ECO 105 (4 credit hrs)
Principles of Economics
Syllabus
Summer, 2015
Dr. Adrienne Ohler
Office: Stevenson 426F
E-mail: aohler@ilstu.edu (expected response time within 24 hrs M-Th)
SkypeID: aohlerISUecon
Online Office Hours: By Appointment
PREREQUISITES: The course has no pre-requisite. However, quantitative reasoning, graphical
analysis, and some basic algebra will be used throughout, so students are encouraged to brush up on
these skills (see appendix A in the required textbook).
CLASS WEBSITE: https://reggienet.illinoisstate.edu (gradebook, discussion board)
HOMEWORK WEBSITE (MyEconLab): http://pearsonmylabandmastering.com/ (textbook,
homeworks, and tests) Your computer will need the most recent version of JAVA to complete
homework assignments.
REQUIRED TEXT: Survey of Economics. Principles, Applications, and Tools. By O’Sullivan,
Sheffrin and Perez. 6th Edition, Pearson. (online access)
REQUIRED SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS: MyLab/Mastering by Pearson
To enroll in this course, you need to:
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Register as a student at: http://pearsonmylabandmastering.com/
Student access code, a valid credit card, or a PayPal account–Students can buy access to
a course online with a credit card or PayPal account while they are enrolling.
The cost is approximately $105 with the e-textbook.
Important: The student access code is nontransferable and can be used only once.
Course ID – ohler55297
Email address – Your registration and enrollment confirmation will be sent to this email
address. This address is also available to the instructor, for course-based communications.
The homework website will be used to post homework assignments, which the student will solve
and submit online. In addition, the instructor highly encourages students to take full advantage of
learning features available in the homework website (see the MyEconLab learning aids video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvzCcUr3xJo , and other helpful hints and tips at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKc7ng9kwb0 ). To access the homework website you will need
to follow the enrollment instructions below
TIME REQUIREMENTS: Reading the book, watching instructional videos, participating in
homeworks and online discussions are critically important because it helps you to practice and learn
economics. As such, this class is a 4 credit class for a 6 week course. You should expect to spend
20-25 hours each week working on activities related to this course or 4-5 hours per day M-F. New
modules are released every Friday at 11:00pm. Homeworks will be due every day, except when
you are taking a quiz or exam. Four discussions will be posted each week for you to discuss and
comment on. Exams and quizzes will be opened in the morning of the assigned date, and must be
completed by within 48 hours.
ASSESSMENT: Your grade in the course will be based on your participation in discussion, twenty
homeworks, four quizzes, ReggieNet questions and four exams. Your grade should reflect your
understanding of economic reasoning, theories, and concepts. Homeworks are meant to help you
learn, but most of your understanding is revealed through the quizzes and exams.
COURSE GRADE:
Class Discussion 4% - ReggieNet
ReggieNet Questions 2% - ReggieNet
Quizzes 10% - MyEconLab
Homework 20% - MyEconLab
Study Plan 0% - MyEconLab (optional but highly recommended)
Exams 64% - MyEconLab
GRADING SCALE: The grading scale for the course is:
A range:
90-100%
B range:
80-89.99%
C range:
70-79.99%
D range:
60-69.99%
F range:
equal to or less than 59.99%
I.
Class Participation & Discussion: Discussion topics are posted with each module on
ReggieNet website under Communication– Discussions.
a. You are required to post in at least one discussion each week, and provide a
comment on at least one other student’s post, even if it is to simply correct their
grammar.
b. Discussion grades are recorded and are taken down after each exam. Grades are
based on the following criteria. 1) Understanding of the concept. 2) Correct use of
examples to demonstrate the concept. 3) Uses correct punctuation and grammar. 4)
Clearly written and sentence structure makes sense.
II.
ReggieNet Questions: Different instructors explain economic concepts using different
examples. To gain a more full understanding of the concepts, you are required to watch
instructional videos on ReggieNet and answer one or two questions from the videos.
Each of the videos are between 5~10 minutes long.
III.
Quizzes: This is an opportunity for you to build confidence in your economic
knowledge and show off your skills. Quizzes should be a signal to yourself of how
much you still need to practice the homeworks and study plan. Quizzes are like the
‘regular season’ and tests are like the ‘play-offs’. You can play badly all season long and
still do well during the play-offs, it’s just really rare.
a. You will take 4 quizzes throughout the semesters. The quizzes are timed and
students are expected to complete them in one sitting, (60 minutes).
b. NO MAKE-UP QUIZZES WILL BE ALLOWED.
IV.
Homeworks: Like sports, hobbies, or foreign languages, learning economics require lots
of practice to master. If you do not practice your statistics by doing the homeworks, you
will NOT do well on the exams.
a. You will complete 24 homework assignments throughout the semester. Only 20
count toward your final grade. The lowest 4 homework scores are dropped.
b. The online problems allow you to re-attempt problems a maximum of 2 tries.
c. Additionally, you can always review past homeworks to study for the exams.
d. NO MAKE-UP HOMEWORKS WILL BE ALLOWED.
V.
