Online Macroeconomics for High School Educators Table of Contents

Transcription

1 Online Macroeconomics for High School Educators Table of Contents 1. Introduction Course Description Online Learning Community... 2 Welcoming Session:... 2 Flipgrid:... 2 Synchronized Videoconferences:... 2 Course Moodle Site: Instruction Team Course Technology... 4 Course Moodle Site:... 4 Adobe Flash Player:... 4 OpenStax College Textbook and Sapling Assignments:... 5 WebEx for Synchronized Videoconferences and Virtual Office Hours: Technology Support Helplines Course Content and MN Social Studies s Required Activity: Reading Assignments Required Activities: Online Sapling Assignments and Unit s... 6 Online Sapling Assignments:... 7 Unit s: Required Activity: Synchronized Videoconferences Required Activity: Pre-test and Post-test Grading and Completion Requirements... 9 Option 1: Signing Up as CI 5xxx:... 9 Option 2: Signing Up as an MCEE Professional Development Course: Calendar Views of Major Activities Appendix A:Standards and s Covered... 13

2 1. Introduction Online Macroeconomics for High School Educators June 6, 2016 ~ August 22, 2016 This is an online course intended for in-service and pre-service teachers who want to build or enhance their content knowledge in macroeconomics and their pedagogical skills in teaching macroeconomics to high school students. The course will include strategies for developing curriculum and instruction for macroeconomics that engage students of diverse backgrounds. This course is developed and delivered by the Minnesota Council on Economic Education (MCEE), housed in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. The course consists of both self-paced and synchronized online learning activities and will be offered over a period of eleven weeks during the summer of 2016, from June 6 to August 22 (June 6 to August 26 for those taking the graduate-credit option). There are two options to sign up for the course: 1. as CI 5xxx (course number TBD) for three non-degree graduate credits, issued by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, or 2. as a professional development course with 55 continuing education credits, issued by MCEE. The evaluation criteria for the two options differ slightly. In particular, as discussed in Section 12 of the syllabus, there will be two online exams under the graduate-credit option. Regardless of the option taken, upon satisfactory completion of the course requirements, participants will receive a Certificate in Teaching High School Macroeconomics from MCEE and the Department of Applied Economics. The prerequisites for this course are: licensed secondary school teachers in social studies, business, consumer science, or agricultural education; or pre-service secondary school teachers in a teaching licensure program in social studies, business, consumer science, or agricultural education; or consent of instructor. The content for the course are divided into 11 units, with each units including the following learning materials: - assigned readings in OpenStax College s Principles of Macroeconomics, - an online assignment provided by Sapling Learning (based on the assigned OpenStax readings), - instructor s multimedia Adobe presentations (and the scripts), - an online discussion forum on unit content and pedagogical tools for teaching the content to high school students (discussion forum questions are derived from instructor s Adobe presentations and the assigned OpenStax readings), - a scheduled synchronized videoconference on the unit content and on teaching the content, and - weekly virtual office hours. 1

3 2. Course Description The main goal of the course is to enhance your understanding of macroeconomics topics so that you feel prepared to teach them to your own students. By the time you have finished this course you will be able to understand the major components of the macro-economy and, more importantly, you will feel confident to analyze events that influence several parts of the economy. Inflation, unemployment, fiscal and monetary policy, foreign currencies, growth and productivity are a few of the topics that we will explore. As important as gaining knowledge about the individual topics may be, it is even more important to familiarize yourselves with the big picture. Unlike microeconomics where events can be confined in one firm or one industry, macroeconomic events usually spread throughout the economy and affect several parts of the economic system. It is not sufficient to know how one part of the economy may react to a scenario; when you try your own teaching, you must be ready to explain how a particular event or shock might spread to the entire economy and describe what policy makers can do (if any) to prevent major disruptions. Our approach in this course is such that you will first get exposure to the material through the textbook, followed by revisiting the material from a different perspective through the instructor s multimedia Adobe presentations. The textbook reading assignments will emphasize a more conventional and somewhat technical approach to the material. The Adobe presentations will emphasize an intuitive and less technical approach to the topics, allowing us to right away introduce the big picture that is vital to the understanding and, ultimately, the teaching of macroeconomics. The two components are complementary and you will derive the most benefit if you pursue both routes with vigor. 3. Online Learning Community One of the misconceptions about online learning is that you are all alone out there. It doesn t need to be that way! We will help you build an online learning community in which everyone pitches in and everyone benefits. Below are several features of the course that have proved to be useful in building a vibrant online learning community: Welcoming Session: There will be an online get-together session at the beginning of the course (tentatively, 3:00~4:30 p.m., June 11 th ), with the option for in-person participation (which will be followed by a cook-out party). The meeting will allow the course participants to get to know one another, to chat with the instructor, to understand the essential features of the course, and to familiarize themselves with the technology needed for the course. Flipgrid: You will be requested at the beginning of the course to submit a 90-second video-based introduction of yourself, including your expectations of the course. Additionally, you will be able to continue to use this tool to communicate with other course participants (and the instructor) on your thoughts on a specific concept, on how to teach a specific concept, and so forth. Note that ipad users need to download and install the Flipgrid. app from the App store. Note also that it is Flipgrid. - with the period. Synchronized Videoconferences: There will be eleven one-hour synchronized videoconferences during which you will have the opportunity to interact with the instructor and the class, sharing content knowledge and teaching tips. 2

