SYLLABUS

Course:                       Principles of Microeconomics
Office:                        118 Thomas Hall (phone: 376-4630)
Office Hours:              MTWTh 2:00 – 3:00pm
Email:                          delemeeg@marietta.edu
Course Home Page:     http://www.marietta.edu/~delemeeg/econ211

Prerequisite 

Knowledge of some basic algebraic and graphical techniques will go a long way to help you understand the economic way of thinking. Consequently, you must have achieved a score of 400+ on the math portion of the SAT or 19+ on the math portion of the ACT or completed Math 080 with a grade of "C" or better.

Course Description and Objectives

Economics is the study of how individuals and societies make rational choices when confronted with scarce resources and an uncertain environment. As a science, economics provides a rigorous framework in which to organize observed economic phenomena so that we may come to some understanding of the world about us. Economics is divided into two branches: microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics is concerned with how individuals and firms make decisions within the context of an isolated market. Macroeconomics, on the other hand, is concerned with how the economy as a whole behaves over time.

This course is about microeconomics. During this semester you will be introduced to the mechanics of a market economy. You will see and experience how and why markets may "work" well and not so well. You will also see and experience the impact of government intervention on market processes. Throughout the semester we will also investigate several hot policy issues from an economic point-of-view including, drug prohibition, minimum wages, and environmental pollution. Above all else, I hope that you come away from this course with a useful framework for which to make some sense out of this world. With that said, upon completing this course you should be able to:

• understand the role of markets in allocating scarce resources.
• understand the impact of government intervention in the market
• understand discussions involving business and politics.
• ask good questions, both to yourself and to others.
• make good conjectures regarding the answers.

Text/Websites

We will be using Microeconomics (Worth, 2005, 1e) by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells. The textbook is offered in two formats: traditional hardcopy and an electronic version (using PDF files) through Aplia.  The authors also maintain a web site for text users at this link:  www.worthpublishers.com/krugmanwells.

The Aplia web site will be used for online readings and  homework.  Details on Aplia are found below.

Course Requirements and Policies

1. Exams. There will be four exams. Only your best three scores will count toward your final grade.   Exams will be based on the experiments, problem sets, readings, and lectures. Exams will be a mixture of multiple choice and short analytical problems.  No make-up exams will be offered without a college-approved excuse. 
2. Problem Sets. There will be numerous in-class and out-of-class writing assignments based on the problem sets,  lectures, and Aplia material.  Only your best 14 scores will count toward your final grade.
3. Laboratory Experiments. You will be required to complete and hand in lab reports based on the results of in-class experiments.
4. Course Blog.  You will be required to contribute thoughtful dialogue to our class blog.  See details below.
5. Class Attendance and Participation.  You are allowed two free skips.  Any additional missed classes will reduce your Exam average grade by 1 percentage point per missed class. An active learning approach is essential to doing well in this course. Consequently, you should expect to actively ask and answer questions during class. See the section on Responsibilities below.
6. Academic dishonesty is a breach of the trust that the instructor and your fellow classmates place in you and will not be tolerated. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism, theft, or improper manipulation of laboratory or research data or theft of services. A substantiated case of academic dishonesty may result in disciplinary action, including a failing grade on the project, a failing grade in the course, or expulsion from the College" ( Marietta College Undergraduate Programs, 2004-2005 Catalog, p. 132). All suspected cases will follow the procedures outlined in the Marietta College Catalog.  Copyright violations are also quite serious breaches of the law.  Please visit the MC copyright tips page for further details.
7. Academic support services and resources are available at Marietta College's Academic Resource Center (ARC) located on the third floor of Andrews Hall.
8. Students with documented disabilities should notify the instructor and the Academic Resource Center to discuss their individual needs for accommodation in a timely manner.
9. Co-curricular probation for those on academic probation is in effect.  Please refer to the college catalog for details (Marietta College Undergraduate Programs, 2005-2006 Catalog, p. 141).
10. Your grade will be determined as follows:

Responsibilities*

I see my primary responsibility to lead, guide, and motivate a group of committed and dedicated students in the learning process, and to determine the extent to which students have mastered the material covered in this course. I am committed to this task. By signing up for this course, you have accepted the responsibility of being an active learner and of participating in the classroom discussion. Most importantly, students are expected to be committed to learning the subject matter. If you are not open to new ideas, or are not committed, expect your grade to reflect this.

Grades are a carrot that encourages learning. While I will not hesitate to give a poor grade when your performance indicates that you have not learned the material, I want to see everyone do well. Thus, I will do my best to help you understand the topics and to do well on the exams. I realize that you have a busy schedule and often face difficulty in getting in enough time to study. This makes it all the more important to get involved while you are here. We are going to have fun but expect to work hard. In the past I have found that students in my courses experience unpleasant surprises on tests because they mistake my easy-going personality for an easy-going tester. I don't want this to happen to you, so for your sake put in the time that you need to really know the material. More than anything, this means reading the book before class and doing problems. Just coming to class (and cramming a little before the tests) is not going to work very well for you in this course.

