Course Descriptor for Introduction to American Political Economy

Project Title:

Develop a Course Descriptor for an Introduction to American Political Economy Course

Pitch:

The Development of a Course Descriptor for Introduction to American Political Economy (APE) project is a compensated service opportunity for faculty to collaborate with colleagues in California to create a statewide course descriptor. This statewide course descriptor, also known as a course template, will guide faculty as they establish a lower-division APE course at their college or university. Participating faculty will review APE materials, attend a 2-hour Zoom meeting in fall 2024, and another two-hour Zoom meeting in spring 2025 to discuss and write this course template. Please read on to learn more. The deadline to complete the interest form below is Sunday, September 15, 2024, by 11:59pm Pacific Time.

Description:

The Project is to Develop a Course Descriptor for an Introduction to American Political Economy Course. Every 5 years, the California Community Colleges Faculty Discipline Review Group (FDRG) for Political Science convenes to discuss the discipline’s current Transfer Model Curriculum (TMC) and existing Course Descriptors (CD) and seek input from the field to update the current TMC, or existing CDs, or consider new CDs. A Course Descriptor is a document that lists the status, discipline, descriptor title, units, general description, C-ID number, prerequisites, corequisites, advisories, content, lab activities, objectives, evaluation methods, textbooks, approval date, and revised date. These CDs are used by faculty at 115 campuses to develop a Course Outline of Record (COR) and CORs are used by faculty to guide writing of their unique Course Syllabus. In preparation for the next FDRG convening in 2025-2026, this Project is to convene an intersegmental group of faculties to develop a CD for an Introduction to American Political Economy course. Faculty from CCCs, CSUs, UCs, and external faculty APE experts from outside California, will be invited to attend at least two 2-hour Zoom convenings to discuss and answer questions for developing a CD for Introduction to American Political Economy in fall 2024 and spring 2025. The group will interact asynchronously as well, publish the CD, and submit it to the FDRG in summer/fall 2025 for their consideration, adoption, and inclusion in the next TMC.

Project Sponsor:

Background:

California is home to 73 community college districts, 116 campuses, and over 1.5 million students. The California Community College (CCC) system is part of an intersegmental system including the California State University (CSU), University of California (UC), and private colleges and universities in the state.

Every 5 years, the Faculty Discipline Review Group (FDRG) for Political Science convenes to discuss the discipline’s current Transfer Model Curriculum (TMC) and existing Course Descriptors (CD) and seek input from the field to update the current TMC or existing CDs or consider new CDs.

A TMC is a document that lists the courses a CCC student needs to complete to earn a discipline-specific Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT). TMCs are jointly developed by CCC and CSU faculty in each discipline.

A Course Descriptor is a document that lists the status, discipline, descriptor title, units, general description, C-ID number, prerequisites, corequisites, advisories, content, lab activities, objectives, evaluation methods, textbooks, approval date, and revised date. A Course Descriptor is the document used by faculty at 115 campuses to develop a Course Outline of Record.

According to the Academic Senate for CCCs’ The Course Outline of Record: A Curriculum Reference Guided Revisited, “The course outline of record (COR) is central to the curricular processes in the California community colleges. The COR has evolved considerably from its origins as a list of topics covered in a course. Today, the course outline of record is a document with defined legal standing that plays a critical role in the curriculum of the California community colleges. The course outline has both internal and external influences that impact all aspects of its content, from outcomes to teaching methodology, which, by extension, impact program development and program evaluation.” A Course Outline of Record is the document used by faculty at the 115 campuses to develop their unique Course Syllabus.

The FDRG convened in 2020 and by 2022, produced updates to the TMC, several CDs, and the creation of a new CD for an Introduction to the Politics of Race and Gender course.

Action:

In preparation for the next convening in 2025-2026, this proposal is to convene faculty to develop a CD for an Introduction to American Political Economy course during 2024-2025.

Faculty from CCCs, CSUs, UCs, and external faculty APE experts from inside/outside California, will be invited to attend at least two 2-hour Zoom convenings to discuss and answer the following questions for developing a CD for Introduction to American Political Economy:

• What should be the general description of the course?
• Should there be prerequisites, corequisites, or advisories for the course? Why or why not?
• What content should be listed, and thereby essentially required for subsequent course outlines of records (CORs) developed by faculty at community colleges?
• What 4-8 student learning objectives should be listed, and thereby strongly recommended for subsequent CORs developed by faculty at community colleges?
• What textbooks or textbook equivalents can be listed?

In preparation for this convening, faculty participants will be expected to have:

• Visited Consortium on the American Political Economy
• Read The American Political Economy: Markets, Power, and the Meta Politics of US Economic Governance in Annual Review of Political Science (annualreviews.org)
• Read the following CDs which are the basis for content and objectives of what is taught at 2-year colleges in California:
  • C-ID – Descriptor for Introduction to American Government and Politics
  • C-ID – Descriptor for Principles of Macroeconomics
  • C-ID – Descriptor for Principles of Microeconomics
• Browse APSA’s Organized Section Division 61 American Political Economy’s sponsored sessions at the 2023 Annual Meeting to identify latest research, and consider how it could be introduced to 1^st or 2^nd year students.

Required Participants:

A minimum of 4 CCC faculty, 2 CSU faculty, 1 UC faculty, and 2 external faculty APE experts will be invited to participate in the convening. Additional participants can be included if there is interest and/or budget available.

Timeline:

• Fall 2024:
  • Deadline to submit interest form: Sunday, September 15, 2024, 11:59pm Pacific Time.
  • Convene faculty to develop a Course Descriptor for an Introduction to American Political Economy course.
    • 1st 2-hour Zoom meeting
      • Welcome
      • Questions to Answer
      • Wrap Up
• Spring 2025: Draft Course Descriptor for Introduction to American Political Economy completed
  • 2^nd 2-hour Zoom meeting
    • Welcome
    • Questions to Answer (any remaining questions from 1^st Zoom and Asynchronous Round)
    • Wrap Up
• Fall 2025: FDRG Convenes; request adoption of a Course Descriptor for an Introduction to American Political Economy course.

Compensation:

Participating faculty will receive $400 stipend for reviewing pre-meeting materials and participating in two 2-hour Zoom meetings.

Interested in Participating in CD-APE? Complete Form.