Online Degree Programs

Undergraduate Course> Athabasca University
Marketing (MKTG) 466
Marketing Research (Revision 2)

View previous syllabus.

Delivery mode: Individualized study online or
grouped study.**

Credits: 3 - Applied Studies

Prerequisite: MKTG 396, or an equivalent introductory marketing course.

Centre: School of Business

MKTG 466 has a Challenge for Credit option.

Overview

In today’s rapidly changing world, obtaining high-quality information about the current marketing environment may determine the success or failure of a business. Research marketers use a variety of methods to collect information about consumers and the marketplace. This information is used to help businesses make effective decisions about what features to include in new or existing products, how to price their goods or services, and where and how to target their products.

MKTG 466 identifies different sources of marketing research data, examines processes for collecting and analyzing research data, and shows how to prepare and present marketing research reports.
Outline

Lesson 1: The Role of Marketing Research in Strategic Planning

Lesson 2: The Research Process

Lesson 3: Problem Definition, Research Objectives, and Marketing Research Ethics

Lesson 4: Strategic Information Management: Secondary Data Sources

Lesson 5: Customer Relationship Management and the Marketing Research Process

Lesson 6: Marketing Research and Database Development

Lesson 7: Marketing Decision Support Systems and Business Intelligence

Lesson 8: Exploratory Designs: In-Depth Interviews and Focus Groups

Lesson 9: Descriptive Research Designs: Survey Methods and Errors

Lesson 10: Observation Techniques, Experiments, and Test Markets

Lesson 11: Sampling: Theory, Designs and Issues in Marketing Research

Lesson 12: Overview of Measurement: Construct Development and Scale Measurement

Lesson 13: Attitude Scale Measurements Used in Survey Research

Lesson 14: Questionnaire Design and Issues

Lesson 15: Coding, Editing, and Preparing Data for Analysis

Lesson 16: Data Analysis: Testing for Significant Differences

Lesson 17: Data Analysis: Testing for Association

Lesson 18: Data Analysis: Multivariate Techniques in the Research Process

Lesson 19: Preparing the Marketing Research Report and Presentation

Undergraduate Course> Athabasca University

Human Services (HSRV) 311
Practice and Policy in the Human Services (Revision 2)

Delivery mode: Individualized study with video component*.
*Overseas students, please contact the University Library before registering in a course that has an audio/visual component.

Credits: 3 - Social Science

Prerequisite: None.

Centre: Centre for Work and Community Studies

HSRV 311 has a Challenge for Credit option

Overview

This course provides an overview of the relation between human services’ programs and activities as provided by practitioners and the policy making that designs the provision of human services. The course adopts a critical learning approach to the study of social policy as it affects the human services and considers the role of human services education in this emerging profession.

The framework used here for studying social policy emphasizes the place of values in policy making, and various models and structures that can be used in analysing, evaluating, and implementing social policies. In particular the practitioner’s use of discretion and whistle-blowing are discussed in some detail for the ethical dimension they bring to bear on work in the human services.

Practitioners’ involvement in policy making is discussed in relation to shared decision making, the formation of policy communities, and community governance as well as efforts to influence policy from the outside.
Outline

HSRV 311 is divided into three parts as outlined below.

Part 1: Goals in Human Service Education

Part 1 adopts a critical thinking approach toward the study of social policy. It also considers the role of education in the human services in providing opportunities for lifelong learning and professional development that contribute to the professionalization of the occupations in the human services sector. This approach is then applied to the most directly relevant subset of public policy, that of social policy.

Part 2: Social Policy Frameworks

In Part 2 attention is given to the several phases of the policy cycle from policy formulation through policy implementation, evaluation, and reformulation. We study responses to policies and practices from an ethical viewpoint. Our study of the frameworks of social policy incorporates the place of values in policy making, competing models of policy making, structures involved in policy-making, the analysis and evaluation of social policies, policy implementation, and whistle-blowing.

Part 3: Policy Making By and For Practitioners

Part 3 considers various ways that practitioners can increase their involvement in policy making. Human service workers may involve themselves in shared decision making, including participation in family group conferences. They may lend their expertise to policy communities, assist social change through the political work of pressure groups and social movements, or combine these activities in different contexts. The final unit in the course, Unit 13, pulls together the subjects from the earlier units to demonstrate the high degree of transferability of the analytical concepts developed in the course materials to examples drawn from human services practice and policy.

