AP/ECON 1000 M 1. Introduction to Microeconomics

Transcription

1 Economics, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University AP/ECON 1000 M Introduction to Microeconomics Instructor Avi J. Cohen ( Office 1072 Vari Hall Phone ext Office Hours Tuesdays 9-10 am, Thursdays 9-10 am, and by appointment Use Discussion Board within MyEconLab for all course issues; avicohen@yorku.ca only for personal correspondence Course Description / Learning Objectives "The Theory of Economics does not furnish a body of settled conclusions immediately applicable to policy. It is a method rather than a doctrine, an apparatus of the mind, a technique of thinking which helps its possessor to draw correct conclusions. John Maynard Keynes The ECON 1000/1010 courses present a general overview of the subject matter of economics. This 1000 course introduces the principles and methods of economics with emphasis on microeconomic theory. Topics include basic concepts of demand and supply, utility analysis and demand, production and costs, pricing in competitive and monopolistic markets, market failure, and government regulation. Note: Successful completion of this course, together with AP/ECON 1010, is required for all students who intend to pursue additional courses in economics at the 2000, 3000, and 4000 level and in order to pursue degree studies in economics, business economics, and financial and business economics. Course credit exclusions: GL/ECON 2500, SB/INTL , AP/ECON Required Course Materials for ECON 1000 MicroEconomics: Canada in the Global Environment, 8 th edition, by M. Parkin and R. Bade (Pearson, 2013), MyEconLab (Pearson 2013) Required for graded online quizzes worth 10% of course grade and for course website. A bundled Microeconomics Textbook/MyEconLab package is available at the York bookstore (ISBN X) for $150. Pearson is including the Microeconomics Study Guide for free (normally $56). The Study Guide is not required. To save money, a digital package containing E-text/MyEconLab is available for $90 at the York bookstore or online at (course ID is york92663) If you have a (used) print copy of the textbook, all you need is MyEconLab access, also available online for $40 at (course ID is york92663). This item is not available at the York bookstore. Any additional required readings will be posted to the course website. AP/ECON 1000 M 1

2 Final Grade Composition Task % of Course Grade Marks Date Best 2 of 3 MyEconLab Quizzes 10% 45 Throughout the term Test 1 [60 minutes] 20% 90 Thursday, 5 February 2015 Test 2 [60 minutes] 20% 90 Thursday, 19 March 2015 Final Exam [150 minutes] 50% 225 April 8-24, 2015 Totals 100% 450 Make-Up Policy No permission is ever given to a student to write a test or exam in advance of its scheduled date. A student who misses a test or final exam will be allowed to write a make-up test only if the student provides a completed Registrar s Office Attending Physician s Statement showing a physical incapability of writing the test/exam, dated the day of the test/exam or earlier. Any other forms of doctor s note, especially one stating simply that The student was seen in my office are not acceptable. Students who miss a test/exam and do not provide acceptable documentation receive a grade of zero. Students who miss either term test and provide acceptable documentation will write the make-up test which is held during class time, one week after Test 2 on Thursday, 26 March 2015 during normal class time. There is only one comprehensive make-up test each term, covering the material in both Tests 1 and Test 2. You must be available at the (class) time to write the make-up test. No other times will be scheduled. The Make-up test is only for students who missed an original test. No student is ever allowed to write a make-up test in order to improve a score from the original test.. Students who miss the final exam must formally petition your home Faculty. I will not approve any request for deferred standing. You are responsible for: 1) obtaining the petition from your home Faculty; 2) completing the petition form as specified. If your Faculty Petitions Committee grants your petition, you will be allowed to write a deferred exam, likely scheduled 1 6 months after your petition is submitted. If your petition is denied, you will receive a grade of zero on the final exam. Important Dates January 19, 2015 March 6, 2015 Last date to enrol in AP/ECON 1000 without permission of instructor Last date to drop AP/ECON 1000 without receiving a grade Course Website and MyEconLab You can access the course website and MyEconLab at You will need a valid Pearson access code that either came with your purchased textbook bundle, bookstore access card, or bought online. Use that access code to get to the AP/ECON 1000 M (A. Cohen) website (the ID for this section of the course is york92663) by following the instructions below. AP/ECON 1000 M 2

