ECO2023. Microeconomics

Principles of Microeconomics ECO2023-

Broward College Distance Learning

Nick J. Bergan, M.S. Economics

General Information Syllabus

Course title: Principles of Microeconomics

Course number: ECO2023

 

Instructor Information

Instructor name: Nick J. Bergan, M.S.

Instructor office hours: by appointment or email

Instructor e-mail address: nbergan@broward.edu

Course Description

An introductory course stressing microeconomic theories. Topics studied include the theory and application of supply and demand elasticity; theory of consumer demand, utility, and indifference curve analysis; the law of diminishing returns in production and the firm's profit-maximizing behaviors under market models ranging from pure competition to pure monopoly; production theory and the theory of income distribution; comparative advantage, trade policies, exchange rates, balance of payments, and other international economic issues. This is a writing credit course.

 

Course Objectives

This is an introduction to Economics and specifically, to Microeconomics. By the end of the course, you should have a good understanding of the principles of microeconomics. You should also be able to understand microeconomic theories discussed within different media outlets. A full description of course outcomes is on hard-copy reserve in the periodicals section of the library and may also be downloaded from BCC’s web site. The content of this course has been divided into four parts: a general introduction to the basic concepts and principles of economics; an examination of the determinants of consumer behavior and the economic costs of production; a survey of optimal product pricing and output under various market models; an analysis of factors underlying the remuneration of labor as well as the other factors of production, and fundamentals of international trade theory.

 

Course Overview

Upon successful completion of this course, the students should be able to describe macroeconomic principles and concepts, the impact of fiscal and monetary policies, and macro-equilibrium; calculate measures of aggregate economic performance; and discuss elements of international trade.

Unit Titles

1. Introduction to the Price System

2. Product Market Basics

3. Product Markets

4. Resource Markets

5. Issues in International Trade and Finance

 

Method of Instruction

Students: This is a 3 credit hour course. Normally, a three credit hour
course would meet two or three times each week (during a 16 week term)
for a total of 3 hours per week or 48 hours per term. In this class, there are no respective class meetings, as all instruction will be through the online format. It is your responsibility to complete everything on the respective due date for all assignments, assessments, by referring to the syllabus and course calendar. See the course schedule for a detailed description of learning activities for scheduled class meetings and out of class or online assignments. Students are responsible for regularly reviewing the course schedule and completing all required class assignments.

 

Textbooks

Buy these books at amazon.com or half.com for a discount

Economics Today(good book if you are taking BOTH macro and micro)

By: Roger LeRoy Miller

ANY EDITION

Economics Today: The Micro View(good only if you are taking microeconomics)

By: Roger LeRoy Miller

ANY EDITION

 

Writing Credit

Students who do not satisfactorily complete the required writing assignments will not receive a passing grade for the course. The writing assignment is essential to this class. You must obtain at least a 70% on the writing assignment to be able to satisfy this writing credit and receive credit. Students should note that the rules of academic dishonesty apply to the writing credit as well. Never hand in plagiarized work as your own, if you do so, you will not be allowed to continue with the class. To satisfy the writing credit, you need to type a one-page paper and evaluate a microeconomic article dealing with one of the following issues: company specific data, company reports, elasiticies, supply and demand, profit/ loss, cost structures. The deliverables that you are required to submit are the following: a one-page typed paper evaluation, times new roman font, 12-point, double-spaced, and the article. You will be graded on how you developed your argument and the type of evaluation you did with the article that you chose. Make sure you do not pick an article that is too difficult to interpret. You should format this as a three paragraph essay, with the first paragraph as a summary of the article, the second paragraph as your evaluation, and the third paragraph as your comments concerning the author’s position. If you DO NOT complete it or turn it in properly, you will receive a 0. You will need to have as ONE document, both your article and paper. Failure to do this will result in a loss of 20 points! NO LINKS are allowed.

Course Topics and Assignments
Information from most or all of the following topics will be covered in the course textbook, in the content course modules. The Course Calendar module will have all the respective due dates for the entire semester; please make sure you fully aware of this section and adhere to this dates. Failure to follow the calendar and syllabus due dates will result in the assessment as a score of "0".

 

Class Schedule

This section contains all the due dates that can be found under the course calendar page. These dates that are listed are the due dates, remember there are no extension unless deemed by the instructor.

