ECONOMICS 2010 PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS Dunbar Hall: 3206. Tuesday and Thursday 6:30 – 7:45 pm Instructor: Johanna Retana Attoh OFFICE: 5409 Friedmann Hall EMAIL: johanna.r.attoh@wmich.edu PHONE: (269) 387-­‐5559 OFFICE HOURS: Monday and Wednesday, 10:00am-­‐noon and by appointment Course Description: This course covers the Principles of Microeconomics. It provides students with the fundamental knowledge of what Microeconomics is, and what are the main issues in that field. Microeconomics speaks to the theory behind individual markets for particular goods, services, and factors of production. It also examines the decision-­‐making processes of individual consumers and firms. Representative questions to be answered in this course are: How does a consumer decide what to consume, given limited income? How does a firm know how to maximize profit? How are prices determined? What is the effect of a tax on a market? How can taxes be used to mitigate market side effects, such as pollution? What happens when one firm has complete market power? And so on. Economic discussion has become increasingly prevalent in daily life, and it is important to understand the topics being debated in the world around you. Required Materials: (1) The text for the class is Principles of Microeconomics, Sixth Edition by N. Gregory Mankiw (2) i>clicker. Available at the WMU bookstore. If your clicker is not already registered, you must register it at www.iclicker.com. (3) Working account at saplinglearning.com (The instructions are on the last page of this syllabus) COURSE EXPECTATIONS Much of this course is cumulative, with each period's lesson being dependent on comprehension of what was covered in the classes before. Falling behind will make this a much more difficult course. There are several ways to keep up: • Make sure you read each assignment prior to coming to class. • Spend five or ten minutes directly prior to the start of each class looking over the material from the previous class. • The course website (https://www.saplinglearning.com) contains PowerPoint slides for each lecture. Be sure to print the relevant slides prior to coming to class. If you find yourself falling behind, please see me. My posted office hours list the times that you are guaranteed to find me in my office. However, if you have a conflict, you may arrange a meeting time outside office hours. CLASS POLICIES (1) Attendance is mandatory. Attendance and participation are an integral part of the learning process, and success in this course cannot be achieved by simply reading the text. In addition i>clicker points can only be obtained by your answering of in-­‐class questions. (2) Bring a calculator (3) Turn off your cell phone. (4) No iPods or earphones. (5) Avoid arriving late and carrying on private conversations during class. (6) You can use your laptop for taking notes. You cannot use your laptop for non-­‐class related activities. WEBSITE: (1) http://saplinglearning.com is the website that we’ll use through the semester. All graded homework assignments and quizzes will be found on this site. Additional practice homework, graphing analysis, and other work will be placed on this site. Also, it will be used as a communication tool, I’ll post dates for coming exams, homework and quizzes, copy of the syllabus, practice assignments, power-­‐point presentations, and answer keys. In addition, your grades will be posted on this site. GRADING Your grade will be based on homework, class participation, quizzes, and examinations. Examinations 60% (Three exams, 20% each) Homework 15% Quizzes 15% Class participation 10% HOMEWORK There will be a homework assignment every week of the semester except exam week. HW assignments are on the Sapling Learning website. Homework Assignments are due 11:59 PM on Sundays. QUIZZES The quizzes are designed to help you understand the concepts covered in class. They also prepare you for the exams. There are no make-­‐ups for quizzes and a grade of zero is given for each missed quiz. Everything presented in class and in the assigned reading is considered "fair game" on quizzes. Quizzes are on the Sapling Learning website Quizzes are due 11.59 PM on Wednesdays PARTICIPATION 1. Your class participation will be tracked with your i>clicker. 2. You will receive both participation points (for answering questions) and performance points (getting these questions correct). Register your iClicker at www.iclicker.com with your BRONCO ID, NOT WIN Number. The use of multiple i>clickers to record answers for absent students constitutes a violation of the WMU academic dishonesty policy. If caught, you will be subject to the WMU Academic Dishonesty, with the possible consequence of course Failure if found guilty. EXAMINATIONS 1) There will be three (3) examinations. The last examination will be a final examination. Each examination will be worth 20% of your grade. 2) All exams are closed book and notes; you may use only a simple calculator (No cell phones or any other electronic device). 