Undergraduate Course> Athabasca University

Heritage Resources Management
(HERM) 301
Introduction to Heritage Resources Management (Revision 1)

Credits: 3 - Humanities
Prerequisite: None
Centre: Centre for Integrated Studies

Overview

Heritage is central to Canadian cultural policy and is an important aspect of Canadian social, political, and economic life. Heritage Resources Management 327: Heritage Policy in Canada surveys the historical development of federal and provincial arts and heritage policies in Canada and related ideas of national and regional culture. It uses this framework to discuss perceptions of “culture” as social expression and the role of government policy in a diverse society.
Outline

Part I: Building Heritage: The Policy Framework
Unit 1: Introduction: Inventing Heritage
Unit 2: How Canada Made History
Unit 3: Heritage for the People? The Role of the State
Unit 4: Does Heritage Pay?

Part II: Heritage Where We Live: Communities and Conservation
Unit 5: Heritage in the Regions: Provinces and Territories
Unit 6: Heritage on the Street: Cities, Towns, and Villages
Unit 7: Sustainable Communities: Natural and Cultural Heritage

Part III: Heritage Stakeholders: Citizens, Audiences, and Workforce
Unit 8: Social Pluralism, Cultural Politics, and Heritage
Unit 9: Backstage Heritage: Staff, Volunteers, and Activists
Unit 10: The Museum: Public Forum or Treasure Vault?
Unit 11: Digital Technologies: Shaping Knowledge and Access
Unit 12: Thinking It Over: Review, Summary, and References
HERM 301 is not available for challenge.

Overview

HERM 301: Introduction to Heritage Resources Management introduces students to heritage resources management and creates a base for further study of the contemporary heritage field. Students study types of practice and current and emerging issues, as well as the social context, controversies, ethical questions and general concerns that characterize efforts in heritage preservation and the work carried out in museums, archives, historic places and interpretive centres. Within this theoretical and applied framework, students will begin to develop approaches and skills in administration, collecting, conservation and preservation, interpretation, audience development and visitor services.
Outline
Unit 1: Heritage Resources Management
Unit 2: Types of Practice: Museums and Archives
Unit 3: Types of Practice: Historic Places Management
Unit 4: Structuring Practice: Governance and Ethics
Unit 5: Justifying Heritage Through Tourism
Unit 6: Who Controls the Past?
Unit 7: What to Keep and Why: Determining Heritage Significance
Unit 8: Conservation
Unit 9: Approaches to Heritage Education
Unit 10: Interpretive Programming

Undergraduate Course> Athabasca University

Governance (GOVN) 400
Governance and Leadership (Revision 1)

Credits: 3 - Social Sciences

Prerequisite: None. A previous course in public management, public policy, administrative studies, or political science is recommended. This is a senior course and as such students are expected to have advanced analytical and writing skills.

Centre: Centre for State and Legal Studies

GOVN 400 has a Challenge for Credit option.

Overview

Governance 400: Governance and Leadership provides students with an understanding of the common elements and differences that shape leadership in the public, voluntary and private sectors and the implications of these similarities and differences for the interaction among the three sectors on public policy issues. Students will have an opportunity to learn about the basic ideas and debates concerning the nature of leadership in each sector and how institutions and processes of management and governance in each sector shape the development of its leaders and their roles. From this basic foundation, students proceed to examine the interaction of ideas of leadership and of leaders themselves, among the three sectors in the context of the governance paradigm view of the world that sees the public sector increasingly entangled with the private and voluntary sectors. This view has emerged as pressures increase for governments to steer rather than row: establish partnerships with other sectors and with citizens; shrink the scope and nature of their activities; and to undertake their responsibilities using a wider range of tools for policy development and implementation.

The course will explore a number of key themes and topics. These include the following: different types of leadership and the challenges of leadership that have emerged from the governance paradigm, the role of sector-specific paradigms of leadership in shaping leaders and expectations of their interaction with leaders from other sectors. It examines the role of institutions in shaping leaders, their ideas of governance and their inter-action in the context of the governance paradigm, and how leaders from different sectors see their role and relationship to citizens, in the course of public policy debates. Selected cases of public policy making and implementation will demonstrate to students the similarities and differences in the role(s) and interaction(s) among leaders in the three sectors and the relationship of leaders to interest groups and to citizens. Finally, the course considers the implications of all of the above for the future of public leadership and for the institutions and practice of public governance.
Outline

