"The world will not evolve past its current state of crisis by using the same thinking that created the situation."

Welcome to ECN306, an introduction to the Information World.   This course is not designed for the aspiring economist, but rather for all students who realize that two keys to success in an increasingly complex world, a world in which success is related to one's abilities to deal effectively and efficiently with quantitative data, are the ability to harness the power of the computer and to effectively communicate one's ideas to others. If you are interested in a preview of the type of analysis you will be able to do when the course is over, check out the Preview.

The course is also based on the premise that there are severe limits to the impact that any one faculty member can have on students and that skills are refined by practice.  No one can "teach" it all to you in one semester.  In one course all one can hope to do is act as a catalyst.  The real learning and growing will only come about through your time and efforts. Practice is important and practice takes place outside of the classroom. The classroom will become a place where you can float some of your ideas, get some feedback on your work, demonstrate to the class and to me your capabilities. You will be given the opportunity to show some creativity and originality in your work and the opportunity to take some chances.

What it means for you is that the course is designed to introduce you to a set of skills that you should consider acquiring while you are at the University. For many, you will find that in this course you are doing what you have done before, but in an entirely different way. You will have access to far greater levels of information and to tools that allow you to analyze it more efficiently and effectively. At the end of the semester you should find yourself describing the course as "practical" rather than "theoretical", a course which is at the same time, both more and less than a traditional course in mathematics, statistics, computers, or communication.

The focus will be on problem solving rather than memorization of facts. In this course we will be focusing our attention on how to define a problem, how to find relevant data, how to process these data in a meaningful way, and how to present your findings in a professional manner.  My view is that, armed with a few basic principles and some rudimentary quantitative skills, you can do wonderful things. You need not be experts in high powered math, statistics or communication but you should be aware that these skills generally appear in the descriptions for many of the jobs to which you may some day be applying. They also can be used with great effect in your other courses.   You will have the opportunity to discover some new things about the world and you may even get excited and begin to once again ask, why?  This sentiment is reflected in the Goals set for the course.

For most of you this course will be very different from what you are used to because all of the material is on-line which will require a little adjustment in how you work during the semester.  A good place to start would be the web page on the course's Structure and Grading where you will find all of the important details about the course. 

Questions? Comments? Please E-mail us.