 Class Begins

QUIZ #1 Due by 11pm

QUIZ #2 Due by 11pm

 Discussion Grade Posting, 100 points(This is the date your grade will be posted. You are being graded on your work)

QUIZ #3 Due by 11pm

QUIZ #4 Due by 11pm

Writing Assignment Due by 11pm

Discussion Grade Posting, 100 points(This is the date your grade will be posted. You are being graded on your work)

 FINAL EXAM Due by 11pm

Total Point Breakdown

Discussions 200 points

Quizzes 4 @ 100 400 points

Writing Assignment 100 points

Final Exam 300 points

Total Points Possible 1000

Grading scale and policy

Points are earned toward one’s final grade for the course. Point values for each assignment are noted above. Points can be lost for unexcused absences (see Attendance Policy for deficit points. There are no "extra credit" work assignments available. Final grades will be awarded based on the following scale, if the class is out of 1000 points, as an example. It is based on a percentage out of the total points, at anytime this can be changed by the instructor at anytime throughout the course. There are NO extra credit assignments available. I am fair and consistent with ALL students, if you do not complete anything on time for ANY reason, you will not get credit and receive a 0. All assessments are open right now, so it is your responsibility to complete them on time.

 

Examination Setup

When taking any examination, here is the respective format and keys to remember so that you can be successful.

1. Deliver one question at a time, where students must answer or skip each question to proceed. Once a question has been answered or skipped it cannot be revisited.

2. The quiz is only for 25 minutes, it will disallow answers after that time, so be careful and conscious of the time. The final exam is for 125 minutes

3. When the quiz states it is due by, for example, May 20 at 11pm and you start your quiz at 10:30pm, the quiz will not allow you to go past 11pm even though you have only taken it for 30 minutes.

 

Quizzes and Final Exams

Questions will be based on the materials found in the text, in the online content modules, in lectures, and online discussions, in addition to other materials used in the online forum. Students should remember that they are responsible for all material of the course and for all assigned readings, whether they have been covered in the online forum as through discussions. I realize that many of you will use your book for the examinations; however, remember that there is a time component and that many of you that do not understand the material will struggle on the examinations because of the lack of time when taking them. Given that there is a deadline for each assessment it is important to remember if you do not give yourself enough time to finish the assessment, the resulting score will be a “0” for that assessment, with no exceptions. For example, if Quiz #1 is due by 11pm, then it is your responsibility to allot enough time to give yourself to have the quiz taken and submitted by 11pm of that respective due date. Any assessment not done in the correct amount of time and not submitted by the time and due date will be recorded as a “0”.

All assessments will be multiple-choice questions. All quizzes will consist of 10 multiple-choice questions. You are not allowed to go back to any questions while you are taking it, so make sure you are aware of the time frame, an estimate is that you will have 2 minutes per question to complete each assessment. You will have 25 minutes to complete them. They are all multiple-choice questions. You must press “SAVE and VIEW NEXT”. If you do not complete this correctly, your answers will not be saved and you will not receive credit for the quiz. Also, if you have a computer related problem during the quiz, this will not be an excuse to why you can not complete it or why you did not complete it. This is important because there are no extensions on any of the due dates within the course. You are grading on your knowledge of the material AND your ability to follow directions within the course AND your ability to do each assessment within the due dates outlined in the course. Remember, once again, there are NO extensions on any due date. So, if you are late to complete anything, you will receive a 0 on the assessments, NO EXCEPTIONS!! DO NOT EMAIL STATING ANY PROBLEMS/EXCUSES, all quizzes are open and ready to go. If for ANY reason it is NOT completed, you will not get credit for it.

Duration: 25 Minute(s) Note: your completion time is measured from when you click Begin Assessment to when you click Finish. Once the allotted time has expired, you will not be able to save any more questions.

Question delivery: One at a time - no revisits Note: questions must be answered in the order given. Questions can be skipped; but once a question has been answered or skipped, it cannot be revisited.

Questions will be based on the materials found in the text, in the online content modules, in lectures, and online discussions, in addition to other materials used in the online forum. Students should remember that they are responsible for all material of the course and for all assigned readings, whether they have been covered in the online forum as through discussions. I realize that many of you will use your book for the examinations; however, remember that there is a time component and that many of you that do not understand the material will struggle on the examinations because of the lack of time when taking them.

