Mrs. Kristyn Brown 

1205 Round Rock Campus

kbrown@austincc.edu 

ACC voice mail 223.1790 x22645

 

Exam Schedule will be posted on Blackboard.

 

Exam 1  chapters 1 – 3, 15                                     100 points

Exam 2  chapters 4 – 6,  10                                    100

Exam 3  chapters 7 – 9, 14                                     100

Exam 4  chapters 11 – 13, review                        100

Comprehensive  Departmental Final                   100  

PearsonMyLab.com homework and quizzes    100 

                                                                           Total   600 points

Grading

540 – 600 points (90%) = A

480 – 539 points (80%) = B

420 – 479 points (70%) = C

330 – 419 points (60%) = D

 0 – 359 points (<60%) = F

 

I do not give make-up exams. If you miss an exam, your grade on the last exam will count in place of the exam you missed. Exams will be a combination of multiple choice, short answer and essay. There will be simple math problems. Calculators are not allowed. Partial credit will be given, based on setting up a problem correctly, even if an arithmetic error was made in completing it. Which means: Show your work!

 

Attendance Bonus

Class attendance is expected and roll will be taken. Students who have perfect attendance (no absences and never late) will have five points added to their final average. For every absence, 1 point will be deducted from this bonus. Which means that for students with more than five absences, the attendance bonus will be negative, resulting in points being deducted from their final average.

 

Students are also expected to be on time for class. ÔOn timeÕ is defined as before I take roll. Students who arrive late to class have the responsibility of correcting their attendance record BEFORE leaving the classroom. Being late for class twice will count as one absence. Students who leave before class is over will be counted as absent for the whole class period, unless prior permission is given.

 

Students who get up and leave the classroom in the middle of lecture without prior permission should take their belongings with them, as they will NOT be coming back to class. Ever.  Leaving early or going to the restroom is disruptive and disrespectful, and should only be done for legitimate reasons. I reserve the right to drop from the class those students who leave during lecture. Plan to stop by the restroom before class. Permission will not be given to go during class.

 

Blackboard

Exam grades will be posted on Blackboard, http://acconline.austincc.edu. To access Blackboard, you will need to set up your ACC eID username and password at https://acceid.austincc.edu/idm/user/login.jsp. Any messages sent to the whole class will be sent through Blackboard, which uses ACC student email addresses only. So check your ACC email!

 

Textbook

Macroeconomics, 10 edition, with PearsonMyLab, Michael Parkin (Pearson, 2011)

 

Where to Purchase

1. ACC Bookstores. at Rio Grande and the (non-high school) campus where our class meets.  It may also be available at other ACC bookstores. I recommend calling the bookstore before making the drive.  You can order the text on-line through the ACC Bookstore by visiting http://austincc.bkstore.com.

 

2. If you wouldn't mind using just the eBook (no hard copy), you can buy access to the eBook when you sign up on-line for PearsonMyLab.  The eBook plus PearsonMyLab costs $100. The eBook will contain exactly the same material as the hardcopy of the textbook available in the bookstore. You may also order a loose-leaf version of the text after buying online access.

 

Please, do NOT order your text to be shipped to you (except the loose-leaf). By the time you wait a week or 10 days for it, you will be too far behind to catch up. Whichever option you choose, you will need to register at http://www.pearsonmylab.com/. Complete instructions are on the last page of the syllabus.

 

PearsonMyLab.com Assignments

The assignments are to be completed online. If you do not have internet access at home, you may use the computers in the library here at the high school or on any ACC campus.

 

Each chapter we study has a homework assignment and a quiz. The homeworks have study aids to help you. You will have 3 tries for each question. If you have trouble with a certain question, there is an Ask My Instructor button which will email me a link to the problem and your questions about it so I can help you. The quizzes are timed at 120 minutes. You will have only one try for each quiz. If you are not prepared for the quizzes, you are not prepared for the exam.

 

Assignments will be due the evening BEFORE the exam covering that chapter. Work can be submitted late, but with a 1% per day penalty.

 

PearsonMyLab also has personalized Study Plans (it will give you assignments based on what you missed) and sample tests for practice. These are very helpful, but not required.

 

Course Description:

The purpose of this course is to familiarize the student with the generally accepted principles of macroeconomics. Though ultimately based on the actions of individual households and business firms, macroeconomics deals with aggregates--i.e., consumers as a whole, producers as a whole, exporters and importers as a whole, the effects of government spending and taxation, and the monetary policy of the central bank. Macroeconomics is concerned with such things as unemployment, inflation, and the business cycle.

 

Departmental Course Description, Rationale, Common Course Objectives/Student Outcomes

1.Course Description- Principles of Macroeconomics deals with consumers as a whole, producers as a whole, the effects of government spending and taxation policies and the effects of the monetary policy carried out by the Federal Reserve Bank. Macroeconomics is concerned with unemployment, inflation, and the business cycle.

 

2.Course Rationale- This course is meant to give students insight into the dynamics of our national economy. The knowledge gained in the course will make students better informed citizens and allow them to follow the debates over national economic policy 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

 

3.Common Course Objectives/Student Outcomes.

Students who complete this course will be able to understand:

the meaning of unemployment and inflation data and how that data is collected and computed;

the meaning and components of the National Income Accounts, especially GDP;

the meaning of the business cycle and its phases;

and to manipulate the basic Aggregate Supply, Aggregate Demand model of the macro economy;

how fiscal policy operates, its tools, and its advantages and drawbacks;

how a fractional reserve banking system works;

how monetary policy operates, its tools, and its advantages and drawbacks.

 

Incompletes: Incompletes are discouraged. They will be given only when extraordinary events intervene so as to make completion of the course impossible. If you want an incomplete, these events must be documented. To receive an incomplete the student must have completed two exams with a grade of C or better. The student must also come by my office to fill out an incomplete grade form. If the form is not filled out, an incomplete grade will not be given.

 

Withdrawals: Students are responsible for withdrawing themselves from this course if that is what their personal situation requires. In addition, students should be aware of a change in the law regarding Withdrawals. Starting in the Fall of 2007, entering freshman will be restricted to six non-punitive withdrawals for the whole of their undergraduate careers while attending state colleges.

 

Please be sure to check on the ACC academic calendar for the last day to withdraw from the course.

 

Scholastic dishonesty: Acts prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work. Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their 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.



 

Students with disabilities: Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities. Students with disabilities must request reasonable 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.

 

Academic Freedom: Each student is strongly encouraged to participate in class discussions. In any classroom situation that includes discussion and critical thinking, particularly about economic and political ideas, there are bound to be many differing viewpoints. Students may not only disagree with each other at times, but the students and instructor may also find that they have opposing views on sensitive and volatile topics. It is my hope that these differences will enhance class discussion and create an atmosphere where students and instructor alike will be encouraged to think and learn. Therefore, be assured that your grades will not be adversely affected by any beliefs or ideas expressed in class or in assignments. Rather, we will all respect the views of others when expressed in classroom discussions, and ask you to do likewise.