Class meetings and time: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 2p.m.-2:50 p.m.

Transcription

1 Economics 201(ECN 201) Principles of Microeconomics Section number: 010 Classroom: Chafee 275 Semester: Fall 2018 Class meetings and time: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 2p.m.-2:50 p.m. Instructor: Professor Ernest Dupuis address: Office phone number: Office: Chafee 181, John Chafee Social Science Center Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 10a.m.-10:45 a.m. and 1p.m.-1:50p.m.; Fridays 10 a.m.-10:45 a.m.,1p.m.-1:50p.m. and 3p.m.-5p.m. or by appointment Credits and Prerequisites: 3 credits; No prerequisites are necessary to take this course, but you need to know your arithmetic and algebra skills. Course overview and course goals: ECN 201 is a course which fulfills the social and behavioral sciences general education rubric. All students at the university can take this course, regardless of what they are majoring in. This course provides an introduction to microeconomic theory. Microeconomics is the branch of economics that deals with human behavior and choices as they relate to relatively small units-an individual, a firm, an industry, a single market. The goal of this course is to present to you and help you understand the microeconomic concepts and theories using basic math skills, economic models and graphs. If you are rusty with your graphing and math skills, don t worry. I will provide enough examples in class and on study sheets and handouts to give you enough practice to master the economic concepts, to help build your confidence in your graph and math skills, and, more importantly, to think critically as a microeconomist. In this course, we will learn how important microeconomic concepts such as the supply and demand model and elasticity are used to determine price and output changes and how people budget their money when their incomes and product prices change. Learning microeconomics will give you the ability to answer questions like these: How will the Public Utilities Commission s decision to raise prices on electricity affect businesses and consumer s budgets in the Northeast? Is it beneficial for AT and T and Time Warner to Merge into one company? Why or why not? Is it necessary for nurses at Miriam Hospital to strike? 1

2 Why are baseball players paid differently than hockey players? Why have gas and oil prices gone up in recent months and how does it affect a certain market or the consumer? Are gas and oil prices likely to change in the future? How will climate change and changes in government regulation in health insurance and health care industries impact an economy? Is it a good idea for the Pawtucket Red Sox to move to Worcester, Massachusetts and build a new baseball stadium? What are the economic implications of doing this? Learning Outcomes: By the time this course is over, you will be able to recognize economic concepts and facts described in the media and case studies on the microeconomy, apply economic theories and concepts to clarify economic issues discussed in the media and case studies, interpret and quantify economic data and graphs, explain the relationship between economic processes and your own life, explain the economic significance of how changes in supply and demand for a particular good affect prices and output levels to members of your community, evaluate how different types of markets could impact a community, an industry, consumers, and your own life, and be able to work with peers to improve your own understanding of economics and other subjects well beyond economics. Required text for the course: Principles of Microeconomics 2 nd edition 2014 by Dirk Mateer and Lee Coppock. The textbook is available at the URI bookstore in the Memorial Union and the ISBN number for this textbook is: (Loose leaf copy) and (E-Book). A copy of this textbook is also available at the URI Library Circulation Desk. Expectations in This Course: Class participation and classroom structure We will meet in class three times a week. I will use the class time to lecture on the various topics mentioned in the textbook and applying them to real world events and case studies during the first half of the class and for the second half of class we will have in-class group exercises and activities. You will also be taking quizzes and exams in class as well and I will also use the class time to discuss the strengths and weakness of exam, quiz, in-class group activity and written assignment results. I encourage you to participate in class by asking questions and answering any questions I may ask. By participating in class, it will help you to understand and master the material better and become an active learner by engaging with your colleagues during lectures and the in-class group activities. So please don t be afraid to ask me or colleagues questions during class time. It will 2

