Syllabus ECON 260 online Comparative Econ. Systems Spring 2013 CRN 50567

Lansing Community College

Business and Economics Department
Section Syllabus – ECON 260 for Spring 2013
ONLINE – CRN 50567


Course and Section Information:

Course Code: ECON 260
Section: CRN 50567
Title: Comparative Economic Systems
Semester: Spring 2013
Class Meetings: ONLINE – no face-to-face class meetings

Instructor & Contact Information:

Instructor: Jim Luke
Office: LCC Main Campus, Gannon Building, Room 191.7 (in Business & Economics Dept. offices)
Phone & Voice Mail: 313-550-8884 (cell + text) 517-483-5384 (office)
Email: lukej@lcc.edu (preferred for email)
Office Hours: T & Th 10am-12n; 1-2pm; 4-6 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: ECON 260

Credits Lecture hrs
equivalent
3 48

II. Prerequisite

  • Reading Level 5

III. Course Description

A comparison of different global economic systems and their impact on economic growth, distribution of income and opportunity, and economic treatment of women and minorities. Theories, philosophies, historical development, and current practices will be examined.

IV. Instructional Materials

A. Required Textbooks:

One book is required for all students. It is Growth and Interaction in the World Economy: The Roots of Modernity by Angus Maddison. (AEI Press, 2005, ISBN: 084477173-2. It is not available in the bookstore. A free .pdf file of the book is available to download in the course. It is approx 100 pages long. Unfortunately the book is no longer in print, so if you do not want to read it on your computer screen, you either must print the pdf yourself or you can try to locate a used copy online. A few were listed on Amazon, but the supply seems limited.

All students will also be required to read another 2 books from a list of books provided in the course. These books are popular trade books, not traditional “textbooks”. Students will have some choice as to which book they select. The list of books will be available on the course website. In general these books sell for $15-40 each. Some may be available at your library.

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

Use of two websites for this course is required on a weekly basis (this is an online course!)  Graded activity and such as quizzes and the final exam, the Unit 1 “Who Are You Forum?”, grade reporting, and links to all assignments on the other website are located in the LCC Desire2Learn website.

“Content”, readings, links to videos, and other study materials are located at compsys.econproph.net.  Discussions and forums  will be also be held on compsys.econproph.net except for the introductory “Who Are You Forum?” in Unit 1, which is in D2L to protect the privacy of students. Students will be given instructions how to log into the compsys.econproph.net.net site in the first week. There are links in D2L to the compsys.econproph.net site as well, although students may want to bookmark the site and simply go directly to it in their browser (faster response and better formatting on mobile devices). Links to other resources about economics, websites, copies of in-class slide presentations, and practice quizzes are available on the Web at compsys.econproph.net.

Other online resources, including Jim’s blog (econproph.com), Wikipedia, and other online resources are required. More information and links will be provided as the course progresses.

Several online videos (all free), including a 6 hour series of videos from PBS called “The Commanding Heights” are required. A book version of “The Commanding Heights” is available at bookstores, but it is completely optional.

V. Student Learning Outcomes

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

  1. explain why scarcity is a problem faced by every society and why, as a result of scarcity, each society must select and economic system that will provide a mechanism to determine what goods and services will be produced in that society, how they will be produced, and how they will be divided among the society’s households.
  2. explain the characteristics of pure capitalism, the philosophy behind it, and how pure capitalist system answers the questions of What? How? and For Whom?
  3. discuss the arguments for government involvement in a capitalist economy and the varieties of capitalism that exist in the world today.
  4. explain the characteristics of pure socialism, the philosophy behind it, and how a socialist system answers the questions of What? How? and For Whom?
  5. discuss the arguments for introduction of markets into a socialist economy and the varieties of socialism that exist in the world today
  6. describe the economic systems of at least two countries with relatively high per capita GDP on different continents. Contrast the role of government and the free market in the economies fo these countries now and in the past.
  7. compare the economic growth, the economic incentives, income distribution and economic opportunity, and the role of women and minorities in these countries and explain how any differences relate to the economic systems
  8. compare the economic system of one country in Eastern Europe or the former Soviet Union under Communism to its current economic system in terms of economic growth, economic incentives, the distribution of income and economic opportunity, and the role of women and minorities.
  9. describe the economic systems of at least two countries with relatively low per capita GDP on different continents. Contrast the role of the government and the free market in the economies of these countries now and in the past.
  10. compare the prospects for economic growth, the economic incentives, the distribution of income and economic opportunity, and the role of women and minorities in these countries and explain how any differences relate to the economic systems
  11. describe the current disagreements between high income and low-income countries, the causes of the problems, and the attempts to resolve these conflicts
  12. use the Internet to collect economic statistics from countries with different economic systems and analyze those statistics

