Syllabus and Course Calendar
Microeconomics – Econ 1, Online
Welcome to Microeconomics. This is the first semester of the principles of economics series. In
this course, we focus on the behavior and decision-making processes of individual economic
units – households, firms, individuals and government agencies. We also study the topics of
scarcity, markets, a price system, and costs. Macroeconomics, Econ 2, looks at the economy as
a whole – the unemployment rate, the level of output, interest rates, money and monetary policy,
and international finance.
Instructor Information:
Instructor: Mark McNeil
Office: A236
Office Telephone #: (949) 451-5313 (not a good choice – I don’t check it as frequently as email)
Office Hours:
Tuesday,
12noon to 1pm
Wednesday, 11am to 1pm
Thursday,
7pm to 8pm
Email: mmcneil@ivc.edu
McNeil Webpage: http://faculty.ivc.edu/mmcneil/
Other Useful Information:
Access to Blackboard: http://www.ivc.edu/
Campus Map: http://www.ivc.edu/maps/pages/campus_map.aspx
IVC Testing Center: www.ivc.edu/testing, Building A300, Room A-3TC, (949) 451-5468
Blackboard Help: (866) 940-8991
WebTutor Help: www.cengage.com/webtutor www.cengage.com/webtutor From the pull down
menu select “WebTutor on Blackboard”
or call, 1-800-354-9706, Option 5, then Option 2, available Mon-Thur 8:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m. EST
Please be sure to forward your student email to your home email address.
Text and Readings. The text used in this course will be Microeconomics, A Contemporary
Introduction, by William A. McEachern, 8th edition with the WebTutor access code. There will
be additional readings assigned as the term progresses.
The ISBN is 0-324-57951-9 or, bundled with the WebTutor access code: 0324614470. You
will need to buy both the book and the access code. These can be purchased from the bookstore,
they have the individual books or the book bundled with WebTutor. Additionally, there are
several other options that you can find online at:
http://www.cengagebrain.com/shop/en/US/storefront/US?cmd=catProductDetail&ISBN=978-0324-57951-2
This page shows that you can buy the book and the WebTutor access code or rent the book, or
get the eBook. You can also just buy individual chapters for $5.99 each. Chapter 1 is on the
web site free and you will need 10 more chapters.
You must be sure that you purchase the WebTutor instant access code for this book. You can’t
get access to the course materials without it. It costs $25.49.
Testing and Grading. There will be 6 quizzes, each counting 20 points. These will be taken online.
There will be a midterm examinations (100 points total), and a final examination, also worth 100
points.. Both the midterm and final exam will be administered on the IVC campus. The
date, time and location are shown on the course schedule. Additionally, there will be a few
homework assignments; the points for these will count as extra credit. The mid-term
examinations and the final examination will be part multiple choice questions and part short
essays or problems. The quizzes will be almost entirely multiple choice. They will be
administered on the IVC campus on the dates shown on the course calendar.
For every test or quiz you will need to bring a Scantron form (one that has 5 possible
answers, a-e), a simple calculator (you may not use cell phones, PDA’s, or fancy calculators),
and an official PICTURE ID.
When I calculate the grade, I drop the lowest 20 point quiz score. Final grades will be
assigned as follows: 90% or more of the total points, A; 80% of the total points, B; 70%, C; etc.
Please keep track of all your quiz and test scores to make sure that they are recorded and
calculated correctly.
The Online Quizzes. There will normally be a quiz at the end of every two chapters (Chapter 7 has
its own quiz). After you have completed your study of the two chapters by completing the study
plan for those chapters. This would include some combination of the following: read the
chapter, view the power point slides, do the graphing workshop, complete the problems and
check the solutions, watch any relevant videos, and take any practice quizzes.
Once you have completed the preparation for the two chapters, you can take the quiz. The
quiz will have between 15 and 25 questions and will be worth 20 points total. (This means that
each quiz question will be worth approximately 1 point.) The quizzes are timed, the time period
will be specified when you begin the quiz. You will be able to take the quiz once. You can
scroll up or down to different questions, but you must not press the “back” button on your
computer. If you do, the quiz will be terminated and the score will be recorded in the grade
book.
The first three quizzes must be completed by noon, the day prior to the mid-term exam, and
the last three by noon the day before the final examination. The dates and schedule are shown
below. I absolutely recommend that you follow the schedule outlined below very strictly.
Whenever possible, get ahead a bit so that if you encounter difficulties, you have some time to
overcome them. However, if there is some slippage and you get behind a bit on the quizzes, you
can still take these quizzes until noon, the day before the on-campus mid-term or final exam.
I will drop the lowest quiz score.
The On-Campus Exams. The exams will consist of multiple choice questions and few problems or
short answer questions. These are not open book or open note tests. The course schedule shows
the days, times and room numbers for these exams. I will be giving each exam on two different
days and times so please make sure that you can attend one of them.
In the unlikely event that there is a true crisis that prevents you from taking one of the exams
on the dates they are given, you must contact me before the exam. It may be possible to make
some other arrangement for you to take the exam. However this arrangement cannot be made
after the exam. All exams must be completed during the exam period. There are no exceptions
to this.
