Holmes’ courses

Discussion of an article as a substitute for a quiz or an exam question (Revision 7)

  1. If you wish, you may discuss the economics of an article you choose (not one that I have handed out or that is in the book!) which is related to the topics we have covered in the course.
  2. The discussion may be used to replace the lowest quiz grade or may be used as one of the final-exam questions.(Maximum of one substitution and you do not have to decide how to count it until you are taking the final exam).
  3. Sources include magazines (e.g., The Economist or Business Week) or newspapers [e.g.,New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times (an excellent source), or The Philadelphia Inquirer (not usually as good a source)]. You can access any of these online through the TUPortal library link, and you can also find other online sources (e.g. CNN news).
  4. The discussion and article (including date, source, and your name) MUST be submitted before or on the day of the final exam.
  5. You are graded on the amount of economic analysis, including graphs and theories, used correctly and on the relevance to the specific topics of this course. (IN PARTICULAR, DO NOT SUMMARIZE THE ARTICLE. I CAN READ IT MYSELF.) PLEASE DOUBLE SPACE YOUR ANALYSIS.
  6. If the article does not contain all the facts you need to apply a particular theory, you may make reasonable conjectures; or you can earn credit by looking up the relevant facts (give references).
  7. If you get it to me at least a weekbefore the final exam, your submission will be returned to you with numbered questions for your response in a rework. (You need only respond to my comments and questions, using the appropriate numbers.)
  8. Return the original article analysis with my questions on it and your answers.(You may copy it with your smart phone to use for the rework and leave the original with me.)
  9. Note that it is not necessary to answer all my comments correctly to get an A, but the more answered correctly, the better the grade, and if you respond to all satisfactorily, you will get an A.
  10. Also note that, since your grade is determined by your total performance, you should not be too concerned if you can't think of much economic analysis on your first submission.
  11. NOTE; YOU MAY SUBMIT THE ANALYSIS AND THE ARTICLE ELECTRONICALLY (NOT JUST THE LINK UNLESS YOU ARE SURE IT WILL STILL WORK WHEN I USE IT). BUT I SHALL WRITE MY QUESTIONS ON A HARD COPY THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO GET IN PERSON (IN CLASS IF IT IS STILL MEETING WHEN I RETURN YOUR ANALYSIS WITH MY QUESTIONS. AND FROM THE FILE HOLDER NEXT TO MY OFFICE DOOR AFTER THE CLASS STOPS MEETING.).
  12. NOTE ALSO: IF YOU HAVE A SMART PHONE, YOU MAY COPY THE ANALYSIS AND LEAVE THE ORIGINAL WITH THE COMMENTS UNDER MY DOOR OR GIVE IT TO ME IN CLASS.

3. Pros and cons of doing the article

a.Pro: Doing the article allows you unlimited time to think about the questions and an opportunity to use the book to find what you need to use. Also, it frees some exam time in class because you don't have to answer as many questions during the exam period.

b.Con: As you will discover, the amount of time taken to find the article, write the discussion and respond to my comments will likely exceed the time it would take to answer the quiz or one more question on the exam. However, I think the extra time it takes is worth it (in terms of your gains, not mine--it takes me much longer to grade the article discussion!). First, doing an article gives you a chance to do a "real-world" current application, which helps you appreciate the value of the economics. Second, since my comments tend to "cover the waterfront," it helps you prepare for answering final exam questions as well (because the analysis tends to be "cumulative").

Rev: 05/11/2015