Austin Community College
Department of Economics
Course Number: ECON 2302
Principles of Microeconomics
Name: Shirin Murrassa-I-Khuda
Course Name: Principles of Microeconomics
Section Number: 004
Synonym: 16887
Class Hours: TTh 12:00 - 1:20 pm
Class Room: 2231, Campus: CYP, Building: 2000, ACC Campus.
Office Hours: TTh 1:25 am – 1:55 am, Room 1104, Building: 1000, Adjunct faculty office.
Office Phone: 223-1790 Ext 26443. Please call 223-8132, leave a message with Rachel and she will contact me if you need to leave me an urgent message.
Email: smurrass@austincc.edu. Email is the best way to reach me.
Website: http://www.austincc.edu/smurrass/
Blackboard: Go to http://www.austincc.edu/ and click on blackboard option on the left of the screen to login to blackboard. Username is first letter of your first name and your ACCeID after that. Password and ACC email is listed in the registration documents for this class. Check http://www.austincc.edu/acceid/faq.php for ACCeID and Password related questions. If you need additional help with login to Blackboard call help desk at 223-4357 during regular office hours. At any point in time, if you have problem in accessing blackboard contact help desk and get it fixed. If it does not get fixed, please bring it to my attention in class or email me about the issue.
Course Description: Principles of Microeconomics deals with the interactions between individual households and business firms. The concepts of supply and demand will be studied in this course; students will learn what these concepts mean, how they operate, and how prices are determined. Market structure, market failure and income distribution will also be considered.
This class will help you to develop and improve your analytical, problem solving skills and team work.
Textbook: Required: Microeconomics, by Roger A. Arnold, 9th Edition (South-Western College Publishing, 2010, 2008). ISBN 0324785496, Study Guide (Optional)
Course Rationale: 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.
Common Course Objectives/Student Outcomes as established by the economics department.
Ø Students who complete this course will be able to understand:
Ø the basic concepts of scarcity and opportunity cost;
Ø the forces of demand and supply and how they interact to determine an equilibrium price;
Ø how and why equilibrium prices might change and their impact on resource allocation;
Ø the theory of consumer behavior;
Ø the theory of the firm;
Ø the theoretical market structures of perfect competition and monopoly.
Instructional Methodology: The instructional methodology involves lectures and discussions. I will use Power Point slides, white board, Blackboard academic software and internet sites, videos and tutorials for instructions.
Recommendation to students: Please read the assigned chapter before each class. Reading ahead will help greatly in understanding, grasping well the concepts, issues as well as solving problems both in and out of the class room for the course. Class participation is highly encouraged. If you have questions outside of class and office hours, please email me with your problem. I will schedule a time to meet with you at Adjunct Faculty Offices, Room 1104, Bldg: 1000, CYP campus of Austin Community College.
Student Requirements: Calculator, Textbook, Pen, Pencil, Eraser for In Class assignments, and Exams. Students are required to submit homework in a separate handwritten/typed sheet. Homework should be submitted on the dates assigned in the class schedule. You are responsible to collect your homework assignments from blackboard. If you cannot access it please email me at:smurrass@austincc.edu. Don’t miss submitting homework(s), in class(es), exam(s), as there is NO MAKEUP. You are responsible for turning your In class, Homework, and Exam to me. You will sign in a “sign in sheet” for each in my class list when you turn in these things to me in class.
Course Evaluation/Grading System: There will be 3 Exams, 3 Homeworks, 3 In Class works. There will be no makeup homework, in class work, or exams. Only under special circumstances makeup exams can be taken later or earlier than the specified day. To take makeup exams special arrangements have to be made with me depending on the time of the issue's occurrence. If you are sick and cannot take the exam on the day of the exam, you would need a “doctor’s note” as documentation. I will arrange for a makeup test for you at a later date that works for you (late exam have to be taken within next two class days of the previous exam with the exception of the final exam. Final exams can only be taken earlier. No late finals accepted). However, the questions on the exam might be different than one taken on the exam day by other students. If you want to take the exam earlier then contact me and tell me the reason and document it and I will arrange an earlier exam for you. For early exams, please let me know at least two weeks before you plan to take the exam so I can prepare a special exam for you.
Homework and exam will have extra credit point section at the end. Students who have full attendance in my roster will earn 5 extra credit points automatically at the end of the semester.
