SYLLABUS & COURSE OUTLINE
FALL 2011-ALIEF REGULAR START 16
weeks
ECON 2301- Macroeconomics-Fall 2011
16 week session
Lecture
I. Instructor's Name: Hank Lewis, BA, MS
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MS Statistics 1991 from Baylor
MS Economics 1992 from Rice
With HCC since June 1992
With University of Phoenix since 2007
With Lonestar College since November 2009
Worked 8 years in Banking and 8 years in Actuarial Work
42 years old, married (Julie), 2 Children (Helena-8, Jason-5½), 1 dog (Chichi 1 year)
Hobbies include Cycling, Swimming, Sudoku, Videogames (Xbox/Xbox 360), Coin Collecting,
Cooking and learning Mandarin Chinese. 二年六月,我学说汉语。
Favorite Movies are mostly “Guy Comedies” such as Strange Brew, Caddyshack, The Big
Lebowski, Sideways，Superbad and The Wedding Crashers
A fan of pro-football and hockey- Packers & Texans, Canucks and Aeros
Favorite current TV Shows include Big Bang Theory, Chuck, CSI, Burn Notice, Wipeout, Fringe,
Hiccups, Dan for Mayor, Hockey Night in Canada
II. Office Location and hours:
Alief: In Classroom prior to class, after class or via Appointment at the Alief Campus.
Preferred contact method: EMAIL. I respond to all Emails within 24 hours.
E-mail: walden.lewis@hccs.edu
Alternate contact method: hlewis9@hotmail.com
Your performance in my class is very important to me. I am available to hear your concerns and just
to discuss course topics. Feel free to come by my office anytime during these hours. If you can't come
by then, just drop me an e-mail or contact me another way.
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III. Course Meeting Days, Times and Location:
Alief:
CRN Course Number and Name
Days Times
Room
55098 ECON 2301 Principles of Macroeconomics MW 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM B 143
IV. Course's Catalog Description and Prerequsites:
Macroeconomics examines the fundamentals of the American economy as it relates to social welfare.
Emphasis is on basic economic concepts and theories as they affect domestic and international markets.
This course integrates behavioral social sciences to present solutions to real world problems.
Macroeconomics includes measurements of GDP, fiscal and monetary policy. Core Curriculum course.
The primary format for this course will be via lecture in class. Additionally you need to read the chapters
prior to coming to class on related material, work homework assignments provided by the instructor via
handout sheets that will be Emailed to you, and work the APLIA Online Economic system assignments.
This course will help you to understand the kinds of markets businesses operate in as well as
how firms maximize profits subject to constraints. There are many real world applications of this
course in game theory, industrial organization, environmental economics, anti-trust law and other
areas.
The only prerequisite for this course is the equivalent of MATH 0306 which does not mean you
have to have taken the course if your scores on placement tests or other credentials allowed you
to register for the course. If you feel you do not have these necessary skills, please talk to me
today.
V. CATE criteria: There are none for this class.
VI. Format of course, objectives and methods:
Student Learning Outcomes:
1. Demonstrate knowledge concerning business cycles.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of concepts dealing with monetary
and fiscal policy.
3. Explain how to manipulate the aggregate supply/aggregate
demand model of the macroeconomy.
4. Explain unemployment and inflation data and how that data
is computed.
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5. Manipulate the basic supply and demand concepts.
Expected Outcomes and Course Goals:
Economics related- By the end of the semester the student should be able to: identify causes of changes
in supply and demand, to identify points of equilibrium in individual goods and services markets as well
as aggregate markets and the market for loanable funds; describe macroeconomic goals and methods by
which they may be achieved; explain the components of fiscal and monetary policy; describe in detail
what types of policies would be pursued by different schools of macroeconomic thought; describe certain
types of international interactions in the macro and microeconomic policies of the United States and other
nations.
XXI. Course Calendar:
Instructional Topics/Tentative Schedule: (see textbook for specific chapter topics)(Note: Instructor
reserves the right to alter this schedule to meet optimal teaching rates for student comprehension.)
It is expected that the chapters be read prior to the class meeting to which those chapters correspond. Ch
denotes chapter.
