Bus55 DL Syllabus

Business 55
Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Course Overview and Syllabus
Spring 2011 / 5 Units / Online Format
Michele Fritz

Top Course Description Learning Outcomes Advisories Materials Requirements
Lesson Plan Tips for Success Academic Integrity Dropping Grading Support


Instructor Email Address:	fritzmichele at deanza.edu (Please note that Michele has one "L". Also, you may receive a reply from another email account, but this is the account that I check most frequently.) There is no need to send emails to multiple accounts!
Telephone:	(408) 864-8615 (Please use email for urgent messages.)
Faculty Web Site:	http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/fritz/ My web site contains many tools and resources for students.
Office:	F-51J, which is near the Forum building on campus in Cupertino, CA.
Office Hours:	Mondays through Thursdays from 8:25-9:25 AM (PST). Online Fridays.

Course Description:

This course provides students with an introduction to the potential and pitfalls of Entrepreneurship. Students will learn about the various methods for starting up, managing and financing a new venture. Students will get a chance to evaluate real world business plans and videos of entrepreneurs.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course, student should be able to:

Examine the steps required, the support available, and the tactics commonly employed by entrepreneurs starting a business.
Critically evaluate business plans in terms of feasibility, investment potential, risk, and completeness.

Materials:

All of the required materials for this course may be purchased at the De Anza Bookstore. Online ordering is available via the Bookstore Home Page (Note: All external links in this document open in a new window).

Textbook: Jerome A. Katz and Richard P. Green, Entrepreneurial Small Business, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2009. ISBN: 9780073405063. Note: Do not get an international edition of this textbook.

Technology: The following technology is required in order to access the course materials.

You will need a computer (on Windows-Minimum of PII 300 mhz; on Mac-G3 350 mhz) with broadband access) to the Internet. Modem users will not be able to view the streaming videos. If you can come to campus weekly, you are welcome to use the Library West Computer Lab to watch the videos. It is located in the basement of the Learning Center West building.
You need to have a current browser in order to view the web-based course materials (Firefox is recommended). You also need to allow cookies, Java, and pop-ups.
You will need to download and install the free Real Player media player in order to view / listen to the course videos. Some of the streaming videos will also be made available in the format for the Windows Media Player, but you must use the Real Player if you are on a Macintosh or if you need close captioned files.
For a few of the videos from PBS, you will use a Java clipstream or Windows Media Player. Again, the Java clipstream option works well and is recommended for Macintosh users. You will need to have Java installed on your computer, and ensure that your browser allows it.
You will need to download Flash to view the presentations in their graphical format. (Most people already have this installed.)
You will also need Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, or the Word Viewer to view the business plans and some other Word documents.
You will also need a personal email address to receive course announcements. As soon as you log into Catalyst account, you should receive an email welcome message from the instructor. If that does not occur, you may need to decrease the security on your email or empty your email account (if it is full). These proactive measures will ensure that you receive all important reminders from your instructor. If you don't have an email address, get a free one by following the instructions on my web site under Tools, Tips and Resources.

Requirements:

Orientation: Please watch the Course Orientation Tutorial located on the home page of the course or also posted on the Business 55 Page of my faculty web site. I am also available to walk any student through the course in my campus office hours or over the phone. (Arrange this by email.)

Reading and Review: Each week you will have approximately two chapters to master. You should read the assigned text chapter, and then review the associated Flash presentation. (A text version is also provided if you cannot use Flash or want to print out notes.)

Games: Each week there is some type of online game or puzzle available to test your comprehension of the lessons. The games are provided to help you determine how well you understand the material, and to help you prepare for the midterm and final examinations. You may use these games as many times as you like and your score is not recorded in my grade book. However, you will receive 2 points for trying the game and submitting your initial score where the quiz is located before the posted deadline that week.

Discussion Forums: Each week you will also be expected to contribute to your choice of class discussions. This discussion forum allows you to demonstrate your understanding of course concepts and learn from the experiences of your classmates. The assignments are varied, they involve tasks such as web research, video case studies, a team problem, or even a role play exercise. Your grades in the discussion forum will be evaluated according to the Discussion Rubric provided in the table below. (Note that students will not get credit for doing more than one topic each week. The instructor is looking for quality, not quantity. Students who do multiple discussion topics each week will only be graded on one.)

Discussion Rubric - All Criteria Listed Have Equal Importance

Criteria	A Level work	B Level Work	C Level Work
Completeness	All questions posed in the assignment are fully answered and explained or justified. All directions have been followed.	All questions posed in the assignment are fully answered but explanations may be brief or some of the directions missed.	Some of the assigned questions are skipped or ignored.
Originality	Adds significant, new, and substantiated ideas to the chosen discussion topic and demonstrates that the discussion has been reviewed prior to posting.	Adds a new idea to the chosen discussion topic and demonstrates that the discussion has been reviewed.	Enhances or further explains an idea that has already been mentioned in the chosen discussion topic.
Timeliness	Posts fully in the discussion by the deadline.	Posts up to a week after the deadline.	Posts later in the course.
Professionalism	Writing is clear and easy to read. Posts are written in a professional manner with proper grammar and punctuation.	Posts are generally clear but may contain occasional grammatical errors or typos.	Posts may be difficult to understand due to grammatical and stylistic problems.

Examinations: There will be 2 exams to test you on the material you have learned. The questions will contain similar content to issues explored in the practice quizzes and games, readings, and discussion assignments. These tests will be timed, so you will need to be competent in course concepts to complete them. You will not have the time to look up many answers in the textbook.

