Course Syllabus
Lansing
Community College
Social
Science Department
Course
Code: ECON 201
Semester:
Fall
2009 Unit/Section Code: 40125
Title:
Principles of
Economics-Micro
Table of
Contents (Quick Links)
- Title
- Principles of Economics-Micro
- Unit/Section
Code
- ECON
201: section 40125
- Class
meetings
- Tuesdays,
4:10-6:00pm and ONLINE --
- Instructor
- Jim Luke
- Office
- Room 361E in A&S Building
- Office
Hours
- Tues and
Thurs, 11:00am-12noon and 2:00pm - 4:00pm. I may be on
campus at other times also. Check:
Jim's Schedule for
more current information.
It
is always best to
call, text, or email ahead for an appt.
- Email
- lukej@lcc.edu
(it is best to use regular
Internet
email or your student GoogleMail. I prefer that you not use
the Angel internal "email" feature. It is difficult for me to
answer as efficiently. If you send me mail from the internal Angel
"mail" page, my response to you will show up in your LCC student
GoogleMail box.)
- Telephone
- cell,
voice mail, and texting:
313-550-8884 (best number to
call)
office
voice mail: 517-483-5384
note: when leaving voice messages, please speak slowly &
clearly. State your name, which class you attend and whether you need
me to call you
Credit: 4
Lecture: 64
Reading Level 5 and Math Level 4
This
course is designed to develop objective consideration of economic
issues and provides information and understanding of how resources are
allocated by prices. Topics for study include price theory, consumer
demand, cost and market structure, the role of government in the
market, resource pricing, and international trade.
Taylor, Timothy; Principles
of Economics, published
by Freeloadpress.com, 2008, ISBN:
1-930789-05-X
Where
to get the textbook: Traditional economics textbooks generally
cost $150-$190, which the Econ faculty at LCC considers too much.
Instead we use a textbook
that is available for
free
online or
in a printed version for only $29. The book is available online only at www.textbookmedia.com .
You may choose either the online or printed versions, or both.
HOWEVER I STRONGLY RECOMMEND GETTING A PRINTED OR PRINTABLE
VERSION. Students with printed versions seem to do better in the
course and student feedback suggests it is the better option. The
free online version has a full page ad every 5 or 6 pages, but the ads
are easy to skip past. You can purchase a paperback copy of
the text printed in black and white without ads
for $29.90 plus $5.00 shipping through the textbook's website, but that
is not required. I have developed a detailed
tutorial explaining how to register online at o access the textbook which you can view at jimluke.com/taylor/DownloadTaylor.html.
Upon completion of this course the successful student
will be
able to:
- explain the basic problem of scarcity faced by all societies and
the
resulting need for choice, and list and explain the three fundamental
questions (what, how and for whom) that must be answered in any economy
because of scarcity
- use a production possibilities curve to illustrate opportunity
cost,
economic growth, underemployment of resources and increasing costs.
- use a graph or a numerical example to explain how supply and
demand
interact to determine the price and quantity sold of a product.
- use supply and demand analysis to show and explain the directions
of
movement of the price and quantity sold of a specified produce that
would occur as a result of a hypothetical event or an event in the news.
- explain and illustrate with a graph the effects on a market of a
government action preventing the price of a good from moving to
equilibrium and maintaining that price either above or below the
equilibrium price.
- explain price elasticity of demand and the relationship between
the
price elasticity of demand for a product and the effects of a price
change on total revenue.
- explain marginal utility, the utility maximizing rule, and the
income
and substitution effects of a price change.
- explain the law of diminishing returns and how it affects
production
and costs in the short run.
- explain implicit and explicit cost, the calculation of pure
economic
profit and the difference between economic profit and accounting profit.
- compute average fixed cost, average variable cost, average total
cost and marginal cost when given total cost data. Sketch a family of
typical short run cost curves and explain the relationships between
those curves.
- show the typical company's long run average cost curve and explain
how it is derived. Explain economies and diseconomies of scale and the
causes of each.
- list the characteristics of the four market structures (perfect
competition, pure monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly) and
give examples of each.
- explain and show, using both tables and graphs, how companies in
each of these market structures determine the price and quantity that
will maximize profits in the short run. Use the table and graph to show
the size of the profits or loss.
- explain the forces that affect each of these markets in the long
run
and explain and show graphically the long run equilibrium situation.
- explain the goals of productive efficiency, allocative efficiency,
and incentives for innovation and how successful each market structure
is in achieving those goals.
- define and calculate marginal revenue product and marginal
resource
cost and explain how an individual firm decides how many units of a
resource to use and the resource price in markets that are competitive,
unionized, and monopsonistic.
- describe and analyze the concept of comparative advantage and the
effects and costs and benefits of both restricted and unrestricted
international trade..
This is a hybrid section, meaning it includes substantial
(50%) online work combined with traditional face-to-face instructional
methods. The online portion utilizes substantial self-study, online
work, online quizzes, and online discussion. Online
participation is mandatory. More detailed information on activities,
scheduling, and methods is provided in Unit 1 of the course online.
- Quizzes
- 190 points
- Quizzes are multiple-choice and true-false question
tests
with only one
best answer for each question. Some graphs and calculations may be
involved. After completing each unit, students will complete a short
quiz of approximately 10 questions. Quizzes are administered
online through Angel. Students will be shown their score (# correct)
immediately. Students
will not be provided correct answers after
completing the quiz or later in the course. This is
necessary since
students will be taking the quizzes at different times and will also
have the opportunity to re-take quizzes. Quizzes do
not have time
limits. Any quiz may be re-taken, but each quiz may only be taken a
maximum of two times. The highest of the two quiz submissions will be
counted.