Grading Points Distribution Table
|
Grade on |
Numbers |
Points Each |
Total Possible Points |
Average |
Grade Percentage |
|
Exams |
3 |
100 |
300 |
300/3 = 100 |
75% |
|
Homework |
3 |
25 |
75 |
75/3=25 |
10% |
|
In Class work |
3 |
10 |
30 |
30/3=10 |
15% |
Exams will be mixture of multiple choice, True/False and Fill in the Gaps, Questions with short answers, graphs, and math problems. Exam closed book and notes. Exams will be based on lectures, slides, in class works and textbook, homeworks, and other handouts given in the class.
Homework will be assigned from the textbook’s “Questions and Problems” and “Working with numbers and graphs” section or on concepts from the textbook. I will provide the homeworks at blackboard. If you have problems accessing it please email me at: smurrass@austincc.edu. (Email me prior to the day before it is due.)
In class work will be done in groups of two students in the class unannounced. Each group will turn in one in class group work with the group members name listed at the top. Absent students will miss in class work. In class work requires both the group members active participation in solving the problems and completing work. (If one member leaves class earlier leaving incomplete in class work with partner completing the rest on his/her own and turns it in for grading, then the team member that left earlier will be graded on the basis of his/her incomplete work and the other team member who completes it will receive the credit for the completed work. I will mark the questions as completed when the student leaves early without completing the full in class work problems. There will be variation in grading for team mates, if and when such cases arise.) There will be three in class work during the semester.
Extra Credit Points Distribution Table
|
Grade on |
Points |
Points |
Points |
Points |
Points |
Points |
Grade Percentage |
|
Attendance |
5 for full attendance |
4 for one missed class |
3 for two classes missed |
2 for three classes missed |
1 for fourth missed class |
0 for fifth missed class |
5% |
Grading System
|
A 90 – 100 |
B 80 – 89 |
C 70 – 79 |
D 60 – 69 |
F Below 60 |
Course outline/Calendar: Tentative Class Schedule
|
Date |
Day |
Lecture |
Chapter Titles |
|
8/24 |
T |
Syllabus, Course overview and Background evaluation |
|
|
8/26 |
Th |
Chapter 1 |
What Economics is About |
|
8/31 |
T |
Chapter 2 |
Economic Activities: Producing and Trading |
|
9/2 |
Th |
Chapter2, Chapter 3 |
Economic Activities: Producing and Trading , Supply and Demand: Theory |
|
9/7 |
T |
Chapter 3 |
Supply and Demand: Theory |
|
9/9 |
Th |
Chapter 3, 5 |
Supply and Demand: Theory, Elasticity |
|
9/14 |
T |
Chapter 5 |
Elasticity |
|
9/16 |
Th |
Chapter 5, Chapter 6 |
Elasticity, Consumer Choice: Maximizing Utility and Behavioral Economics |
|
9/21 |
T |
Chapter 6, Home work I due |
Consumer Choice: Maximizing Utility and Behavioral Economics |
|
9/23 |
Th |
Chapter 6, Appendix C of Chapter 6, Homework I/In class work I Solution available on Blackboard, Exam I review/discussion in class/blackboard |
Consumer Choice: Maximizing Utility and Behavioral Economics, Appendix C:Budget Constraint and Indifference Curve Analysis |
|
9/28 |
T |
Exam I |
Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, Appendix C of Chapter 6 |
|
9/30 |
Th |
Chapter 7 |
Production and Costs |
|
10/5 |
T |
Chapter 7, Chapter 8 |
Production and Costs, Perfect Competition |
|
10/7 |
Th |
Chapter 8 |
Perfect Competition |
|
10/12 |
T |
Chapter 8, Chapter 9 |
Perfect Competition, Monopoly |
|
10/14 |
Th |
Chapter 9 |
Monopoly |
|
10/19 |
T |
Chapter10 |
Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly and Game theory |
|
10/21 |
Th |
Chapter 10 |
Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly and Game theory |
|
10/26 |
T |
Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Homework II due |
Government and Product Markets: Antitrust and Regulation |
|
10/28 |
Th |
Chapter 11, Homework II/In class work II Solution available on Blackboard, Exam II review/discussion in class/blackboard |
Government and Product Markets: Antitrust and Regulation |
|
11/2 |
T |
Exam II |
Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 |
|
11/4 |
Th |
Chapter 21 |
Stocks, Bonds, Futures and Options |
|
11/9 |
T |
Chapter 21, Chapter 15 |
Stocks, Bonds, Futures and Options, Interest, Rent and Profit |
|
11/11 |
Th |
Chapter 15 |
Interest, Rent and Profit |
|
11/16 |
T |
Chapter 16 |
Market Failures: Externalities, Public Goods, Asymmetric Information |
|
11/18 |
Th |
Chapter 16 |
Market Failures: Externalities, Public Goods, Asymmetric Information |
|
11/23 |
T |
Chapter 12 |
Factor Market: with Emphasis on Labor Market |
|
11/25 |
Th |
Thanksgiving Holidays |
|
|
11/30 |
T |
Chapter 12 |
Factor Market: with Emphasis on Labor Market |
