Courses tagged with "Nutrition" (468)

This course is designed to provide you with a simple and straightforward introduction to econometrics.  Econometrics is an application of statistical procedures to the testing of hypotheses about economic relationships and to the estimation of parameters.  Regression analysis is the primary procedure commonly used by researchers and managers whether their employments are within the goods or the resources market and/or within the agriculture, the manufacturing, the services, or the information sectors of an economy. Completion of this course in econometrics will help you progress from a student of economics to a practitioner of economics.  By completing this course, you will gain an overview of econometrics, develop your ability to think like an economist, hone your skills building and testing models of consumer and producer behavior, and synthesize the results you find through analyses of data pertaining to market-based economic systems.  In essence, professional economists conduct studies that combine…

As a student of economics, you must study the history of economic thought to understand why individuals, firms, and governments make certain choices. Economists try to answer three basic questions: what to produce, how to produce it, and for whom. The history of economic thought represents a wide diversity of theories within the discipline, but all economists address these three basic questions. As you learn more about the history of economic thought, you may realize that policies presented as great innovations today are founded upon centuries-old writings. You will learn that without a clear sense of the discussions and debates that took place among economists of the past, the modern economist lacks a complete perspective. By examining the history of economic thought, you will be able to categorize and classify thoughts and ideas and will begin to understand how to think like an economist. Economics is both a social science and a business subject; accordingly, economic thinking affects everything from art t…

This course is designed to provide you with a thorough understanding of the importance of money, banking, and financial markets of a developed economy.  Money, financial institutions, and financial markets have emerged as instruments of payments for the services of factors of production, such as labor and capital.  The use of money facilitates business in a market by acting as a common medium of exchange.  Of course, as that market expands and develops on a national and international level, the importance of money, banking, and other financial markets expands to accommodate innumerable exchanges. This course will allow you to examine not only the origins and nature of money, but also the institutions and markets that have evolved to enable the exchange of goods and services worldwide.  It will provide you with the opportunity to examine the instruments and strategies assisting production, distribution, and consumption.  Also, this course will help you develop an appreciation for important concepts in e…

In economics, the term "labor" refers to workers.  As a factor of production, labor earns wages for the services that it renders.  As such, students of labor economics have traditionally set out to understand wage formation, the level of employment, and all elements that go into the making of a wage relationship.  Over the years, the social and economic contexts in which labor markets operate have become increasingly complex; nowadays, labor economics is no longer limited to the study of wages.  Modern labor economics instead seeks to understand the complex workings of the labor market by studying the dynamics between employers, employees, and their wage-, price-, and profit-making incentives.  In other words, modern labor economics explores the outcomes of the labor market under the assumption that workers strive to maximize their wellbeing and firms strive to maximize profits.  It also analyzes the behavior of employers and employees and studies their responses to changes in government policies and/or…

This course introduces major theories of economic development and to place them in a historical context. In his contributory introduction “Economic Growth, Economic Development and Human Development” in The Development Economics Reader (2008), edited by Giorgio Secondi and published by Routledge, Secondi defines economic development as the “branch of economics that studies relatively poor countries.” In the same book, Mahbub ul Haq, writing under the title “The Human Development Paradigm,” suggests that the “basic purpose of development is to enlarge people’s choices,” which is in line with the views expressed by the Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. Whether development is simply studying poor countries or expanding people’s choices in poor countries, one of the essential requirements is that there must be a means for making the choices available. This means that economic development must include growth, but growth can take place without economic development. Without economic growth, the choices…

Public Finance rests at the intersection of two disciplines: Public Economics and Public Choice.  Public Economics deals with issues of social optimality: how much of a good (or ill) does a society desire (or tolerate), and how do we incentivize producers and consumers to attain that amount?  Public economics concerns itself with externalities, which are costs that are borne by persons not involved in a market transaction.  There are both positive and negative externalities; public economists want to know how we get more of the good and less of the bad.  Public choice is the field of economics that looks into the behavior of voters, politicians, and bureaucrats and studies how they choose given different policy institutions. The field of Public Finance studies the interaction between these two disciplines, asking questions like: How do the incentives of the political actors shape the policies they craft?  How does that in turn affect the outcomes in the marketplace?  Alternately, students of Public Fi…

This course surveys major topics and theories in the field of Industrial Organization.  As part of the applied microeconomics structure, Industrial Organization uses the basic tools of microeconomic theory and game theory to study the structure and behavior of firms and their strategic interactions with one another in the marketplace.  Industrial Organization also studies the impact that those interactions have on market structure and welfare. Different kinds of market structures (perfect competition, imperfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly, and so forth) present different scenarios in which firms strive to acquire and use market power for their strategic advantage.  While perfect competition and monopoly are two market structures on opposite ends of the spectrum, imperfect competitionwhere a limited number of firms attempt to manipulate their rivals or consumersis a more realistic set-up.  This course will emphasize market structure analysis and the strategic behaviors of competing firms, including…

This course will provide you with an analytical framework for the study of international trade.  Historically, international trade has played a critical role in enabling countries to grow, develop, and become economically powerful.  Through international trade in goods and services, the economies of different countries are more closely linked to one another now than ever before.  At the same time, the world economy is more turbulent now than it has been in decades.  Keeping up with the shifting international environment has become a central concern in business strategy and national economic policy.  This course uses the same fundamental methods of analysis deployed in other branches of economics, as the motives and behavior of individuals and firms remain the same whether they are in the context of international trade or domestic transactions.  You will learn, however, that international trade introduces an entirely new and different set of concerns as well. This course will cover a broad array of rel…

Professional Writing is designed to provide adult learners with the basic skills they need to write effective documents in the workplace.  In this course, you will learn how to analyze your audience so that you can write prose that is both clear and persuasive.  You will practice writing common business documents, such as emails, memos, proposals, and presentations.  You will also learn how to effectively edit these documents for maximum impact. This course is part of the Professional Development Program (PRDV), which is designed especially for adult learners who are ready to gain and apply skills demanded by today’s employers.

This course is designed for the novice who has little or no word processing experience.  The course provides an introduction to word processing.  You will explore word processing skills while also learning to create a basic business letter and a business memo.  Although the resources in this course use Microsoft Word 2010, it should be noted that all of the basic skills and tasks that you will be asked  can be done on any word processing program.  If you stay flexible enough in your own word processing program to search out the commands and icons on whatever software you are using, you will succeed.  The most current version of Microsoft Word was selected, because it would be most beneficial to the job seeker.  In addition most colleges, universities, and some public libraries are using a newer version of Word.  You can complete this course using any word processing software, but if you are using an older version of Word, you may also want to seek out a resource where you can interact with the newer v…

This course will provide you with a comprehensive introduction to spreadsheets. The course is designed for first-time users with very little or no exposure to the subject. For this course, you will use Microsoft Excel as the software. The course will explore the following fundamental topics: an introduction to spreadsheets, terminology in Excel, components of a spreadsheet, what a cell consists of, and the creation of a spreadsheet for practical use.  You will examine sample files, videos, and books that will enable you to gain practical knowledge about spreadsheets that can be used in daily life, either at work, school, or home.

This course is the first in a series of four courses under the Job Search “umbrella” that include Job Search Skills, Resume Writing, Interview Skills, and Professional Etiquette.  The Job Search Skills course is intended to give you a solid beginning to this exciting time of self-exploration with finding a job.  Whether you are seeking your first job, wish to take the next step in your existing career, or desire to begin a new career, you will obtain the necessary information about yourself to turn this desire into a successful job search.  If, for example, you think of yourself as a product that you are trying to market to potential employers, you will realize that you can only be successful if you know the product thoroughly and how this product can meet the needs of the consumer (the employer).  This course will guide you to information on how to target jobs and/or careers that are desirable and realistic for you and that fill a need for employers in today’s challenging job market.

Are you getting ready to apply for a job, or are you already seeking employment?  A resume (or résumé) is a brief written account of personal, educational, and professional qualifications and experience that you prepare as part of your application materials for a prospective job.  To ensure that your resume is read by the recipient, you will need a cover letter that markets your unique qualifications for the specified job description.  In the current global economy, it is essential for job seekers to optimize their chances of being considered and hired for positions that are well-suited to their qualifications and interests.  This course will help you effectively develop employment application materials for today’s job market by honing your resume writing skills, providing you with tools to create an impressive resume (or to improve the one you already have), and giving suggestions on developing an effective cover letter.  You will study different types of resume and cover letter formats…

Welcome to PRDV103: Interviewing Skills.  This course is the third in a series of four courses included in the Job Search Skills Program that also includes Job Search Skills, Resume Writing, and Professional Etiquette.  The Interviewing Skills course is intended to help you showcase your personality, strengths, interests, and abilities to potential employers.  At this stage of your career exploration, you will have researched and targeted appropriate jobs and have marketed yourself to these employers with an attention-getting resume.  If you have not already done so and feel you would benefit from more information about how to conduct a successful job search, or how to formulate a resume that gets you that interview, please explore the other exciting courses in this track.