 

Late assignments

No LATE work will be accepted for any reason. Since I have given you the information for all the assignments and tests, it is your responsibility to complete them and turn them in on the respective due date. Make sure you are fully aware of the course calendar because that will show you exact due dates for all respective assignments, tests, and quizzes. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me concerning any of these due dates but leave ample time so that you are able to complete them. If you do not turn in the assignment on the respective due date by the instructor then it will result in a 0 for the assignment. I am very strict on this policy and there will be no exceptions to this rule. All assignment must be turned in at the discretion of the calendar because that is your contract with me stating that you understand when everything in the course is due. Make sure you check the online calendar each day to keep up with all assignment posting because you are required to complete all assignments, tests, quizzes on the respective time. Make sure you leave enough time to finish all assignments, test, quizzes before the time period because I will not give extension to people that start to close to the closing of any assignment, test, and quiz time frame. Technological excuses will not be accepted for any reason, please plan ahead early to ensure you might have problems. Waiting the day of the quiz/exam, no extensions will be given for any reason! No excuses will be made for any assignments If you miss a test or quiz, you will receive a "0", which can severely affect your grade and your performance in the class.

DISCUSSIONS

This is an objective part of the course. I will be grading you on how you are discussing within the course with your fellow classmates. Each week you need to be addressing the topics in class with an explanation of the question and through your value added responses. If you want to do well, then you need to actively participate with a value added responses, NOT “yes or no” responses. This part of the grading is based on how you are interacting with your fellow classmates to various topics. You are graded based on the class averages. If you would like to get a good score, then you need to actively participate at least 4 times a week with a value added posts within the course to both the instructor and students posts. On the course schedule, your grade will be posted on the date it states, Discussion Board Grade Posted. You are being graded on your participation on each week on having 4 posts and the quality of your posts. If you do not have 4 posts per week, you will not earn full points. Also, that means you need 4 posts per week, consistently and not at the last minute. You will be graded on how many responses you respond and the quality of the responses that are made. This part of your grade will consist of 20% of your grade. It is important that you are following directions. Not having computer access is not an excuse to not being able to participate and will result of a grade of a 0.

Late Quizzes/ Discussions/ Final Exam

No LATE work will be accepted for any reason. Since I have given you the information for all the assessments, it is your responsibility to complete them and turn them in on the respective due date. Make sure you are fully aware of the course calendar because that will show you exact due dates for all respective assessment. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me concerning any of these due dates but leave ample time so that you are able to complete them. If you do not turn in the assignment on the respective due date by the instructor then it will result in a 0 for the assessment. I am very strict on this policy and there will be no exceptions to this rule. All assignment must be turned in at the discretion of the calendar because that is your contract with me stating that you understand when everything in the course is due. Make sure you check the online calendar each day to keep up with all assignment posting because you are required to complete all assignments, tests, quizzes on the respective time. Make sure you leave enough time to finish all assessments before the time period because I will not give extension to people that start to close to the closing of any assessment during the time frame. No excuses will be made for any assessments (ie. Death, computer problems, or not following directions). If you miss an assessment, you will receive a "0", which can severely affect your grade and your performance in the class. DO NOT WRITE ME AN EMAIL INDICATING YOUR EXCUSE OR PROBLEM, YOU UNDERSTAND THE RULES OF THE COURSE. I want to be consistent with EACH student in the course, so that is why I do the same policy for all students, if you do not complete the assessment before the due date for ANY REASON, you will receive a 0 on that assessment.

Attendance

Just as attendance is important in an on-campus course, it is important that the student access the Internet course site at least 2-3 times per week in order to keep up with the assignments and communicate with the instructor. A student can access the course from any computer with internet access, regardless of where the student is physically located. Each BCC campus has a computer lab, a student learning center, and other locations on campus at which computers with internet access are available to students. Computers with internet access are frequently available to the public in public libraries. Often print stores such as Kinko and Insta-Print have computers to "rent" on-site. As a courtesy, nearby college and universities might allow visiting students’ access to a computer lab for a short-time to do online coursework. Occasionally hotels, motels, community centers, chambers of commerce, and other places that serve a public constituency will have computers with internet for public use, though sometimes for a fee. Attendance will be important because you are getting graded on your discussion and participation within the Blackboard class.