3 help you and your colleagues benefit from this course greatly. You may obtain extra points towards any exam or quiz score if you participate and answer questions and ask me questions during class time. Class attendance and classroom conduct policies In order for you to understand the material fully and be successful in doing well with this course, you must attend class on a regular basis. This course is based on lectures that relies heavily on the textbook readings and doing in-class work and activities, such as weekly quizzes, exams, written assignments, and group discussions. By coming to class on a regular basis, you will be able to get the most out of my lectures and the in-class group activities, doing well with the written assignments and passing the exams and quizzes with success. So attending class is expected. If you don t come to class on a regular basis, you will run the risk of not doing well passing the exams and quizzes, losing points or not earn any points on in-class activities, written assignments, exams, and quizzes, not passing the exams and quizzes, and it will be very difficult for you to catch up in the course. If you do miss class, it will be your responsibility to me or see me during office hours and/or your classmates what you missed in class or if I distribute any class handouts during class time. If you cannot attend class due to an illness, please me or call my office phone number. Please be respectable to me and your classmates during class time, exams, quizzes and the in-class activities. Your opinions will always be appreciated and respected by me and your colleagues. Please be on time for class. It is distracting and very rude to the class and the instructor when a student arrives late. No cell phones or electronic devices, other than calculators, are allowed during class time. You will have points deducted to any quiz, written or in-class assignment or exam scores if you are more than 5 minutes late coming to class, walking in and out of class frequently, and leaving class early on a regular basis. This means you must stay for the full class time if you want full credit for attending class. If you have an exception to this rule, please see me during office hours at the beginning of the semester. Textbook Readings It is required that you do the assigned textbook readings before coming to class. The textbook reading assignments provide a blueprint on what topics we will be discussing in class on that particular day and it will prepare you to answer questions and participate in class, to do the weekly in-class activities and written assignments, and to take the weekly quizzes and exams in class. Reading the textbook will also help you organize your class notes, come up with ideas and examples that you can bring up during lectures and group activities, and write important terms and concepts into your notebook. 3

4 Turn in required assignments on time By turning in assignments on time and planning your time accordingly, you will be able to understand the material more efficiently, to get better grades in the course and to determine what your strengths and weakness are on each assignment. Turning in assignments on time will also guide you to be better prepared to take the required quizzes and exams in this course. Study supplements You should work on the online study questions for each chapter I put on Sakai and the end of the chapter questions for each chapter in the textbook. The online study questions and the end of the chapter questions provide a hands on approach to not only master and practice the material we cover in class, but it will also help you prepare better for quizzes, exams, written assignments, online homework assignments and in-class activities. I also encourage you to get together with your classmates when working on the online study questions and the end of the chapter questions in the textbook. It not only helps you derive answers from what you learned during my lectures and your textbook readings and class notes, but you can also learn from your colleagues on how they derived their answers to the problems on the study supplements as well. Class Evaluations and Grading: Weekly Quizzes 10% End of the semester signature assignment 10% In class activities and thought question assignments 10% Inquisitive Assignments 10% 3 in-class Exams 30% (10% Each) A cumulative final exam 30% Weekly Quizzes I will be giving you quizzes every Friday towards the end of class. There will be eight (8) quizzes given throughout the semester. The weekly quizzes will be closed-book, closed-notes and consist of multiple choice and true/false questions and short answer questions. I will let you know ahead of time which topics you need to study before you take the scheduled quizzes. You will be given a practice quiz and a topic sheet to study for each quiz, which will both be available on Sakai. I will drop two (2) of your lowest quiz grades. Six (6) of your best quiz scores will count for 10% of your final grade. 4

