U of M: ECON 1010: Introduction to Microeconomic Principles - Section A03, Winter Term, 2015
Class location and time: 306 Tier, TR 1:00-2:15
CRN: 26145
Instructor: Ryan Godwin
email: ryan.godwin@umanitoba.ca (include Econ 1010 in subject)
Office hour: Thursday 3:00 – 4:00 (or by appointment), Room 646, Fletcher Argue
Course Description
Microeconomics studies decision making at the level of the individual person, household, or firm.
Microeconomic topics covered in this course include market equilibrium, consumer and firm behaviour, and
market structure and performance. This course satisfies a prerequisite for a number of more specialized courses
in economics at the second year level.
Required textbooks and learning materials
McConnell, C.R., Brue, S.L, Flynn, S.M., and Barbiero, T.P. 2013. Microeconomics, thirteenth Canadian
edition. McGraw-Hill Ryerson: Toronto. With accompanying electronic supports: Connect and Lyryx.
Lyryx is the website where you will complete your assignments (“labs”). Purchase of Lyryx is optional but
strongly recommended (see: Evaluation). Connect is a web-based study program that includes various tools to
assist you in reviewing material and assessing your mastery of course content. An e-book is included. If you
prefer, you can purchase only Connect and Lyryx. In this case, you will not have a hard copy of the text book.
You can purchase Connect and Lyryx access cards at the UM Bookstore.
Evaluation
There are two grading options. Option A includes on-line labs for each chapter that we cover, and are completed
through Lyryx.com. Under Option B, your grade consists of only the in-class tests and exams. At the end of the
term, your grade will be calculated under both Options, and the highest outcome will automatically be
selected for you. There is no need to ask me.
Lyryx assignments
2 Fall term tests
April exam
approximately one/chapter
Feb. 5th, Mar. 17th
April exam period
OPTION
A
B
10%
0%
45%
50%
45%
50%
Notes about evaluation
 Choose wisely. If you decide to forego the Lyryx assignments, you cannot change your mind later, as you
will not be able to make up previous assignments. Each assignment may only be completed within a certain
time frame.
 Lab assignments will be based on content from the textbook. The tests and exams will also cover textbook
content, however, the most important subjects will be emphasized in-class.
 If you have documentation supporting a medical or compassionate reason, a missed assignment or test will
result in either make-up work, or the reweighting of your grade. Otherwise, a missed assignment or test will
result in a mark of zero.
 The grading scale for the course is: A+ 100-92, A 91.9-85, B+ 84.9-78, B 77.9-71, C+ 70.9-64, C 63.9-57,
D 56.9-50, F 49.9-0
 March 19th is the last day for Voluntary Withdrawal from courses in Winter Term 2015.
 Students appealing any term work, whether it be an informal or formal appeal, must appeal their term work
within 10 working days of receiving their mark.
Course Website
Course resources (including lecture notes) will be available through a website. You should also check the site
regularly for announcements. The course website can be accessed at:
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~godwinrt/1010/
Lyryx for lab assignments
Lab assignments will occur about once per week. You will complete and submit your lab assignment in Lyryx.
Lyryx will mark your work, and submit your marks to me. You must register for Lyryx before you can use it.
Keep an eye on the due dates for lab assignments, and check Lyryx often. When you submit your lab assignment
for marking, Lyryx will show you your mark, along with the correct answers. You can attempt the lab
assignment as many times as you wish prior to the due date. It is feasible to score 100% on every assignment
in the course.
There will be a window of approximately 10 days in which you can complete the lab assignments. This window
is in place partly to accommodate computer connection/technical difficulties, which are not valid reasons to miss
a lab assignment. Contact Lyryx support for help with any technical difficulties: http://lyryx.com/support.html
Academic Integrity
Students should acquaint themselves with the University’s policy on plagiarism, cheating, exam personation,
(“Personation at Examinations” (Section 5.2.9) and “Plagiarism and Cheating” (Section 8.1)) and duplicate
submission by reading documentation provided at the Arts Student Resources web site at
http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/student/index.html. Ignorance of the regulations and policies regarding
academic integrity is not a valid excuse for violating them.
Classroom Conduct
Please be mindful of the other students around you. Any conduct that is deemed to be disruptive to a learning
environment will not be tolerated. This includes cell phone, tablet, and computer use within the classroom.
Tentative Course Outline - Microeconomics text chapters to be tentatively covered during the fall term:
1. Limits, Alternatives, and Choices (+ Appendix)
2. The Market System and the Circular Flow
3. Demand, Supply, and Market Equilibrium (+ Appendix)
4. Elasticity
5. Market Failures: Public Goods and Externalities
6. Consumer Choice and Utility Maximization (+ Appendix)
7. The Firm and the Costs of Production
8. Perfect Competition in the Short Run
9. Perfect Competition in the Long Run
10. Monopoly
11. Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly (+ Appendix)
Regulations Regarding the Retention and Disposal of Term Work
Information regarding the breakdown of grades assigned to a student in a given course (i.e., grades assigned for
term work, class participation, final examination, etc.) must be retained by the instructor and/or the respective
department for three years following the end of term in which the course was taken.
No student will be permitted to submit term work for assessment to the instructor (and term work should not be
returned to students) by any means which allows unrestricted and unauthorized public access to the term work.
For example, term papers, term tests or other written assignments should not be received or returned from a box
outside the instructor’s office door, but a student could provide a self-addressed stamped envelope for return of
the term work.
Unreturned term work must be kept in a secure and confidential department area for a minimum of four (4)
months following the end of the course and until destroyed by confidential measures. The Final day of the
University’s Final Examination period each term is considered as the last day of the term. Instructors shall
include on their course outlines a statement to the effect that unreturned term work will become the property of
the Faculty of Arts and will be subject to confidential destruction.