What images come to mind when you think of the term professional?  Do you picture an executive in a fancy suit strutting into a boardroom?  Or, perhaps you envision a supervisor walking among cubicles and issuing orders to employees.  While it is true that professionalism encompasses how we present ourselves outwardly, the meaning of the term goes far beyond appearances.  Professionalism also encompasses inward characteristics and attitudes that affect how others in the workplace perceive us.  The professional world can be full of challenging situations, including conflicting personalities, miscommunication, and cultural differences.  In this course, you will learn about typical workplace etiquette protocols, communication standards, and cultural awareness strategies in order to navigate these common obstacles as smoothly as possible. By this point in Saylor’s Job Search Skills courses in the Professional Development Program, you have started the process of honing your professional image by producin…

Though accounting may seem like a dense and complex subject, this course is designed to present the accounting cycle in an accessible and logical manner.  This course will provide you with a solid understanding of basic accounting principles and will introduce you to financial statement analysis.  Please note that this course is the first of two courses on the principles of accounting and that each of these two courses is divided into 10 units.  Each unit should take approximately three hours to complete and should be completed sequentially for the most logical progression of information.  As you work through these units, you will encounter a range of examples and problem sets geared towards providing you with practical applications of the lessons you learn.  By the end of this course, you will able to create accurate and appropriate financial statements to convey a company’s financial health. This course begins with an introduction to financial accounting and the various ways in which financial stat…

Welcome to the exciting world of Payroll Administration!  What you’ll learn in this course is essential to your understanding of the human-resources concept of payroll as it is interpreted from a business perspective.  In applying the theoretical principles of the course in real-world ways, you should gain a better understanding of yourself and your work environment.  The goal of this course is to help you develop the fundamental skills critical to payroll operations, and to help you understand state and federal compliance.  This will provide you with a foundation for becoming more versed on the depth of payroll as an intricate component of human-resource management, and business overall. Fundamentally, the concept of payroll is rooted in both human-resource management and accounting principles.  From a human-resource management perspective, the concept of payroll embodies compliance, which includes the identification of the relationship between the employee and the employer.  There are a number of…

This course provides students with an introduction to the core technologies used to communicate information on the Web: Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).  Whether managing an employer's website, producing an online resume, or starting a web-based business, knowing the fundamentals of how information is structured and presented on the internet is a crucial skill for the contemporary workplace. Today, many technologies exist to facilitate the creation and management of websites, including development environments like Adobe Dreamweaver and Content Management Systems like WordPress and Joomla!  Even though mastery of the basics of HTML and CSS is easily attainable, these labor-saving technologies have discouraged many professionals from learning crucial coding skills.  With a basic understanding of how HTML code is created and transformed, professionals are better able to produce or transform websites according to precise specifications, whether they use a fully-featured dev…

With the expansion of law and the legal process into so many areas of everyday life, the responsibilities of the legal profession have expanded to meet new challenges.  For example, the advent of the Internet since the early 1990s has raised a multitude of new legal issues related to various areas of intellectual property, including copyright, patent law, and trademark law.  In recognition of the fact that many law-related responsibilities can be handled by well-educated and trained non-lawyers, the legal profession has increasingly come to depend on the assistance of paralegals.  Paralegals perform key functions within a law office from drafting legal documents to investigating cases and interviewing witnesses.  While they are no replacement for lawyers, paralegals have become recognized as key components of a well-functioning legal office. This course will introduce you to the basic knowledge and skills required of paralegals.  You will familiarize yourself with basics of the American legal system, a…

The purpose of Introduction to Human Resources Management is to provide a general overview of the concepts and applications of the many parts of Human Resources (HR).  This course is for the entry level HR Generalist who wants to explore how the interdependence of the major topics in HR are created and implemented.  Upon completion of this course, you will be able to apply your knowledge to real world HR issues.  While general topics such as benefits and compensation will be covered in other Human Resource Management courses, this course will focus primarily on the employee life cycle and each of its phases.  The employee life cycle is central to most of the functions and purposes of HR.  It is important to start at the beginning of any life cycle in an effort to understand how each component is dependent on the next. To begin with, you will take a look at the history of HR and determine the major events and champion theorists who brought HR to its humble beginnings.  The course will then cover the em…