5 In-Class Activities and Thought Question Assignments Throughout the semester, you will be doing in-class activities, such as classroom group exercises and doing one-minute quick response papers, and thought question assignments outside of class. The purpose of giving you in-class activities and assigning you thought questions is to help you master the material we cover during the lectures. These assignments will encourage you to participate more in class, to take the responsibility to come to class on a regular basis, to think critically and apply concepts to real world problems and current events in newspaper articles, and to work as a team with other students. There will be about four (4) in-class group activities scheduled and about ten (10) thought question assignments assigned to you. The thought question assignments and its due dates and the days we have the in-class activities will not be posted on this syllabus. They will be announced in class and posted on Sakai. The newspaper articles and the case studies for the in-class activities will be assigned online on Sakai. The in-class activities and the thought question assignments will be a factor in your class attendance and account for 10% of your final grade, 5% for the thought question assignments and 5% for the in-class group activities. Late submissions of the thought question assignments will not be accepted. You must be present for the in-class group activities. You may NOT make up any work if you are not present during the in-class group activities. If you are not present during the in-class group activities, you will receive a 0 on it. I will drop one (1) lowest in-class group activity grade and two (2) of your lowest thought question assignment scores. Online homework assignments(inquisitive) You are required to do homework assignments through an online system in our textbook called inquisitive. The purpose of giving you assignments online through inquisitive is to give you more practice understanding the concepts we go over in class and to help you prepare for taking the required exams and weekly quizzes in class and preparing you for the in-class activities. I will assign four (4) inquisitive assignments throughout the semester. Three (3) of your best inquisitive assignments scores will count for 10% of your final grade and one (1) of your lowest inquisitive assignments will be dropped. Late submissions of the inquisitive assignments will NOT be accepted. The due dates for the inquisitive assignments are posted under Topic and Assignment Course Schedule. Here s how to register and get on to inquisitive: 1. Go to or 2. At the top of the page, go and click on Students. 3. Hit the inquisitive icon 4. Then go to drop down and you will see Student Registration. There you will put your address, make up a password and then put the registration code. 5. Then in the drop down subject, you go to Economics 6. Finally, you will see the picture of our book Principles of Macroeconomics 2 nd edition. Click on the book and you will see Registration for Student Set Code. Put the student set registration code, which is Here is the link to get started on inquisitive: 5

6 In-class exams and a final exam You will be required to take three (3) in-class exams and a final exam throughout the semester. I will give you a practice exam and a topic sheet on Sakai one week before you take the scheduled exams, which will be available on Sakai. The in-class exams and the final exam will consist of multiple choice, true/false questions and short answers and take place on the following days and times throughout the semester: Exam 1 Friday, October 5, 2018 Exam 2 Friday, November 9, 2018 Exam 3 Friday, November 30, 2018 When you take the three (3) in-class exams, it will account for 30% of your final grade (Or 10% for each exam you take). The final exam will be comprehensive and take place Friday, December 14 th, 2018 from 3p.m.-6 p.m. Chafee 275. The final exam will account for 30% of your final grade. NOTE: Calculators are allowed on exams and quizzes, but you may not use a calculator that is connected to the internet or your cell phone. Make-up quizzes and exams will ONLY be given under EXTREME circumstances due to students attending sports events with a document signed by the URI Athletic Department, religious holidays, emergencies, or a documented illness (a note has to be signed by your doctor). I reserve the right to ask for documentation from you if needed. End of the semester Microeconomic Brief Assignment Your goal in this assignment is to brief your local, state or federal governments (City or Town Council, Mayor s Office, etc) on the most important lessons from microeconomics before they make an important long-term economic decision. For this assignment, you will integrate everything you've learned in the course and apply it to a real world situation. You must be present in class for this assignment during the last week of class. This assignment will account for 10% of your final grade. 6

7 Extra credit assignments Throughout the semester, you will have an opportunity to do extra credit assignments. I will assign 3 extra-credit assignments to you for the exams throughout the semester, which will be available on Sakai. You are encouraged to do these extra-credit assignments. The extra-credit assignments for exams will consist of short-essay questions, internet activities and math and graph problems and be due when the exams take place. The extra-credit assignment answers for exams can be either typed-written or neatly hand-written. In regards to answering questions on graph problems, please use graph paper or Microsoft Excel. If you do NOT use graph paper, then points will be taken off the assignments. By doing the extra credit assignments, you have the opportunity to score a maximum of up to 5 extra points for each exam you take. You will also be able to obtain extra credit towards any quiz scores by attending seminars and presentations sponsored by the URI Honors Colloquium Department, the URI Economics Department and the Advanced Teaching and Learning Office this semester. The times and days when the seminars and presentations take place will be announced in class and on Sakai. For extra credit for the quizzes, you will do a written assignment for each seminar or presentation you attend. The extra-credit assignments for quizzes and exams are due when you take the scheduled exams and quizzes. Late submissions of the extra credit assignments for quizzes and exams will NOT be accepted. Final Grade Scale Your final grade will be determined as follows: A= A-= B+= B= B-= C+= C= C-= D+= D= F=Below a 60 NOTE: A grade of NO WORK (NW) will NOT be assessed to you if you are failing the course and/or you did NOT drop the course before or on the last day you can drop the course for the semester. Additionally, incomplete grades will only be assessed in cases of a real emergency. I reserve the right to ask written documentation from you if an incomplete grade needs to be assessed to you. I will NOT assess an incomplete grade to you if you are failing the course or you did NOT drop before or on the last day you can drop the course for the semester. 7

