¢ Other field trips were to an old gold mine, to the Federal Reserve (where the handout for kids was a bag of shredded money), to the coliseum and the Grateful Dead’s dressing rooms, and for a self-directed walking tour of old downtown churches (some with separate slave balconies). Guides were waiting for THE COURSE students at most of these attractions. Spin-Offs e Each of THE COURSE authors appeared on CPCC’s cable talk show the night after his or her article was published. Viewers were invited to call in with questions or comments. Some shows received 15-20 calls, an extraordinarily large number for a college cable program. ¢ Audiotapes of the television programs were available to our radio station where we read for the visually impaired. ¢ The state of North Carolina awarded renewal units to those school teachers who completed any two of THE COURSE’s 11 projects. Students responded with elaborate, thoughtful projects, such as original lyrics and music about Charlotte's beginning, histories written for a first-grade level, and paintings of early scenes. * Schools have asked to buy copies of the television series for their libraries. ¢ The local school administration is considering the series as required study. Evaluations Hundreds of students wrote evaluations. Others simply wrote thank-you notes. We have been told stories of warm friendships that began during THE COURSE and of a young couple who met on a COURSE trip and became engaged. We have heard of communication between maids and housewives who had only talked around subjects for years. THE COURSE takes little credit for these results. The potential for communication already existed within these groups; we only supplied the easy device, only “illumi- nated the latch string,” as one student wrote. It appears that THE COURSE started some people thinking in new areas, communicating at new levels, and seeing with new eyes. Mike Myers, Community Relations For further information, contact the author at Central Piedmont Community College, P.O. Box 35009, Charlotte, NC 28235. A Real-life Grading System In 1988, I devised a new grading system for Introduc- tion to Business. With this grading system, students learn about real-life American business needs, conduct, and restraints while “earning” a grade. Since the adoption of this program, poorly motivated students have become busy with stock market affairs and money management at Bunker Hill Community College. Attendance has increased, quiz and exam grades have improved, and overall interest has grown significantly. How It Works Each student in our course receives 44,000 fun dollars applied to his/her account. Incorrect test answers and sloppy work costs money; extra work, smart stock buying, and class participation help earn money. Each student receives an account summary every 30 days. The ending balance buys a grade. The recordkeeping, billing, and summary are simple, flexible, and computer-driven. Rationale Why run a business course as much like a business as possible? Students at BHCC have more experience spending money than making it; therefore, mastering the idea of saving by reducing or controlling spending is a difficult concept for them to grasp. Frederick Herzberg, management consultant, profes- sor, and creator of the Motivation Hygiene Theory, has always stressed “self-assessment” at regular intervals for subordinates. What could provide a better assessment than translating course performance into dollars and cents, turning out “invoices” every 30 days, and treating the entire experiment like 25 or 30 small businesses? Each individual student has control of his/her own destiny in a meaningful, believable, and tangible way. Perhaps the course is less threatening because the invoices, the money idea, and the results seem more commonplace, making them easy to accept. The indi- vidual charges, cost centers, and income areas are variable. | have designed costs and charges to meet our own set of peculiarities and needs, but this grading system and the computer programs can be adapted to a wide variety of business courses. Marshall Nanis, Professor, Business For further information, contact the author at Bunker Hill Community College, New Rutherford Avenue, Boston, MA 02129. Suanne D. Roueche, Editor November 22, 1991, Vol. Xitl, No. 29 ©The University of Texas at Austin, 1991 Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER institutions for their own personnel. INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Insitute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512) 471-7545. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly when classes are in session dunng fall and spring terms. ISSN 0199-10€X.