St. Cloud State University
General Education Goal Area 5 Designation
History and the Social & Behavioral Sciences
Academic Affairs Use Only:
Response Date: ______________________
Effective Date: ______________________
1.
Prepared by: David L. Wall
Phone: 8-2095
Proposal Number: _________________
Email: dlwall@stcloudstate.edu
2.
Requesting Unit: Geography
3.
Department, Course Number, Title: GEOG 271: Economic Geography
4.
New Course
5.
Will this course be flagged as a diversity course?
Already Designated as Diversity
6.
Will this course also satisfy another General Education Goal Area?
If “Yes” specify which goal area.
7.
Course bulletin description, including credits and semesters to be offered:
Existing Course
No
Diversity Proposal Accompanying This Form
No
Yes
Spatial patterns and organization of economic activities. Topical. 3 Cr. F, S.
8.
Indicate the clientele for whom this course is designed. Is the course for general education only, or
does it fulfill general education and other program needs for this or another department? Obtain
signatures from any affected departments.
General Education and a requirement for Geography majors, elective for Community Development
9.
Indicate any changes that must be made in offerings or resources in your department or other
departments by offering this course.
None, currently offered every semester
10.
For new courses or courses not yet approved for General Education, indicate any other SCSU departments
or units offering instruction that relates to the content of the proposed course.
Economics
10/15/2009
11.
Courses designated as General Education are included in the assessment plan for the Goal Area(s)
for which they are approved. Courses for which assessment is not included in the annual GE
assessment report for two years will be removed from the General Education Program.
The Requesting Unit understands and recognizes the above conditions.
12.
Provide a concise explanation of how the following goal is a “significant focus” of the proposed course.
Goal Area 5: History and the Social & Behavioral Sciences
Develop understanding of human societies and behaviors, and of the concepts, theories, and methods of
history and the social sciences.
Students examine the factors that produce the spatial pattern of economic activities in the USA and the world.
For example, they learn about the environmental, technological, cultural and economic factors that produce the
observed patterns of global agriculture. Similarly they learn about the processes that create the spatial distribution
of retail and services activities within a city. They are introduced to the most common concepts and theories in
geography that attempt to explain the spatial patterns of economic activity that are observed in the world.
13. In order for a course to be designated as fulfilling Goal Area 5, it must address at least 4 of the 5 student learning
outcomes (SLOs) below. Check the SLOs below that are focused on in the proposed general education course.
1. Describe or use the methods and data by which historians, social scientists, or behavioral scientists investigate
human conditions.
2. Analyze human behavior, cultures, and social institutions and processes from the perspectives of history or the
social and behavioral sciences.
3. Develop explanations for and explore solutions to historical or contemporary social problems.
4. Reflect upon themselves in relation to family, communities, society, culture, and/or their histories.
5. Apply and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories about human societies and behaviors.
14.
Discuss how each Student Learning Outcome checked above is achieved in this course. (Note: Although
descriptions of typical assignments or types of assignments may be part of this discussion, it is not
appropriate to submit copies of actual assignments.)
Goal 1:Describe or use the methods and data by which historians, social scientists, or behavioral
scientists investigate human conditions.
The most widely used method in the class is the use of maps, both thematic maps (agricultural regions,
climatic regions, location of mineral deposits) and choropleth maps (infant mortality rates by country,
manufacturing value added by country, number of cell phone subscribers per 1,000 population by
country). In all cases the class examines the possible explanations for the underlying processes that
produce the spatial patterns that are portrayed in the maps.
10/15/2009
Goal 2: Analyze human behavior, cultures, and social institutions and processes from the perspectives of
history or the social and behavioral sciences.
The course examines the behavior of individuals, institutions and organizations. For example, in the
case of individuals the course seeks to understand why most people shop at the closest grocery store,
why most Minnesota farms plant corn and/or soybeans, why the average woman in the USA has 2.1
children while the average woman in Kenya has 4.9 children. In the case of firms and businesses the
course seeks to understand why retailers of clothing find it advantageous to locate near their competitors
in a shopping mall, but grocery stores seek locations at some distance from their competitors. The class
examines the reasons for the spatial distribution of manufacturing jobs (plants) in the United States and
why certain types of manufacturing products are more likely to be produced outside of the United States
rather than in the United States. The course seeks to understand the behavior of governments in their
actions vis-a-vis individuals and firms. For example, why does the USA government subsidize farmers
who grow corn, but not farmers who grow apples? And therefore how do farm subsidy programs impact
on the spatially pattern of agricultural production?
Goal 3: Develop explanations for and explore solutions to historical or contemporary social problems.
In some of the sections the course examines contemporary issues. For example in the section on
patterns of global agriculture the course examines the spatial patterns of famine, hunger, and excessive
soil erosion and examines both explanations and possible solutions. In the section on the spatial
distribution of population and demography the course examines the spatial variation in infant mortality
rates the reasons and potential actions to reduce the rates.
Goal 4: Reflect upon themselves in relation to family, communities, society, culture, and/or their
histories.
In all cases when the course examines the spatial pattern of any economic activity, students examine
their own behavior and how it contributes to the particular pattern being observed. For example, in
examining the rates of population growth in the world and the role of fertility rates, they compare their
family experience and their family size to that of others in the US as well as reasons why fertility rates in
the US are significantly lower than in many other countries. When examining the spatial pattern of
manufacturing activity students examine common household items they purchase (for example clothing)
to see where those items are manufactured and to reflect on how their decisions help to produce the
global pattern of manufacturing.
Goal 5: Apply and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories about human societies and
behaviors.
In some of the sections of the course students are presented with alternative viewpoints. For example, in
the section on the spatial distribution of resources and resource usage students are presented with a
Resource Optimist viewpoint (let the market allocate all resources and we will never run out of
resources) and a Resource Pessimist viewpoint (we are running out of resources and there need to be
restrictions on resource usage, some type of rationing beyond how the market rations resources).
Similarly in the section on the spatial processes of global economic growth and development students
10/15/2009
are presented with alternative viewpoints to explain the current pattern of standards of development and
wealth found in the countries of the world.
15.
List or attach the Course Outline (adequately described and including percentage of time to be allocated
to each topic). Curriculum Committees may request additional information. Topics larger than 20% need
to be broken down further. Indicate in your course outline where the Student Learning Outcomes
checked above are being met.
1: Spatial patterns of land value and land use: 7%
Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 4
2: Patterns of global agriculture: 7%
Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 3, Goal 4
3: Spatial distribution of population and demography: 14%
Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 3, Goal 4
4: Spatial distribution of resources and resource usage: 13%
Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 3, Goal 4, Goal 5
5: Spatial interaction and transportation networks: 7%
Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 4
6: Spatial distribution of manufacturing activity: 13%
Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 4
7: Spatial distribution of retail trade and services: 13%
Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 4
8: Spatial processes of urban and regional economic growth: 13%
Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 3, Goal 4
9: Spatial process of global economic growth and development: 13%
Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 3, Goal 4, Goal 5
10/15/2009