The First Step After You Register for this Course:

Pierce College Course Syllabus Principles of Economics I FALL 2017 Instructor: Ara Khanjian, Ph.D. E-mail: Use the Inbox page on the left side of our course Canvas website home page. Section #: 17644 Time & Place: ONLINE Prerequisite: Elementary Algebra (Math 115) with a grade of C or better, or appropriate skill level demonstrated through the Mathematics placement process. Advisory: Intermediate Algebra (Mathematics 125). Course Objectives: Economics 1 is an introductory course in microeconomics. Some of the issues covered include the decision-making process of the individual, the firm, and the industry when confronted with scarcity. Our goal is to study whether the economy uses our limited resources to obtain the maximum satisfaction possible for society. Course Level Student Learning Outcome: 1. Student will evaluate individual professional and governmental choices in terms of trade offs. 2. Student will evaluate information by identifying winners & losers using conventional supply/demand analysis. 3. Student will apply the concept of economic incentives to formulate personal, business and civic strategies. 4. Student will apply the concept of economic change to development of career goals & lifelong learning. The First Step After You Register for this Course: First read this syllabus carefully and then login to our course website, which is on Canvas. Officially, the course website will be available on Monday, August 28, which is the first day of the term. 1

How to Login to Our Course Website on Canvas: You could get information about how to login at: http://online.piercecollege.edu/student.html Textbook to Be Used: Principles of Microeconomics from OpenStax, ISBN-10 1938168240 https://openstax.org/details/principles-microeconomics Good news: your textbook for this class is available for free online! If you prefer, you can also get a print version at a very low cost. You can use whichever formats you want. Web view is recommended, because the responsive design works seamlessly on any device. Grading: Chapter Quizzes Discussion First Midterm Exam Second Midterm Exam Final Exam 10% of final grade 5% of final grade 20% of final grade 30% of final grade 35% of final grade There are no extra credits. Chapter Quizzes: This course is a 100% online course; therefore, you could take it from anywhere in the world. On the course website, there are chapter quizzes that will be graded. You could access them by clicking on "Quizzes" on the left side of the home page. The chapter quizzes have firm due dates, which are posted on the quizzes page on Canvas. You are responsible for the deadlines. The chapter quizzes for a given chapter are to be completed by 11:59 pm the day they are indicated as due on the quizzes page. You don t have to wait for the due date to submit your answers. If you are busy on the due date, then you could submit your answers before the due date. The first chapter quiz is due on Monday, September 11, 2017. 2

The first five chapter quizzes are available at the beginning of the term. Therefore, you don t have to wait until the last day to do them. The remaining chapter quizzes will be available after each midterm exam. It is very difficult to provide make up chapter quizzes. Therefore, there are no makeup chapter quizzes. Make sure that you don t miss any one of them. I advise you to submit the chapter quizzes earlier than the deadline. This will prevent missing the deadline because of technical problems or emergencies. Problems with Taking a Quiz in Canvas If you have difficulties accessing the Canvas, don t assume that the Canvas is experiencing problems. Most probably, the source of the problem is your computer; therefore, have an emergency plan. Find out a store close to your home, which provides internet services, such as FedEx office, and go there to complete your chapter quiz before the deadline. You could also use the computers at Pierce College. Quiz Considerations There are two restriction with respect to chapter quizzes. First, you could submit chapter quizzes only twice. Second, you can t submit a chapter quiz after its due date; therefore, make sure that you submit the answers of a chapter quiz before its due date. You will know your scores and the answers of the questions after both attempts. On the second attempt, you will face exactly the same questions. Therefore, on the second attempt you should be able to score 100%. When you submit a chapter quiz twice, both attempts will be graded and the average of the two scores will be recorded. For example, if on the first attempt you scored 16 out of 20 and on the second attempt you scored 20 out of 20, then your score for that chapter quiz will be the average of the two, 18. When you complete the chapter quiz you should click on the submit button. As soon as you submit your answers, try to find out your score. If you don t see your score, then there must be a problem. There is no time limit on the chapter quizzes. They are not timed. You could start them any time and spend as much time as you want. Even if you log out, as long as you have not clicked the submit button twice and the due date has not passed, you may log in again to continue working on it. You need to submit the answers before the deadline. Once the due date passes, you can no longer change your answers or submit the quiz. You should not share the answers of the chapter quizzes with other students. 3