Study Plan: MyEconLab provides additional questions to help prepare you for the
quizzes and exams. Answering these questions will not count toward your grade, but is
highly recommended. There is a very strong correlation between a student’s exam score
and how many questions they answer on the study plan. That is, students who spend a
lot of time on the study plan tend to do better on the exam.
VI.
Exams: You will take 4 exams and a cumulative final. Only your 4 highest scores count
toward your final grade. The lowest exam score is dropped.
a. Each exam will consist of a combination of multiple-choice questions and shortanswer problems that require the use of graphical and algebraic analysis.
b. The exams are timed and students are expected to complete them in one sitting, (90
minutes for a regular exam and 120 minutes for the final).
c. You will have 48 hours to complete the exam.
d. NO MAKE-UP EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN unless arrangements have been made
with me prior to the regularly scheduled exam.
EXTRA CREDIT: No additional extra credit will be offered. Please don’t ask.
Disability Resource Accommodation: Reasonable accommodations are available for students
who have a documented disability. Please notify the instructor the first week of class of any
accommodations needed for the course. Late notification may cause the requested accommodations
to not be available. Any student needing to arrange a reasonable accommodation for a
documented disability should contact Disability Concerns at 350 Fell Hall, 309-438-5853, or visit
the website at http://disabilityconcerns.illinoisstate.edu/
Academic Honesty: Cheating, plagiarism, collusion, abuse of resource materials, and their
consequences are defined and described in ISU Undergraduate Catalog 2008-2010, Section:
Academic Policies and Practices, Article: Academic Integrity (Page 57) and Code of Student
Conducts under X.C. Disciplinary Bodies And Procedures -- Academic Honesty Cases.
Disclaimer: This syllabus is subject to change to facilitate instructional and/or student needs.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Economics is the social science of choices about the allocation of
scarce resources, whether an individual, a firm, a government or a bigger group makes these
choices. ECO 105 will introduce to you what it means to “think like an economist.” We will begin
with the foundations that underlie all of economics. We then divide and explore the two broad
divisions within economics:

Microeconomics, which looks at individual agents’ behaviors and their interactions in
markets. This part of the course will introduce the student to the theoretical analysis of how
decisions of consumers, business firms, and government policy makers determine products,
prices, and incomes in the market.
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Macroeconomics focuses on broad trends in the economy such as a nation’s productivity and
income (determination of the Gross Domestic Product, GDP), unemployment, inflation, and
growth. In addition, the student will also be introduced to the role of government’s fiscal and
monetary policies.
COURSE GOAL AND OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to: (a) demonstrate the economic
principles that attempt to clarify the complex
choices that households, businesses, and societies
make in their pursuit
of happiness and greater common good, (b) explain and analyze the role of
markets, government, and other institutions in our lives, (c) critically evaluate and analyze
economic issues encounter in our daily lives and describe the tools and methodologies that
economists use as social
scientists in trying to remediate such issues.
Addressing Challenges: Some of the challenges include the following:
 Many economic ideas and concepts are complex, difficult, and/or counterintuitive. You are
going to have to work hard in learning economics.
 Many students have difficulty with the underlying mathematics (such as fractions, decimals,
and algebraic formulas), and that difficulty interferes with learning the related economic
content.
 The language used in economics includes many familiar words but with different or more
precise meanings than students use. For example: economic cost, demand, supply,
unemployment, capital are introduced to students as new vocabulary words with statistical
definitions, yet students often resort to their own familiar interpretations of these terms.
 Students equate economics with understanding businesses, Wall Street, and the government.
They expect the focus to be on memorizing definitions, building a business model, or
criticizing government objectives. Rather, the focus is on problem solving, word problems,
calculations, computations, and one right answer. They are uncomfortable with logic, word
problems, linear thought processes, and theoretical model building.
Week
Date
1 – Monday
5/18
Tuesday
5/19
Wednesday
5/20
Thursday
5/21
Friday
5/22
2 – Monday
5/25
Tuesday
5/26
Wednesday
5/27
Thursday
5/28
Friday
5/29
3 – Monday
6/1
Tuesday
6/2
Material
Action Items
Module 1 – The Theory of the Market
Chapter 0 – Getting Familiar with
1. Read Register for MyEconLab
MyEconLab
2. Fill out the “Introduce Yourself” on
Chapter 1 – What is Economics?
