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Winter/Spring 2026 Graduate Credit

Economics Professional Workshop (ECON 588)

January 20, 2026 - May 6, 2026

MCEE is excited to partner with St. Cloud State University (SCSU) and provide grad credits for K-12 teachers! This course allows K-12 educators who are taking courses at the masters’ level to receive one credit for attending seven Minnesota Council on Economic Education (MCEE) workshops. These MCEE (or affiliated center*) economic education workshops must be completed within this semester. Live attendance during the scheduled workshop time is required to obtain certificates of completion. Workshops can be selected according to the interests of the student with instructor approval. Of the seven required workshops, no more than two may be pedagogy-based. Students will apply and evaluate content knowledge from the workshops in completing assignments and developing lesson ideas.

* Affiliated centers include St. Cloud State University’s Center for Economic Education and St. Catherine University’s Minnesota Center for Diversity in Economics.

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.
Develop a deeper understanding of economic concepts and principles and apply them to new examples, approaches, and scenarios.
Develop a lesson that leverages the knowledge acquired during a 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:

Live attendance at 7 MCEE (or affiliated center) 1-hour workshops during the semester. These may be virtual or in-person workshops.
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 May 6, 2026.

Course Deadlines:

January 20: SCSU Registration Deadline - $260 (1 credit course)
January 27: Proposed sessions along with indications of whether the proposed workshops are pedagogical or content-driven. Note: it may make sense to get more than 7 approved to allow yourself options. The MCEE Workshop schedule is found at z.umn.edu/MCEE-Workshops
Once sessions are approved, register for the desired/approved workshops through MCEE's Workshop registration sites.
All CEU certificates and session summaries need to be submitted to D2L within two weeks of attending the session.
May 6: All CEU certificates, session summaries, and project must be submitted to D2L on or before May 6, 2026.

How to Register:

Grad Course 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

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:

30% - Workshop Attendance
50% - Session Summaries (7 total)
20% - Project

Workshop Attendance

This is measured by live attendance at seven workshop sessions provided by MCEE or an affiliated center. These seven sessions require instructor approval. The list of workshops that you would like to attend throughout the semester must be emailed to the professor by no later than January 27. Once your selected sessions are approved (5 content-based, and no more than 2 pedagogy-based) you can register for the workshops. MCEE Certificates of completion must be submitted to D2L within two weeks of taking the class and by no later than May 6, 2026.

MCEE Workshop Schedule is found at z.umn.edu/MCEE-Workshops

Make-ups: If something comes up and you have to miss a workshop, this can be discussed with the professor. If you have to miss a workshop you expected to attend, then you can request approval to substitute an alternative option. This substitution is pending professor approval.

Session Summaries

Throughout this course you are required to type up a session summary for each of the seven workshops you attend. Each session summary will be submitted to D2L along with the accompanying certificate of completion. These session summaries should be submitted to the D2L Brightspace assignment folders within 2 weeks of the date that you attended the workshop.*

Session summaries must be 3 pages in length and they must include:

A two-page typed summary describing the content of the workshop. This summary must focus on the content, not your impressions/observations about the workshop.
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 all certificates of completion must be completed and fully submitted by May 6, 2026.

Project

For your project, you are to further develop a lesson plan/curriculum that you will use to incorporate economics-related content from one of the seven workshops you attended this semester. The intention of this project is for you to prepare an economic content lesson that is ready to use in your own class. 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 a workshop of your choosing. This lesson plan must be related to one of the 5 content-based sessions you attended during the semester. You can certainly include pedagogical pieces into the lesson.

Make this 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.

Your 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 MUST include a reference section with at least 2 sources beyond/in addition to the workshop or the workshop provided resources. This needs to include: outline/overview, learning objectives, materials needed, active learning activity, individual assignment, lecture materials, and a reference section.
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.

*Projects must be submitted on or before May 6, 2026.

Professor: Dr. Lynn MacDonald

Office: Centennial Hall (CH) 309

Phone: (320) 308-2264

E-mail: lcmacdonald@stcloudstate.edu

Office Hours:

TBD

Not ready yet?

If you are interested in receiving graduate credits, but are unable to join this session we ask that you complete this short Google form. We will keep you up to date on future offerings.

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