3 How To Enroll in ECON 1000 Website and MyEconLab Go to Select Register - Student Enter your Course ID: york92663, and click Continue Unless you already have a Pearson Account, select Create a Pearson account On the Register/Create an Account page, Enter the address you use most, and use that address as your username; Choose a password; Enter the First Name you generally use, but if it is different from the first name on your York card, ALSO enter in parentheses your (first name exactly as it appears on your York card) for example, Arthur (Ziyue) ; Enter your Last Name exactly as it appears on your York card; Complete the rest of the page. On the Register/Select an Option page, select the Access Code blue box. On the Register/Access Code page, enter the access code from your textbook/online purchase, and follow the remaining steps. For subsequent visits to the course website, please log into as a returning user with the username/password you just created. Technical Support Detailed instructions on navigating the course are available from the Help & Support links at the top right of every webpage. Once in Help & Support, click on Student Help. The Tech Help tab on the main course menu also contains 24/7 contact information for Pearson. Go to which has live chat, or call between noon and 8 pm, EST. If you have technical problems, I cannot help. Contact Pearson. Academic Honesty Students should note that copying, plagiarizing, or other forms of academic misconduct will not be tolerated. Any student caught engaging in such activities will be subject to academic discipline ranging from a mark of zero on the assignment, test or examination to dismissal from the university. Any student abetting or otherwise assisting in such misconduct will also be subject to academic penalties. Cheating and plagiarism are serious offences, which carry severe penalties. All students are expected to make themselves familiar with the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty, which is at AP/ECON 1000 M 3

4 Course Work There will be two 75 minute lectures per week. Please turn off all cell phones before entering the lecture hall. I would appreciate it if you would not text in class I find it very hard to concentrate and deliver good lectures when I face texting students ignoring me. Lecture notes (in the form of PowerPoint slides) will be available by midnight the night before class on the course website ( You should print out the lecture notes and bring them to class, as the pace of lectures will presume you have the notes in front of you. You should login to the website at least twice a week to stay current with course information. The term tests and final exam consist of multiple choice (MC) questions. For each term test I will choose 30 MC questions. The comprehensive final exam will have 75 multiple choice questions 30 of those questions will be in common with other ECON 1000 sections and 45 of those questions will be chosen by me alone. These questions will be similar to the practice problems in MyEconLab for each textbook chapter. If you want additional practice, there are also Optional Assignments in the Study Guide. While there will not be true/false (T/F) or short answer problems (SAP) on your tests/exam, working those problems in the Study Guide will help you do better on the multiple choice tests/exam questions. None of these assignments will be graded and will not directly affect your grade. However, the importance of doing the assigned questions cannot be overemphasized. Next to attending and understanding the lectures, working out the answers to the assigned questions is the most important preparation for the term tests and exam. You will not do well if you cannot answer the assigned questions. The term tests and exam will also cover news stories and other non-textbook material covered in lecture. One of the dangers of a course where you do not have written, graded assignments is that you may fall behind in your reading and studying. In most university courses, but in Economics in particular, falling behind is a recipe for disaster, as last minute cramming does not work. The failure rate on first term tests in Economics is typically high because students do not take this advice. To help prevent this outcome, there are online quizzes throughout the term that must be completed by specific dates. The first quiz, Quiz Zero, appears on the course website and is designed to ensure that you are familiar with all of the rules of this course. All of the answers to the questions in Quiz Zero may be found in this course outline. You may take Quiz Zero as many times as necessary until you get all questions right. While you will not receive any marks towards your final course grade, you will not be able to access the graded quizzes until you complete Quiz Zero with a perfect score. Once your complete Quiz Zero with a perfect score, the excuse of "I didn't know that rule for make-ups / missed quizzes / test times / appeals, etc" will, of course, not apply to you. Quiz Zero will also help you get familiar with MyEconLab. You will have at least 1 week to complete each of the 3 graded quizzes, and they can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection, anywhere in the world. Accordingly, I do not accept any excuses for missing a quiz. If you want to increase your chances of earning a higher grade, be sure to attend lectures. One of the most common mistakes students make is to think that because the PowerPoint lecture notes are available online, there is no reason to attend lectures. The notes contain the main concepts, but do not contain the detailed explanations and examples that help you make sense of the concepts. The tests and exam focus less on recall of information, and more on application of concepts to different situations. That is also why working the practice problems in MyEconLab and optional Study Guide questions is important. The lecture schedule on page 6 indicates, for each week, the textbook chapters you should be reading and the MyEconLab and optional Study Guide Assignments. I may not always finish a topic on the listed date, in which case I will continue lecturing on that topic at the start of the next class, before moving on to the listed topic for that date. Quiz due dates are also listed on the lecture schedule. Only after each Quiz due date will you be able to review your answers to the Quiz. AP/ECON 1000 M 4