Part I: Foundations
Unit 1: Foundations

Part II: The Sectoral Dimensions of Leadership
Unit 2: Leadership in the Public Sector
Unit 3: Leadership in the Voluntary Sector
Unit 4: Leadership in the Private Sector

Part III: Leadership in Practice
Unit 5: “Governance” as New Public Management: Implications for Leadership and Leaders
Unit 6: The Governance Paradigm in Action to Bring about Policy Change
Unit 7: New Governance and Leadership: Where Are the People?: Best Practices
Unit 8: New Governance and Leadership: Where are the People?: Applying New Approaches
Unit 9: Leadership, Governance and Internationalization

Part IV: Conclusion
Unit 10: Who Governs and Who Leads?

Undergraduate Course> Athabasca University

Finance (FNCE) 403
Risk Management

Credits: 3 - Applied Studies
Prerequisite: FNCE 370 or equivalent. MATH 265 or equivalent is recommended.
Centre: School of Business
FNCE 403 has a Challenge for Credit option

Overview

FNCE 403 provides an introduction to risk management, an area with increasing importance in both modern financial academia and financial industry. The course will focus on risk management using derivative securities. The main objectives of FNCE 403 are to
introduce the basic concepts and methodologies of risk management using derivative securities, including options, futures, forwards, and swaps.
provide students with an introduction to the basic characteristics and valuation of various derivative securities.
explore the applications of derivatives to manage various risks such as market risk, currency risk, interest rate risk, and credit risk.
Outline

Unit 1: Introduction
Lesson 1: Derivative Securities
Lesson 2: Some Important Concepts in Derivative Markets
Lesson 3: The Role and Some Criticisms of Derivative Markets

Unit 2: Options
Lesson 4: Options Markets
Lesson 5: Basic Option Strategies
Lesson 6: Advanced Option Strategies

Unit 3: Option Pricing
Lesson 7: Principles of Option Pricing
Lesson 8: Option Pricing—The Binomial Model
Lesson 9: Option Pricing—The Black-Scholes Model

Unit 4: Forwards and Futures
Lesson 10: Forward and Futures Markets
Lesson 11: Pricing Forwards and Futures
Lesson 12: Futures Hedging

Unit 5: Swaps and Interest Rate Derivatives
Lesson 13: Interest Rate Swaps
Lesson 14: Currency Swaps
Lesson 15: Interest Rate Forwards and Options

Unit 6: Financial Risk Management
Lesson 16: Financial Risk Management Techniques
Lesson 17: Risk Management in Organizations

Undergraduate Course> Athabasca University

Environmental Studies (ENVS) 305
Environmental Impact Assessment

Credits: 3 - Social Science
Prerequisite: None.
Centre: Centre for Global and Social Analysis
ENVS 305 has a Challenge for Credit option.

Overview

Environmental Studies 305: Environmental Impact Assessment, a three-credit, senior-level course designed to introduce you to a systematic process for predicting, and evaluating the significant environmental consequences of a proposed action or undertaking. This process—environmental impact assessment—has been applied primarily to new infrastructure projects, such as power plants, highways, pipelines, dams, mines, airports, incinerators and landfills. Assessment processes have also been used to consider the implications of new technologies, plans, and policies that may result in significant social and biophysical effects. This course focuses on environmental assessment processes—what they are meant to accomplish, and how they are designed or should be designed to be effective, efficient and fair.
Outline

Unit 1: History and Key Features of Environmental Assessment

Unit 2: Setting a Standard for Environmental Assessment in Canada: The Berger Inquiry on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline

Unit 3: Setting a Standard for Environmental Assessment in Canada: The Ecosystem Approach

Unit 4: Legislated Environmental Assessment at the Federal Level in Canada

Unit 5: Legislated Environmental Assessment at the Provincial Level in Canada

Unit 6: The Role of the Public in Environmental Assessment

Unit 7: Biophysical Impact Assessment and Cumulative Environmental Effects

Unit 8: Social Impact Assessment

Unit 9: Case Study: Environmental Assessment of the
Proposed Red Hill Creek Expressway

Unit 10: The Prospects for Advancement of Environmental Assessment

Undergraduate Course> Athabasca University

English (ENGL) 437
Literature of the Canadian West

Overview

ENGL 437 introduces students to some of the major authors and representative works from the twentieth-century literature of the Canadian West. Students study poetry, drama, and fiction. The following themes and questions are among those considered in the course: setting and its role in the literature of the Canadian West; character and characterization; communication and its failure; isolation, solitude, and alienation; pioneering and its aftermath; white perspectives of native people; endurance; dream and fantasy versus reality; violence; growing up in the West; and the role of and attitudes to women; love, marriage, and the relationship between the sexes.