|
12/2 |
Th |
Chapter 19, Homework III due |
International Finance |
|
12/7 |
T |
Chapter 19, Homework III/In class work III Solution available on Blackboard, Exam III review/discussion in class/blackboard |
International Finance |
|
12/9 |
Th |
Exam III |
Chapters 12, 15, 16, 19, 21 |
Exam Schedule
|
EXAM I: SEP 28 |
EXAM II: NOV 2 |
EXAM III: DEC 9 |
Homework Schedule:
|
Homework I: SEP 21 |
Homework II: OCT 26 |
Homework III: DEC 2 |
Course Policies—
Class Policy
No electronic device allowed in class. No texting, ipod or playing video games or any other kind of games or watching movies or internet browsing during normal class hour. Please turn your cell phones on vibration mode and if you need to take the call, please go outside and take the call. If you are late, try not to disturb the class when you enter. You will need a calculator to solve class problems; I do not allow cell phone calculators in the exams. When signing in attendance sheet, only sign for yourself. Any violation to this rule will be considered as misdemeanor act.
Teaching Assistance
If you are having problems with the class, please see me at my designated office hours or email me your concerns. Please get in touch with me before it gets too late in the semester. I highly recommend that you stay focused on the course and seek help to get you through the semester rather than getting a “D”, “F” or have to withdraw in the semester. However, if you are having problems with other things beyond my control, you need to withdraw from the course rather than get an undesired grade at the end of the semester. Withdrawal date is November 18, 2010.
Academic Freedom
Everyone is encouraged to participate in class discussions. Differing viewpoints breathe enrichment of knowledge and generate new learning experience and may result in new theories for the future. Please participate in discussions and make the class lively with your thoughts and ideas.
Attendance
100% class attendance in my roster will earn you 5 extra credit points to push up your grade. If you miss one class you will get 4 points, two classes you will get 3 points and three classes you will get 2 points and 4 classes you will get 1 point and 5 classes you will get 0 points as extra credit points. I will do the attendance during the first 15 minutes of the class. If you leave early you will be counted as absent from the class. Students leaving early have to cross out their own name from the attendance sheet, write the time and reason for leaving early in the attendance sheet before leaving the class and provide valid documentation if they want to have class attendance point back.
Incomplete
I will not give you an incomplete grade. So if you are having problems please withdraw before the withdrawal date yourself. Withdrawal date is November 18, 2010.
If any major incidence happens after the withdrawal date and you cannot continue with the class, please document the incidence and show me. To get an incomplete, you have to fill out an incomplete form and give it to me. Without filling the form an incomplete grades will not be given.
Please read the following note about withdrawals.
Withdrawals
Students are responsible for withdrawing themselves from this course. I will assign you the grade you make in the class including the extra credits, even if it is a "F" grade. Withdrawal Policy of Fall 2007 states that entering freshman is restricted to six non-punitive withdrawals for the whole of their undergraduate careers (while attending state colleges). The last day to withdraw from this course is November 18, 2010.
Students who have missed 4 consecutive classes without a doctors note or a valid documented reason will be dropped from the course. If you think, you have attendance problem, please talk to me before getting dropped. Students with insufficient attendance missing 7 classes or more and/or submitted no in class work and/or submitted no homework and/or missed exam one or more exams will be dropped 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 exam or quiz, plagiarizing, 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.
Class Handouts
I will provide you all with copies of chapter lectures at the beginning of each chapter lectures. In Class work and Exams will be distributed in class. Homework problems, Homework Solution and In class work Solution will be available at Blackboard. If you cannot access it then email me.
Grades
Your class grades for homework, in class, and exams will be available at blackboard after completion of each exam. I will assign you a letter grade for the class at the end of the semester. Your grades will be posted in blackboard after completion of the classes. If you need to check your grades earlier, please check with me in class or send me an email.