4 Course Moodle Site: The course Moodle site will be opened to participants on June 3 rd, Please take time to get familiarized with the site and the learning tools there. There will be several communication and interaction avenues on the Moodle site: News and Announcements Forum: We will use this area to post updates affecting the whole class. This is the only forum that will generate automatic notifications to every participant. (For all the other Moodle forums, you may choose whether or not to be subscribed for notification.) Course Q&A Forum: This is the place where you can pose questions for the instructor. Even if you don t have any questions of your own, check to see what may have been posted by others. Unit : There will be an asynchronous discussion forum each week. Discussion questions for each unit will be provided by the instructor. The Lounge: Use this forum for social interaction. Get to know your classmates by starting or joining a conversation. Please be mindful of the fact that this remains a public forum and is viewable by everyone in the course. (If you have a course-related issue, please use the Course Q&A Forum.) It is important to note that while we can help bring the online learning community into being, it is up to you to drive the process and give life to it. Note that the Synchronized Videoconference is an excellent venues for participants to share their teaching experience and discuss best practice of teaching economics to high school students. Remember, your classmates are relying on you to enrich their learning experience. Further, please actively ask questions in the Course Q and A forum. Note that if a concept bothers you, it bothers other people as well. Don t be shy in providing an answer to other person s question. We will make sure that all the answers are correct in the final analysis. Finally, regarding the Unit, please post your responses on a timely basis. In your response, please discuss how you would approach the topic at hand with your students to make it relevant, interesting and challenging. You are also responsible for reading and replying to at least 2 posts by other class members. This is essential for building the online community. 4. Instruction Team Course Instructor: James Redelsheimer Armstrong High School Teacher MCEE Master Teacher jred40@gmail.com, Phone: Mr. Redelsheimer will lead the synchronized videoconferences on best practices of teaching collegelevel macroeconomics to high school students, monitor progress on Sapling online assignments and other activities, help build a vibrant online learning community, answer questions in the Course Q&A Forum and via , assign topics for and monitor the Unit, and provide virtual office hours. Mr. Redelsheimer s office hours schedule is posted on the course Moodle site. 3

5 Course Director: Project Director: Agapitos Papagapitos Professor, Department of Economics University of St. Thomas Phone: (651) Donald Liu Professor and Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Executive Director, MCEE Phone: The course is designed by Agapitos Papagapitos. In collaboration with Donald Liu, Professor Papagapitos has created a set of multimedia Adobe presentations for each unit. Both Professor Papagapitos and Professor Liu will be available for answering questions via /phone and will provide virtual office hours upon request. Logistic Coordinator: Andrea Hanson Program and Communications Associate, MCEE hans1577@umn.edu, Phone: Please contact Ms. Hanson for any non-technology related logistic issues. See Section 6: Technology Support Helplines for issues related to technology. 5. Course Technology This is an online course that uses many technologies to support learning, interaction, and communication. We strongly recommend that you check your technology and access the course Moodle site and Sapling Learning site prior to the course start date. To participate and complete course activities and assignments you will need to have: 1. Reliable high speed Internet connection 2. Webcam 3. Microphone 4. Adobe Flash Player (see below for details) Course Moodle Site: To access the course Moodle site, go to: and login with your provided U of M Internet ID (X.500 username) and password. The recommended browsers are Firefox on PC and Safari on Mac computers. Make sure to turn off the popup blockers on your computer. If you re unfamiliar with working in Moodle, review the online orientation at: Adobe Flash Player: Instructor s presentations are in multimedia format supported by Flash, and housed in the course Moodle site. To view these presentations, you will need Adobe Flash Player on your laptop. You can download the software for free at If you are using mobile devices, such as ipad, you will need to download and install Presenter Mobile app from the App Store to view the presentations. 4