Note: Since this is a senior course, we expect students to have good reading and writing skills as well as the basic critical tools and knowledge of literary forms and techniques that are acquired in an introductory university English literature course like Athabasca University’s English 211 and 212. Students who do not have the recommended credits in an introductory English literature course may experience significant difficulty with the essay assignments and examinations.

Undergraduate Course of Economics > Athabasca University

Education (EDUC) 310
The Canadian Training System

Overview

The purpose of this course is to acquaint students with the concepts, players, and issues involved in achieving a match between the skills required by the labour market and those offered for remuneration in that same labour market. Specifically, the long-standing debates over what forms of training should be provided, who should have access to acquiring those skills, and who should be responsible for the structure, financing, and delivery of training are examined in the broader context of the changing nature of work and the labour market. In addition, the course considers the ways in which the various aspects of the training system in Canada have evolved and how the different labour market partners (employers, workers, education and training providers, and governments) collaborate and conflict in pursuing the goals and expectations each has for the skills of employed and unemployed members of the labour force.
Outline

EDUC 310 is divided into the following five units.

Unit 1: A Primer on Training

Unit 2: The Context for Training

Unit 3: Training in the Workplace

Unit 4: The Public Role in Training

Unit 5: Challenges for the 21st Century

Undergraduate Course of Criminal Justice > Athabasca University

Criminal Justice (CRJS) 425
White-Collar Crime and Investigation

Overview

The primary emphasis of Criminal Justice 425 White Collar Crime is on the increasing costs of non-violent crimes: crimes perpetrated within the business environment.

Students will be introduced to current perspectives dominant in the field of financial investigations. Discussions will include the following sources of information: accounting procedures, methods of tracing funds, banking and financial record-keeping, interviewing as applied to detecting and resolving financial crime. Primary emphasis will be placed on theoretical principles and applications of financial investigative technique.

Secondarily, this course focuses on the dimension of white collar crime in Canada, beginning with a conceptual definition of activity that constitutes white collar crime. Canadian law enforcement efforts will be discussed, as well as international enforcement approaches. Key concepts related to white collar crime and investigation will be examined in the context of Canadian law enforcement approaches.

Problems with enforcement, due to the organized structure and the requirement of special knowledge, will be examined in detail.
Outline

Criminal Justice 425: White-Collar Crime and Investigation comprises ten units as follows:

Unit 1: Defining White-Collar Crime

Unit 2: The Impact of White-Collar Crime

Unit 3: The Law of Fraud in Canada

Unit 4: Money Laundering in Canada

Unit 5: The Role of Canadian Law Enforcement

Unit 6: The Police Investigation

Unit 7: The Forensic Accountant’s Investigation

Unit 8: Classic White-Collar Crime

Unit 9: Forensic Accounting Methods and Techniques

Unit 10: Future Issues in White-Collar Crime

Undergraduate Course of Communications > Athabasca University

Communications (COMM) 431
Leadership in Technology

Overview

This course provides students with a rigorous treatment of the issues to be dealt with by leaders of organizations that develop and implement information technology (IT). The course introduces the major theories of leadership and the personal characteristics of effective leaders. It examines personality, cognitive style, mental models, emotional intelligence, courage, and morality within the context of effective technology leadership; it also discusses the role of followers, the sources of power, and the strategies for effective followership. The course examines the role of the leader in motivation and empowerment, and explores the various forms of leadership communication. The important issues of team leadership and the development of diversity within organizations are also covered, along with a discussion of the leader’s role in creating a vision and setting the strategic direction for the organization. COMM 431 also introduces the concept of the learning organization and the leadership of change within organizations. IT-related cases and examples are used throughout the course.
Outline

Lesson 1: Introduction to Leadership

Lesson 2: Leadership Theories

Lesson 3: The Personal Side of Leadership

Lesson 4: Followership

Lesson 5: Motivation, Empowerment, and Leadership Communication

Lesson 6: Leading Teams, and the Development of Leadership Diversity

Lesson 7: Leadership Power and Influence

Lesson 8: Creating Vision and Strategic Direction

Lesson 9: Culture and Values

Lesson 10: The Learning Organization and the Leadership of Change