5 Tutorials And Teaching Assistants There are no tutorials for this course. The teaching assistants will hold regular office hours, which will be announced later in January. Discussion Boards There are 2 separate Discussion Boards/Topics. Post questions about course organization, technology, scheduling, assignments or administration under Course Administration Issues. The Head TA only will handle all administration issues. Post questions or comments about course content, ideas you don't understand, or general economics issues under Micro Economics Questions & Discussion. All new postings/threads require a subject line. To receive a response from a TA or from me, the first word in your subject line must be your TA's name. Then add a descriptive subject. For example: David - opportunity cost. Your TA is responsible for responding (if another student hasn't already answered your question) to all posts from all his/her assigned students. TAs will try to respond to all question within 24 hours. I will jump in after the TAs if I think I have something to add. I will not discuss individual content questions by unless your posted question has not been answered satisfactorily on the discussion board. There are 500 of you and 1 of me. TA name assignments will be posted on the website. Let s Go If you don t learn a lot of Economics, or find this course interesting or enjoyable, then I m not doing my job. I love teaching this course, and consider it my responsibility to help you to do well. Learning Economics means working hard (on average, 5 hours studying per week on Economics alone). But if you are willing to put in the time, I will do everything I can to help you succeed. If you have questions in lecture, ask them. If you see media stories about Economics that interest you, send them to me. If you have suggestions for improving the course, please let me know. What you will get out of this course, as what you will get out of your University experience in general, depends entirely on what you put into it. AP/ECON 1000 M 5

6 LECTURE SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS AP/ECON 1000 M WEEK OF TOPIC READING ASSIGNMENTS MEL & OPTIONAL STUDY GUIDE (SG) T/F, MC, SAP ASSIGNMENTS QUIZZES Jan. 6 What is Economics?: Theory, History, Measurement, Policy: The Economic Problem Chs. 1-2 Ch. 2: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests SG T/F All MC 1-23 SAP All Quiz Zero available Jan. 13 Overview Economic Theory: Demand & Supply Ch. 3 Ch. 3: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests Jan. 20 Elasticity; Efficiency and Equity; Ch. 4; Ch. 5 ( only) Ch. 4: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests Ch. 5: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests SG T/F None MC 2-23 SAP None Jan. 27 Markets in Action Ch. 6 ( only) Ch. 6: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests SG T/F 1-10 MC 1-16 SAP 1-3 Quiz 01 due Sat. 31 January TEST 1 Thursday 5 February Feb. 3 Utility & Demand Ch. 8 ( only) Ch. 8: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests SG T/F 1-13 MC 1-23 SAP All Feb. 10 Possibilities, Preferences and Choices Ch. 9 Ch. 9: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests Feb. 17 No classes Reading week Feb. 24 Organizing Production Ch. 10 ( only) Ch. 10: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests SG T/F 1-4 MC 1-5 SAP 1 March 3 Output & Costs Ch. 11 Ch. 11: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests March 10 Perfect Competition Ch. 12 Ch. 12: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests Quiz 02 due Sat. 14 March TEST 2 Thursday 19 March March 17 Monopoly: Oligopoly;\ Ch. 13; Ch. 15 ( only) Ch. 13: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests SG T/F All MC All SAP 1-3 Ch. 15: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests SG T/F None MC 6-13 SAP 1, 5 March 24 Externalities: Public Goods and Common Resources Chs Ch. 16: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests Ch. 17: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests March 31 Markets for Factors of Production Ch. 18 ( only) Ch. 18: MEL Study Plan/Sample Tests SG T/F None MC 2-6 SAP 1-3 Quiz 03 due Sat. 4 April FINAL EXAM APRIL 8 24, 2015 AP/ECON 1000 M 6