Principles of Microeconomics - ECON 2302.001
Course Syllabus for Spring 2017
Economics is good! Economics is life-changing! Economics is world-changing!
And this is the premise from which we will begin our study of Economics this semester!
Instructor: Mrs. Susan Doty
Director of the Center for Economic Education & Financial Literacy
Senior Lecturer in Economics, Department of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences
The University of Texas at Tyler, 3900 University Boulevard, Tyler, TX 75799
E-mail:
Please note that e-mail is my preferred method of contact. Even if you want to talk by phone, the best way to do so is by sending me an e-mail and asking me to call you back. Please always identify yourself and provide your course and section.
Phone: 903-566-7459 (Office) 903-570-9020 (Cell for text only) Again, please be sure to identify yourself by name, course and section.
Office Hours: BUS #240 Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 12-2 pm
You do not need to set up an appointment to meet with me during MWF open office hours.
Class
Meeting Times: Section 001 meets MWF from 9:05-10:00 am in BUS 158.
Course Materials: McGraw-Hill Course Connect with Asarta Butters Economics. Please note that this online course package is required. I will provide you with registration information in a separate document on Blackboard, in the Getting Started folder. The course package contains the e-text, videos, tutorials, homework and quizzing that not only represent 20% of the course grade but provide the foundation for much of what we will do in class. You cannot be successful without the course materials! New students may purchase access code card in the university bookstore or purchase directly on line from McGraw Hill through the registration portal on the document I provide in Blackboard. It is less expensive if you are able to purchase it online. Either way, purchase only the access code, not a hard or paper copy of the book!!! Former students, who have taken economics in Fall of 2016 and have an active McGraw-Hill account, should be able to activate the new course at no additional cost. You also need a smart device with communication app and .pdf annotation capabilities; be prepared to use this device in every class. There are a limited number of university-owned iPads available to borrow for the semester. See me EARLY if you would like to reserve one.
Course Summary: Through the Core curriculum at The University of Texas at Tyler, students will gain a foundation of knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world, develop principles of personal and social responsibility for living in a diverse world and advance intellectual and practical skills that are essential for all learning. Core objectives include critical thinking skills, communication skills (oral, written and technology,) empirical and quantitative skills, teamwork, social responsibility and personal responsibility.
Economics, at its foundation, is a social science course about choice. Everything we value as humans is scarce relative to how much we want. Because of scarcity, we can’t have it all. Because we can’t have it all, we must make choices. Every choice we make means giving up something else. This “economic way of thinking” can be summarized in the 6 points of the Guide to Economic Reasoning: People Choose; People’s Choices Involve Costs; People Respond Predictably to Incentives; People Create Economic Systems That Influence Choice and Incentives; People Gain When They Trade Voluntarily; People’s Choices Have Consequences That Lie in the Future. Students in Economics apply these points to decision-making at the individual, household, business firm, and government levels both in closed domestic economies and open global ones.
Economics is a course of study that will provide you with methodological tools to view the world differently. The “economic way of thinking” is truly a unique way of approaching problems, understanding issues and proposing solutions. It will help you in decision-making when you vote, spend, save and make life choices. Throughout the course, you will develop and have multiple opportunities to demonstrate an understanding of basic economic concepts, the techniques and methods of economics, and the economic challenges facing society today and in the future. In addition, you will be developing and demonstrating critical thinking skills, oral and written communication skills, empirical and quantitative evaluation skills, teamwork, social responsibility and personal responsibility.
Economics will benefit each of you regardless of your major. It will have relevance to all aspects of your life and it will provide you with tools to help you view the world differently. Economics provides great preparation for careers in business, government, law, education, mathematics and science
A favorite quote of mine is this one by the late economist, Murray N. Rothbard:
It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline
and one that most people consider to be a 'dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.
A goal of this class is to provide you with the conceptual framework and tools to develop and articulate informed opinions on economic issues. It is not my job or purpose in this economics class to influence your politics or opinions. It is, however, my highest objective to give you the economic tools and the foundational principles so that you can develop and articulate your own positions more effectively.
Course Objectives: Beyond the foundational economic concepts and tools that are common to both macroeconomics and microeconomics, this Microeconomics course is going to cover six major topic areas including:
· Markets and the Price Mechanism - Basic supply and demand analysis, price elasticity, diminishing marginal utility, indifference curves
· Costs, Revenues, Profit Maximization, and Market Structure- Marginal analysis, revenues, costs, and profit, perfect and imperfect competition, isocost curves and isoquants
· Industry Organization - Perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly, game theory
· Market Failures, Externalities, Government Intervention and Regulation- Public goods, spillover costs and benefits, and inefficiencies of over-regulation and under-regulation
· Income Distribution and Government Redistribution Policies - Factor/resource markets and effects of taxes, transfers and subsidies
· International Economics - Comparative advantage, trade, exchange rates & economic development
Study Time: A general guideline is that you should spend three hours of independent study time outside of class for each hour in class. We meet for three hours each week so that is nine hours of independent work each week. I know many of you are working part-time and full-time jobs, have families and are active in student sports and campus activities. I do understand that many of you are taking 15 and 18 hours. Based on the 3-to-1 formula, that is 60 to 72 hours of academic work alone! YOU need to be realistic about your own capabilities and commitments!
