervention.
  7. Trace and discuss the development of the money, banking, and financial industries throughout American history including particular attention to monetary policy, the business cycle, and the role of Wall Street.
  8. Identify and discuss the standards of living of average Americans throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and the impact economic  growth had on everyday lives.
  9. Identify and explain major movements and phenomena of American economic history including the settlement of the frontier, the  Robber Barons (“the Gilded Age”), the Labor movement, urbanization, and The Great Depression.

VI. Methods of Instruction

This course is entirely online. Three primary methods of learning are used.

  1. Students will read chapters in three books and other online resources.
  2. Students will reflect on their readings by taking quizzes and posting in Critical Thinking Question forums.
  3. Students will create a “virtual research project”.  A “virtual research project” is a website created by the students
    themselves that examines a particular issue in U.S. Economic history.

VII. Methods of Evaluating Student Acheivement and Progress:

A. The following methods are used in this class:

Assignment
 Points
Possible		  approx %
of Course Grade
Quizzes (online) 110 points 34%
Final Exam (proctored at Assessment Center) 80 points 25%
Required postings to Critical Thinking Questions Forums 70 points 22%
Research Project (“website”) 60 points 19%
Total for
Course		 320
points		 100%
More detailed information about these assignments is available online
on the Course Angel website.

B. Grading Scale:

The College Standard grading scale will
be used:

Course Grade % of Possible Minimum Points
Earned
4.0 Excellent 91-100% 273
3.5 86-90% 258
3.0 Good 81-85% 243
2.5 76-80% 228
2.0 Satisfactory 71-75% 213
1.5 66-70% 198
1.0 Poor 60-65% 180
0.0 No Credit 0-59% 0

VIII. Course Practices and Policies

College-wide policies are stated in the College Catalog and include those on attendance, withdrawals, and incomplete grades.  The College Catalog is available on the Internet at http://www.lcc.edu/catalog/.  Lansing Community College provides services to students with documented disabilities.  If you need accomomdations, contact the Office of Disability Services at 517-483-1207 in room 2300 of Gannon  Building to coordinate reasonable accomodations for your needs.

Additional course policies and practices for this course are:

Drops
Students are advised to familiarize themselves with the LCC Withdrawal Policy. It is available on the Internet at     http://www.lcc.edu/policy/policies_9.aspx#W_GRADE.  Under this policy, students may withdraw themselves from  the course until the end of the eighth week. Students who do not participate online, have extended unexcused absences from online activity, or who engage in uncivil activity are subject to Administrative Withdrawal.
Attendance Policy
Students are expected to be active online every week and meet Unit expected completion dates.  Students who go more than two weeks without logging-on and submitting work, and without explanation or notification to the professor are subject to Administrative Withdrawal for non-attendance. Students who do not complete Unit 1 by September 3 will be dropped.
Late Assignments
Each unit  has an Expected Completion Date to complete all assignments for that unit.  Late work may be accepted at the instructor’s discretion for some assignments. Contact the instructor if you will not be able to meet the Expected Completion Date for any assignment. Some assignments cannot be accepted after their respective Expected Completion Dates.  These “hard” deadlines include:
  • Unit 1 (quiz and forum) must be completed by Sept 3 midnight.
  • Project submissions must be completed and be ready by Dec. 3 midnight.
  • Final exam and all other assignments must be completed by 8pm on Dec. 12.

IX.  Detailed Outline of Course Content and Sequencing

The course is organized into 8 Units of work.  A Unit is scheduled to be completed approximately every two weeks. Students should refer to the materials on the course site econhist.econproph.net and D2L for specific information on the outline of course content, sequencing, and due dates of assignments.

Unit

Expected Completion Date
 Unit 1 Getting Started  Sept 3
 Unit 2  Sept 17
 Unit 3  Oct 1
 Unit 4  Oct 15
 Unit 5  Oct 29
 Unit 6  Nov 12
 Unit 7  Dec 3
 Unit 8  Dec 12

If a student anticipates not being able to work on the course for some particular 2-week period, they should contact the instructor.  Arrangements can be made for legitimate conflicts, such as giving birth to a child, death in the family, hospitalization, etc.

X.  Transfer Potential

For transferability information, please consult the Transfer Equivalency List located on the Internet at http://www.lcc.edu/transfer.  For additional transferability information contact the LCC Counselling Services Department at 517-483-1255  and the college or university to which you intend to transfer.

XI. Student Academic Integrity

The very nature of higher education requires that students adhere to accepted standards of academic integrity.  Therefore, Lansing Community College has adopted a code of academic conduct and a statement of student academic integrity.  These may be found in the Lansing Community College Catalog where violations of academic integrity are listed and defined.  Such violations include both cheating and plagiarism. It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of behaviors that constitute academic dishonesty.

Classroom and online behavior that interferes with the instructional and learning processes is not tolerated.  the consequences are addressed in the catalog under Administrative Withdrawal.

 

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