6 OpenStax College Textbook and Sapling Assignments: For this course you will use a free online textbook made available by OpenStax College and a set of exercises provided by Sapling Learning. The Sapling assignments are custom-made for this course and will be provided free of charge with your course registration fees. Instructions on how to create an account with Sapling Learning will be provided. WebEx for Synchronized Videoconferences and Virtual Office Hours: The weekly synchronized videoconferences are supported by WebEx. The instructor will send you a link via prior to each scheduled date; use the link to access the designated conference. You do not need to install WebEx software on your desktop/laptop. You do need an internal or external camera and speaker. A pair of headphones is recommended. (Note: WebEx adjusts the video quality that you receive based on the bandwidth of your Internet connection.) For office hours, please set up appointments with the instructor via . You will then receive a WebEx link to access the designated office hour session. The instructor may choose to accommodate more than one individual in a given session. If you wish to talk with the instructor alone, please indicate so in your . The same caveat on required hardware for WebEx applies for office hours. 6. Technology Support Helplines For Moodle Issues: Contact moodle@umn.edu For WebEx issues: Call the HelpDesk at , or help@umn.edu For Sapling Assignment issues: TBD 7. Course Content and MN Social Studies s We will cover one unit per week. The units to be covered, the dates that a specific unit will be covered, and the benchmark codes of the Minnesota social studies standards addressed in the units are listed below. See Appendix A for a detailed explanations of the benchmark codes. Week Date Content to be Covered MN Social Studies s 1 June 6 ~ 12 Unit 1: Production Possibilities Frontier June 13 ~ 19 Unit 2: Demand and Supply with Macro Applications June 20 ~ 26 Unit 3: Circular Flow of Income and the Impacts of Government Borrowing June 27 ~ July 3 Unit 4: Measuring Economic Activity & Inflation July 4 ~ 10 Unit 5: The Labor Market July 11 ~ 17 Unit 6: The Goods and Services Market July 18 ~ 24 Unit 7: The Money Market

7 8 July 25 ~ 31 Unit 8: Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply 9 Aug 1 ~ 7 Unit 9: Applications of AD/AS 10 Aug 8 ~ 14 Unit 10: The Foreign Exchange Market Aug 15 ~ 21 Unit 11: International Trade Required Activity: Reading Assignments The reading assignments include instructor s Adobe presentations (& scripts) and selected chapters and sections in OpenStax College s Principles of Macroeconomics. The reading assignments are listed below. (textbook site: ) Topics Instructor s Presentations & Scripts Readings OpenStax College Principles of Macroeconomics (chapter.section) Unit 1: Production Possibilities Frontier Part 1 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.2, 2.3 Unit 2: Demand and Supply with Macro Applications Part 1 ~ Part 2 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 4.1, 4.2 Unit 3: Circular Flow of Income and the Impacts of Government Borrowing Part 1 ~ Part 2 Unit 4: Measuring Economic Activity & Inflation Part 1 ~ Part 2 Ch.6, Ch.9 Unit 5: The Labor Market Part 1 Ch.7, Ch.8 Unit 6: The Goods and Services Market Part 1 ~ Part , 18.2, 18.3, Ch.10 Appendix B, 17.1, 17.2, , 17.6, 17.7 Unit 7: The Money Market Part 1 Ch.14, 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 18.4 Unit 8: Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply Part 1 ~ Part 2 Ch.11, Ch.12 Unit 9: Applications of AD/AS Part 1 ~ Part 2 Ch.13, 15.4, 15.5, 17.4 Unit 10: The Foreign Exchange Market Part 1 Ch.16 Unit 11: International Trade Part 1 ~ Part 2 Ch Required Activities: Online Sapling Assignments and Unit s In addition to the reading assignment outlined in Section 8, the following two weekly assignments are required for all course participants. 6

