ECON 102 - Principles of Microeconomics Spring 2008, EJCH 103	Professor Elliott Parker Office: AB 319-C
Section 2, MWF 11:00 - 11:50 AM	Office Hours: WRF 10:00 - 10:50 AM or email me for an appointment

Short Syllabus   |  Books  | Grading  |  Exams  |  Schedule


First Midterm Exam  |  Second Midterm Exam
Final Exam with Key

This is an introductory course in microeconomics, which covers the fundamental theories of the consumer, the firm, and markets, and it is required for any student wishing to major (or minor) in business or economics.  Discussion of examples and policies will focus on the U.S. economy. This course also meets the social science requirements of the core curriculum, since you will be exposed to major questions concerning human and institutional behavior, and you will be encouraged to develop your skills in critical analysis, mathematics, and writing clarity.

This course has a math prerequisite of MATH 120 or its equivalent (e.g., an ACT of 22 or SAT of 520 or satisfactory scores on math readiness exam), or a corequisite of MATH 124/126 or higher.  No previous economic study is required. 

There are different approaches to teaching. Some like to spoon-feed their students bite-sized portions which are easily digestible. I believe in having high expectations, in setting goals that you can only reach on tiptoe. I do this because I believe that you will learn more if you are pushed to learn, and because I believe that you should be aware of how much there is to learn. I fully believe that, if you pay attention, what you learn in this class will help you make more sense of business, politics, and world affairs in the future. (See the Velco Theory of Learning.)

All College of Business pre-majors are required to complete the following nine classes in the pre-business core with a 2.75 GPA:  ACC 201, ACC 202, ECON 102, ECON 103, ECON 261, ECON 262, IS 101, MATH 176, and MKT 210.  Up to four repeats are allowed per the College of Business policy to improve the pre-business core GPA.  See the General Catalog at http://www.ss.unr.edu/records/catalog.asp for information regarding the University repeat policy.  In order to declare a business major, students must complete all courses in the pre-business core with a 2.75 GPA.  Please e-mail advising@coba.unr.edu or go to AB 409 to declare a business major.

Books

		The textbook is Microeconomics, by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells (2004), Worth Publishers, ISBN 0-7167-5229-8.  We will cover all of the chapters, in order.  Professor Krugman is now at Princeton (formerly at MIT), and is the author or co-author of hundreds of published economic research papers, dozens of books, and many provocative opinions in his regular column in the New York Times.  Check out the Unofficial Krugman Website. Homework will be done online using the Aplia website.   You will need to register for it, even if you choose not to subscribe.  This semester we will also try some economic experiments, which will affect your participation grade. You have three basic options for buying the textbook and Aplia: You can buy the new textbook and an Aplia subscription as a package in the ASUN Bookstore for $154.75 new, $116 used.  (In this case, Aplia costs $36.80 with a new textbook, less if you can get it packaged with a used book.) You can purchase a subscription to Aplia on their website for $70, and this allows you access to the electronic version of the textbook.  You will not have a hardcopy of the textbook. You can purchase the unbundled textbook (new for $117.95, used for $88.50), but you will not have a subscription to Aplia.  Though you will not be able to do the homework and you will not be able to participate in the experiments, you will still need to register with Aplia so you can take the math quiz, and your registration will expire on February 11.   If you choose option three, you may also be able to find the book online, through companies like Amazon.com, varsitybooks.com, or ecampus.com.  Bigwords.com provides price comparisons.  Ordering online sometimes avoids sales tax if you buy from an out-of-state company, but you have to pay shipping & handling costs, delivery times are not always prompt, and returns may be problematic.
		Supplementary readings can be found in The Economics of Public Issues, 15th edition, by Roger LeRoy Miller, Daniel K. Benjamin, and Douglass C. North (2007), Addison Wesley, ISBN 0-321-41610-4.  Professor North is a winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics.  Students say very nice things about these readings, and I usually use this material for bonus questions on the exams.  The new book price is $26, and used it is $19.50. I would also encourage you to regularly start reading business publications or good newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, the Economist, Barrons, or Forbes to familiarize yourself with the business and policy relevance of microeconomics.  You can get a 15-week subscription to the Wall Street Journal for roughly $20.  Online versions are available for the New York Times, the Economist, the Financial Times, and Business Week, among others.

