As the Rolling Stones song says, "You can't always get what you want." So we make choices. Every day, governments and individuals choose how much money to spend and what to purchase. The January 2013 issue discusses opportunity costs and scarcity and how they effect our spending decisions.

Citizen participation is everywhere. Invoking it has become de rigueur when discussing cities and regions in the developing world. From the World Bank to the World Social Forum, the virtues of participation are extolled: From its capacity to “deepen democracy” to its ability to improve governance, there is no shortage to the benefits it can bring. While it is clear that participation cannot possibly “do” all that is claimed, it is also clear that citizen participation cannot be dismissed, and that there must be something to it. Figuring out what that something is — whether it is identifying the types of participation or the contexts in which it happens that bring about desirable outcomes — is the goal of the class.

This course provides a broad overview of issues related to climate change, with an emphasis on those aspects most relevant to computer scientists. Topics include climate science, climate models and simulations, decision-making under uncertainty, economics, mitigation strategies, adaptation strategies, geoengineering, policy-making, messaging, and politics.The course will culminate in a presentation of a research project which might include a paper, a blog, software etc.

Cognitive Psychology is a psychological science which is interested in various mind and brain related subfields such as cognition, the mental processes that underlie behavior, reasoning and decision making.

Explores the theory and research related to information processing, focusing on attention, perception, memory storage and information retrieval. Also highlights work in artificial intelligence and cognitive neuroscience which serves to describe and explain cognitive processes.

This course aims to develop negotiation skills by active participation in a variety of negotiation settings, and a series of integrative bargaining cases between two and more than two parties over multiple issues. Ethical dilemmas in negotiation are discussed at various times throughout the course.

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Maybe you’ve heard that before. Or you’ve even said it. If so, you probably know it means that everything has a cost. Businesses are especially aware of costs because costs affect profits, and without profits a business might not survive. This episode of The Economic Lowdown podcast series describes how businesses consider costs when making decisions – including about whether to shut down.

Explore complex, multi-actor systems in which one factor influences all other factors. For instance, how innovative energy technologies merge into the existing energy system, or how new transport possibilities impact current processes. Armed with this information, learn to decide whether they should be further developed, consider possible negative results and weigh associated costs.

There are multiple ways to make decisions, but one way proven to be very useful is the analytical approach – a methodology for making the problem explicit and rationalising the different potential solutions. In short: analysis based support of decision making, design and implementation of solutions.

Creative Problem Solving and Decision Making as a course teaches you this method.

Credit can be a powerful tool in your financial toolbox if you understand how to use it wisely. In this course, you'll learn about different types of credit and the costs associated with using credit. You'll learn the importance of building strong credit by borrowing wisely and paying promptly, arranging credit for making major purchases like a car or home, avoiding common credit mistakes, and monitoring your own credit. You'll also learn about credit reports, your credit score, and steps you can—and should—take to build your own credit cred!

Crisis communication is one of the many specialized areas or functions of public relations. This course will specifically focus on the use of crisis communication to protect and defend a company or organization facing a problem or challenge that threatens to harm its brand or reputation. As a sudden and unexpected serious event, a crisis can fall into four categories: acts of God, mechanical problems, human error, and management decision or indecision. You may recall examples of crisis in news media coverage of killer earthquakes and tsunamis, grounded airplanes, stranded cruise ship passengers, and senior government officials or CEOs who are fired or asked to resign following adulterous affairs. If you want to learn to become a professional public relations specialist, it is important to have a basic understanding of the important role public relations has in helping guide a company or organization through a crisis or serious event.

Learn how instructional designers use data to inform the creation of a Learning Persona. Learning Personas help determine the needs of the training and help ...

A checklist used by teachers to assess high school students’ decision making skills.

Learn more about the decision making process, and how you can make informed decisions. Footage: pexels.com

Learn more about the decision making process, and how you can make informed decisions.

Footage: pexels.com

Learn more about the decision making process, and how you can make informed decisions. Footage: pexels.com

Learn more about the decision making process, and how you can make informed decisions. Footage: pexels.com

Learn more about the decision making process, and how you can make informed decisions. Footage: pexels.com

A rubric in student language used by high school students to assess decision making.

Learn more about the decision making process, and how you can make informed decisions. Footage: pexels.com