Principles of Microeconomics
ECON 2302.004
T Th 12:00- 1:15pm CYP 1049
Instructor: Don Tompkins
Fall 2005/06
Office Hours Blackboard
Course Description Testing
Textbooks Homework/Class Participation
Learning Objectives Grading
Course Attendance Incompletes
Scholastic Dishonesty Withdrawals
Students with Disabilities
Works
OFFICE HOURS
Office: CYP Portable Bldg. 3
Email: dtompkin@austincc.edu
Phone: Cell (emergencies)512-468-7541
Office Hours: T Th Class Days
Hrs 1:15-2:00
Conferences outside of office hours may be arranged by appointment
The section number of this class is: ECON 2302.004
The synonym for this class: 28986
This course is meant to give students insight into the dynamics of a market based economy and how through its mechanism scarce resources are allocated. The theoretical and actual role of the government in this market system will also be addressed. The knowledge gained in the course will make students better informed citizens and allow them to follow the debates over various economic events and policies reported in the news media. This course is also a foundation course that will prepare students to be successful in upper division finance, marketing, business administration, economics, government, and social work courses.
More specifically, the purpose of this course is to familiarize the student with the generally accepted principles of microeconomics. Microeconomics is concerned with how societies allocate scarce resources. Microeconomics deals with the interactions between and among households and business firms; it focuses on the behavior of people and deals with the process by which we make our living under conditions of free market capitalism.
The course is divided into several major areas as follows:
In this course you will study:
The economic problemscarcity
Opportunity cost
Comparative advantage and trade
Capitalism and socialism
Efficient allocation of scarce resources
Demand and utility analysis
Supply and cost analysis
Factor markets
Income distribution
Market failure
Students who complete this course will be able to understand:
Basic concepts of scarcity and opportunity cost
Forces of demand and supply and how they interact to determine equilibrium price
How and why equilibrium prices might change and their impact on resource allocation
The theory of consumer behavior
The theory of the firm
Theoretical market structures of perfect competition and monopoly
Market structure
Government intervention failures
The instructional methodology of this class will be lecture, group discussion, individual current event presentation with peer review, and brainstorming on relevant political and social issues.
Textbooks
Required: Principles of Microeconomics. Third Edition by N. Gregory Mankiw (Thomson Learning, South-Western, COPYRIGHT 2004)
Optional: Study Guide Principles of Microeconomics, Third Edition by David R. Hakes (Thomson Learning, South-Western, COPYRIGHT 2004)
Learning Objectives
Learning objectives for each chapter you will study are listed at the beginning of each
chapter in the textbook; a more extensive list can be found in the Study Guide. Read them
carefully before you read the chapter. They are there to help you read the chapter. They are
there to help you focus your mind on the important concepts and theories discussed in the
chapter. The exams will test your knowledge of and ability to apply these learning objectives. Knowing this will help you efficiently allocate your mental energies. In addition, the essay questions at the ends of the chapters will compose part of the exams and will function as broad learning objectives that will be discussed in class.
Regular attendance is expected. Frequent exposure to an instructor's explanations is an important factor in your ability to master the material covered. Although you will not be penalized for missing class (you are hurting yourself by cutting), current events used in class to illustrate course-work will be included in test questions.
Scholastic Dishonesty
Acts prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered include scholastic
dishonesty. Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating on an exam or quiz,
plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work.
Academic work submitted by you is to be the result of your own thought, research, or self-expression. Academic work is defined as, but not limited to tests, quizzes (whether taken electronically or on paper), projects (either individual or group), classroom presentations, and homework.
Penalties for scholastic dishonesty in this class can range from being assigned a zero grade
for an assignment on which dishonesty took place to being dropped from this class with a failing grade for cheating on exams. If the latter occurs, then the incident and the student will be reported to the Dean of Students. Further repercussions could follow from the Dean.
Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities. Students with disabilities must request accommodations through the Office for Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes. Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester. During the first or second week of class, students with disabilities must present the instructor with the sheet from the Office for Students with Disabilities listing the reasonable accommodations they require.
Blackboard is an on-line classroom management tool. It includes a grade book, a discussion board, ways to communicate between students and between students and professor, and a testing facility. Your Online Login username and password is your 7-digit ACC student ID number.
Please change your password while you are logged on for the first time. To change your password, click the "User Tools" button. When that page opens up, click on the line that says "Personal Information." When that page opens up, click on the line that says "Change Password." The rest should be self-explanatory. It is important to change your password so that you can be secure in the knowledge that no one besides your instructors can see your grade information. Even then, each instructor will only be able to see the grades in the course they are teaching.
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Testing
Midterm examinations will consist of .two parts: 1) objective questions and 2) essay questions. At least 50% of the questions will be selected from the questions and problems in the text. There will be two midterm examinations plus a final exam. The final exam will be comprehensive
All essay portions of examinations must be done in a Blue Book. The same Blue Book may be used for all exams. Provide advance notice and reasons if you will miss a test, make up tests must be completed at the testing center within six days.
Homework/Class Evaluation
Each student will select a current event newspaper or magazine article that applies to one or more of the Ten Principles of Economics in Chapter One. You will lead a discussion regarding the economic significance of the event you choose, supplying a copy of the article and basis for your discussion for each class member. This activity is worth 50 grade points. Several of the questions on the exams will be taken from these presentations.
Bonus points of up to 50 points may be earned by completing and handing in problems selected by the instructor at the end of each chapter. Bonus points maybe used to improve your grade but in no event will total points exceed 500.
All assignments must be completed on time as agreed to in class. I will not accept any late homework no matter what the reason.
There are 500 grade points available all together. The two midterms will be worth 125 points apiece or 250 points all together. The Final Exam will be worth 200 points. The homework/class participation assignments will be worth 50 points.
Final letter grades will be distributed according to the following scale:
Grade Points Percent
A 500-450 100-90%
B 449-400 90-80%
C 399-350 80-70%
D 349-300 70-60%
F 299-0 59-0%
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Incompletes
Incompletes are discouraged. They will be given only when extraordinary events intervene so as to make completion of the course impossible. Incompletes will not be given to students who are behind schedule when the semester nears its end, nor will incompletes be given to students who need just a few more points to make the next higher letter grade. Plenty of opportunity exists during the semester to accomplish your goals.
To receive an incomplete you must have completed the first two exams with a C or better. If you need an incomplete, the reason must be documented by filling out a special form, available from the instructor. If the form is not filled out, an incomplete grade will not be given.
If you find yourself way behind or many points short toward the end of the semester you may withdraw without a grade penalty up to four weeks before the end of the semester. Please read the following note about withdrawals.
You are responsible for withdrawing yourself from this course if that is what your personal situation requires. This means that if you have taken no tests or only a few of the tests and the semester ends without having withdrawn, your grade for the course will be an F. The instructor makes no promise either implicit or explicit to withdraw you from the course. However, the instructor does reserve the right to withdraw you if he/she believes the situation warrants such action. For example, if you miss more than seven classes, the instructor can unilaterally initiate a student withdrawal.
The last day to withdraw from this course without penalty is Monday, November 28.
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Tentative Lecturing/Test Schedule
Week Date Chapter Assignments
2 Sept 5 Chapter 2 & 3
3 Sept 12 Test & Chapter 4
4 Sept 19 Test Review & Chapter 5
5 Sept 26 Chapter 6
6 Oct 3 Chapter 7 & 8
7 Oct 10 Chapter 9 & 10
8 Oct 17 Chapter 11 & 12
9 Oct 24 Test & Chapter 13
10 Oct 31 Test Review & Chapter 14
12 Nov 14 Chapter 16 & 17
13 Nov 21 Chapter 18 & 19
14 Nov 28 Chapter 20
15 Dec 5 Chapter 21 & Review
16 Dec 12 Review and Final