If you miss three chapter quizzes, which represent 1/5 of total chapters covered in this course, then you could be dropped from the course. If you miss, three chapter quizzes and you are not dropped from the course, then for each three chapter quizzes that you miss, your course grade will be lowered by a full letter grade. On the chapter quizzes, do not just try to find the answers of the questions. Please try to understand every economic concept mentioned in them. Read the corresponding sections in the textbook and use the chapter quiz questions as a study guide. Through chapter quiz questions, you will learn the content of the chapter. Midterms and Final Exams: The first and second midterm exams and the final exam are all at-home exams. The format of the exams will be similar to the chapter quizzes, which will give you an idea about the topics and questions that will be on the exams. To get good grades on the exams it is crucial that you understand the answers of every chapter quiz question. Some of the questions from chapter quizzes are likely to appear on the midterm and the final Exams. I strongly advise you to read the sections of the textbook, which are related with the topics mentioned in the chapter quizzes. Basically, the topics mentioned in the chapter quizzes will guide you to study the topics and the economic concepts that are considered important. The exam questions will be based on these topics. Clearly, it is essential that you read the textbook carefully. The first midterm is on Tuesday, October 10 and is based on chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The second midterm is on Tuesday, November 14 and is based on chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The final exam is on Thursday, December 14 and is based on chapters 12, 13, 14, 15, and 20. Procedures for Exams To take the first and second midterm exams and the final exam at home, go to the quizzes page. On that page search for Midterm I, II or Final Exam. On the exam dates, you could take the first, second and the final exams between 1:00am and 11:59pm. 4

You just have 90 minutes to complete each exam. Once you log in to your exam, the clock starts ticking; therefore, when you start an exam, you shouldn t log out. If you do, then you will run out of time. Make sure that you submit the answers, before the due date expires, which is at 11:59pm. If you experience difficulties accessing your online exams, try to refresh your page. If you continue to have problems with your computer, then you could use the computers at LAVC. After you submit the exams, you will not be able to see the exam questions and answers. Check the dates and times of the exams. If you can t take an exam at that specific date and time, then inform me about it during the first week of the semester. Discussions: Discussion topics related to economics are posted on Canvas under Discussions. They represent controversial economic issues. Some of the topics have links to videos or articles. You could watch the video or read the article provided in the discussion section, by clicking on the corresponding links. The discussion on significantly reducing poverty will be available from Monday, September 18, to Sunday, October 1. The discussion on Google s market power will be available from Monday, October 23 to Sunday, November 5. To get an A on these discussions, students should post their first thoughtful, at least 150 words, comment during the first week of the discussion period and on another day, they should post a meaningful, at least 70 words, response to a student s comment. In the discussion page, there is a separate discussion, called Questions. If you have questions about this course, then use this forum to ask them. You could contribute a reply and respond to another student s question. Discussion Etiquette: Discussions should be a learning experience for everyone who posts or just reads the postings. It is a great opportunity to present information as well as ask questions. For this reason, it is important that no one is turned off by someone's remarks. We want to examine controversial ideas but we want the ideas to conflict, not the people involved. If you disagree with something, make it clear that you are disagreeing with the idea, not the person posting (who may not even agree with the idea themselves). In short, treat people and their remarks with respect, even when disagreeing. 5

The instructor will remove postings that in his judgment are abusive or inhibit the free discussion of all students. To get high grade on discussions, post your comments during the first few days and then on another day, post at least one response to another student s comments. How to Get in Touch with the Instructor: You are welcomed to communicate with me and the best way to communicate with me is through Canvas Inbox. 1. On the left side of the home page of Canvas, click on Inbox icon. 2. At the top of the new page, there is an icon of a pencil in a box. Click on it. 3. Click on Select course and select ECON_001_17644FA17P. 4. On the right side of To there is an icon of a person. Click on it. 5. Then click on Teachers. You should see my name. 6. Click on my name, Ara Khanjian. 7. Below Subject there is a line. Click below this line and start typing your question or comment. 8. When you are ready to send your message, click on Send, at the bottom right side of the box. During weekdays, when you send me an email, I will respond in less than 24 hours. During weekends, it might take up to 48 hours. After the discussion period ends, I will submit the discussion scores within 72 hours. My college email address is: khanjia@lavc.edu; however, I prefer if students communicate with me through Canvas Inbox. Learning Resources: I advise you to use the Modules page, which is located on the left side of the home page of our course. I generated one module for each chapter. Click on the chapter that you would like to study. In chapter modules, I included learning resources, such as: chapter PowerPoint presentations, my comments on each chapter and videos. Professor s comments about each chapter: In Modules Professor Khanjian s comments about each chapter pages, I am discussing some of the highlights of each chapter. I advise you to read them; however, they do not substitute the textbook chapters. Reading textbook chapters are essential. 6