8 Other important items: Cheating. Any student caught cheating on any exams, online assignments, in-class activities, written assignments, quizzes and/or extra credit assignments will not be tolerated and you will receive a zero and an F on it and any cheating will be reported to your academic dean. You will be subject to disciplinary action. Please read the policies on plagiarism and cheating set out in the University Manual for more details. Academic Accommodations and Special Needs If anyone has a documented disability or is a URI athlete participating in URI sports events that warrants special needs in order to successfully complete this course, please come see me during the first two weeks of class during my office hours or after class so that we may work out reasonable accommodations to help you succeed in this course. For those who have a documented disability, please call Pamela Rohland, director of Disability Services at the Student Life Memorial Union at or her at rohland@uri.edu. For those who are URI athletes, please contact the URI Athletic Department office. Office hours and extra help sessions for exams I encourage you to stop by office hours or set up an appointment to discuss the course, what s going on in the economy or if you are having any difficulties understanding concepts or issues that may occur throughout the semester. In addition to my office hours, I will have extra help sessions before you take the scheduled exams and the final. I also encourage you to attend the extra help sessions for the exams. The extra help sessions for the regular exams will take place at the 24-hour room near the Daily Grind at the URI Library during the last week of September, the first week in November, and the last week in November. The times and days of the extra-help sessions for the scheduled exams will be announced in class. The times and days for extra help sessions and office hours during final exam week will be announced on the last day of class of the semester. Please always ask for help and attend the extra help sessions for exams. You will benefit greatly by attending office hours and the extra help sessions for the exams. I m always very happy to work with students to achieve success in this course. 8

9 Tutoring I encourage you to contact the Academic Enhancement Center(ACE) if you need tutoring in this course. They provide one-on-one tutoring and group tutoring. Please seek help before taking the weekly quizzes and exams. The tutors at AEC are there to answer questions you may have and to help you study better and clarify concepts you may have trouble understanding in this course. The Academic Enhancement Center is located on the 4 th floor of Roosevelt Hall. To see when tutors are available for this course, please call the ACE office , visit their website or drop by their office located on the fourth floor Roosevelt Hall. You can make appointment with a tutor or walk in during their office hours on the following days and times: Monday through Thursday: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday: 9a.m.-1p.m. Sunday: 4p.m.-8p.m. Religious Holidays It is the policy of the University of Rhode Island to accord students, on an individual basis, the opportunity to observe their traditional religious holidays. Students desiring to observe a holiday of special importance must provide written notification in advance to each instructor. Important Dates to Remember from the University s Academic Calendar Last Day to Add Courses with a permission number: Tuesday, September 18, Courses dropped on or after Thursday, September 27, 2018 will have a W for withdrawal recorded on the academic record. No class Monday, October 8, 2018 due to the Columbus Day Holiday. Last day to drop classes for the semester: Wednesday, October 17, No class Monday, November 12, 2018 due to the Veterans Day Holiday. Make up class Tuesday, November 13, 2018 due to the Veterans Day Holiday. 9