Finally, I would like you to help me make this a better course. I have provided a lecture evaluation form on my web page for you to complete after every lecture. The form provides you with an anonymous means of communicating to me your impression of the day's lecture. Please take the time to fill out the form as it will help me understand which topics may require more in-depth discussion or elaboration.

Aplia

Weekly homework assignments are found on the Aplia website. These assignments, in addition to other in-class quizzes, will collectively count for 15% of your grade. The Aplia site requires a separate registration process. Here are the steps:

1.       Connect to http://econ.aplia.com

2.       Complete the Configuration Test and make adjustments to your computer’s configuration if necessary

3.       Return to http://econ.aplia.com and click "Register Here"

4.       You will be prompted to enter your e-mail address and select a password

5.       You will then be asked to enter your course key, which is:  M3E4-4YEJ-YND9

You will only need to register once. After the registration process is complete, you will not need to enter the course key again. For technical problems or problems signing in, please send Aplia an e-mail by clicking on the "Help" link in the upper-right corner of any page or by e-mailing: support@aplia.com

Student benefits: By completing regular work in association with the lectures, you will better prepare yourself for the lectures and exams in the course. Cramming is not an effective method of learning. Think of the regular assignments on Aplia as a weekly Economics workout. Practicing and applying what you are learning from Aplia and lecture will better prepare you for class.

Aplia assignments: Many assignments come in pairs of practice and graded problem sets. The practice sets give you immediate feedback about whether your answer is right or wrong and an explanation of the correct answer. They are not counted as part of your homework grade. Use them to check your understanding of the material. If you are confident, you can go directly to the graded problem set, and refer back to the practice set only if you want some additional help.

The graded problem sets have a firm due date. You can change your answers as many times as you like before the due date has passed. Once the due date has passed, the grade will be recorded and it will not be possible to change your answers or complete the assignment at this point. In other words, Aplia assignments must be completed by the due date. The software does not care whether you have an excuse or not. These assignments are posted weeks in advance. Do them early to avoid any emergencies preventing your completion before the due date. After the due date, you will be able to see the correct answers and the explanations for graded problems.

Your Aplia subscription to this class costs $60 per student and includes an online version of the complete Krugman/Wells textbook. If you decide the online version is all you need, you will NOT need to purchase the hard copy from the bookstore. However, if you decide you want to purchase a hard copy of the Krugman/Wells textbook from your campus bookstore, an Aplia payment code will be included with your textbook and you will not pay the $60 when you register. Your textbook price includes access to the Aplia website as well as the online Krugman materials.

You may register and use the website until September 12, 2005 without paying the fee. If you are considering dropping this course during the drop/add period or are unsure which version of the text you want to purchase (online or hard copy), do not pay for your Aplia subscription until you have made a decision. You will have until the end of the grace period to decide, and then you will need to pay the full amount to continue using the site. You may pay online with a credit card or you can mail a check or money order to the address provided on the Aplia site. If you decide to buy a hard copy textbook, remember that the bookstore will not accept returns that have been tampered with or opened.

Course Blog [This section is adapted from David Tufte]

A blog for this class has been set up at http://mariettaecon.blogspot.com/.  Blogging is an interactive process between writers and readers.  Readers may not agree with the opinions you express, and are free to tell you so. This includes me, although I attempt to stick to assertions, facts, and conclusions that are within the mainstream of economics. Please try not to be offended at any blog comments I may make, but please do inform me if I do offend you. 

A post is a new contribution on a topic of your choice. All posts must include at least one hyperlink to material from outside the class blog, and they must be related to what we study during the course of the semester. A comment is a new contribution to a pre-existing post intended to extend or clarify the discussion. You may also ask questions requiring clarification or explanation from me or the student who wrote the original post. Posts must be factual at their core. You may support those with what you learn in class about economics, or with opinions about economic issues. Comments need not include new facts. They must have some foundation in economics. They should not be purely opinion. I want to see discussion and debate, not contradiction.

You will receive credit for posts and comments. A full score is worth 36 points.  The course is divided into four sections, each culminating with an exam.  Within each of the four sections, you will receive 5 points for your first post.  After that, each additional post receives 1 point.  Your first two comments within each section are worth 2 points each and each additional comment receives 1 point.  From those amounts I may subtract points for errors of fact, spelling, grammar, or style.  Comments on your own posts will not be awarded credit, unless they are replies to earlier comments.

Completion of a blog post or comment will be evaluated by the time stamp attached to the e-mail notification I receive from Blogger noting your post or comment.  I will count all posts and comments that arrive with a time stamp before 9:00am on Exam day.  Later posts or comments will count fully, but for the following period.  The deadline for all section 4 posts/comments is 9:00am December 8, 2005.

The implications of this system are that: 1) the minimum amount of work to get 36 points is to do one post and two comments in each of the four sections, 2) the maximum number of points you can earn is 48, and therefore 3) it is possible to earn extra credit from blogging.

In order to begin posting to the blog you must first complete the free registration with Blogger.  In order to do this, I will need your email address so that I can send an invitation to you to join the blog.  Once you receive the invitation via email, simply follow the instructions to create your account.