As I noted in the announcement I posted on Blackboard on January 3, I am required to include in all my Principles of Macroeconomics sections an assessment assignment mandated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). The THECB did not specify the exact assignment, but left it up to individual Economic Departments of publicly funded higher education institutions to create their own assignments if they met the THECB's evaluation criteria. You may review those criteria in the section of the syllabus entitled "College and Departmental Goals for Course." (Note: All disciplines, not just Economics, are under this mandate. The GECs each discipline must evaluate are the same, but the PSLOs are obviously different for each.)

Those criteria are:

1. General Education Competencies (GECs):
   
   1. Civic and Cultural Awareness
      
   2. Written, Oral and Visual Communication
      
2. Discipline Program Student Learning Outcomes (PSLOs):
   
   1. Economic Policy

The Economics Department's instruction to me said:

The Civic and Cultural Awareness GEC and the economic policy PSLO may be assessed simultaneously using one assignment and rubric. (The Department) created a default assignment that may be used for this, though you are free to modify this assignment as you see fit or use an alternative assignment if you choose - as long as you can assess it using the social responsibility rubric....

In addition, the Department has created a default assignment to assess visual communication skills (basic demand/supply model work that can be done both in FTF courses and using graphing tools in MyLab for distance learning sections). Similarly, you are free to modify it or use an alternative assignment (such as questions you may already have in MyLab), as long as you can assess it using the attached visual communications rubric.

I have chosen to modify the Department's suggested two assignments to create a single assignment focused exclusively on Macroeconomics. This assignment is more specifically focused on Units III and IV of this course. You can find my revised assignment HERE.

The reason I found integrating this assignment into this course difficult is that over the years, as it has evolved, I have added different ways for students to complete it. I now have four different routes that students can take to complete the course for credit, and the requirements of these different routes can be mixed and matched if students choose to do so or if it is needed. These different routes are only available to students in my asynchronous distance learning sections because of the nature of asynchronous distance learning courses. These alternative routes do not work in my face-to-face lecture classes where there is but one way through the course.

I will now name the four routes to completion and briefly discuss their different requirements. I will start with the original traditional route and then turn to the other routes as they were added sequentially. Next, I will discuss how I am going to add the DAC assignment requirement to each route. No matter what route students take to completing the course, every student who completes the course will have to complete the DAC assignment.

1. Traditional Route
   
   The Traditional Route consists of four units with a unit exam for each and a required comprehensive final at the end. Each unit consists of four chapters (4 units X 4 chapters each = 16 chapters in total). Each chapter in a unit has a required homework assignment and quiz available on Pearson's MyLab. The assignments and quizzes are automatically graded, and students must make a minimum grade, 65%, to move on to the next homework assignment or chapter quiz. A minimum grade of 65% is needed to on the last chapter quiz in a unit in order to make the Unit Exam available on Blackboard. (Grades on the Pearson MyLab site will be automatically synced with the Blackboard gradebook.) Unit Exams 2, 3, and 4 not only need a minimum grade or better on the chapter quiz of the last chapter in the unit but also a minimum grade on the previous Unit Exam to become available to students on Blackboard. The Final Exam requires a minimum grade of 65% or better on the Unit IV Exam before it will become available to students on Blackboard. The number of attempts allowed on chapter homework assignments is unlimited; on chapter quizzes, the limit is three which can be increased by requesting an increase from the instructor. The number of attempts allowed on the Unit Exams is three with more available if requested. There are two attempts allowed on the Final Exam.
   
   Student grades depend exclusively on the grades earned on the Unit Exams and the Final Exam. See "Grading" in the syllabus.



2. Competency Based Route
   
   The college requested that I create a competency-based course using the Traditional Route as its core. You can see some of the competency criteria in the Traditional Route in the form of the minimum grades needed to proceed to the next MyEconLab assignment or Unit Exam. What sets the Competency Based Route apart from the Traditional Route is that it makes available competency based unit exams that can be taken without working through the MyEconLab assignments for a unit. If a student can pass the Unit Challenge Exam (competency unit exam), then the student may move on to the next unit without completing the MyEconLab assignments. The grade made on a passed Unit Challenge Exam would then be used in place of the traditional unit exam. If a student passed all the Unit Challenge Exams, the student would then take the Traditional Final Exam.
   If a student did not pass the Unit Challenge Exam for a unit, the student would have to proceed through the unit in the Traditional manner. Not passing a Unit Challenge Exam does not negatively affect a student's grade in the course. Students can switch back and forth between the Traditional Route and the Competency Based Route as they please.
   
