Course Name

Economics

Course ID

IE105a

Course credits

3

Teaching hourly fee

3

Teacher

Chiu Tien-Ting

Department/Grade

Freshmen Class-A, Department of Industrial and systems Engineering

Required/Elective course

Required

1

Type of Service

(Multiple options allowed)

□ Educational counseling  □ Information technology  □ Creative design

□ Community development  □ Marketing and promotion  ■ Social service  

□ International care  □ Cultural archives  □ Environmental protection  

□ Others ____________________

2

Recitals

(Evaluation on Service Programs)

1.1 Caring Economics

According to the Creating a Caring Economics proposed by Eisler (2007), which provides knowledge about economics that differs from traditional economic ideas. The ultimate interpretation about economics provided by the book is that it is no longer related to certain concepts or theories (e.g. Capitalism-Adam Smith, and Socialism-Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels) or a kind of logic, but related to a belief and a culture.  The care for disadvantaged groups and humanistic care shall not be identified as sympathy or pity, but rather the nature of economics. If the care for disadvantaged groups and humanistic care are lost, the nature of economics will inevitably be lost. The book also indicates the Creating a Caring Economics consists of the following (see Fig. 1):

(1)  Household economy: Caring and caregiving, and high quality human capital;

(2)  Unpaid community economy: The volunteer service also include barter and community currency economy;

(3)  Market economy: The market economy usually doesn’t encourage care, even if the research result shows that the employees will become more creative and productive after receiving care;

(4)  Illegal economy: Drug deal, sex trade, certain weapon trading, the defining characteristic is a lack of caring;

(5)  Government economy: The policies, laws and rules governing market economy; many governments’ failure to value care or provide caring activities, like household economy and unpaid community economy;

(6)  Natural economy: The natural environment and resources are exploited at all times. We invent more advanced technologies to exploit Mother Nature and, therefore, caring for the Earth is identified as the obligation under the traditional cost-effectiveness analysis.

1.2  Care for disadvantaged groups and humanistic care

The Plan holds that the so-called “care for disadvantaged groups and humanistic care” refers to the care for human being’s life and concern for the happiness of human beings. The same is also the highest standard pursued by economics, and also the morality and conscience to be included into the learning about economics. The book “Creating a Caring Economics” also mentions that in an economic system, the real caring means the combination of human beings and Mother Nature. The economies executing the caring economics are situated in Northern Europe, such as Finland, Norway and Sweden, where the national policies combine the capitalism and socialism. The governments boost such policies as day care programs, parental leave with pay, care for child or elderly family members (e.g. expending the respect of the aged in one’s family to that of other families and expending the love of the young ones in one’s family to that of other families), national health insurance fund, and investment of high-proportion resources to help poor countries and disadvantaged people, which appear to match CYCU’s philosophy in boosting the volunteer service actively. When teachers are teaching economics theories or concepts and economic development, their students’ vision shall not only be limited to the scope of economics but shall extend more in-depth humanistic caring for the broad social problems, as the care for disadvantaged groups and humanistic care concerned by the creating “Caring Economics”.

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram for old and new Economics

The left diagram is about old economics, and the right diagram about the new economics (Creating “Caring Economics”).

Source:RianeEisler(2007)TheRealWealthofNations:CreatingaCaring,Economy,SanFrancisco:Berrett-Koehler.

1.3 Spread the temperature of care: Love in Tian Liao Village

Analysis on the status of Tian Liao Community in Hengshan Township, Hsinchu County: only a few people have domiciles in the hillside areas. In the recent years, the community population has been declining year by year because people were aging and emigrated. Meanwhile, the children from foreign spouse families, single-parent families, and families with grandparents raising their grandchildren have continued to increase. Above all, there are a total of 59,544 persons in the aged group more than 65 years old in Hsinchu County, i.e. 15.84% of the population locally (according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics).  There are a total of 2,722 persons in the aged group more than 65 years old in Hengshan Township, i.e. 19.42% of the population locally (according to Hsinchu County Statistic Yearbook). There are a total of 1,231 persons in the aged group more than 65 years old in the Community. According to the statistics gathered by Tian Liao Elementary School (2012), the school students who come from said families accounted for about 60% of the whole students.  Such factors as insufficient cultural stimulation, disadvantaged family learning and lack of resources resulted in the students’ learning progress falling behind the scheduled and increasing gap between cities and townships. Generally speaking, the current resource and subsidy recipients are primarily the disadvantaged groups in the mountain tribes or aboriginal districts, while the villages and communities in rural areas that also need care are forgotten and, therefore, the communities are badly short of resources. Therefore, if the plan is passed, we may render the service to extend the “care for disadvantaged groups and humanistic care” to the community, so as to bring blessing and fortune to the community.

