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PrincetonX: MGWx Making Government Work in Hard Places

Syllabus

Course organization

This course is organized into different topics. There are 8 topics in total, one for each course week.

We will release the course material associated with each topic on Wednesday mornings Princeton time (EST). The course material consists of readings (which are mostly case studies), lecture videos, and different types of assignments. For a complete overview, please see the Course Schedule.

How to approach the course material

Most weeks we will ask you to read one case study before you watch the lecture videos. We want you to imagine what you would do before we introduce concepts and theories. The case study helps you understand the problem at the center of the course discussion and build the intuition we will develop in the videos. You may also bring fresh ideas and share them with others! The overview text on the weekly topic page will help you know how to approach the course material for that week.

Instructor and teaching assistants

Prof. Widner and her teaching assistants will keep a close eye on the discussion forums. They will provide general feedback on the discussion forum assignments and on questions related to the quizzes.

Assignments

There are three types of assignments in this course: quizzes, discussion forum assignments, and practicums.

The quizzes will ask you to apply concepts from the videos to the analysis of a second case study. You will therefore need to read the second case study before you try to take the quiz. The purpose is to give you practice and to help you build your knowledge. You may take the quiz as many times as you need to get the answers correct.

Discussion forum assignments will give you an opportunity to present your ideas and insights to the other participants in the course, and in turn, learn from them.  There are 7 discussion forum assignments. 

Practicums (see below).

Assignment release times and due dates

The assignments are released together with the topic pages on Wednesday mornings at 9 a.m. Princeton time (EST). Please check the due date on each assignment. 

Practicums

A practicum introduces a practical skill associated with the topic discussed in a given week. There are four practicums in this course, and you should complete one.

The practicum consists of a lecture (broken into video segments), written materials, and a quiz. The topics are: 1) Streamlining a Process, 2) Project Management Basics, 3) Communications, and 4) Strategy Development.

We will release all the practicums with Topic 1, so you have a chance to decide which one you would like to complete. However, you do not have to finish your practicum assignment until December 30th.

Course completion

In order to complete & pass the course you have to:

  • Complete the quizzes (please note that you can take them as many times as you'd like).
  • Submit at least 5 of the 7 discussion forum assignments. 
  • Complete 1 out of 4 practicums (i.e watch the lecture and complete the practicum quiz).
  • In order to pass the course, your overall score has to be 60% or more. 

Time commitment and prerequisites

You should plan on spending between 3-5 hours per week on this course. There are no prerequisites for this course. However, students with some knowledge of political economy concepts will find it easier to complete the course.