8 Online Sapling Assignments: For each unit, you will complete an online Sapling assignment, which provides you with the opportunity to practice the concepts covered in the Adobe presentations and the assigned OpenStax readings. Instructions on how to access the online Sapling assignments will be provided in an to course participants. On average, it will take about 45 minutes to complete each online Sapling assignment, due each Sunday at 11:00 p.m. To encourage you to complete each assignment on a timely basis, there will be a deduction of five points (on a 100 points scale) for each day (24 hours) past the due date. The due dates for the online Sapling assignments (along with those for the Unit s to be discussed in the next subsection) are listed below: Online Sapling Assignments and Topics Unit s (due each Sunday at 11:00 p.m.) Unit 1: Production Possibilities Frontier June 12 (11:00 p.m.) Unit 2: Demand and Supply with Macro Applications June 19 (11:00 p.m.) Unit 3: Circular Flow of Income and the Impacts of Government Borrowing June 26 (11:00 p.m.) Unit 4: Measuring Economic Activity & Inflation July 3 (11:00 p.m.) Unit 5: The Labor Market July 10 (11:00 p.m.) Unit 6: The Goods and Services Market July 17 (11:00 p.m.) Unit 7: The Money Market July 24 (11:00 p.m.) Unit 8: Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply July 31 (11:00 p.m.) Unit 9: Applications of AD/AS Unit 10: The Foreign Exchange Market Unit 11: International Trade August 7 (11:00 p.m.) August 14 (11:00 p.m.) August 21 (11:00 p.m.) Unit s: Discussion questions for each unit will be provided by the instructor, and you are required to post your responses on a timely basis. You are also responsible for reading and replying to at least 2 posts by other members of the group. The due dates for the unit discussion forums are the same as those for the online Sapling assignments, and are listed in the table there. Similar to the online Sapling assignments, there will be a deduction of five points (on a 100 points scale) for each day (24 hours) past the due date. Scoring on the discussion forums will be as follows: - 60 points for your initial post: In order to earn 60 points, you must clearly and comprehensively answer the questions, providing examples from the reading/lectures and from your own classroom experience as appropriate points for each response to a group member: In order to earn 20 points, each response post must indicate that you have read and reflected on your group member s post. Your post may include questions, responses to questions, or additional ideas. 7

9 10. Required Activity: Synchronized Videoconferences Each of the eleven units will be concluded by a one-hour synchronized videoconference (SVC). The scheduled videoconference will be instructor-led and focus on the content of the unit in question and on best practices for teaching the content to high school students. The WebEx platform will give you options for interacting with the instructor and the class in the conference. The instructor will send you an access link prior to each scheduled conference. With the exception of July 5 (a Tuesday, as an adjustment for the Monday Independence Day Holiday), all videoconferences will take place on Monday at 7:00 p.m. The dates for the videoconferences are listed below: Videoconference Topics Dates SVC Unit 1 Unit 1: Production Possibilities Frontier June 13 (7:00 p.m.) SVC Unit 2 Unit 2: Demand and Supply with Macro Applications June 20 (7:00 p.m.) SVC Unit 3 Unit 3: Circular Flow of Income and the Impacts of Government Borrowing June 27 (7:00 p.m.) SVC Unit 4 Unit 4: Measuring Economic Activity & Inflation July 5 (7:00 p.m.) SVC Unit 5 Unit 5: The Labor Market July 11 (7:00 p.m.) SVC Unit 6 Unit 6: The Goods and Services Market July 18 (7:00 p.m.) SVC Unit 7 Unit 7: The Money Market July 25 (7:00 p.m.) SVC Unit 8 Unit 8: Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply August 1 (7:00 p.m.) SVC Unit 9 Unit 9: Applications of AD/AS August 8 (7:00 p.m.) SVC Unit 10 Unit 10: The Foreign Exchange Market August 15 (7:00 p.m.) SVC Unit 11 Unit 11: International Trade August 22 (7:00 p.m.) Each videoconference will be worth 100 points. Scoring on the videoconferences will be as follows: - 70 points for logging in and remaining connected for the duration of the conference - 30 points for engagement asking questions and answering questions 11. Required Activity: Pre-test and Post-test To measure the effectiveness of the course, we ask all course participants to take an online pre-test at the beginning of the course and a similar post-test at the conclusion of the course. Each test will take about one hour to complete and you will have the option of taking it in one sitting or taking it bit by bit before its expiration time. You will access the online pre- and post-tests via the course Moodle site within the time frames specified below: 8