   Student grades depend exclusively on the grades earned on the Unit Exams/Unit Challenge Exams and the Final Exam. See "Grading" in the syllabus.



3. Whole Course Competency Route
   Extending the theory of the Competency Based Route to its logical conclusion, I made available a Course Challenge Exam. If a student passes this exam, then the student has passed the course with a letter grade (C, B, or A) equivalent to the percentage correct on the exam.
   
   If a student does not pass the Course Challenge Exam, it does not negatively affect a student's grade in the course. Not passing it just means that the student needs to start working through the course in either of the routes mentioned above.



4. Fail-Safe Route
   
   The last option I recently added to this asynchronous distance learning course was the Fail-Safe Route. This option was instituted to help students who help students who made it through the Traditional Route but whose point total on exams resulted in a D or F.
   
   If a student completed all 16 chapter homework assignments and all 16 chapter quizzes with at least a minimum passing grade, then the student was guaranteed a C in the course.
   
   Once instituted, I extended this option to students who just wanted to work through the MyEconLab assignments without taking any of the exams. A minimum grade was still required on each chapter homework assignment and each chapter quiz, and students still had to proceed through the assignments in the order they were assigned.

Given the diverse routes available for completing this asynchronous distance learning course, the mandated DAC assignment has caused me great difficulty in figuring out how to include it in each route.

1. Traditional Route
   
   The DAC assignment recommended by the Economics Department and modified by me covers the material in Chapters 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. These chapters are covered in Units III and IV.
   
   I am going to require the DAC assignment in place of Unit Exam 3 and Unit Exam 4. Students still must pass all the required MyEconLab assignments in Unit III and Unit IV before they can take the Final Exam. Students must also pass the DAC assignment with a grade of 70% or better before taking the Final Exam.
   The weight of the DAC assignment in determining the end of semester letter grade will be the same as the wight of Unit Exam 3 and Unit Exam 4 combined (Unit Exam 3 is worth 15% and Unit Exam 4 is worth 15%). That is, it will be worth 30% of the grade. The DAC assignment will replace the Unit Exam 3 and Unit Exam 4 in determining the end of the semester grades.
   
   It is my belief that this assignment will be easier to complete and that grades will be higher on it than average grades have been on Unit Exam 3 and 4. In addition, I plan to make several videos available to all students explaining the general theories needed to complete the assignment. And I plan to schedule several Zoom meetings in which I will go over the material needed to answer the assignment.



2. Competency Based Route
   
   As with the Traditional Route, I will require the DAC assignment in place of Unit Challenge Exam 3 and Unit Challenge Exam 4. My advice for students considering this route is to work through the MyEconLab assignments for these two units just as if you were following the Traditional Route. Doing so will be very helpful in completing the DAC assignment.
   
   

The extra credit deadline for submitting the mandatory DAC assignment for students following the Traditional Route or the Competency Based Route is Tuesday, April 23, by the end of the day


3. Whole Course Competency Route
   
   If students who take this route pass the Course Challenge Exam with a C, B, or A, they will still have to complete the DAC assignment. The Course Challenge Exam will be 70% of your letter grade, and the DAC assignment will be 30%.



4. Fail-Safe Route
   
   Students who follow this route to a passing grade will need to complete this assignment in addition to completing all the required MyEconLab assignments. A grade of 55% or better will ensure your letter grade of C.




The deadline for submitting the mandatory DAC assignment for students following the Whole course Competency Route or the Fail-Safe Route is Tuesday, May 7, by the end of the day. Because of the nature of these routes, there is no extra credit attached, and the DAC Assignment does not need to be graded in order for students following these routes to gain access tot he Final. The Whole Course Competency students have basically already taken the Final when they took and passed the Course Challenge Exam, and the Fail-Safe students do not have to take the Final.

If students who passed the Course Challenge Exam do not submit an assignment, they will receive a grade based on the 30% weight of the DAC being worth 0%.
If students who completed all the MyEconLab assignments but have no point totals from the exams or low point totals from the exams, they will receive grades based on their point totals.