We are incredibly proud of the work we accomplish each year. View Our Impact in 2025!

Summer 2026 Graduate Credit

Economics Professional Workshop (ECON 588)

July 20, 2026 - August 7, 2026

MCEE is excited to partner with St. Cloud State University (SCSU) and provide grad credits for 5-12 teachers! This course allows 5-12 educators who are taking courses at the masters’ level to receive three credits for attending and completing assignments connected to the Minnesota Council on Economic Education (MCEE) summer workshop “MCEE Educator Certification: High School Economics.” In-person attendance during the scheduled workshop (July 20-24, 2026) is required.

The workshop requires additional, separate registration, found in the "How to Register" section. There are two paths—a beginner high school economics certification and an advanced high school economics certification. Read the descriptions to determine which workshop path is appropriate for you:

Students will apply and evaluate content knowledge from the workshops in completing assignments and developing lesson ideas.

Engage in economics disciplinary-focused research and best practices as part of a graduate-level professional development experience.

Learning Outcomes:

Over the course of the semester, you are expected to learn how to do the following:

Analyze the nature of economics in dealing with a variety of topics and current events.
Perform economic analysis to analyze the impact of economic events and government policies on market prices and output and/or public sector decision-making.
Explain and describe economic concepts and principles and apply them to new examples, approaches, and scenarios.
Develop lessons that leverage the knowledge acquired during the week-long workshop to adapt and enhance use in your classroom. This curriculum should encompass innovative approaches to integrating recently acquired economic ideas, concepts, and up-to-date research, all of which align with the Minnesota Academic Standards.
Implement new economic research, concepts, or approaches into classroom instruction.

Course Requirements:

In-person attendance at the MCEE Educator Certification: High School Economics week-long workshop July 20-24, 2026. The workshop is held in St. Paul, MN.
Must obtain and submit a certificate of completion (as provided by MCEE or an affiliated center) for each workshop. MCEE will provide a continuing education certificate (CEU) after submitting the workshop evaluation.
D2L Brightspace will be used for course information and assignment submissions.
All workshop attendance and assignments must be completed and submitted by no later than August 7, 2026.

Course Deadlines:

July 20: Deadline to register for the class (Econ 588).
Must register for and attend all days of the in-person MCEE workshop in St. Paul from July 20-24, 2026.
- Note: July 10 is the deadline to register for the MCEE workshop.
August 7: Course ends. All daily summaries, projects and CEUs must be submitted to D2L on or before August 7th.

How to Register:

Registration Site
If you already have an account with MinnState E-Services:
- Click the + Add button on the middle of the page near the course details. This will prompt you to login to E-Services.
- Upon successful login, you will be redirected to Review My Plan. On this page you will be able to use the navigation button, Select Course to Proceed to Register.
- On the Registration page you will be asked to select a grading method, confirm your password and finalize registration.
If you do not have an account with MinnState E-Services:
- Click the link on the left side navigation, Create an Account.
- Follow the prompts to create your StarID.
- After creating an account you will be able to finalize your course registration.
Note: Students will also need to be admitted. If you have not already taken classes from SCSU, you can fill out the free online application is available at https://www.stcloudstate.edu/registrar/registration/non-degree.aspx It takes less than 10 minutes to complete. As long as you have a completed bachelor's degree, you can be given Graduate non-degree seeking status.

*If you need assistance with this process please contact support services using any of the following links or numbers:

Email: registrar@stcloudstate.edu

Website: www.stcloudstate.edu/srfs
Phone: 320.308.0121

Email Professor Lynn MacDonald at lcmacdonald@stcloudstate.edu requesting permission for Econ 588. In that email include your tech ID number.
Once you receive approval from her, then proceed to finish registering for the course.

Grading

The grading method can be selected between either letter grades or S/U. This is done when you register for the course. Choose the option that works best for you and your school.

Grades will be assigned according to the following scale

A 90-100

B 80-89

C 70-79

D 60-69

F below a 60

Class participation and assignments will be weighted as follows:

20% - Workshop Attendance
40% - Session Summaries (5 total)
40% - Projects

Workshop Attendance

This is measured by in-person attendance from July 20-24, 2026 at Ruttan Hall on the University of Minnesota campus for the MCEE High School Economics certification workshop. Attendance is required for each of the five days of the workshop. You must separately register for this workshop.

MCEE Summer Workshop details are found here:

Make-ups: If something comes up and you have to miss a day, this can be discussed with the professor.

Daily Summaries

Throughout this course you are required to type up a session summary for each day of the in-person High School Economics workshop. The daily summaries will be submitted to D2L by July 28th.

Daily summaries must be 3-4 pages in length, and they must include:

Section headings: 1. Daily Content Summary: Date and 2. Daily Impressions
Section 1 (Daily Content Summary: Date) must include: 2-3 pages discussing the content of the workshop that day. This summary must focus on the content, not your impressions/observations about the workshop. DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR OPINION/IMPRESSIONS IN THIS FIRST PART.
Section 2 (Daily Impressions) must include: an additional page describing your impressions/observations of the workshop. This should include explanations of if/how this workshop contributed to your knowledge of the topic. In addition, this section must include discussion of ideas for how to implement/use this workshop content/material in your classes. Be specific and describe which courses the material applies to and how you might incorporate this information into your lessons.

*All session summaries and your certificate of completion must be completed and fully submitted by July 28, 2026.

Projects

For your projects, you are to further develop a lesson plan/curriculum that you will use to incorporate economics-related content from two different topic areas that were discussed during the week-long workshop. The intention of these projects is for you to prepare economic content lessons that are ready to use in your own classes. You can decide what grade level and course(s) to prepare the content for. You will develop this lesson plan making use of the material/content/inspiration gained from the workshop.

Make these useful and usable for your purposes. It should be grade-level appropriate and be sure to make this your own and build in new material. You must add new content or material beyond what’s been presented during the workshop. This lesson should not solely be using material you’ve already prepared previously. Create something new and relevant. Think outside the box a bit and go beyond what we’ve learned in the workshop.

Each project must include:

Developed curriculum for the economics concept(s)/topic of your choosing. This should include an outline/overview of the main teaching points highlighting the purpose of the lesson along with explicit lesson plans with descriptions. This needs to include: outline/overview, learning objectives, materials needed, active learning activity, individual assignment, lecture materials, and a reference section.
Reference section: Each lesson plan MUST include a reference section with at least 2 academic economic sources beyond/in addition to the workshop or the workshop provided resources. (Use these academic sources such as economics journal articles from JSTOR or EconLit to bolster the economics portion). Make sure the economic content is strong and clearly laid out in your lesson plans.
A specified grade level and course(s) for which this curriculum is appropriate along with which MN state social studies teaching standards are being met. Aim to meet at least 2 state standards if possible. State this clearly in your curriculum.
If your curriculum design requires handouts for your students, then those need to be created and submitted as part of your project.
An independent individual assignment to assess the students’ knowledge and understanding of the concepts presented in the workshop. This assignment should be prepared and should be ready to be used in class as submitted.
An interactive/active learning activity to help the students experience/understand the content. This can be described/written up as well as should include any necessary instructions or handouts that the students would need to receive to participate in the activity.
A rubric establishing what is being assessed by the independent individual learning assignment you created AND the grading criteria for the assignment.

*You are welcome to use a pre-existing template of your choosing to create your lesson plan.

*Projects must be submitted on or before August 7, 2026.

Professor: Dr. Lynn MacDonald

E-mail: lcmacdonald@stcloudstate.edu

Report abuse