For each exam you will need an official photo ID, a number two pencil, and a simple
calculator. No phones or graphing calculators are permitted.
Schedule– Fall 2010, Econ 1, Microeconomics, 2d Eight Weeks
Date/Week
Exam or
Quiz
October 18
October 21
October 24
Yes
Assignment
Read the syllabus, review the orientation, complete the steps
to get started in the course.
Read Chapter 1, Introduction to Economics
Read Chapter 2, Tools of Economic Analysis
Online Quiz 1, Chapters 1 & 2
October 25
October 28
October 31
November 1
November 4
November 7
November 8
November 11
November 12 –
Friday, and
November 13 –
Saturday
November 15
November 18
November 21
November 22
November 24
November 28
November 29
December 2
December 5
December 6
December 9
December 10,
Friday and
December 11,
Saturday
Yes
Yes
Yes!!!
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes!!!!
Read Chapter 3, The Economic Decision Makers
Read Chapter 4, Demand and Supply Analysis
Complete Supply and Demand Exercises
Online Quiz 2, Chapters 3 & 4
Read Chapter 5, Elasticity
Read Chapter 6, Consumer Choice and Demand
Online Quiz 3, Chapters 5 & 6
Online Quizzes 1 through 3 must be completed November
11, no later than 12 noon, Pacific time.
There are no exceptions for any reason.
On Campus Exam 1: Chapters 1-6
Friday Nov. 12, 6:30pm to 8:30pm OR
Saturday Nov. 13, 10:00am to 12:00 noon
Classroom BST 116
Chapter 7, Production Costs and the Firm
Complete the Cost Assignments
Online Quiz 4, Chapter 7
Chapter 8, Perfect Competition
Chapter 9, Monopoly
Online Quiz 5, Chapters 8 & 9
Chapter 10, Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly
Chapter 11, Resource Markets
Online Quiz 6, Chapters 10 & 11
Complete all assignments, review, prepare for the final exam.
Online Quizzes 4 through 6 must be completed December
9, no later than 12 noon, Pacific time.
There are no exceptions for any reason
On Campus Exam 2, Chapters 7 -11
Friday, Dec. 10, 6:30pm to 8:30pm OR
Saturday, Dec. 11, 10:00 to 12:00noon
Classroom BST 116
Exam Deadline
December 11th, no later than 12:00 noon, Pacific
time.
There are no exceptions for any reason.
I strongly encourage you to do the following in this course:
1. Follow the Schedule Rigorously. The single greatest predictor of success in an online class
is making sure that you complete the assignments on time. You must log onto Blackboard at
least three times a week to check for announcements and assignments. It is crucial that you
identify days and times in your week that you are able to dedicate to studying your economics.
Make a plan; stick to it. This is a college course. The expectation is that for each unit value of a
course, you would spend four hours per week studying it. That means that since this is a three
unit class, you need to allocate 12 hours a week to do this work. There is simply no satisfactory
alternative to spending the proper amount of study time.
2.
Be Optimistic and Do the Work. Hard work and perseverance are rewarded. There is no
substitute for spending the time to do the work. Success in an economics class is almost always
the result of hard work and a positive attitude. This material is manageable - I promise. Stick
with it. 3.
Stay Ahead of the Game. It takes time to do this work properly, so make sure you give
yourself the time. Identify problems early so that you have time to resolve them. This material
requires that you work with it frequently. Economics is not the type of course that is conducive
to cramming. You need to read, review, work through questions and problems repeatedly in
order to be successful in the course. In order for this to happen, you must study like they say
people vote in Chicago – early and often!
4. Deal With the Technical Issues. Since success in this course depends on your computer and
internet connection, please make sure that you have the proper version of the browser, flash,
Adobe Acrobat, etc. Always have a back-up plan. If you need to do a quiz and you have
problems with your computer or internet connection, make sure you have a back-up plan –
another computer or come to IVC and use the computers there or.... You should also have a
source of technical help if you need it. To help with this, on the first page of this syllabus, under
“Other Useful Information” I have listed the support lines for Blackboard and.
5.
Enjoy the process. Learning involves work and is sometimes difficult, but it is also very
satisfying and, in some strange way, fun. Make it a positive experience.
Things you must do. You must go to my web page (http://faculty.ivc.edu/mmcneil) and watch the
video orientation. After you have watched it, sign onto Blackboard, make sure you have your
access code for WebTutor. The first time you open the class in Blackboard, you will be asked
for this access code. Once onto Blackboard, browse through the class material and make sure
your computer system is working properly.
After you have watched the video orientation and logged onto Blackboard, send me an
email to let me know that you understand the course requirements and that you are
prepared to take the course.
Academic Honesty Policy:
a. It is a fundamental requirement of the course that you do your own work and abide by the
academic honesty policy (http://www.ivc.edu/policies/Pages/honesty.aspx). If you cannot do this,
you cannot pass the course.
b. Any work you turn in must be your own. If you study and do coursework with other
students, you may study together, discuss the questions together, etc., but whey you submit your
answers, it must be your own work, in your own words.
c. The penalties for any type of cheating are very severe. Please be sure to do your own work.