VI. Methods of Instruction

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

  1. Students will engage in online lectures, both written and videos, that present key concepts, ideas, and terms used in comparing economic systems. These lectures will be followed by short quizzes/tests and a final exam. Students will be expected to participate in discussion of these videos and online material.
  2. Students will discuss and share insights in forums
  3. Each student will read two books each regarding current topics and issues in comparative economic systems. Each student will summarize the books for the other students.
  4. Each student will prepare an analysis of a particular issue in comparative economic systems.

VII. Methods of Evaluating Student Achievement and Progress:

A. The following methods are used in this class:

More detailed information about these assignments will be available online on the Course D2L website

Type of Assignment Points Available % of Total
Points in
Course
Unit Quizzes (8) 180 points 36%
Discussion forums –
Critical Thinking Questions (8)
  70 points 14%
Book Review & Summary I   50 points  10%
Book Review & Summary II   50 points  10%
Issue Analysis   50 points 10%
Final Exam 100 points 20%
Total for Course 500 points 100%

B. Final Exam

This course has a final exam which is comprehensive covering all material from the entire semester. The final exam is taken online using the D2L site, but it will be timed and students may only attempt it once.  It is taken during the last week of the semester.

 C. Grading Scale:

The College Standard grading scale will be used:

Course Grade % of Possible
Points
Minimum Points
Earned
4.0 Excellent 91.0% 455 points
3.5 86.0% 430 points
3.0 Good 81.0% 405 points
2.5 76.0% 380 points
2.0 Satisfactory 71.0% 355 points
1.5 66.0% 330 points
1.0 Poor 60.0% 300 points
0.0 No credit <60% 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 accommodations, contact the Office of Disability Services at 517-483-1207 in room 2300 of Gannon Building to coordinate reasonable accommodations for your needs.

Additional course policies and practices for this course are:

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to be active online every week. Students who go more than two weeks without logging in online into D2L or miss quiz deadlines (see schedule) without explanation or notification to the professor are subject to Administrative Withdrawal for non-attendance.  Students who do not complete Unit 1 Quiz (a quiz about the syllabus) and the Unit 1 Forum (Who Are You? forum) by 11:59pm on Jan 23 will be presumed to have chosen to not participate and will be dropped as having never attended.

Late Assignments

Failure to complete assignments on time adversely affects yourself and other students because discussion and interaction of ideas is an important means of learning . The course is organized into 8 Units. Each of the first 7 units contains at a minimum a quiz and a critical thinking forum.  All deadlines are at midnight at the end of the day. Deadlines are on Sundays at 11:59pm except for Unit 1 (a Wednesday) and Unit 8 (Thursday).  The deadline for assignments in Unit 1 is January 23.  Other deadlines will be at approximately two-week intervals as shown in the class schedule (which is considered part of this syllabus). A link to the schedule also exists in D2L Unit 1.

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.

IX. Detailed Outline of Course Content and Sequencing

Students should refer to the class schedule and materials on the course site on D2L for specific information on the outline of course content, sequencing, and due dates of assignments. The class schedule can be downloaded as a .csv spreadsheet here.

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 Counseling Services Department at 517-483-1255 and the college or university to which you intend to transfer. Econ 260 transfers to most four-year colleges as economics credit. Few four-year schools accept it as the equivalent of a specific course. Econ 260 is in the LCC Social Science MACRAO list.

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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