 

Academic Dishonesty

PLEASE RERENCE TO “STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT” in your student handbook for verification.

 

Attendance Policy

Broward Community College’s position is that students are expected to attend all class meetings and activities of the courses in which they are registered. An accurate record of attendance will be kept for each class. Students are expected to adhere to the policies set by each instructor. The final grade, therefore, can be impacted by the lack in class attendance as an independent measure of student accountability and participation.

 

Emergency Phone Numbers

Safety Emergency 954-893-5700

Student Hot Line 954-201-4900

 

Technology Requirements

Students: To complete the online segments of this course, you must have
access to computer hardware and software that meets or exceeds BCC's
minimum hardware and software standards for e-learning courses. It is
strongly recommended that you check your computer to verify that its
hardware and software configuration meets or exceeds the BCC standard.

Is your computer ready for e-learning?
http://www.broward.edu/elearning/eLearning/about/requirements/page12553.html

Additional Software required for this Course (optional) Assignments
that require word processing must be submitted in Microsoft Word format.
Documents created using Microsoft Works, or files that have “.txt”,
“.pdf”, or “.asci” extensions will not meet course requirements.
If you do not have proper software on your computer, you can use the
Microsoft Word program on any of the "open lab" computers at any BCC
Learning Resource Center or in public libraries. If you are using Microsoft Office 2007 please read here for assistance
with uploading assignments. Only word processing documents in Microsoft Word format will be
accepted. Please virus check documents before sending them. Panda
Software offers a free online virus check.

 

Computer Competency Component

Each student is must have, and use, an e-mail address and to provide that e-mail address to the instructor within the first week of class. Each student is expected to have a fundamental understanding of basic computer operations.

Each student needs to be able to use a computer with Internet access on a regular basis for doing the Blackboard online course component work and for e-mail correspondence with the instructor and fellow classmates. It is strongly recommended that the Internet browser be Internet Explorer; Netscape is acceptable, but America on Line sometimes provides challenges for interfacing with Blackboard courses.

If a student does not have a computer with Internet access available in the home, the campus Computer Lab and the Student Learning Center have ample computers available for student use.

If a student does not have an e-mail address, he or she can get one through the Computer Lab; each student must remember to check e-mail weekly, because one never knows when someone may be sending out an e-mail message, perhaps the instructor to the entire class. Course work must be submitted as either a Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text File (.rtf) document; there is no guarantee that the instructor will be able to open and read the submitted work if it is submitted in any other format. The effect is that the work has not been submitted at all. If such an error was done inadvertently, contact the instructor immediately. Exercises and papers should be saved throughout the term, for the student’s protection. Papers submitted to the Instructor must be free of computer viruses. If a student sends a file that contains a virus, the instructor will refuse to accept other assignments online until the student has taken care of the situation. The instructor may consider accepting assignments via hand-delivered mail for a limited time while the virus problem is resolved.

Online Etiquette
The following guidelines apply to the Blackboard course site online classroom: Papers submitted to the Instructor must be free of computer viruses. If a student sends a file that contains a virus, the instructor will refuse to accept other assignments online until the student has taken care of the situation. The instructor will accept papers via regular mail for a limited period of time while the virus problem is being solved. Students are not to post abusive or inappropriate messages on the course Discussion Tool, e-mail, or in the Chat Room. If such messages are being received, it is expected that students will inform the instructor. Serious cases of inappropriate use of the course facilities is reason for dismissal from the class. THE USE OF ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING; boldface is acceptable for emphasis, so please do not shout at anyone, anytime. Review "Netiquette" online at

Course Attendance and Participation Policy

It is very important for you to actively participate in this online class. If you stop participating in class discussions, submitting assignments or fail to take quizzes or tests prior to the withdrawal date, you will be administratively withdrawn from class and receive a W or, if it is your third attempt, an F.

If you stop participating after the withdrawal date, you will receive a WF that will then be computed as an F in your GPA. To avoid this situation, you should remain an active learner in this class and always communicate extenuating circumstances to me. Ongoing communication with the instructor is critical to your course success. I will use completion of tests, assignments, and other class activities as indicators of your participation in order to satisfy this reporting requirement.