WACO, TEXAS COURSE SYLLABUS AND INSTRUCTOR PLAN Principles of Microeconomics ECON 2302.50 Brooks Wilson AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY INSTITUTION Fall 2015
Course Description: Analysis of the behavior of individual economic agents, including consumer behavior and demand, producer behavior and supply, price and output decisions by firms under various market structures, factor markets, market failures, and international trade. Prerequisites and/or Corequisites: Prerequisite: Must have passed the TSI Assessment or be concurrently enrolled in Read 030. Semester Hours 3 (3 lec) Course Notes and Instructor Recommendations: If you are having a problem with this course at any time, please feel free to contact me at 254-299- 8678 or bwilson@mclennan.edu. In most cases, I will answer your question within 24 hours unless it is the weekend. In that case, I will answer on the following Monday. Instructor Information: Instructor Name: Brooks Wilson MCC E-mail: bwilson@mclennan.edu Office Phone Number: 254-299-8678 Office Location: MAC 211 Office/Teacher Conference Hours: Day Hour Location Monday 8:00-10:00am MAC 211 Tuesday 8:00-10:00am MAC 211 Wednesday 8:00-9:00am MAC 211 Thursday 8:00-10:00am MAC 211 Required Text & Materials: Title: Principles of Microeconomics Author: N. Gregory Mankiw Edition: Seventh Publisher: South-Western Cengage Learning ISBN: 13:978-0-538-45304-2 MCC Bookstore Website 2
Methods of Teaching and Learning: The Cengage Brain graded homework assignments and quizzes are a valuable tool in learning the economics presented in this class. They are closely related to the Acemoglu, Laibson and List text. Besides being directly responsible for 20% of your grade, these problem sets indirectly affect your grades on exams. Your grade for homework and quizzes is determined as follows: [(number of homework questions answered correctly + number of quiz questions answered correctly)/number of homework questions]*100 In words, the number of homework questions answered correctly plus the number of quiz questions answered correctly is divided by the number of homework questions. This number is then expressed as a percentage. Your homework grade will be truncated at 100 percent by taking quiz questions away from the calculation of your Cengage Brain grade and reassigning those points to extra credit. The extra credit points will be assigned to replace an exam question missed if you have less than 72 percent on your grade. The process stops at 72 percent. In addition to the required assignments, Cengage Brain generates a study plan based on the questions that you missed on the homework and quiz assignments. Although not required, the study plan will help you prepare for exams. The Cengage Brain assignments can be completed late without penalty of lost points. There is a cost to being late. You have less time to complete assignments that are currently due. All exams will be graded on a curve with the curve being set at 74 percent. Course Objectives and/or Competencies: This course is in the core curriculum as a social and behavioral science. As such, it includes the core objectives of critical thinking skills, communication skills, empirical and quantitative skills, and social responsibility. Improvement in critical thinking skills, empirical and quantitative skills and social responsibility will be measured using a pre-test and a post test. A writing assessment will be used to measure both communications skills and critical thinking by evaluating an event using a tool or model from class. 3
Course Outline or Schedule: The table lists the exact dates of exams, and the approximate dates you should complete chapter reading and Aplia assignments listed in the second column during the semester. To give students flexibility, I have placed all graded assignments as due on the day that the corresponding exam is due. Graded assignments are in purple. See the Orientation for additional information on the timing and grading of assignments. The Macroeconomics column shows the chapter and page numbers for Mankiw s, Principles of Microeconomics. Date Text Chapter and Correlated Lecture Notes Text Pages Aug 25 Orientation Aug 25 1. Ten Principles of Economics (First seven principles) Pgs. 3-13 Sept 1 2. Thinking Like an Economist Pgs. 19-24, 29-37 Sept 1 2A. Graphing: A Brief Review Pgs. 40-44 Sept 1 Math and Graphing Assessment with Tutorials(Extra Credit) Sept 1 4.The Market Forces of Supply and Demand Pgs. 65-84 Sept 8 5. Elasticity and Its Application Pgs. 89-106 Sept 14 Aplia problems sets for chapters 1, 2, 2A and 4 Sept 15 Exam 1 (Chapters 1, 2, 2A, 4, 5) Sept 15 6. Supply, Demand, and Government Policies Pgs.111-128 Sept 22 7. Consumers, Producers, and Efficiency of Markets Pgs. 135-151. Sept 29 8. Application: The Costs of Taxation Pgs. 155-167 Oct 5 Aplia problems sets for chapters 6, 7 and 8 Oct 6 Exam 2 (Chapters 6, 7, 8) Oct 6 10. Externalities Pgs. 195-213. Oct 13 11. Public Goods and Common Resources Pgs. 217-229 Oct 20 12. The Design of the Tax System Pgs. 233-252 4