10 Dates Pre-test Post-test June 7, Tuesday (8:00 a.m.) ~ June 10, Friday (11:00 p.m.) Aug 23, Tuesday (8:00 a.m.) ~ Aug 26, Friday (11:00 p.m.) 12. Grading and Completion Requirements As explained on page 1, there are two options to sign up for the course: (1) as CI 5xxx for three nondegree graduate credits, or (2) as an MCEE professional development course with 55 continuing education credits. The evaluation criteria for the two options differ. Option 1: Signing Up as CI 5xxx: Course participants under the CI 5xxx option will be evaluated in the following manner: Activities Points Dates Sapling Assignments (11) 22% due every Sunday at 11:00 p.m. Unit s (11) 22% due every Sunday at 11:00 p.m. Synchronized Videoconferences (11) 22% Monday 7:00 ~ 8:00 p.m. (exception: 7/5) Online Pre-Test 5% June 7 (8:00 a.m.) ~ June 10 (8:00 p.m.) Online Post-Test 5% Aug 23 (8:00 a.m.) ~ Aug 26 (8:00 p.m.) Exam 1 12% see below Exam 2 12% see below Total Semester Points 100% Note from the above table that there are two exams under the CI 5xxx option, with each exam accounting for 12% of the course grade. The dates and the units covered in each of the two exams are listed below: Dates Units Covered Exam 1 July 12, Tuesday (8:00 a.m.) ~ July 15, Friday (11:00 p.m.) Unit 1 ~ Unit 5 Exam 2 Aug 23, Tuesday (8:00 a.m.) ~ Aug 26, Friday (11:00 p.m.) Unit 6 ~ Unit 11 You will access the two exams via the course Moodle site within the above specified time frames. Once started, you will have two hours (one sitting) to complete the exam. During the session, you are allowed to consult with the instructor s Adobe presentations and the ebook chapters as needed. Upon submitting the exam (auto-submission will take place at the end of the two-hour period), your score will appear immediately and automatically appear in your Moodle gradebook. You will not be able to see the correct answers. 9

11 If you want to improve your score, you can take the exam a second time before its expiration date. The questions will be similar, and you will have two hours to complete the second attempt. It is recommended that you go over your first attempt with the instructor before engaging your second attempt. In the case where both attempts are used, your score will be the average score of the two attempts. Note that the time period for Exam 1 coincides with the time period for Unit 6 materials. Likewise, the time period for Exam 2 coincides with the time period for the Post-test. Please plan ahead and allocate your time optimally. Letter grades will be assigned using the scale below, though the instructor reserves the right to lower the grading scale (to your advantage) if necessary. The usual rounding rules apply. A: 100 ~ 93 A-: 92 ~ 90 B+: 89 ~ 87 B: 86 ~ 83 B-: 82 ~ 80 C+: 79 ~ 77 C: 76 ~ 73 C-: 72 ~ 70 D+: 69 ~ 67 D: 66 ~ 60 F: 59 ~ 0 Upon earning a grade of B- or better, you will also receive a Certificate in Teaching High School Macroeconomics from MCEE and the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Option 2: Signing Up as an MCEE Professional Development Course: Upon satisfactory completion of the course requirements specified below, you will receive: - A Certificate in Teaching High School Macroeconomics from MCEE and the Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and - 55 continuing education credits, issued by MCEE. To qualify for the certificate and continuing education credits, you will need to: 1. attain a minimum score of 80 percent in the 11 online Sapling assignments, 2. attain a minimum score of 80 percent in the 11 Unit s, 3. attain a minimum score of 80 percent in the 11 synchronized videoconferences, 4. participate in the pre-test at the beginning of the course, and 5. attain a minimum score of 60% in the Post-test at the end of the course. 10

