The Rolla Technical
Institute provides leadership skills to the students that will give them a
headstart to a real career. Its objective is to effectively develop in each
student the skills and attitudes necessary to succeed in life as a contributing
member of an ever-changing society. It provides area employers with a
well-trained work force that possesses the skills needed to meet current and
future employment needs, and it actively maintains a leadership role in the
development and promotion of Vocational Education on the state and local
levels. Aside from well-focused Marketing courses, it also offers several
hands-on classes.
Rolla, known as the “middle
of everywhere”, is surrounded by the urban cultures of St. Louis, Springfield,
Jefferson City, and Columbia. As a result, the residents of Rolla receive a
great mixture of city and rural life. Recently, Rolla was ranked among the top
one hundred small towns in the United States in Norman Crompton’s 100 Best
Small Towns in the US. However, due to the rapid growth rate, Rolla can no
longer be amongst the other small towns. The 2000 population census states
Rolla increased its population from 14, 090 people in 1990 to 16,367 residents
in the year 2000.
The Rolla area has a
diversified economic base comprised of industry, governmental agencies,
educational facilities, medical services, and agricultural activities. Within
the city of Rolla, there are several hundreds of businesses. It is the home to
the University of Missouri Rolla, one of the finest engineering schools in the
nation. Rolla has continued its brisk pace with the progress of growth and
development and will continue with improvements for its residents.
Following
first hour, the students attending Mr. Lankford’s presentation rode a bus from
the Rolla High School to the Rolla Technical Institute. There, Mr. Lankford
waited for our arrival. The team introduced Mr. Lankford and he began the
workshop. We discussed the benefits and difficulties of being an entrepreneur.
This led to the central theme of the presentation: the importance of making
ethical decisions, especially when in a position of leadership such as an
entrepreneur. During the workshop case studies were done that involved critical
decisions making situations. As a group, we each were required to come to a
consensus. All the students were very active and participated in the workshop
with enthusiasm. At the end of the presentation, each student and table leader
completed an evaluation on Mr. Lankford’s presentation. Everyone enjoyed the
presentation and thanked Mr. Lankford.
Our
final task was to determine the central theme of the presentation for the
outside audience. We also had to identify what outside audience would be the
most beneficial to the presentation. After a detailed discussion, the team
decided to present the lecture to an 8th grade Civics class at the
Rolla Junior High School. The team felt that it should inform these students of
the opportunities available to them so they could utilize this information to
the fullest extent. Audiovisual presentations coupled with hands-on activities
are the best tools to present materials to students of this age group.
Therefore, we planned to produce a PowerPoint presentation sprinkled with
activities that would simulate the various market systems.
Organization of the Activity
Implementation of the
Activity
The first date set for an interview was with Shirley Zhang. Zhang gave us valuable information about the Chinese economic system. She described the role of the government, the process of licensing a business, and the people’s perception of the Chinese system. Her description showed that the Chinese market system mainly contained the characteristics of a command market. Next, we interviewed Joshua Shabel. He described the Irish economic system that seemed to fall into the pattern of the mixed market system. The Irish government plays a role in the factors of production, but the individuals have liberty to exercise their own decisions in matters of business. The third interviewee was Osa Okunbor. He contributed information about the Nigerian economic system, which leaned towards the traditional market. The final interviewee was Jagat Lamsal who described the economic system of Nepal. According to him, Nepal is going through rapid changes in all walks of its life including its economy. The Nepali economic system seemed to be a mixed market system. Following these interviews, we felt that we had acquired detailed information on various market systems in the world. The information received was very useful during the lecture to the 8th graders.
In the morning of our presentation to the junior high students, we borrowed a destination computer to present the PowerPoint slides. We began the presentation by introducing the DECA chapter and ourselves. Then we presented the bulk of information about free enterprise and various market systems in the world. At the end of the presentation we asked for their questions and input. The students seemed not only to comprehend what we presented, but also seemed very excited about the free enterprise system.