Grading

Exams  |  Homework  | Math Competency Quiz  |   Attendance & Participation
Grading Scale  |  Tutoring  |  Hints for Success

60%  - Two Midterms, Homework 30%  - Final Exam 10%  - Attendance, Participation

Exams:

There will be two in-class midterm exams, each worth 30% of your overall grade.  The final exam is also worth 30% of your grade.  As long as you take both midterms, you may drop the lowest one and substitute your average homework grade instead (assuming your homework grade is higher, which is true for the majority of students).  You may not replace the final exam.

There will be no exam make-ups without prior approval except under extremely unusual circumstances, and missing an exam will result in a grade of -1 for that exam.  You must take a midterm exam even if you think you might do badly and want to substitute your homework grade for it.  If you miss a midterm exam, not only do you get a grade of -1 on it, but I will then give 20% weight to each midterm exam grade and the homework grade to get the total of 60% of your overall course grade.

You will find the exams to be very challenging.  They are in-class, closed book exams that use both multiple-choice questions and short-answer problems.  A significant number of exam questions will be based on the homework questions, but others will be based on my lectures, the textbook, and the supplemental readings.  Since the material in each section builds on earlier work, each exam is naturally comprehensive, but the final will intentionally cover all of the material in addition to the new material.

The dates of midterm exams will be announced at least one week in advance, but the final exam schedule is set by the University, and it is against university policy to take the exam before finals week.  Final exams will be given in class according to the Spring Schedule:

Section 2:  Monday, May 12, 9:45-11:45 AM

If you cannot attend the scheduled final exam, you might consider dropping the class.  Do not make travel arrangements and then present them to me as a fait accompli.

Sample Exams:

To help you study, here are some exams from the past two Spring semesters:

Spring 2007:  Midterm Exam 1, Midterm Exam 2, and Final Exam
Spring 2006:  Midterm Exam 1, Midterm Exam 2, and Final Exam
Spring 2005:  Midterm Exam 1, Midterm Exam 2, and Final Exam

The questions on your exams this semester will be different, of course, so don't bother to memorize the answers.  Instead, try to understand the questions and the material they cover.

Test Smart!

The assigned Aplia homework is worth 30% of your grade, and your online subscription is packaged with your textbook by the ASUN bookstore (or you can purchase it with the online textbook).  If your overall homework grade is higher than your lowest midterm exam grade, then I will drop the lowest exam grade (as long as you actually took it) and average in your homework and your other midterm for 60% of your overall grade.  If your midterm exam grades are both higher than your homework grade -- which is not very likely if you actually do the homework -- then I will drop the homework grade and only count the midterms.

For each textbook chapter, I will typically assign a practice homework set, where you can get the answers immediately, a graded homework set, where you can get the answers only after the deadline, and a graded case study, where you apply the material.  We will generally cover two chapters per week, but sometimes only one.

Homework will be due weekly, and it is essential to comprehending the material.  I have seen consistent evidence over the years that doing your homework improves your exam grades.  Sometimes homework will even be assigned before the lecture in order to encourage you to read the text beforehand, especially when it is just before an exam. Assignments will be available at least one week prior to the due date.  Each chapter will be graded (and weighted) individually.

Attendance and participation together account for 10% of your overall grade.  It is important that you attend class, and that your mind be engaged in the lectures rather than drifting off somewhere. I like questions, and I don't even mind interruption as long as it doesn't get out of hand. I have a lot to teach you, but I prefer that lecture be a dialogue rather than just a monologue.

I will take attendance most days.  Throughout the semester, I will make notes to myself on who is participating in class, though this is sometimes difficult in a large section.  I will occasionally hand out participation exercises that you can turn in, and let you know of events outside of class that you might attend.  There will also be experiments in Aplia that will affect your participation grade.  If you are shy and don't want to speak in class, you may earn your participation by coming with your questions to my office hours, or participating in online discussions.  I will even consider the percentage of online homework attempted in calculating your participation grade.