10 Topic and Assignment Course Schedule This is a topic and assignment course schedule. The reading assignments and topics we cover in class will come from the Mateer and Coppock textbook (Also known as M & C). The scheduled exam and quiz dates, the due dates for the extra credit assignments and inquisitive assignments and holidays are all highlighted in red under the headings Readings/Work/ Major Assignments and Topic(s). Date Topic(s) Readings/Work/ Major Assignments September 5 (Wed) Introduction and Overview of the Course None September 7 (Fri) What Are the Five Foundations of Economics? M and C, Chapter 1, pg.6-14 September 10 (Mon) What Are the Five Foundations of Economics?, Positive vs. Normative Economics, Ceteris Paribus M and C, Chapter 1, pg and Chapter 2, pg September 12 (Wed) Graphs in Economics M and C, Appendix 2A, pg September 14 (Fri) Production Possibilities Curves M and C, Chapter 2, pg.33-37, Quiz 1 September 17 (Mon) Comparative Advantage M and C, Chapter 2, pg September 19 (Wed) Demand Curve and its Shift Factors M and C, Chapter 3, pg September 21 (Fri) Supply Curve and Its Shift Factors M and C, Chapter 3, pg.83-99, Quiz 2 September 24(Mon) Putting Supply and Demand Together M and C, Appendix 3A, pg September 26(Wed) Consumer and Producer Surplus and Price Ceiling M and C, Chapter 5 pg and Chapter 6, pg September 28(Fri) Price Floor M and C Chapter 6, Quiz 3, and Inquisitive Assignment 1 due 11:59 p.m. online October 1(Mon) What are Externalities and How Do They Affect M and C, Chapter 7, pg Markets? October 3(Wed) Elasticity M and C, Chapter 4, pg October 5 (Fri) Exam 1 Extra Credit Assignment 1 for Exam 1 due October 8 (Mon) No class due to the Columbus Day Holiday October 10 (Wed) Elasticity M and C, Chapter 4, pg October 12 (Fri) Market Outcomes and Tax incidence M and C, Chapter 5, Quiz 4 October 15 (Mon) Production and Costs M and C, Chapter 8 and October 17(Wed) October 19 (Fri) Where does the Demand and Supply for Labor Come from? M and C, Chapter 14, pg , Quiz 5 10

11 October 22 (Mon) What are the Determinants of Supply and Demand in the Labor Market and What Role Do Land and Capital Play in Production? M and C, Chapter 14, pg October 24 (Wed) What are the Determinants of Wages? M and C, Chapter 15, pg October 26 (Fri) What Causes Income Inequality? M and C, Chapter 15, pg , Quiz 6 October 29 (Mon) What Causes Income Inequality? M and C, Chapter 15, pg October 31 (Wed) How Do Economists Analyze Poverty? M and C, Chapter 8, pg November 2 (Fri) Perfect Competition M and C, Chapter 9, pg , Quiz 7, and Inquisitive assignment 2 due 11:59 p.m. online November 5 (Mon) Perfect Competition M and C, Chapter 9, pg November 7 (Wed) Monopoly M and C, Chapter 10, pg November 9 (Fri) Exam 2 Extra Credit Assignment 2 for Exam 2 due November 12 (Mon) No class due to the Veterans Day Holiday. November 13(Tues- Monopoly M and C, Chapter 10, pg Make up Class from Monday, November 12) November 14 (Wed) Price Discrimination M and C, Chapter 11 November 16 (Fri) Monopolistic Competition M and C, Chapter 12, pg , and Quiz 8 November 19 (Mon) Monopolistic Competition M and C, Chapter 12, pg November 21 (Wed) Oligopoly M and C, Chapter 12, pg November 23 (Fri) No class due to the Thanksgiving Recess. November 26 (Mon) What are the important issues in the Healthcare M and C, Chapter 18, pg Industry? and Inquisitive Assignment 3 due 11:59 p.m. online November 28 (Wed) How Does Asymmetric Information Affect M and C, Chapter 18, pg Healthcare Delivery? November 30 (Fri) Exam 3 Extra Credit Assignment 3 for Exam 3 due December 3(Mon) Microeconomic Brief Group Project Assignments through December 7 (Fri) December 10 (Mon) Final exam review and Student Evaluations of Teaching Final Exam, Friday, December 14, p.m.-6 p.m. Chafee 275 Inquisitive Assignment 4 due 11:59 p.m. online 11

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