The team returned the next morning with a day planned for a market simulation. We distributed candy to the students in each class to trade with each other subject to rules that we prescribed. The rules were formulated so as to simulate the various types of market systems. A rule that allowed any type of trading represented the free market. Once they completed trading freely we asked how many students were pleased with the results of the trade. The majority of the students in every single class were satisfied. To represent command market, we had the students take a fifteen-question quiz. The idea was to simulate the commanding role of the government in such a system. The students who scored thirteen to fifteen questions correct were allowed to trade without any restriction. Next, the students scoring ten to twelve questions correct were only allowed to trade within a restricted group. The students scoring six to nine were allowed to trade certain designated candies with certain students, and the students scoring zero to five questions had their candies taken away. After the trading for the command market was complete, we evaluated the level of satisfaction among the students. Compared to the free market system, the level declined dramatically. To represent the mixed market, the students were supplied with four different kinds of candies: Pixie Stix, Peppermint, Dumdum, and Starburst Hard Candy. The candies were attributed with different levels of value. One Pixie Stix was equivalent to two Peppermints; one Peppermint was equivalent to two Dumdums; and finally, one Dumdum was equivalent to two Starbursts. After the trade, once again, we examined the level of satisfaction. We observed that it was better than in the command market but lower than in the free market system. The second activity consisted of dividing the students into four groups. Each group represented one of the market systems. Their tasks as a “system” needed to come up with two advantages and two disadvantages of their systems. Once the groups were done writing down, they had a chosen spokesman to read the list to the class. The final activity for the day was an individual activity to assure that the students comprehended the material given. We wrote a list of terms from the lecture on the board and had them categorize it under the market system it was related to.
Finally, we wrote and mailed the letter to the President, George W. Bush requesting an interview.
Evaluation
of campaign parts III and IV
Feedback is the most important aspect when evaluating the effectiveness of a project. The response we received from all of our activities was extraordinary. The results from the student evaluations of Mr. Lankford’s workshop are as follows:
In this plot, the rating is scaled linearly with five being the highest and one the lowest with regard to the overall quality of the presentation. The next graph below shows the percentage of students that did or did not feel they learned skills from the workshop that are valuable to them once they become an entrepreneur.
This last graph below represents the percentage of students who believed that they would utilize the information from the “Free Enterprise Day” workshop in the realistic world.
Overall, the results of the evaluation displayed that the students enjoyed the workshop and witnessed how a free enterprise system brings the maximum freedom possible in a market system. By observing the response of the students through the evaluation, we notice that they will use their new knowledge to benefit them and the community.
The feedback of our second activity also showed success. The free enterprise marketing system reflected the greatest amount of satisfaction. We received a letter from Mr. Bartle and his class thanking us for our presentation. They opined that our presentation and simulation was very helpful for teaching the students about entrepreneurship and various market systems. Throughout the community many residents have commented numerous times on the accomplishments of our project.
Recommendations
for Future Activities
The basis of our report relied on the interview we did with Dr. Gelles, Shirley Zhang, Osa Okunbor, Jagat Lamsal, and Joshua Shabel. The diversity of the economic systems these interviewees experienced gave us a much more depth not only to our learning but our report as well. Once we realized the interdependencies connecting the nations of the world together, this became the central theme of our project. It is very important to understand the economic system of different nations in the present world. We feel the most efficient method to inform others about various economic systems are through the Internet. We currently are creating a website to inform individuals throughout the world the importance of the free enterprise and other market systems. We are also preparing proclamations for the Mayor of the city of Rolla and the Governor of the state of Missouri to celebrate a Free Enterprise Week. Our final activity we wish to carry out is to interview the President, George W. Bush to learn more about the system that prospers.
Miller, R. L., “Economics Today & Tomorrow”, McGraw Hill, Ohio; 1995
Website: Rolla Senior High School
URL: http://rolla.k12.mo.us/Rhs/index.html
Website: Rolla City
URL: http://www.rollanet.org/areainfo/nwtop100.html