Oct 26 Aplia problems sets for chapters 10, 11 and 12 Oct 27 Exam 3 (Chapters 10, 11, 12) Oct 27 13. The Costs of Production Pgs. 259-274 Nov 3 14. Firms in Competitive Markets Pgs. 279-295 Nov 16 Aplia problems sets for chapters 13 and 14 Nov 17 Exam 4 (Chapters 13, 14) Nov 17 15. Monopoly Pgs. 299-324 Nov 24 16. Monopolistic Competition Pgs. 329-345 Nov 24 17. Oligopoly Pgs. 349-368 Nov 30 Aplia problems sets for chapters 15, 16 and 17 Dec 1 Exam 5 (Chapters 15, 16, 17) Dec 7 Dec 8 All Retake exams and Aplia assignments Final exam (Comprehensive) Course Grading Information: I will evaluate your performance in class using the following metric. Testing Tool Percent of Grade Cengage Brain Homework & Quizzes 20% Midterms (4 @ 15% each) 60% Final Examination 20% The Cengage Brain graded problem sets are a valuable tool in learning the economics presented in this class. The problem sets are closely related to the text. Besides being directly responsible for 20% of your grade, these problem sets indirectly affect your grades on exams. 5
Late Work, Attendance, and Make Up Work Policies: There are no penalties for late assignments. Exams can be retaken, also with no penalty. Student Behavioral Expectations or Conduct Policy: Cheating is any activity that allows a student to improve an exam score without learning the material. Cheating lowers the value of the MCC degree. As a word of warning to students who earn their degrees by cheating, you will not be able to fool future employers. You can work with other students completing Aplia assignments. In fact, I encourage you to study in groups. You can learn by asking questions of students who understand the material better than you. Likewise, if you know the material better than another student, you can improve your understanding by explaining the economic way of thinking and modeling to them. However, you are not allowed to use the Internet as a resource, study from a databank of questions taken from past exams, take the exam with other students, friends or family or refer to your book. MCC Academic Integrity Statement: The Center for Academic Integrity defines academic integrity as a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to five fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. From these values flow principles of behavior that enable academic communities to translate ideals into action. Individual faculty members determine their class policies and behavioral expectations for students. Students who commit violations of academic integrity should expect serious consequences. For further information about student rights, responsibilities, and academic integrity definitions, please consult the General Conduct Policy in the Highlander Guide. MCC Attendance Policy: Regular and punctual attendance is expected of all students, and each instructor will maintain a complete record of attendance for the entire length of each course, including online and hybrid courses. Students will be counted absent from class meetings missed, beginning with the first official day of classes. Students, whether present or absent, are responsible for all material presented or assigned for a course and will be held accountable for such materials in the determination of course grades. Please refer to the Highlander Guide for the complete policy. 6
ADA Statement: In accordance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the regulations published by the United States Department of Justice 28 C.F.R. 35.107(a), MCC s designated ADA coordinators, Dr. Drew Canham Vice President, Student Success and Mr. Gene Gooch - Vice President, Finance and Administration shall be responsible for coordinating the College s efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under ADA. Students with disabilities requiring physical, classroom, or testing accommodations should contact Ms. Renee Jacinto, Disabilities Specialist, Student Services Center, Student Development Department, Room 211 or at 299-8122 or disabilities@mclennan.edu. TITLE IX No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. Legal Citation: Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and its implementing regulation at 34 C. F. R. Part 106 (Title IX) In accordance with the requirements of the Title IX Education Amendments of 1972 MCC s designated Title IX Coordinator, Drew Canham Vice President, Student Success and Deputy Coordinator, Melissa (Missy) Kittner Director, Human Resources shall be responsible for coordinating the College s effort to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under Title IX. Contact information Drew Canham, Title IX Coordinator Vice President, Student Success McLennan Community College Administration Building, Room 408 Administration Building, Room 104 1400 College Drive 1400 College Drive 254-299-8645 254-299-8514 FAX: 254-299-8654 FAX: 254-299-8592 dcanham@mclennan.edu mkittner@mclennan.edu Melissa (Missy) Kittner, Title IX Deputy Coordinator Director, Human Resources McLennan Community College 7