General comments about Using the Learning Resources: First read this syllabus carefully. Then read Professor Khanjian s comments about each chapter and the textbook. Then start doing the chapter quizzes and start using the available online learning resources. Check for due dates using the Calendar page on Canvas, which is located in your account navigation on the far-left side of the screen. Additional Learning Resources: After reading the textbook and professor s comments and after going over the chapter quiz questions, if you still have time, then you could watch videos on economic concepts at: http://www.khanacademy.org/ or http://dirkmateer.com/ In the past, students found these videos useful. Class Policies: Make-up Exam Policy: NO Make-up Exams in this course. No special considerations will be given if you need a particular grade for whatever reason. There will be no opportunity to do extra work to raise your grade. Plagiarism and Cheating Policy: Plagiarism in the homework and cheating in the exam will not be tolerated. The College Policy applies to plagiarism and cheating. It is the student s responsibility to drop themselves from a class. No student is exempt from the final exam. Academic Ethics: The college may initiate disciplinary proceedings against a student accused of scholastic dishonesty. Scholastic dishonesty may involve one or more of the following acts: cheating, plagiarism, and/or falsifying academic records. Cheating is the willful giving or receiving of information in an authorized manner during an examination, illicitly obtaining examination questions in advance, using someone else s work for assignments as if it were one s own or any other dishonest means of attempting to fulfill the requirements of a course. About the Online Environment: You are required to attend class by keeping up on announcements, readings, chapter quizzes and exams, in addition to participating in discussions. A student in an online course must be prepared to act 7

independently and to encounter technical glitches of all kinds. If you experience technical difficulties that may prevent you from keeping up with the curriculum, you must let me know immediately via e-mail so we can work out a solution. Disabled Student Services: If you are a student with a disability and require accommodations, please use the following web site: http://www.piercecollege.edu/offices/special%5fservices/ Special Services Phone number is: 818-719-6430 and the email is: special_services@piercecollege.edu Help and support: If you experience technical problems, which are not related with economics, please communicate with Pierce Online staff: http://online.piercecollege.edu/staff.html You could use the following help source provided by Canvas: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/doc-4121 You could also click on the Help link at the bottom left of our course Canvas home page. This will generate a phone number that you could use to get support. You could also click on Pierce College Canvas Support, which will provide additional Canvas support services. Free online Tutoring: The link to NetTutor, which is a free online tutoring service available to our students, is at the bottom left side of our Canvas home page. Click on this link and then on NetTutor Economics Tutor. Please take advantage of this service, which could improve your understanding of economic concepts. If you use it, please let me know your opinion about it. Important Drop Dates: Deadline to Drop Classes Without incurring Fees: Sunday, September 10, 2017. Deadline to Drop Classes Without Receiving a "W": Sunday, September 10, 2017. Deadline to Drop Classes With a "W": Sunday, November 19, 2017. 8

Course Outline: Topic 1: Economic Reasoning and the market System Quiz chapter 1 is due on Monday, September 11. Quiz chapter 2 is due on Saturday, September 16. Topic 2: Demand and Supply Quiz chapter 3 is due on Friday, September 22. Topic 3: Labor and Financial Markets Quiz chapter 4 is due on Tuesday, September 26. Topic 4: Responses to Price and Income Changes Quiz chapter 5 is due on Tuesday, October 3. First MIDTERM EXAM Chs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, on Tuesday, October 10, 2017, 90 minutes. (You could take it at any time between 1:00 am and 11:55 pm.) Topic 4: Consumer Behavior Quiz chapter 6 is due on Tuesday, October 17. Topic 5: Cost of Production and Perfect Competition Quiz chapter 7 is due on Saturday, October 21 and quiz chapter 8 is due on Tuesday, October 24. Topic 6: Monopoly, Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly Quiz chapter 9 is due on Tuesday, October 31 and quiz chapter 10 is due on Tuesday, November 7. Second MIDTERM EXAM Chs. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, on Tuesday, November 14, 2017, 90 minutes. (You could take it at any time between 1:00 am and 11:55 pm.) 9

Topic 7: Environmental Protection and Public Goods Quiz chapter 12 is due on Tuesday, November 21 and quiz chapter 13 is due on Tuesday, November 28. Topic 8: Poverty, Inequality and Issues in Labor Markets Quiz chapter 14 is due on Saturday, December 2 and quiz chapter 15 is due on Tuesday, December 5 Topic 9: Globalization and Trade Policy Quiz chapter 20 is due on Saturday, December 9. FINAL EXAM Chs. 12, 13, 14, 15, and 20, on Thursday, December 14, 2017, 90 minutes. (You could take it at any time between 1:00 am and 11:55 pm.) 10