WRITING REQUIREMENT (GORDON RULE)

State Communication and Computation Requirement:

This course is used in partial fulfillment of the social science writing requirement of the State of Florida’s General Education Program (commonly known as the Gordon Rule). This means that all students are required to complete a “Writing Requirement” to pass this course. Students not completing this requirement will receive a letter grade of “F” for the semester regardless of examination scores. To fulfill the writing requirement, students must complete this assignment and earn an average grade of 70% or more.

YOUR TASK

• Scarcity, Opportunity Cost, Wants, Markets, Law of Demand, Law of Supply, Market Failure, The Informal Economy, Unemployment Rate, Structural Unemployment, Human Capital, Inflation Rate, Gross Domestic Product, Consumption, Economic Growth, Supply Side Fiscal Policy, Taxation, Public Debt, Fiat Money, Cryptocurrencies, Liquidity, Trade-off between Risk and Return, Monetary Policy, and Saving.

Choose one concept from the list above, and write a paper a 500 to 550 word paper (500 words is the absolute minimum) in which you state a response to the following prompt;

“Before completing the assignments (Discussions, Scenarios, and Homework) in this course I thought about (one of the concepts from the list) in this way …, now I think … “.

ABOUT YOUR RESPONSE

You are free to organize and arrange your sentences and paragraphs in any way you see fit, but your response MUST at least have the following 5 elements:

• It must state and define the concept or idea.
• It must explain how you viewed or understood the concept before completing the course assignments.
• It must explain your new way of viewing, or understanding the concept.
• It must say the reason why your perspective, or understanding changed. In other words, what did you do, see, or hear as a result of completing the assignments that helped transform your opinion.
• It must have information, data or facts, that supports the reason for your change. The information, data or facts can be presented in the form of an example, or as part of an explanation, but it must be explicitly connected to at least one of the assignments.

As you produce your response, you should also consider the following:

• The implications of the change in perspective. In other words, now that you see this concept in this way, what are some of the things that will come after? What will you do differently? What follows? Also, analogies and metaphors are a great way to illustrate how one views a concept or an idea.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTING YOUR RESPONSE

When submitting your response, DO NOT INCLUDE your name, date, or any other information, just the response to the assignment question. If appropriate, cite references using in-text APA citation style. In-text citations are placed within sentences and paragraphs.

Make an attempt stick to the 550 word maximum, any content written in excess of the 550 word maximum may not count towards the grade. Papers not meeting the minimum requirement of 500 words will receive a ZERO.

Type your response on a Microsoft Word file (.doc or .docx file), save it, and upload it through D2L. You MUST submit your response to the appropriate assignment folder by the due date. Work turned in using any format other than MS Word (.doc), may not be graded. In addition, work turned in late, via email, in my mailbox or in class WILL receive NO CREDIT. Consideration MAY be given on late assignments for valid documented emergencies.

To submit your response, you will need access to internet, and a computer with proper software, if you don’t, you can use any of the “open lab” computers at any BC Learning Resource Center or in public libraries. No consideration will be given for not having access to the hardware, software or any other resource required to access the D2L platform.

ADDITIONAL INFO & TIPS FROM THE INSTRUCTOR:

It is important that you recognize, that in this assignment, you are required to think critically, hence the critical thinking tools shared in this course can be very helpful. Try to the identify the Elements of Thought that are part of the logic (reason) for your change in perspective in regards to the concept you chose. If you reviewed our critical thinking tools, you know, that the are 8 Elements of Thought; Purpose, Question at Issue, Information, Concepts, Point of View, Assumptions, Conclusions, and Implications. I am going to lead by example, and state a few of these, as they relate to this assignment.

• Question at Issue: Can you identify and explain a change in perspective, opinion, or Point of View, you have had regarding one of the concepts in list above, as a direct result of completing the course assignments?
• Purpose: In this assignment, your objective is to identify and explain a change in perspective, opinion, or Point of View, you have had regarding one of the concepts in list above, as a direct result of completing the course assignments.
• Point of View: You are trying to answer the Question at Issue, from the perspective of person who completing the course assignments, which means, that you were asked to;
  • Read and consume visual, and written content about economics,
  • Answer questions about economic concepts and issues
  • Engage in discussions about the content with your classmates and of course with me the instructor.
• In other words, you experienced this class, from the perspective of a student, which may imply that you are not an expert in these concepts, and that you engaged in activities to learn more about them.

Note, that in order to answer the Question at Issue, and accomplish the Purpose of this assignment, you need to produce or compose:

• Conclusions – When you change your perspective or opinion about something, you have reached a conclusion. When you think back at an entire experience that involved, reading, writing, viewing, listening, and answering questions about a multitude of concepts in the world of economics, and you pick one that you have change your mind on, you have reached a conclusion.
• Information – What evidence (what did you do, see or hear), or facts did you use to reach the conclusion that there is another way of looking at or understanding the concept in question? What allowed you to see this concept in another way? What allowed you to see that the concept in question, is this other thing, that you did not think about before? What allowed you to see that the concept in question can be used for this other thing, that you did not know it could be useful for?
• Assumptions – which things did you take for granted, or a as given, before completing the assignments regarding the concept in question? What are your assumptions now?
• Implications – Now that you see this concept in a different way, what are some of the things that follow? What will you do different? How will this new perspective change your approach to things? What happens next?