ECONOMICS 6485---Summer 2003

COURSE TITLE: Special Topics in Economics for Teachers

INSTRUCTORS: David Boldt dboldt@westga.edu (770) 836-6477; Judy Butler jbutler@westga.edu (770) 838-3183; and Leland Gustafson lvg55@westga.edu 770-836-6477.

OFFICE HOURS: TBA

REQUIRED BOOKS AND OTHER MATERIALS:

• Miller, Benjamin, North, The Economics of Public Issues, 13^th Ed., Addison-Wesley, 2003.
• Financial Fitness for Life Grades 9-12 (Student Workouts and Teacher Guide)
• Social Education, (67), Special Issue on the Teaching of Economics (March 2003)
• Economics in Action 14 Greatest Hits for Teaching High School Economics, NCEE, 2003
• Capstone: Exemplary Lessons for High School Economics (Student Activities and Teacher’s Guide), NCEE, 2003
• Useful Internet Resources for the Teaching of Economics (http://www.westga.edu/~dboldt/econk12resources.htm)

These (and other course materials) are provided free to students from funds provided by the Georgia Council on Economic Education.

PREREQUISITES:  Introductory economics courses (ECON 2105, 2106) or consent of instructor

OBJECTIVES:

This course is meant to provide social studies and other teachers a review of current issues in economics and personal finance. In addition, the class will provide insights for developing lesson plans for the teaching of various of economics-related topics. Specifically students will be able to:

! summarize and make oral presentations on public policy issues of interest in economics;

! find and utilize useful economics resources available over the Internet;

! utilize the services of the Georgia Council on Economic Education to assist in the teaching of economic concepts;

! use the Guide to Economic Reasoning to teach and develop lessons for middle and secondary students;

! discuss and relate the 20 economic standards to the requirements of Georgia Quality Core Curriculum;

! discuss and build lessons based upon key economic and financial fitness concepts;

! reflect upon their present pedagogy and apply what they learn via exposure to best practices to summarize improvements they plan to make in the next year;

! formulate and balance a budget;

! summarize how federal and state tax laws effect investment and retirement planning; and

! discuss how to make wise financial decisions regarding saving and spending.

ASSESSMENT:

Learning outcomes are assessed based on your performance on the following:

1) Boldt

Power Point Presentation on a Chapter from The Economics of Public Issues.- Each student will lead a discussion on one chapter in the book,. Students will select a chapter to discuss (on a first come, first serve basis. All chapters are acceptable for presentation (except the chapters covered by the instructor). Using power point (or a web page), students will present a brief overview of the chapter. Include a listing of key concepts and the associated QCC’s addressed in the chapter. Students will also provide remarks on two of the discussion questions in the back of the chapter being presented. Fellow classmates are expected to have read the chapter prior to the presentation and to be prepared to contribute to a classroom discussion. Presentations (and participation in discussions) will count for 15 points of the course grade. Presentations will be made on June 17 or June 19.

In Class Writing Assignment in The Economics of Public Issues. This “exam” will be on the last hour of the June 19 class. Questions will be based on material in the chapters of The Economics of Public Issues presented by the instructor and students. This exam will count for 15 points of your grade.

Web Site Evaluation: Select an economics website we discussed in class. Evaluate the web site. What do you like about it? What are some of its shortcomings? Do you see this site being useful for middle school or high school students? Complete this review by June 24. The review should be detailed but should be no longer than a couple of paragraphs. Email the review to David Boldt (dboldt@westga.edu) on the due date. This review will count for up to 5 points.

2) Butler

Lesson Presentation from Capstone Materials (10 points)---Each student will present a lesson from the Capstone materials. Dates for presentations are July 3 or July 10.

Develop a new lesson (10 points)---Develop a new lesson that is documented to the Guide of Economic Reasoning, economic standards, economic concepts, and QCC’s. Due July 17.

Prepare a matrix (10 points)--- The matrix will identify weaknesses in one’s own teaching and description of lessons learned in this course about how to improve, e.g. emphasizing concepts in economic standards, using more hands-on activities, QCC’s that may be overlooked or shortchanged. Due July 17.

3) Gustafson

Article summaries (worth 5 points)---

• The purpose of this assignment is to have you become familiar with magazines that cover various financial fitness issues.
• You must read two (2) articles from each of the following five magazines: Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Consumer Reports, Consumer Research Magazine, Money, and Smart Money.
• 0.50 points will be given for each article outlined or summarized, up to ten articles.
• No copying. If two outlines are the same, you will receive zero points.
• Each outline (summary) should be one page in length and contain: Title Of The Article - Name Of The Magazine - Date - Page Numbers
• Write on only ONE SIDE of each 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper you use (you are not required to type the summaries)
• Staple ALL outlines together.
• Magazines must be 2002 or later. Each magazine is available in Ingram Library.
• Due date : Thursday, July 17

Student Presentation of a Lesson Plan (Financial Fitness Topic)--- Presentations will be on July 17 or July 22. Presentation will count for up to 15 points.

Exam (Financial Fitness topics)---Exam will be on July 22. This exam will count for up to 15 points.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Economics 6485---Summer 2003

(schedule will be updated during the semester---check course web site)

Date Topic

June 10 Intro to Course/Content Standards in Economics/Public Policy Issues in Economics

---CH. 6,10,15 (Boldt)

June 12 Public Policy Issues in Economics (CH. 28,30,31)/Useful Web Resources for Econ (Boldt)

June 17 Student Presentations on Public Policy Issues---Chs. 3,7,9,17,18,19,21,22,24,25,29 (Boldt)

June 19 Student Presentations/ Exam on Chapters from The Economics of Public Issues (Boldt)

June 24 Introduction to Capstone Materials/Discussion of Economics Standards (Butler)

June 26 Exploration into the Teaching of Economics (Butler)

July 1 Bankruptcy and Budgeting (Gustafson)

July 3 Lesson Presentations from Capstone Materials (Butler)

July 8 Presentation by Glen Blankenship, Georgia Council on Economic Education

July 10 Lesson Presentations from Capstone Materials (Butler)

July 15 Saving, Investment and Retirement (Gustafson)

July 17 Student Presentations on Financial Fitness topics (Gustafson)

July 22 More Student Presentations, In Class Exam on Financial Fitness Topics (Gustafson)