ECON 200 D: Introduction to Microeconomics Syllabus – Spring 2014
Instructor: Alex Henke
Class Time: Monday through Friday, 12:30PM-1:30PM, DEM 004
Office: Art 343
Office Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 2-3PM, or by appointment
Email:
Course website:
Required Textbook: N. Gregory Mankiw, “Principles of Microeconomics” 7th edition
You can either obtain an electronic version of the textbook or purchase it from the bookstore. You need Aplia for the homework portion of this class. There is a trial version of Aplia, but if you do not purchaseAplia before the deadline you will not be able to view or complete homework assignments for this class. Note that Aplia also contains an electronic version of the textbook.
Email and Office Hours:
Generally it’s easier for me to answer quick questions by email and longer questions during office hours or class. If you have an involved question and can’t make my office hours we can make an appointment. Also, I plan to make heavy use of the course listserv to provide information to the class.
Grades:
I will post your quiz and exam grades on the catalyst website, and I will transfer your Aplia homework grades to the catalyst gradebook at the end of the quarter.
Homework: 10%
Quizzes: 10%
Midterm 1: 20%
Midterm 2: 20%
Final Exam: 30%
Participation: 10%
I will post a tentative grade scale on the course website.
Homework:
You will complete homework assignments online via Aplia. Please refer to the course website’s Homework tab for setting up Aplia.
Quizzes/Exams
The current, tentative plan is to have three quizzes, two midterms and a final. The exams are not cumulative; quizzes cover recent material, and mid-terms and the final cover anything after the previous exam. That said, concepts from later in the quarter build on concepts from earlier in the quarter. Please see “Policy on Academic Conduct” document for information regarding exam absence, exam procedure and other aspects of quizzes and exams.
To reiterate a portion of the above document, if you know you will be absent from a quiz or exam, please let me know as soon as possible. I will either schedule a make-up exam or replace the would-be exam score with your average exam score, depending on the circumstances. In general you will be allowed 50 minutes to complete a mid-term and 30 minutes to complete a quiz.
There will be three quizzes. Your best two quizzes will be worth 5% of your grade each; your lowest quiz score will be dropped. I do not issue make-up quizzes. Instead a quiz grade for an excused absence will be your average score on other quizzes.
Tentativequiz and exam dates, to be confirmed no later than a week before the proposed date:
Quiz 1: Friday, April 11th
Midterm 1: Friday, April 18th
Quiz 2: Friday, May 2nd
Midterm 2: Friday, May 16th
Quiz 3: Friday, May 30th
Final Exam: Thursday, June 12th
Participation:
Participation is a subjective score that includes the following aspects: attendance, attention, contributing to the class, and detracting from the class.
Attendance entails showing up to class consistently and on time.
Attention entails an(apparent) effort to process and retain information provided in class. Note that asking questions about the course material does not signal a lack of attention.
Contributing to the class includes: Raising your hand and asking questions about the material during lecture; answering questions or problems that I pose; adding constructive comments to the lecture.
Detracting from the class includes: Holding a private conversation during class time; interrupting the lecture with unrelated comments.
Note that this is a subjective score. While all four factors are a part of the grade, my memory is imperfect and attaches more easily to active events. To that end, pay special attention to contributing to and detracting from the class.
Academic Integrity
Dishonesty will result in failure. Please see the “Policy on Academic Conduct” document and your student handbook for more information.
Tentative Class Schedule
This schedule and covered content is subject to change depending on the speed of the class. When it does change I will update it on the course website.
Week 1: Introductions, Chapter 1, Chapter 2
Week 2: Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Quiz 1
Week 3: Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Midterm 1
Week 4: Chapter 7, Chapter 8
Week 5: Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Quiz 2
Week 6: Chapter 13, Chapter 14
Week 7: Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Midterm 2
Week 8: Chapter 17, Chapter 19
Week 9: Chapter 20, Quiz 3
Week 10: Chapter 22, Review