Midterm (40 points) covers textbook chapters 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10,11, and 12. It is due by Friday 5/13 by midnight Pacific Standard Time.
Final Exam (40 points) covers textbook chapters 2, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20. Students must complete the final by Tuesday 6/21 by midnight PST.
Optional Extra Credit Final Essay (8 Points) The student has the option of answering a final exam essay question for up to 8 points of extra credit. Students will have one hour to compose their answer to the essay question. This extra credit is also due by Tuesday 6/21, although it is timed separately to allow you to take a break. Points will be allocated as follows:

Extra Credit Essay Rubric

Criteria	I'm impressed!	A successful start!	Every bit of extra credit helps!
Professionalism	Writing is clear and easy to read, containing proper grammar and punctuation. (2 points)	Writing is generally clear but contains some grammatical errors or typos. (1 point)	Writing is difficult to understand. (0 points)
Specifics and Level of Detail provided	Essay contains 5-6 specific and elaborated examples of how the student will implement course concepts into his/her planned business. (5-6 points)	Contains 3-4 specific and elaborated examples of how the student will implement course concepts into his/her planned business. (3-4 points)	Contains 1-2 specific and elaborated examples of how the student will implement course concepts into his/her planned business. (1-2 points)

Note to students with disabilities: If you have a disability-related need for reasonable academic accommodations or services in this course, provide your instructor with a Test Accommodation Verification Form (also known as a TAV form) from Disability Support Services (DSS) or the Educational Diagnostic Center (EDC). Students are expected to give five days notice of the need for accommodations. Students with disabilities can obtain a TAV form from their DSS counselor (864-8753 DSS main number) or EDC advisor (864-8839 EDC main number).

Lesson Plan:

Dates	Lessons
Week 1	Course Orientation; What is Entrepreneurship?
Week 2	Starting a Business
Week 3	Planning and the Opportunity
Week 4	Marketing and Promoting Your Business
Week 5	Products, Pricing, and Place
Week 6	Midterm Exam; Operations Management
Week 7	Managing Human Resources
Week 8	Basic Accounting for Small Business
Week 9	Happiness is Cash Flow
Week 10	Financial Management and Risk
Week 11	Legal Issues and the Challenges of Success
Week 12	Final Exam due Tuesday.

Tips for Success:

There are many ways that you can demonstrate your understanding of course concepts in this class. Here are some ways that you can boost your performance. I welcome your input!

Do the games/quizzes each week to identify areas in the text to study, and to identify topics that are likely to appear on exams. Make certain to review the textbook for the questions you missed.
Schedule your work to complete tasks on time. For instance, games completed on time are worth 2 points. Games completed late are still helpful for review, but do not earn you any points.
Email the instructor when you don't understand the answer to one of the practice questions, or post a question in the "Student Café" and ask another student to help.
Try to be one of the first few students to answer the discussion group topic, so that you don't have the pressure of reading 30 posts and coming up with something "new".
If you don't receive 9 or 10 points on the discussion group, go back to that earlier week's posting to see if your instructor posted a response. Discussion group postings may be improved to gain additional points (although any late penalties will remain). Please email me to let me know that you have improved your posting so that I can re-evaluate it. You may improve discussions 1-5 until the due date of the midterm exam and discussions 6-10 until the Sunday night before the final exam.
Do the Optional Extra Credit Essay if you don't have the points you need, after taking the Final Exam.

Academic Integrity:

Students who plagiarize, submit the work of others as their own, or cheat on exams will (at minimum) receive a failing grade on that assignment and be reported to college authorities. Serious cases will receive a failing grade in the class and be reported to college authorities. Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse in a college classroom. If you are uncertain what is acceptable behavior, refer to the Student Handbook on Academic Integrity.

Dropping:

The instructor will drop students who have not logged on and completed assignments by due dates in first two weeks, and those who have not completed the midterm exam (or emailed regarding an emergency) by the due date for that exam. Other than that, students are responsible to drop or withdraw from the course. If you mean to drop the course but do not do the transaction yourself, you can expect to see a grade for the course on your transcript! Students may drop online through the De Anza web site.

Grading:

**Assignment Weights**
*Course Requirement*	*Point Value*	*Percentage*
Doing the 10 games before the posted deadlines	20	10%
Midterm Exam	40	20%
Objective Portion of Final Exam	40	20%
Participation in the 10 Discussion Forums	100	50%
Total (Extra Credit Essay is not included here)	200	100%

Grades will be assigned to students based on the total points earned in the course. You may access your final grades in Catalyst the weekend after the final exam. After that, log in to look at your records on the De Anza web site.

**Grade Scale**
*If Your Total Points Are*	*Resulting Grade*
195 and up	A+
185 to 194	A
179 to 184	A-
175 to 178	B+
165 to 174	B
159 to 164	B-
155 to 158	C+
139 to 154	C (no C- grades given)
135 to 138	D+
125 to 134	D
119 to 124	D-
less than 119	F

Support:

Help with Course Content	Email me Mondays through Fridays. (24 hour turnaround is typical except over the weekend.)
Technical Support	Web Site URL: http://catalysthelp.deanza.edu/
Distance Learning Center	Home Page: http://www.deanza.edu/distance/ Phone: (408) 864-8969 (Hours of operation are posted on the page under the link "About Us")