3) There will be NO MAKE-­‐ UP EXAMS. If you miss an exam the weight moves to the final exam. 4) Missing an exam, or failing to notify me prior to missing an exam voids this policy, and a grade of 0 will be assigned for that exam. Dates for Exams are shown on the tentative schedule, on the next page. 5) You are requested to show a picture ID every time you take a test in this class. You must show your ID as you exit after you have completed your exam. 6) Bring a number two (2) pencil and eraser to each examination. Hats, other head coverings, and headphones are prohibited during examination periods. 7) The final examination will be held on Tuesday December 10th from 7:15 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. GRADING SCALE The tentative grading scale is: A(90-­‐100%), BA(86-­‐89.9%), B(80-­‐85.9%), CB(76-­‐79.9%), C(70-­‐75.9%), DC(66-­‐69.9%), D(60-­‐65.9%), E (<60%). SPECIAL NEEDS If you are a student who needs special assistance in the administration of examinations, please notify me in writing by September 24th, 2013. EXTRA CREDIT Extra credit opportunities may or may not be available throughout the semester. Extra credit will not be assigned on an individual basis. I reserve the right to offer extra credit to the class as a whole. This decision will be largely based on overall class performance. Also, no extra credit will be assigned after final grades are posted ACADEMIC INTEGRITY You are responsible for making yourself aware of and understanding the policies and procedures in the Undergraduate Catalog that pertain to Academic Honesty. These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. [The policies can be found at http://catalog.wmich.edu under Academic Policies, Student Rights and Responsibilities.] If there is reason to believe you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct. PRELIMINARY COURSE OUTLINE Below is the outline of the topics covered in this course. I provide as much detail as possible so that you know where we are in the course and can easily catch up if you have to miss a class. Please be aware, however, that we might diverge from this a little bit just based on the pace of the course. Under no circumstances will you be tested on material that we haven’t gotten to in class. Week Topic Required Reading 09/02 Part 1: Introduction Chapter 1 Class Mechanics, Welcome to Economics 09/09 Basic Models Chapter 2 09/16 Gains from Trade Chapter 3 09/23 Supply and Market Equilibrium Chapter 4 09/30 Comparative Statics and Elasticity Chapter 5 10/07 Exam I (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 10/14 Government Intervention Chapter 6 10/21 10/28 11/04 11/11 11/18 11/25 12/02 12/10 Part II: Markets and Welfare. Surplus and Market Efficiency Welfare analysis of Taxes Trade Analysis Chapter 7 Part IV: The Economics of the Public Sector Externalities Exam II: (Chapters 6,7, 8, 9, 10) Chapter 10 Unit V: Firm Behavior Production Function and Revenue Perfect Competition and Profit Maximization. Monopoly Final Exam: (Chapters 13, 14, 15) Chapter 13 Chapter 14, 15 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Sapling Learning Instructions Western Michigan University-­‐ECON2010-­‐FALL13-­‐RETANA ATTOH 1. Go to http://saplinglearning.com and click "US Higher Ed" at the top right. 2a. If you already have a Sapling Learning account, log in then skip to step 3. 2b. If you have Facebook account, you can use it to quickly create a SaplingLearning account. Click the blue button with the Facebook symbol on it (just to the left of the username field). The form will auto-­‐fill with information from your Facebook account (you may need to log into Facebook in the popup window first). Choose a password and timezone, accept the site policy agreement, and click "Create my new account". You can then skip to step 3. 2c. Otherwise, click "Create Account". Supply the requested information and click "Create my new account". Check your email (and spam filter) for a message from Sapling Learning and click on the link provided in that email. 3. Find your course in the list (you may need to expand the subject and term categories) and click the link. 4. Select a payment option and follow the remaining instructions. 5. When prompted, enter the key code for your course: 6. Work on the Sapling Learning training materials. The activities, videos, and information pages will familiarize you with the Sapling Learning user environment and serve as tutorials within the Sapling Learning answer modules. These training materials are already accessible in your Sapling Learning course. Once you have registered and enrolled, you can log in at any time to complete or review your homework assignments. During sign up -­‐ and throughout the term -­‐ if you have any technical problems or grading issues, send an email to support@saplinglearning.com explaining the issue. The Sapling support team is almost always better able to resolve technical issues than your instructor.