Because it is distracting to other students and to me, I ask that you not carry on private conversations.  Making a habit of this will reduce your participation grade.  Please be seated before lecture begins, and don't leave early without prior permission since it is very distracting to me and your classmates.  Arriving late or leaving early without a valid excuse will count as half of an absence.  Read A Modest Proposal for Students in the Classroom.

Math Skills Quiz:

This course requires basic math skills in arithmetic, algebra, and geometry, as well as an ability to manipulate data, read graphs, and pay attention to detail. All this you should have learned in high school.  The prerequisite for this course includes a college math course.

You will be given a math skills prequiz on the Aplia website the first week of class.  Passing requires that 80% of your answers be correct. If you pass the prequiz this first time, you will receive a bonus equivalent to a 4.0 (A) on two chapters of your homework.  If you do not pass the first time, I will require several ungraded online tutorials on math skills, and then you must take the math skills postquiz.  Passing this with 80% will earn you a bonus of only one additional 4.0 on your homework.

If you do not attempt and pass the math skills quizzes, then you are required to come see me to discuss it or you will receive an incomplete on your final grade until you do. An incomplete will turn into an F after a semester.

Grading will be done according to a four point scale (4=A, 3=B, 2=C, 1=D, and 0=F).  Homework and exams are usually scored on a percentage basis, and the score S (in percentage terms) is converted to a grade G in my gradebook. 

On exams, the conversion of raw scores to grades is now done on a curve, a change I made with the unanimous consent of the students.  The mean grade is a 2.5 (i.e., the cutoff for a B-).  One standard deviation above the mean is a 3.5, and one standard deviation below the mean is a 1.5.  It is possible to get better than a 4.0, but the only students who will get less than a 0.0 are those who simply missed the exam, as I explained above.   Prior to Spring 2008, I used to grade on a standard formula, G = S/15-2 (if S>30), so that: 90% = 4.0 (the cutoff for an A- is 83%) 75% = 3.0 (the cutoff for an B- is 68%) 60% = 2.0 (the cutoff for an C- is 53%) 45% = 1.0 (the cutoff for an D- is 38%) 30% or less = 0.0 missing exam = -1.0 In practice, however, the mean exam grade was much closer to a 2.0, so we changed this to the curve above to be more fair.

On homework, the conversion is G = S/20-0.5 if S>0, which is a little more generous: 90% = 4.0 70% = 3.0 50% = 2.0 30% = 1.0 10% or less = 0.0 missing homework = 0.0 For the 2/3 of students who typically do their homework, the mean homework grade is usually around 3.0, though this varies with the assignment, and the overall homework grade is higher than the exam grades for 80% of students.

At the end of the semester, your numerical course grade average will be converted back into a letter grade, based on the following ranges:

Cheating:

Any cheating will be severely punished, ranging from failing the exam or assignment at a minimum to failing the course and even expulsion from the university, in egregious cases or in cases where there is evidence of any prior offenses.  Students who are caught cheating also lose their chance at college scholarships.  Cheating includes both copying someone else's work as well as letting your work be copied, bringing in notes, text messaging or taking pictures of the exam, et cetera.  I am serious as a heart attack about this.

Thompson Student Services (Thompson 107, 784-6801) provides tutoring services at no charge if you sign up for a small tutoring class, or they can arrange private tutoring at a reasonable hourly rate.  The Mathematics Center (AB 610, phone 784-4433) may also provide tutors at no charge to you, and they can help you with your difficulties on the math skills quiz, or with other mathematical problems in this class.

Don't miss an exam.  Do your homework.  Study!  Use the materials:  read the assigned chapter before you do the homework, and take the practice tests e study guide.  Don't cram all your studying in the night before the exam, for you will not only be too tired to think, you will not be able to process all the information.  Don't work too much.  Get tutoring if you are struggling, or ask the professor or teaching assistant for help and advice.  Finally, studying in groups is highly recommended, as long as each member of the group pulls his or her own weight, and you each remain responsible for learning the material.  It is OK to discuss homework with your classmates, but copying somebody else's answers is cheating.  Also read The Difference between A and C students.

Also see The Nobel Laureates in Economics and A Time Line of Economists of the Past.