Date
Aug 29
Aug 31
Sep 5
Sep 7
Sep 12
Sep 14
Sep 19
Sep 21
Sep 26
Sep 28
Oct 3
Oct 5
Oct 10
Oct 12
Oct 17
Oct 19
Material
Mr. Hume
Mr. Hume
Catch up/Take over by Mr. Lewis
Ch 3, Algebra Review
Ch 4,Ch 5
HW # 1 Due via Aplia
Test #1 in Class
Business Cycles, Unit 2 Overview
Ch 7
Ch 6
Ch 9
Ch 10
Ch 10, Ch 11
Ch 11
Unit 2 Wrap-Up
HW #2 Due via Aplia
Date
Oct 24
Oct 26
Oct 31
Nov 2
Nov 7
Nov 9
Nov 14
Nov 16
Nov 21
Nov 23
Nov 28
Nov 30
Dec 5
Dec 7
Dec 12
Material
Test #2
Ch 12
Ch 12, 13
Ch 13, App. C
Ch. 14
Ch. 14
Ch. 15
Ch. 34
Ch 34, 35
No Class—Thanksgiving Break
Ch. 34
Article Reports Due
HW #3 Due via Aplia
Final Exam Review
Final Exam 9 AM to 11 AM
This course involves a mixture of in-class lectures, in-class problem solving, reading of the
textbook outside of class, working of homework assignment sheets, the taking of in-class unit
tests, APLIA (a web-based learning program), an article report where the student analyzes a
macroeconomic topic, and a cumulative final exam.
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Student Assessments: Final semester grade is determined by the completion of the following:
Type of graded activity/assignment
Category I:
% of total course
grade
65 %
Unit 1 Test—20% of Final Average
Unit 2 Test—20% of Final Average
Cumulative Final Exam—25% of Final Average
Category II- Homework Worked Online Via APLIA
20 %
All are 50 Multiple Choice Problems Based on Chapter Reading
Unit 1-6⅔% Unit 2-6⅔% Unit 3-6⅔%
Category III Article Report/Macroeconomic Analysis of a news article
current with the semester
Total
15 %
100%
Note: All tests are open-ended objective tests that involve solving Math-related Economic
Problems with work shown, construction of/interpretation of graphs to demonstrate economic
concepts, short essays, lists with definitions and examples/explanations or a hybrid of one or
more of the previous items. They are based largely on in-class problems and material covered in
reading the textbook.
VII. Associated websites and textbook:
Textbook: Economics 10th Edition by Roger A. Arnold. Buy the Bundled Edition with APLIA. ISBN
Number: 0538452854
On Line Subscription: Cengage APLIA- This is necessary to complete homework assignments and to
help you, the student better understand the course
Required: Textbook’s website -this site is an invaluable tool to help you begin to discover economics !
http://www.aplia.com
Department website:
http://learning.swc.hccs.edu/courses/social-behavioral-sciences/economics-homepage/
Please look at the department website for additional useful and fun economics related websites.
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VIII. Required:
Textbook: Economics 10th Edition by Roger A. Arnold. Buy the Bundled Edition with APLIA. ISBN
Number: 0538452854
On Line Subscription: Cengage/APLIA- This is necessary to complete homework assignments and to
help you, the student better understand the course.
IX. Lab times- This course has no lab, but the Connect assignments are practical problems
similar to test questions that give the student practice with applications of economics. You, the
student will find them to be very useful.
X. ADA Statement-Any student with a DOCUMENTED disability (e.g. physical, learning,
psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact
the Disability Services Office at the respective college at the beginning of each semester. Faculty are
authorized to provide ONLY the accommodations requested by the Disability Support Services
Office. If you have any questions please contact the counselor, Becky Hauri at 713-718-7909
(Southwest campus) as soon as possible to make the necessary accommodations. The counselor will
inform instructors on the recommended accommodations. If you still have questions contact Donna
Price at 713-718-5165.
The information in this publication will be made available in large print, taped or computer-based
format upon request.
Should you receive such a request, the office of Disability Support Services at your college has the
expertise and equipment necessary to accommodate it.
HCC CAMPUS CLASSES ONLY:
If you have a physical handicap that necessitates assistance during a building evacuation, contact
the instructor on the first day of class and a buddy will be assigned to you. This buddy along with
the instructor and security personnel will assist you in the unlikely event of a building evacuation.
XI. Instructors in the department welcome appropriate classroom behavior. This includes attendance as
well as verbal participation in class including, but not limited to: Answering the instructor‘s
questions, being alert and awake for each class period and refraining from inappropriate
classroom behavior. We cordially ask that you refrain from inappropriate classroom behavior
which includes, but is not limited to: Talking in class, touching or attempting to touch another
student, throwing any object at any time, interrupting the instructor or another student, being
unprepared for class by not bringing necessary materials to class.