12 13. Calendar Views of Major Activities The course activities and schedules discussed in previous sections are summarized in the following three monthly calendars. June 6 Begin Unit 1 13 Begin Unit 2 Unit 1 SVC 20 Begin Unit 3 Unit 2 SVC 27 Begin Unit 4 Unit 3 SVC M T W & Th F S Sun 7 Begin Pre-test (8 am) 8 & 9 10 End Pre-test (11 pm) 11 Welcoming session (3~4:30 pm), followed by a cook-out for in-person participants 12 Unit 1 Sapling HW & Unit 2 Sapling HW & Unit 3 Sapling HW & 30 M T W & Th F S Sun July 1 4 Begin Unit 5 11 Begin Unit 6 Unit 5 SVC 18 Begin Unit 7 Ch6 SVC 25 Begin Unit 8 Unit 7 SVC 5 Unit 4 SVC 12 Begin Exam 1 (8 am) 6 & & End Exam 1 (11 pm) & & Unit 4 Sapling HW 10 Unit 5 Sapling HW 17 Unit 6 Sapling HW 24 Unit 7 Sapling HW 31 Unit 8 Sapling HW 11

13 Aug 1 Begin Unit 9 Unit 8 SVC 8 Begin Unit 10 Unit 9 SVC 15 Begin Unit 11 Unit 10 SVC 22 Unit 11 SVC M T W & Th F S Sun 2 3 & Unit 9 Sapling HW 9 10 & Unit 10 Sapling HW & Unit 11 Sapling HW 23 Begin Post-test (8 am) Begin Exam 2 (8 am) 24 & End Post-test (11 pm) End Exam 2 (11 pm) 12

14 Appendix A: Minnesota Council on Economic Education Online Macroeconomics for High School Educators MN Social Studies Standards and s Covered in the Course Standard 3: Because of scarcity, individuals, organizations and governments must evaluate tradeoffs, make choices and incur opportunity costs Identify the incentives and trade-offs related to a choice made by an individual, household, organization or government; describe the opportunity cost of a choice; and analyze the consequences of a choice (both intended and unintended). Explain how the availability of productive resources and technology limits the production of goods and services. Standard 4: Economic systems differ in the ways that they address the three basic economic issues of allocation, production and distribution to meet society s broad economic goals Describe the role of households, businesses and governments in the movement of resources, goods and services, and money in an economy. Describe the role of markets in the movement of resources, goods and services, and money in an economy. Explain that market demand is based on each buyer s willingness and ability to pay and the number of buyers in the market; analyze the effect of factors that can change demand. Explain that market supply is based on each seller s cost and the number of sellers in the market; analyze the effect of factors that can change supply. Use demand and supply curves to explain how the equilibrium price and quantity in a market is determined as buyers and sellers adjust their offers in response to shortages or surpluses. Explain how changes (shifts) in the demand and supply of an item result in changes in its market price and quantity; explain how these shifts can lead to changes in prices and quantities in other markets. Standard 9: Economic performance (the performance of an economy toward meeting its goals) can be measured, and is affected by, various long-term factors Measure economic growth in terms of percentage changes in real Gross Domestic Product over time; analyze past and recent data to identify factors that promote or impair long-run economic growth and its sustainability. Measure inflation in terms of a percentage change in a price index; analyze past and recent data to explain how the money supply is related to long-run inflation with the equation of exchange. 13

15 Measure full employment in terms of the unemployment rate and various types of unemployment; analyze past and recent data to describe factors that impact the long-run growth of jobs in an economy. Standard 10: The overall levels of output, employment and prices in an economy fluctuate in the short run as a result of the spending and production decisions of households, businesses, governments and others Describe factors that can lead to changes in short-run total spending (by households, businesses, governments and foreigners) and changes in short-run output. Use a short-run aggregate demand and aggregate supply model to describe changes in output, employment and the price level. Standard 11: The overall performance of an economy can be influenced by the fiscal policies of governments and the monetary policies of central banks Explain how various government fiscal policies are likely to impact overall output, employment and the price level Describe how various monetary policies of the Federal Reserve are implemented; explain how they are likely to impact overall output, employment, and the price level. Explain fiscal and monetary policies from various perspectives; provide arguments from one s own perspective, supported by analysis, for a policy change that should be adopted. Standard 12: International trade, exchange rates, and international institutions affect individuals, organizations and governments throughout the world Apply the principles of absolute and comparative advantage to explain the increase in world production due to specialization and trade; identify the groups that benefit and lose with free-trade treaties, trading blocs and trade barriers. Explain how the demand and supply of currencies determines exchange rates and, in turn, affects trade. 14