ReggieNet
3. Watch Video 1.A attached to HW1
4. Homework 1
5. Read Chapter 1
6. Watch Videos 1.1- 1.3 attached to
HW2
7. Homework 2
Chapter 2 – Key Principles of
1. Read Chapter 2
Economics – Supply and Demand
2. Watch Videos 2.1- 2.5
3. Homework 3
Chapters 1 & 2
1. Contribute to Online Discussion –
Module 1 Part A
2. Watch Videos on ReggieNet and
Answer Questions
3. Quiz 1 (60 minutes)
Chapter 3 – Supply and Demand
1. Read Chapter 3
Shifters and Equilibrium Price
2. Watch Videos 3.1- 3.6
3. Homework 4
Chapter 4 – Demand Elasticity,
1. Read Chapter 4.1-4.3
Applications, and Total Revenue
2. Watch Videos 4.1-4.3
3. Homework 5
Chapter 4 – Other Elasticities, Supply
1. Read Chapter 4.4-4.6
Elasticity, and Applications
2. Watch Videos 4.4-4.6
3. Homework 6
Chapters 1-4 – Theory of the Market
1. Contribute to Online Discussion –
Module 1 Part B
2. Watch Videos on ReggieNet and
Answer Questions
3. Exam 1 (90 minutes)
Module 2 – The Theory of the Firm and Industrial Organization
Chapter 5 – Production Technology and 1. Read Chapter 5
Cost
2. Watch Videos 5.1-5.4
3. Homework 7
Chapter 6 – Firm’s Short-Run Decision, 1. Read Chapter 6.1- 6.3
Shut-Down Decision, and Market
2. Watch Videos 6.1- 6.3
Structures
3. Homework 8
Chapter 6 – Short-Run & Long-Run
1. Read Chapter 6.4-6.7
Supply Curves,
2. Watch Videos 6.4-6.7
3. Homework 9
Chapters 5 & 6
1. Contribute to Online Discussion –
Module 2 Part A
2. Watch Videos on ReggieNet and
Answer Questions
3. Quiz 2 (60 minutes)
Chapter 7 – Monopolies and Price
4. Read Chapter 7
Discrimination
5.
6.
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
1.
Watch Videos 7.1-7.4
Homework 10
Wednesday 6/3
Chapter 8 – Market Entry, Monopolistic
Read Chapter 8.1-8.5
Competition and Oligopolies
Watch Videos 8.1-8.5
Homework 11
Thursday
6/4
Chapter 8 – Duopolist, Monopolist,
Read Chapter 8.6-8.9
Natural Monopoly, and Antitrust Policy
Watch Videos 8.6-8.9
Homework 12
Friday
6/5
Chapters 5-8 – Theory of the Firm and
Contribute to Online Discussion –
Industrial Organization
Module 2 Part B
2. Watch Videos on ReggieNet and
Answer Questions
3. Exam 2 (90 minutes)
Module 3 – Special Topics: The Environment, Labor Markets, and Economic Indicators
4 – Monday 6/8
Chapter 9 – Imperfect Information, and 1. Read Chapter 9.1-9.3
Moral Hazard
2. Watch Videos 9.1-9.3
Chapter 9 – Externalities, Public Goods, 3. Homework 13
and Pollution
4. Read Chapter 9.4-9.8
5. Watch Videos 9.4-9.8
6. Homework 14
Tuesday
6/9
Chapter 10 – The Labor Market
7. Read Chapter 10
8. Videos 10.1-10.5
9. Homework 15
Wednesday 6/10 Chapters 9 & 10
1. Contribute to Online Discussion –
Module 3 Part A
2. Watch Videos on ReggieNet and
Answer Questions
3. Quiz 3 (60 minutes)
Thursday
6/11 Chapter 11 – GDP
1. Read Chapter 11
2. Videos 11.1-11.6
3. Homework 16
Friday
6/12 Chapter 12 – Unemployment
1. Chapters 12.1-12.3
2. Videos 12.1-12.3
3. Homework 17
5 – Monday 6/15 Chapter 12 – CPI and Inflation
1. Chapters 12.3-12.6
2. Videos 12.3-12.6
3. Homework 18
Tuesday
6/16 Chapters 9-12 - Special Topics: Labor,
1. Contribute to Online Discussion –
the Environment, Economic Indicators
Module 3 Part B
2. Watch Videos on ReggieNet and
Answer Questions
3. Exam 3 (90 minutes)
Module 4 – Marco Economic Topics: Growth, Banking, Fiscal & Monetary Policy
Wednesday 6/17 Chapter 13 – Growth and Capital
1. Chapter 13.1-13.2
2. Videos 13.1-13.2
3. Homework 19
Thursday
6/18 Chapter 13 – Technological Progress
1. Chapter 13.3-13.5
2. Videos 13.3-13.4
3. Homework 20
Friday
6/19
Chapter 14 – Aggregate Demand and
Aggregate Supply
6 – Monday
6/22
Chapter 13 & 14
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
Tuesday
6/23
Chapter 15 – Fiscal Policy
Wednesday
6/24
Chapter 16 – Money and Banking
Systems
Thursday
6/25
Chapter 17 – Monetary Policy
Friday
6/26
Chapters 13-17 - Macro Economic
Topics: Growth, Banking, Fiscal &
Monetary Policy
Friday
6/26
Chapters 1-17 – Cumulative Final
3.
4.
5.
6.
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
1.
Chapter 14
Videos 14.2-14.4
Homework 21
Contribute to Online Discussion –
Module 4 Part A
Watch Videos on ReggieNet and
Answer Questions
Quiz 4 (60 minutes)
Chapter 15
Videos 15.1-15.2
Homework 22
Chapter 16
Videos 16.1-16.4
Homework 23
Chapter 17
Videos 17.1-17.5
Homework 24
Contribute to Online Discussion –
Module 4 Part B
Watch Videos on ReggieNet and
Answer Questions
Exam 4 (90 minutes)
Final Exam (120 minutes) You have
3 days to take the final exam.