XII. As a student active in the learning community of this course, it is your responsibility to be
respectful of the learning atmosphere in your classroom. To show respect of your fellow
students and instructor, you will turn off your phone and other electronic devices, and will not
use these devices in the classroom unless you receive permission from the instructor
XIII. Academic Honesty: A student who is academically dishonest is, by definition, not
showing that the coursework has been learned. And that student is claiming an advantage not
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available to other students. The instructor is responsible for measuring each student's individual
Achievements and also for ensuring that all students compete on a level playing field. Thus, in
our system, the instructor has teaching, grading, and enforcement roles. You are expected to be
familiar with the University's Policy on Academic honesty, found in the catalog . What that
means is: If you are charged with an offense, pleading ignorance of the rules won’t help you.
When you submit work in this class, you certify that it is your own work and that you
are not submitting the work of others or doing any of the following: Looking on another student's paper,
copying another student's work, plagiarism in any form, talking during any graded assignment, receiving
or giving unauthorized information before or during a graded assignment.
Cheating includes, but is not limited to the aforementioned items.
Basic rule: Avoid the very appearance of evil. This means avoid those things that even appear to be
cheating.
XIV. Attendance Policy: Student success is enhanced by regular class attendance. Each day
in the class in important and being in class on time is critical to achieving success. I want you to
succeed in this class and it is important to me, but it must be important to you as well. It is
requested that students first contact the instructor should any extraordinary problem occur. An
extraordinary problem is one that causes you to miss 2 or more consecutive classes or 3 or more
hours of class. Your in-class grade may suffer as a result of absences. Absences in excess of 4
class periods (6 class hours) which are unexcused for those who have not dropped or been
dropped from the class after 11/03/2011 will result in the lowering of their final grade by 5
points (½ letter grade) for every class period missed thereafter.
It is essential that you do not take a casual attitude toward course attendance and
participation. Student absences are HIGHLY correlated with LOW grades. Please come to
each class prepared to thoughtfully discuss the material for that day. Being unprepared
will likely adversely affect your grade and I want to maximize the grade you earn in this
class.
XV. HCC policy is that a student MAY be dropped from a course after 6 class hours (4 class
meetings) have been missed. YOU MUST CONTACT THE REGISTRAR’S OFFICE TO DROP
THIS CLASS. After the drop date, ALL STUDENTS WILL BE ASSIGNED THE GRADE OF
A, B, C, D, F, FX or I. The grade of I will only be assigned to student who miss the final exam
and have completed all other assignments. Check the HCC website for drop date.
XVI. NOTICE: Please be aware that students who take a course for the third time or more must
now pay significant tuition/fee increases at HCC and other Texas public colleges and
universities. At HCC it is an additional $50 per credit hour. Also, the state of Texas has passed a
new law limiting new students to no more than six withdrawals throughout their academic career
in obtaining a baccalaureate degree. If you are considering course withdrawal because you are
not earning passing grades, confer with your instructor/counselor as early as possible about your
study habits, reading and writing homework, test-taking skills, attendance, course participation,
and opportunities for tutoring or other assistance that might be available. Your success is very
important.
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XVII. Grading policy- Computation of Final Course Grade:
If your average is: 90- 100 A; 80-89 B; 70-79 C; 60-69 D; Below 60 F
Final Examination: Consult the Fall 2011 Credit Course Schedule.
XVII. Course requirements:
1. Fall 16 Week Format: Class is officially 1 hour and 30 minutes long. I will usually dismiss
class by 6:50 PM most days, however.
2 . APLIA software and internet access to use APLIA Software are required for this course.
HCC has computer labs available at all campuses for student use. Please check the specific
computer lab for days and hours of availability.
3. Tardiness: Anyone who comes to class in excess of fifteen (15) minutes late will be counted
as having half of an unexcused absence. CLASS STARTS AT 5:30 PM and you need to be in
your seat and ready to go at that time. There will not be any tolerance for students
repeatedly coming in 30 or more minutes late to class. If you come in excessively tardy
multiple times during the term, you will be withdrawn from the course based upon
exceeding 6 clock hours of absence and tardiness combined.
4. Getting up and leaving in the middle of class: If you need to go to the restroom, please do
so quietly and discreetly. If you must leave early, please let me know before class so I can make
adjustments in order to minimize any potential disturbance. Any student who leaves the room in
a disruptive manner or departs early without having informed me ahead of time or will lose five
points off their final average.
4. Tests: Tests are given at the start of class and are an hour and fifteen minutes long. Students
who finish before the time has elapsed my leave and class will resume next time.
5. "Walks": The “fifteen minute rule” is an urban legend that has been floating around college
campuses for years. However, it is not true. In the unlikely event that I am late, please take the
time to review your notes and work on your homework assignments until I arrive. If I am ill, a
substitute instructor will teach the class.
6. Homework: Each unit will include a homework assignment sheet containing 5 detailed
problems. As notes related to each individual problem are covered, those problems will be due.
Even if you are absent, you are responsible for turning in all problems as they come due.
Absolutely no homework will be accepted late unless it is due to an excused absence as defined
in the attendance policy.
7. Student Laptop Computers/Pagers/Cell Phones/Instant Messengers/Communications
Devices/MP3 Players/Misc. Electronic Games: All of the aforementioned devices MUST BE
TURNED OFF AND PUT AWAY DURING CLASS. NO EXCEPTIONS! Each incident of
a pager/cell-phone ringing and disrupting class, a student caught text messaging in class, or
using a cell phone in any way during my class will result in the student being removed from the
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class for that day and being charged with an unexcused absence for the first occurrence. For each
subsequent occurrence, the student will be removed for the class for that day, charged with an
unexcused absence AND have 5 points taken off their final average. A student caught with
their cell phone in sight on the desk, their lap or the floor looking for text messages receives
the same penalty.
8. Calculators: Recommended calculators for tests are the BA-35 Solar, BA-II Plus, TI 30XIIS or the TI-30Xa by Texas Instruments, all of which are available at office supply stores and
discount retailers. Otherwise, only basic calculators are permitted. Laptop computers, graphing
calculators (i.e. the TI-83), programmable calculators and calculators built into Cell Phones,
iPod Touch/iPhones, PDAs, and Digital diaries are prohibited in my class. Please note that
banned calculators include the TI-84, TI-86 and TI-88 calculators that you are allowed to
use in High School Math classes and on parts of the SAT!
9. All math work must be shown on homework and test problems unless otherwise stated in the directions. Leaving an answer to a math problem
without any work shown will earn you no credit for that problem. Transient students please take note of this.
10. Unless the disability counselor sends me documentation allowing an individual exception,
audio/video/electronic recording of my lectures is strictly prohibited.
XVIII. Student Learning Outcomes: As stated in section VI.
XIX. Make up policy:
Makeup tests will be administered at the HCC Testing Center at the SW College Learning Hub and must
be taken within one week of the test being missed or the test grade will be registered as a ZERO (0). It is
the student’s responsibility to consult with me in scheduling a makeup tests. Makeup tests will be of the
same FORMAT as the test given in class but will be DIFFERENT IN SPECIFIC PROBLEMS. All the
rules that apply to an in-class test will apply to a makeup test and they will be enforced by Testing Center
personnel.
XX. Instructional Objectives:
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Demonstrate the use of mathematical formulas in relation to the Economic Concepts of
Market Supply, Demand and Equilibria; GDP and National Income Accounting;
Adjustment from nominal to Real National Income Accounting Values; Calculating Rates
of Inflation; Conversion between different Currencies; and Money Creation via Monetary
Policy
Demonstrate the use and interpretation of Graphs along with their shifts in the models
for Market Supply, Demand and Equilibria; Business Cycles and related time series
graphs; Aggregate Demand, Aggregate Supply and Macroeconomic Equilibria; and
M1/MD graphs and Monetary Policy
Cover in detail the conceptual underlying ideas surrounding markets, the Macroeconomy,
problems experienced in the Macroeconomy. Fiscal and Monetary Policies and related
concepts
XXII. Other important information:
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N/A
Supplies/Necessary materials: Students should bring the following items to class daily: an alert mind, #
2 pencil, non programmable calculator (TI 30 SLR+ or the equivalent—see lists in XVII #8), pencils
and pens of at least 4 different colors one of them MUST be RED, a straight edge (ruler or protractor),
notebook or graph paper (1/5 th inch blocks or larger), the textbook. NO SIMULTANEOUS
SHARING OF CALCULATORS IS PERMITTED, EVEN IF YOU ARE FINISHED WITH YOUR
TEST.
XXIII. HCC Core Curriculum Statement: "For information regarding HCC's Core Curriculum,
see P. 46 of the HCC Catalog. For information about HCC's Social Sciences Exemplary
Educational Objectives, see P. 59-60 of the HCC Catalog."
XXIV. EGLS3 -- Evaluation for Greater Learning Student Survey System
At Houston Community College, professors believe that thoughtful student feedback is necessary
to improve teaching and learning. During a designated time, you will be asked to answer a short
survey of research-based questions related to instruction. The anonymous results of the survey
will be made available to your professors and division chairs for continual improvement of
instruction. Look for the survey as part of the Houston Community College Student System
online near the end of the term.
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