24 August 2008
Econ 101L
Laboratory in Principles of Microeconomics
Fall 2008
Nathan Kauffman- Instructor
Section I: M 1:10-3, Heady 68
Section II: W 2:10-4, Heady 68
Section III: M 3:10-5, Heady 68
COURSE ADMINISTRATION
Instructor: Nathan Kauffman
B14 Curtiss Hall Email:
Phone: 294-4827
Teaching Assistants: Sections I & III: Mr. Sampath Jayasinghe Email:
77 Heady Hall (294-5607), or by appointment via email.
Section II: Ms. Yuan Li Email:
83 Heady Hall (294-6846), or by appointment via email.
COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Econ 101 lab sessions are aimed at promoting students’ interest in microeconomics, by providing:
specific applications of economic theory to agricultural problems,
use of numeric examples and computer spreadsheets, and
a friendlier environment for the discussion of relevant topics.
COURSE FORMAT
Econ 101 labs will complement the material covered in lectures. Labs will be synchronized with the lectures given by Prof. Hayes (Econ 101 Section 9). Lab sessions will focus on:
presenting real-world agricultural examples,
discussing further the major concepts presented in the lectures, and
answering and discussing questions about lecture materials and homework assignments.
ASSIGNMENTS
In most lab sessions, a homework assignment will be distributed to students, completed with assistance from the lab instructor and teaching assistants, and handed in. In some cases, students will complete some of the homework outside of the lab session and hand it in by lab time the following week. Solved homework assignments can always be turned in before the deadline. Homework assignments not turned in by the deadline will not be accepted and therefore will receive no points.
ATTENDANCE
All students are expected to attend one of the laboratory sessions each week. If a student cannot attend their assigned section due to a conflict, they should attend a different section. There is no problem if a student attends a different section each week or attends more than once a week. Assignments that are to be completed in class may not be turned in at a later time. Specifically, a student may not pick up the lab assignment or have someone else pick it up for him or her and then complete it outside of the lab session unless special permission is given on a one time basis.
WORLD WIDE WEB (WWW)
Relevant course materials (e.g., homework assignments and some answer keys) and news will be posted on the Internet at the Econ 101L Homepage (http://www.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ101L/kauffman/index.html). This should be the primary source of course information.
HELP ROOM
Students who need extra help with the material covered in class or with the homework assignments may contact the instructor and/or the teaching assistants. Some open lab time will be scheduled each week during which the instructor or one of the teaching assistants will be available in room 68 Heady Hall. In addition, students may obtain help from the Economics Help Room, which is located in 178 Heady Hall (phone: 294-1599).
Economics Help Room Hours: MTWR 9:00-18:00
F 9:00-15:00
GRADING
Grades will be assigned based on a curve, obtained by averaging for each student all of the required homework assignments except the one in which he/she got the worst grade. Each assignment will be worth 20 points. There will be thirteen (13) homework assignments in total. The best twelve (12) scores will count towards the laboratory grade.
For students enrolled in Econ 101 Section 9 (Prof. Hayes), lab assignments will account for 25% of the total grade in Econ 101. That is, those students will get the same grade for Econ 101 and Econ 101L.