Time Schedule:
James W. Harrington
GEOG 207
Seattle Campus
The changing locations and spatial patterns of economic activity, including: production in agriculture, manufacturing, and services; spatial economic principles of trade, transportation, communications, and corporate organization; regional economic development, and the diffusion of technological innovation. Offered: AWS.
Class description
1) Fundamentals of economic reasoning 2) Basic theories of the location of economic activities and of economic development 3) Self-led research into actual patterns of and changes in urban, commercial or industrial location, and into economic development 4) Work with web-based and spreadsheet tools.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
During the academic year, the course is conducted with four lectures and one section per week. The section leader and sessions focus on student exercises and review. During the summer, the course is conducted through meetings of the whole, with lecture material interspersed with discussion, student presentations, and computer-based exercises.
Recommended preparation
Some students have found basic economic reasoning to be difficult to grasp, and have suggested Intro Microeconomics as a preparatory course. As instructor, I try to design the course so it does not need any prerequisites.
Class assignments and grading
During the academic year, the assignments generally entail accessing a spreadsheet software that is loaded with basic data (regarding population and markets within an urban area, or demographic trends in different places, or employment by industry in different U.S. counties), following instructions to manipulate the data, and writing a brief report that interprets the result in light of material covered in class.
In-class, closed-resource tests have accounted for 60% of the grade in the past; these tests have been machine-graded. Exercises have accounted for the remaining 40% of the grade. This may change as I respond to my own experience with and students' comments on the class.