3

Objectives of Plan

The service is themed at spreading the temperature of care, Love in Tian Liao Village. The course service combines economics, professional knowledge about industrial engineering, service and learning, and meet the service recipients’ objectives and needs through scheduled community service activities and introspection process designed systematically, and facilitate the service providers’ (students’) learning and development. Lead the students from “service and exploration” to “understanding and action”. Therefore, the students taking the courses will learn the following skills from the teaching and practices:

(1)  Verify the basic knowledge, concept and ability about economics;

(2)  Create the concept about caring Economics: The students may verify the traditional knowledge about economics and also expand their “care for the disadvantaged groups and humanistic care” to rebuild the value for human beings.

(3)  Train teamwork and attitude: Enable the students to train their professional attitude toward multi-media and human-machine interaction design and know about the importance of teamwork.

4

Cooperative entities

Name of Organization or Community receiving the service: Tian Liao Community Development Association

Service recipient: The seniors in Tian Liao Community ; Number of service recipient: 40 persons (Not the number of trainees)

5

Objectives of Courses

The courses aim to teach students basic theories and concepts about economics and urge the students to think the economic issues accepted by them every day, e.g. production and consumption of tangible products or intangible services, investment and economic markets (perfect competition, oligopoly and monopoly markets), GDP, unemployment and inflation, from the point of view based on economics and by taking into consideration the value derived by various economic behaviors. Meanwhile, the introduction to courses also integrates the “care for the disadvantaged groups and humanistic care” referred to in the Caring Economics to guide the students’ self-growth upon participating in the service learning. Given this, the objectives of the courses are stated as following (see Fig. 2):

(1)  Upgrade the professional knowledge and strengthen the student’s correct value and dedicated and respectful attitude toward teamwork.

(2)  Enable students to verify the supply and demand rules and information related to the microeconomics, and basic concept about the macroeconomics.

(3)  Introduce important economic problems and urge the students to analyze and interpret the actual economic problems based on abstract theories.

Fig. 2 Objectives to be achieved by the Plan

6

Model and contents of implementation of service programs

( to the contents of courses for 18 weeks on a weekly basis)

(Please added the lines, if necessary.)

7

Total service learning hours

Total course hours: 18 weeks, and students’ actual service hours: 54 hours.

Number of student teams: a total of 6 teams, consisting of a total of 36 persons.

Total number of service recipients: 36 persons *3 times=108 persons (number of service recipients*number of frequency).

Each group member shall conduct the site survey and also check the various pieces of equipment at least for 4 times, and then may complete the proposal. Therefore, the member’s service hours spent in Tian Liao Community are estimated as no less than 24 hours. Furthermore, in addition to the hours spent in interview and filming, postproduction, drafting of proposals and suggestions, and presentation of results, each student is scheduled to spend more than 36 hours in said services in the whole semester.

8

Descriptions about expected students’ growth in professions

The students participating in the service learning courses will verify the following implications carried by the courses:

(1)  Strengthen the dedicated and respectful attitude toward teamwork and learn the ability to communicate and solve problems—The service learning members participating in the “Spreading the temperature of care, Love in Tian Liao Village” in Tian Liao Village in Hengshan Township will contact the service recipients in the Community and engage in the field research, introspection and presentation of results. The students will learn the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle), and each step thereof may help strengthen the students’ correct value and dedicated and respectful attitude toward teamwork.

(2)  By upholding the industrial management philosophy “There Are Always Better Things”, take the initiative to care the society—The Department’s service learning students may practice economics theories and industrial engineering knowledge in real life, and have the chance to grow and change by taking the initiative to care the society in the industrial management spirit of “There Are Always Better Things”.

(3)  Strengthen the correct values and improve the integration of disadvantaged groups—In the process of service learning, the students will interact and exchange their feelings with the service recipients to fulfill the holistic education philosophy about beings-materials-ourselves, and then seize the fading memory by providing professional services actively.

(4)  To see the rainbow, you must have to get wet in rain at first. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.—The students may realize the sense of seeding and harvest in the process of service learning, and the service learning may help the students act more positively when continuing education or seeking employment in the future.

9

Anticipated benefits to be gained the service recipient

The service recipients targeted by the service courses are the senior in Tian Liao Community in Hengshan Township.

(1)  Chat with the seniors in the community and extend care to them, and then inspire and strengthen the seniors’ contribution to the society to achieve the objectives of active communities and perpetual wisdom for the seniors’ people.

(2)  For the participating students: To establish the spirit upholding “expending the respect of the aged in one’s family to that of other families and expending the love of the young ones in one’s family to that of other families”.

10

Rating criteria

(Please include the way to assess service programs.)

1.    Assignments and attendance to class: 20%

2.    Tests: 10%

3.    Interim test and final exam: 50% (20% each)

4.    Service learning performance evaluation: 20%

(1)  Draft the service log

(2)  Analyze and design the service recipient’s measure data and result

(3)  Learning about related professional knowledge, group discussion and study report (including compilation of films and photos)

(4)  Complete the improvement physically upon receipt of the service recipient’s written consent.

(5)  Submission of the films recording the activities.

(6)  Final presentation of results