Classroom Conduct: This is simply a matter of respect – mine for you – yours for each other and for me. Arrive on time and stay for the duration of class. Be quiet and attentive during lectures. Participate during activities. Be prepared. With the exception of your required devices, keep your other electronic devices turned off. Stay on task and don’t get distracted! In economics, we learn about the importance of private property ownership – be good stewards to university property. Do not photograph, audio or video tape lectures, discussions, activities or conversations. Do not copy or distribute any presentation, activity, or assessment materials from class or on-line supplement. Do your own work and properly cite the work of others. The University of Texas at Tyler has an academic integrity policy. I take it very seriously and expect you to also. Be honest, do your best work and learn.
Participation: Woody Allen said, 80% of life is showing up! You can’t learn if you’re not in class! You are expected to attend every class. There will be hands-on active lessons designed to reinforce the unit material and emphasize the importance of attendance. Be prepared to move around, work in pairs or groups, and think “out of the box” on class days. Your charged smart devices are required in class every day!
Discussion Board: There will be both graded and ungraded forums that I will open for you on the Blackboard discussion board forum for you each unit so that you may help each other, form virtual study groups and ask content questions of me. The help forums will be ungraded but may be considered in calculating your community learning grade.
Microeconomics
Challenge: This will be a fun way to REVIEW in class for your Final Exam. Maybe you can even earn points!
Class Notes: I will provide you with copies of my slides in both PowerPoint and .pdf form on Blackboard. This will allow you to open and annotate them on your smart device. These slides provide the skeleton for your class notes and form the foundation for my lectures and for our class discussions and activities. You must have them each day. Please familiarize yourself with both Blackboard Mobile and a .pdf annotating program (I highly recommend the Notability app for iPad users) and be ready to annotate these notes at the beginning of each class. I do not prepare my slides or lectures from the book. My lecture notes and your McGraw-Hill course materials will complement, not duplicate, each other. That said, our new award-winning course materials by Asarta and Butters are the best I have ever used and both the topic sequence and the shared language will be closely aligned.
Homework Help: These individual and group sessions will be led by Teaching Assistant Steven Schwartz. Although optional, I strongly recommend that you take advantage of this learning opportunity unique to this class.
Homework Help hours will be posted on Blackboard the first week of class and will be held at the same time and in the same location each week
You may contact Steve at .
Academic Integrity: For each assessment, you will sign a statement confirming that you have taken the assessment in accordance with the Academic Integrity Policy currently in place at The University of Texas at Tyler. I embrace the honor and integrity that will not allow me to lie, cheat, or steal nor to accept the actions of those who do.
Grading1: QuickStart Points2 5 @ 20 points = 100 points
McGraw Hill Independent Learning Assignments3 10 @ 20 points = 200 points = 20% of grade
Class Community Learning Activities4 20 @ 10 points = 200 points = 20% of grade
Unit Exams5 2 @ 100 points = 200 points = 20% of grade
Final Cumulative Exam6 1 @ 400 points = 400 points = 40% of grade
1Read grading policy thoroughly!
2There is no such thing as a free lunch! You must earn your QuickStart buffer points! This is the way you boost your end of semester grade both by preparing you to do the things that will help you be successful in class and by giving you points that will help protect you in the event you miss assignments, activities or test questions. See directions posted on Blackboard. These points, which may only be earned in the first two weeks of class, will be added to your total points.
3Each McGraw-Hill Independent Learning Assignment has two parts: watching videos/answering questions and the adaptive learning module. Part one is always due on Monday mornings at 8:00 am and part two is always due on Friday afternoons at 5:00 pm. No extensions or make-ups will be granted and you have at least one week to complete each assignment.
4There will be 24 graded Class Community Learning Activities over the semester. Although there are no make-ups for these activities, only the best 20 will be counted for your grade. In other words, you may miss up to four without penalty.
5A missed unit exam, for ANY reason, may only be made up with the final exam.
6Your percentage score on the final exam may replace a missed exam or low unit exam score. For example, a score of 240 of 300 on the final exam could replace a “0” on a unit test with an 80.
Course Grade:
A = 900+ points
B = 800-899 points
C = 700-799 points
D = 600-699 points
F = 599- points
Grade discussions will only be held in person during office hours. Do not text or email me about grades. Do not ask about grades during the brief time we have in our classroom before or after class starts!
Schedule of Classes for Spring 2017 Principles of Microeconomics
Week #1 / Day / Class # and Topic / Assignment / Reminders/InformationMonday, January 16 / No Class
MLK Day / Purchase McGraw-Hill Course Connect materials. / Blackboard and McGraw-Hill are open.
Begin by opening the Getting Started Folder on Blackboard where you will find the syllabus, the McGraw-Hill registration instructions and the list of QuickStart activities.
Wednesday, January 18 / Class #1
Course
Welcome to Economics!
Rational
Decision
Making / Read Syllabus thoroughly and register for McGraw-Hill. Begin working through QuickStart activities. Be sure that you are registered in the correct class on McGraw-Hill for your course materials.
Bring your Smart Device to class.
See posted notes on Blackboard under Modules / QuickStart activities #1-#5 are due by Friday, January 27th at 5:00 pm.
Friday, January 20 / Class #2
Class Tools / Work on QuickStart activities #1-5
Explore all the resources available to you on McGraw-Hill.
See posted notes on Blackboard under Modules / QuickStart activities #1-#5 are due by Friday, January 27th at 5:00 pm.
Learning Objectives for week #1: