ECON 2301-80 PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS (MACRO)
Online Office Hours: Thursdays 1:20-2:30, Wednesdays 7:00pm-9:00pm and by appt
Course: online 24/7
Virtual class hours: online 24/7
OFFICE HRS: This will be based on student’s response. I will post these times on Monday as
soon as I collate all orientation emails.
Instructor Information
Name:
Fran Lara Garib
EMAIL:
To maintain a paper trail all communications should be via email. Always cc all emails to
franlara@att.blackberry.net and lara.garib@lsco.edu
CELL NUMBER 713 775 4898. Text or call me if you have any concerns
Aplia Webpage: www.aplia.com (a username and a password are required to access this course site).
Aplia Support http://www.aplia.com/support/index.jsp
Required Textbook: Principles of Economics, Mankiw (5h edition) with Aplia Enrollment
Supplementary Materials: simple handheld calculator
EVALUATION METHOD:
Grading
Exams
56%
Assignments Include but not limited to:
Aplia Home Work
Discussion Boards
Quizzes
35%
Chapter summary and progress reports
10%
Course Requirements
Orientation This will help you to master this course
Your orientation is compulsory. Although some assignments are graded, these marks will not go
against you. It is an introduction to the Aplia interface and helps you to understand how Aplia works.
LAMAR STATE COLLEGE-ORANGE
ECON 2301-80 PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS (MACRO)
FALL1 2010
DO THE PUBLISHER”S POWERPOINT ACTIVITIES ON EACH CHAPTER. You will have access
to the required text through your Aplia account. If you require a Physical textbook, CALL ME.
Weekly Check-ins (10% of Final Grade)
By the Thursday of each week you must send me an email. This email will be your progress report;
let me know what you have done for the week and state any questions or difficulties you may have. In
your OWN use examples to describe the chapter’s concepts. DO NOT COPY AND PASTE. This is
palgerism and will result in “F” PLEASE CC ALL EMAILS TO
franlara@att.blackberry.net
Include the chapters you have read.
The assignments completed
Discussion Posts
Include the concepts that you have difficulties comprehending; cite pages if necessary
Examples of progress reports:
Hi, Prof. Lara,
This is John Smith. I just finished reading Ch. 4 about how markets work. I understand that a market
economy works because of prices. In my own life, when McDonald's started their $1 for any size drink
promotion, I found myself demanding (consuming) more large drinks, which I think is a move along the
Demand curve. And when doctors reported on the healthful benefits of dark chocolate over milk
chocolate, I noticed Hershey's Special (dark chocolate) bars didn't go on sale when Hershey's regular
(milk chocolate) candy bars did; Which meant that the demand for regular Hershey’s fell (shift to the
left) and the demand for dark increased (shift to the right). This rightward shift caused a movement up
along the Supply curve
Copy
Exams (56% of final grade)
There will be approximately four online exams which are all open book and they are not timed. You
must complete both attempts by the given due date and time. You may do a few problems a day
or do a few exam questions as you cover the chapter. .
Each exam will count for 12% of your final grade. The exam which you do your best will count for an
additional 5%, For example, if your do your best on the exam 4, then your grade on exam 1, exam 2. 3
and exam 4 will count for 12%, 12%, 12% and 20% respectively. If you do your best on exam 2 then
your grades on exam 1, 2, 3 and 4 will be 12%, 20%, 12% and 12% respectively. I will give you at
least one week notice for your exams. You must score at least 50% to access your second attempt.
There is an excel spreadsheet attachment that you may use to calculate your grades. Simply enter, the
data required and you will see your current grade.
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LAMAR STATE COLLEGE-ORANGE
ECON 2301-80 PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS (MACRO)
FALL1 2010
Chapters
Tests
1, 2, 3, 4
1
2
attempts
23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28
2
2
attempts
29, 30, 31, 32
3
2
attempts
33, 34, 35, 36
4
2
attempts
Assignments 35%
Student’s Responsibility
DO YOUR HOME WORK. This is a college level class and requires self-motivation, discipline,
and total commitment. Review all lecture notes, PowerPoint slideshows, and assigned readings.
Students spend on average four hours per assignments each week on this course
Aplia
We will use a commercial website called Aplia, which provides a series of problem sets integrated with
the Mankiw text. In practice, you will spend much more time at Aplia than you will at the course's D2L
site. The entire textbook is available at Aplia in FlashPaper form, which can be read online or printed.
You will also have 2 homework assignments per chapter at Aplia; thirty -five percent of your grade is
from your Aplia assignments; (DO NOT BLOW IT OFF). These assignments are time sensitive. You
must register online at www.aplia.com, go to your respective class time, and do the assigned work. You
must FINISH your assignment before the deadline. If you are in the middle of your work and the
deadline passes, APLIA WILL BAR YOU FROM COMPLETING THAT ASSIGNMENT resulting in
a zero for the assignment.
Aplia Policies
Aplia Assignments: Each graded problem set has a firm due date. You can change your answers as
many times as you like before the due date has passed. Once the due date has passed, the grade will be
recorded and it will not be possible to change your answers or complete the assignment at this point. In
other words, Aplia assignments must be completed by the due date. The software does not care whether
you have an excuse or not. After the due date, you will be able to see the correct answers and the
explanation for graded problems.
In addition to graded assignments, you will also be able to do regular practice assignments on Aplia.
The practice problem sets offer immediate feedback and you will often find it useful to do the practice
problems before attempting the graded problems. Your score on these practice assignments do not affect
your grade in any way.
The introductory assignments will walk you through the differences between graded and practice
assignments and familiarize you with the logistics of Aplia.
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LAMAR STATE COLLEGE-ORANGE
ECON 2301-80 PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS (MACRO)
FALL1 2010
Technical Support: If you have questions about registering or using the Aplia website, please contact
Aplia by clicking the Aplia Support link at the bottom of any Aplia page or by e-mailing
support@aplia.com. You will receive a response in one business day.
Technical Problems, "Skips" and Makeups: Aplia should work perfectly on any of the machines in a
campus computer lab. It should also work properly on most home computers, assuming you have the
required plug-ins. The Configuration Test should handle any of these issues.
I understand that technical problems and other circumstances will sometimes arise that prevent you from
completing a particular assignment. However, it is impossible for me to "back up" the due date for an
assignment to accommodate these problems after the due date has passed. If you miss a due date, you
will receive a zero for that particular assignment, without exception.
To soften the impact of unforeseen contingencies, you are allowed to "skip" one assignments without
penalty; I will simply drop them when calculating your grade. If you complete all of the Aplia
assignments, (so that you have no zeros to skip), I will drop your two lowest homework scores at the end
of the semester.
These "skips" are intended to be used to cover any and all circumstances that prevent you from
completing an Aplia assignment on time. The following hypothetical circumstances provide some
examples of student excuses and how they relate to Aplia:
I added the class late. --- Use a skip.
My internet connection crashed. --- Use a skip.
My computer was broken. --- Use a skip.
I was in the hospital.---Use a skip
The above list makes the skip policy clear. There is no shame in having to miss an assignment. It will
undoubtedly happen to many people over the semester. Missing one assignment will not hurt your grade.
COURSE OUTLINE WITH RESPECTIVE APLIA ASSIGNMENTS
ORIENTATION/APLIA FAMILIARIZATION
1) Introduction to Using Aplia Problem Sets
2) Thinking Like an Economist
34/Graded
30/Graded
Chapter 2
Assignments (Tentative)
3) Interdependence and the Gains from Trade
Chapter 3
4) Border Security Tradeoffs Uses a PPF/PPC-style diagram
5) The Market Forces of Supply and Demand
Chapter 4
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LAMAR STATE COLLEGE-ORANGE
ECON 2301-80 PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS (MACRO)
FALL1 2010
6) When It Comes to Buying Textbooks, Students Do Their Homework
7) Application: The Costs of Taxation
Chapter 8
8) The design of the tax system
Chapter 12
9) How Effective Are Cigarette Taxes?
10) Application: International Trade
Chapter 9
11) News Analysis: Hung-Up on Hanger Tariffs
12) Measuring a Nation's Income
Chapter 23
13) Measuring the Cost of Living
Chapter 24
14) Production and Growth
Chapter 25
15) The Most Important Economic Indicator
16) Saving, Investment, and the Financial System
Chapter 26
17) The Basic Tools of Finance
Chapter 27
18) Unemployment
Chapter 28
19) French Riots - Are Labor Policies Part of the Problem?
20) The Monetary System
Chapter 29
21) Money Growth and Inflation
Chapter 30
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LAMAR STATE COLLEGE-ORANGE
ECON 2301-80 PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS (MACRO)
FALL1 2010
22) Open-Economy Macroeconomics: Basic Concepts
Chapter 31
23) A Macroeconomic Theory of the Open Economy
Chapter 32
24) Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply
Chapter 33
25) The Macroeconomic Effects of Hurricane Katrina
26) The Influence of Monetary and Fiscal Policy on Aggregate Demand
Chapter 34
27) The Short-Run Trade-off between Inflation and Unemployment
Chapter 35
28) Nobel Recipient Edmund Phelps: Dynamiter of Conventional Wisdom Edmund Phelps, the 2006 recipient
29) Five Debates over Macroeconomic Policy
Chapter 36
Grading Scale
90% - 100% A
80% - 89% B
70% - 79% C
60% - 69% D
0% - 59% F
Make-up Policy:
No make up EXAMS
Classroom Policies:
Since face to face meetings in the classroom are replaced by online meetings through any or all
of the following methods: discussion boards, emails, chat, and whiteboard, students are expected to
follow the rules of netiquette in these forums. (Netiquette rules are available in the D2L tutorials)
Attendance:
Your chapter progress reports, active participation in the discussion board will be considered in
lieu of physical attendance.
http://www.lsco.edu/Students/StudentHandbook/Students_Handbook_page9_16.htm#class
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LAMAR STATE COLLEGE-ORANGE
ECON 2301-80 PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS (MACRO)
FALL1 2010
Important dates such as Withdrawals and Drops:
Fall - 2010
August 2010
8/23
8/23-25
8/27
First class day for fall semester and 8-week Session I
Schedule revisions and/or late registration with penalty fee
Application process for December 2010 graduation begins
September 2010
9/6
9/8
Labor Day - No Classes (buildings closed)
9/20
Last day to drop or withdraw from 8-week Session I with a Q or W
9/27
Last day to drop or withdraw from 8-week Session I with academic
penalty
Last day to drop or withdraw from fall semester without academic
penalty
Last day to petition for No Grade
October 2010
10/15
12th Class Day - no penalty for dropping
Last Day to apply for Grade Replacement
Last class day for 8-week Session I
Last day to register for 8-week Session II
10/18
First class day for 8-week Session II
10/28
Early advisement begins
November 2010
11/1
Last day to drop/withdraw from fall classes with penalty
11/2
Last day to apply for December graduation
11/8
Registration for Spring 2011 begins
11/13
Last day to pay for diploma, cap and gown
11/15
Last day to drop or withdraw from 8-week Session II with a Q or W
11/22
Last day to drop or withdraw from 8-week Session II
11/24
Thanksgiving Holiday recess begins after evening classes (buildings
closed 25-28)
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LAMAR STATE COLLEGE-ORANGE
ECON 2301-80 PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS (MACRO)
FALL1 2010
11/29
Classes resume at 7:00 a.m.
December 2010
12/7
Last class day for fall semester and 8-week Session II
12/8
Final Exam Review Day (no exams or assignments); Finals begin at 5
p.m.
12/9-14
12/15
Final examinations
12/16
Winter mini-session begins--9 class periods
12/17
Commencement
12/22-31
Holiday Break (buildings closed)
Last day to register and pay for winter mini-session
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