- Worksheets
- 60 points
- There will be 6 worksheet assignments worth 10 points
each.
These
worksheets are assigned in various different Units. Most, but
not all, units will have a worksheet assignment. A worksheet
consists of either a table of data and/or graph about an economic
situation or problem, or a description of an economic problem. Some
initial data is provided and students are expected to calculate the
remaining data. After completing the blank parts of the worksheet, you
will answer a short series of questions online. The data you calculate
will be needed to answer the questions. Worksheet answers may submitted
as many times as the student chooses. Worksheets will be
discussed and explained in class.
- Midterm
Test - 50 points
- A midterm in-class test of 50 questions is
taken on October 13. This tests is closed-book, timed, and
may be attempted only once. Some
graphs and calculations may be involved
- you may
want to have a simple calculator and/or scratch paper available when
you take the test.
- Final
Examination - 100 points
- The final exam will be comprehensive and will have
two
parts. The
departmental part will consist of 25 multiple choice questions and the
instructor part will be 25 questions. Each question will
count for 2 points each. The final exam will be taken in class on the
last day, December 8.
| Total
Points |
% |
Course
Grade |
| 360-400 |
90% |
4.0 |
| 340-359 |
85% |
3.5 |
| 320-339 |
80% |
3.0 |
| 300-319 |
75% |
2.5 |
| 280-299 |
70% |
2.0 |
| 260-279 |
65% |
1.5 |
| 240-259 |
60% |
1.0 |
| <
240 |
<60% |
0.0 |
No extra credit is available in this course..
College-wide policies are stated in the Lansing
Community
College Catalog and include those on attendance, withdrawals and
incomplete grades. The catalog is available on the internet at
http://www.lcc.edu/catalog/. Additional Course Practices in
this class are found on the Angel website for this course.
In keeping with the department and program policy on
late
enrollment, students may not enroll in this course after September 4,
2008.
We will be covering approximately one unit each
week. Since this is a hybrid course, it is essential that
students come prepared for class by having read the material for that
Unit. Quizzes for units may be taken as the student feels
prepared for them.
STUDENTS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO KEEP PACE WITH THE LECTURES.
All online materials, quizzes, tests, forums, and worksheets must be
completed before the final exam on Dec. 10.
The Final Exam must be taken in class Dec 8.
Attendance will be recorded in-class but doesn't count
toward the final grade. Students may determine their own schedules for
working online. Students may be
DROPPED for NON-ATTENDANCE, IF EITHER of the following occurs:
- they fail to attend class for 3 consecutive weeks without
notifying the instructor.
- they do not access the course online and do not complete
a quiz for
three whole weeks without informing the instructor of their plan
The instructor will review the participation and
submissions
of students several times throughout the semester. Students
who do not make regular submissions and do not notify the instructor of
their plans will be dropped.
LCC has changed the college policy on student
withdrawals. Students may withdraw from the course on their
own without instructor approval and without any record on their
transcript by dropping prior to Sept 2.
Between Sept
4 and Oct 14, students may withdraw on their own
but
will receive a "W" on their transcript. Between Oct 15 and Nov
24,
students must be passing and have the permission of the instructor to
withdraw. Such requests should be addressed to the instructor by email.
There can be NO WITHDRAWALS after Nov. 25. All students
remaining enrolled in the class after Nov. 25
must receive a final
course grade. The instructor can and will drop students for
non-attendance prior to Nov 25 if he sees prolonged periods of
inactivity (see Drop for Non-Attendance policy above).
Students are encouraged to assist each other in learning
and
mastering the material, particularly when dealing with the problem
worksheets. A discussion forum will be provided for this use.
Collaboration, however, is only for students to help each other
understand the material. Trading, sharing, or publishing of specific
answers to specific quiz or exam questions is prohibited and will be
considered a violation of academic integrity.
Lansing Community College has accommodations available
for
students with documented disabilities. If you need
accommodations, contact the Office of Disability Services at 483-1207
in room 2300 GVT to coordinate reasonable accommodations for documented
disabilities.
The course is divided into 14 Units. Unit 1
and Unit
14 are an introduction to the course and a summary/conclusion of the
course. The
organization of the course does not directly
follow that of the textbook chapters. Required readings for each Unit
are described in each Unit's Reading Guide. For
more
information and details see the Lessons tab and the Schedule tab of the
course website on
Angel.
For transferability information, please consult the
Transfer
Equivalency List located on the Internet at
http://www.lcc.edu/transfer. For additional transferability information
contact the LCC Counseling Services Department, (517) 483-1255. The
MACRAO Transfer Agreement simplifies the transfer of students from one
Michigan institution to another and appears in the catalog.
The very nature of higher education requires that
students
adhere to accepted standards of academic integrity. Therefore, Lansing
Community College has adopted a code academic conduct adn a statement
of student academic integrity. These may be found in the Lansing
Community College Catalog. The violations of academic integirty listed
and defined are cheeating and plagiarism. It is the student's
responsibility to be aware fo behaviors that constitute academic
dishonesty.
Classroom behavior that interferes with the
instructional
process is not tolerated. The consequences are addressed under
Administrative Withdrawal.
I wish to encourage discussion between students and
sharing of
ideas and information. One of the best methods for learning
and truly grasping economic concepts is to explain them to
others. Students are welcome to assist each other in
learning. However, the direct exchange of answers to
questions without discussion, argument, or reasoned explanation is
viewed as academic dishonesty. I reserve the right to reject
the score of any assessment that I suspect may have been obtained
dishonestly and not through student learning, even without proof of any
dishonest actions by the student. In such cases, an
alternative assessment will be made available except if it is the Final
Exam.