Assessment Plan for Political Economy Core Course
Political Science and Justice Department
University of Alaska Fairbanks

Introduction

Political economy is an interdisciplinary topic that focuses on the intersection of wealth and power, the interdependence of market and governmental behaviors, and the conflict of values involved in policy choices. As a core course at UAF, Political Economy is taught by both Economics and Political Science Faculty. While they use a variety of teaching approaches appropriate to their disciplines, there should be common elements in all of the sections. This assessment plan identifies those common elements, beginning with the current catalog description, then course goals (in terms of skills and knowledge to be gained by the students), and finally a proposed instrument for assessing the goals.

Catalog Description

Survey of the evolution and operation of the American domestic political economy with consideration of market failures and government responses. Review of major issues in political economy such as inflation, poverty, and budget deficits. Exploration of linkages between American and global systems.

Goals for the Course

1. Skills:

Students develop written communication skills necessary for producing (in standard English) essays, paragraph-long explanations, definitions, and cause-and-effect statements; research skills in finding, organizing, and describing current news stories and analyses to demonstrate the principles or assumptions contained in the text or lecture materials; and oral communication skills in delivering presentations, participating in argumentation exercises (e.g., debates), and engaging in the give-and-take of class discussions.

2. Core Knowledge:

Students learn the nature of interaction between markets and governments in the United States, including the nature of economic and political institutions, regulation, fiscal and monetary decision-making, taxation, and welfare policies, foreign trade and finance policy, electoral politics, and campaign financing. This includes both current and historical perspectives.

3. General Knowledge:

Students develop critical thinking skills; the ability to understand and analyze macroeconomic trends and policies as well as current issues in the American political economy, such as poverty, unemployment, and inflation; and the ability to make informed decisions in public life.

4. Values:

Students learn the nature of conflict in economic and political values, such as democracy vs. authority/hierarchy; liberal vs. conservative; liberty vs. equality; capitalism vs. socialism. They develop the ability to understand competing values and compare different value systems across time and between institutions. Optimally students learn to identify their own political and economic values.

Methods of Assessing Student Outcomes:

Currently the instructors use a variety of assessment instruments, ranging from essay assignments to multiple choice and true/false quizzes to oral presentations and debates. Flexibility in individual teaching styles should be maintained. However, a common assessment tool that could be used in all of the courses might be a test consisting of three sections: first, a set of key concepts that the students need to define, state the significance of (or give an example of); second, a set of political institutions whose role in the economy students should understand with respect to issues and values; and third, essay questions that test for knowledge of current and past developments in U.S. political economy.

For the purpose of assessing student outcomes, a sample of all political economy sections offered during a given academic year would be drawn. Approximately 20 sections of PE are offered annually, and a sample of no more than 5-6 sections would be drawn from a frame of all sections, stratified by department offering the section, and in proportion to estimated size of section. Approximately 200 students would be included within the classes drawn for the sample, which is about one-third of all students taking the political economy course during any given academic year.

The sample would be drawn during alternate years, with the first assessment during the 1998-1999 academic year. Department heads of economics and political science would draw the sample, and would be in charge of the administration of the assessment. The assessment would be in the form of a pre-test/post-test, an hour-long test administered to all students in the sampled sections during the first week of the semester. The same test would be administered to all students of the sample sections during the final week of the semester.

During the assessment rotation cycle, IAS summary forms for all sections of political economy would be evaluated with respect to these items of evaluation:

In addition, on a separate sheet included within the IAS Pacts, students would be asked to evaluate their learning of political economy and its relevance by such questions as:

1. The course has made a considerable degree of difference in my ability to reason critically about issues in the modern American political economy:
1. agree strongly
2. agree
3. neither agree nor disagree
4. disagree
5. disagree strongly
2. The course has made a considerable degree of difference in my understanding of the complexity of the modern American political economy:
1. agree strongly
2. agree
3. neither agree nor disagree
4. disagree
5. disagree strongly
3. The political economy course has helped me identify my own political and economic values:
1. agree strongly
2. agree
3. neither agree nor disagree
4. disagree
5. disagree strongly

and IAS pre/post test results would be used in the continuing process of updating and improving the political economy course area of the core.

Concepts:

Institutions:

Describe the powers and functions of the following institutions:

Sample Essay Questions:

1. Does money buy office? Discuss the relationships between campaign finance law, interest groups, individual candidates, and political parties in federal elections.
2. In what ways have the writings of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes influenced the U.S. political economy throughout history? What has been the relative contribution of each?
3. What are the most effective ways to prevent excessive air pollution? Compare different regulatory and market techniques and weigh their costs and benefits.
4. Since the Great Depression the size of the federal government and it involvement with the economy has increased dramatically. What important economic, social, and political factors motivated that growth? Has it had a positive or negative effect on the well being of the American people and the prosperity of the country?
5. What are the major reasons behind the deregulation of U.S. industries, beginning with the airlines in the 1970s? Has deregulation resulted in positive or negative effects on the U.S. economy?
6. Discuss the pros and cons of privatization for former socialist countries, developing countries, and the United States.
7. What is the difference between classical liberalism and modern liberal ideology with respect to markets and the role of government?