Course Requirements and Grading

Student Learning Outcomes:

In the context of Personal and Consumer Finance as related to social and behavioral science outcomes, students will be able to:

1) Explain social institutions, structures, and processes across a broad range of historical periods and cultures from a social and behavioral science perspective.

Students will study economic trends and financial statistics concerning governments, families, education, businesses, financial organizations, markets, and legal systems. Students will demonstrate knowledge through class discussions, case studies, written assignments, and mathematical story problems.

2) Develop and communicate hypothetical explanations for individual human behavior within the large-scale historical or social context.

By studying events such as The Great Depression, Energy Crisis, 9-11 Attack, and Housing Finance Crisis, students will communicate explanations for human behavior and their impact on individuals and society. Students will demonstrate competence through class discussions, case studies, and written assignments.

3) Draw on the social and behavioral sciences to evaluate contemporary problems using social science research methodology.

Students will review scholarly peer-reviewed research articles published in social and behavior science journals to evaluate current money issues related to individuals and families such as unemployment, retirement, healthcare, bankruptcy, identity theft, monetary and fiscal policies, supply and demand, and/or inflation. Students will participate in class discussions and forums to share insight they have gained based on their review of the research articles.

4) Describe and analytically compare social, political, economic, cultural, geographical, and historical settings and processes other than one's own.

Through written assignments, discussions, and mathematical problems, students will demonstrate their ability to analyze and compare consumers based on socioeconomic status, family status, and culture regarding healthcare choices and opportunities, taxes, unemployment, interest rates, consumer protection laws, international markets and economy.

5) Explain and use the social-scientific method to test research questions and draw conclusions.

Through discussions, case studies, and mathematical problems, students will demonstrate their ability to test research questions and draw conclusions by using what-if analysis, considering opportunity costs, and evaluating risk concerning personal finance topics.

6) Write effectively within the social science discipline, using correct disciplinary guidelines, to analyze, interpret, and communicate about social science phenomena.

Students will complete a research paper in APA format on a personal and consumer finance topic to communicate about social science phenomena. They will demonstrate effective writing through drafts, feedback from instructor/peers, and revision.