COLLIN COLLEGE

 

DIVISION OF BUSINESS, INFORMATION AND ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES

 

COURSE SYLLABUS

Spring 2010

 

COURSE NUMBER:   ECON 2302                         SECTIONS:   S06 and S07

 

COURSE TITLE:         PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS

 

CREDIT HOURS:  3              LECTURE HOURS:  3               LAB HOURS:  0

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Decision-making in the private sector; markets and prices; demand and supply; consumer economics; production, costs, and industrial organization; international economics; current topics.

 

COURSE DELIVERY METHOD:  Lecture/Demonstration

 

PREREQUISITES:   None.

 

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:

                        Professor:                     Mike Cohick, Ph.D.

                        Office:                          Spring Creek Campus J104

                        Office Hours:                MW 10.00-12.00 and TR 1.00-2.00, or by appointment

                        Office Phone:                972-881-5840

                        E-mail:                          mcohick@ccccd.edu

                        Web site:                      http://iws.ccccd.edu, scroll down and click my name

                        Emergency only:           Department office phone 972-377-1731

 

CLASS INFORMATION:

                        Section S06 meets:       TR 8.30 – 9.45                        Classroom:       SCC J208

                        Section S07 meets:       TR 10.00 – 11.15                    Classroom:       SCC J208

                       

TEXTBOOK:             Optional: Economics Today, 15th edition, 2010, Roger Leroy Miller

                                    Any textbook will do, however, assignments are according to Miller

                                    Required: Access to My EconLab

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing this course you should be able to:

1. Describe the importance of scarcity to economic decision making.

2. Identify the opportunity cost encountered in any decision.

3. Demonstrate the economic concepts of scarcity, trade-offs, efficiency, unemployment, and economic growth, using a production possibilities model.

4. Interpret how changes in demand behavior and/or supply behavior affect prices and quantity in a market.

5. Justify how efficient market activity maximizes overall social well-being.

6. Demonstrate inefficiencies that develop in a market when government imposes any type of price control.

7. Identify the characteristics of goods that determine that good’s elasticity of demand.

8. Explain the importance of elasticity of demand in a firm’s pricing decisions.

9. Summarize the law of diminishing marginal utility, and describe the process one uses to arrive at consumer optimum.

10. Contrast accounting profit, economic profit, and normal profit.

11. Generate a model of the production cost curves in the short run and long run.

12. Analyze the reasons that lead to economies of scale and diseconomies of scale.

13. Outline the decision-making rules that lead to profit maximization or loss minimization.

14. Outline the decision-making rules that lead a firm to expand operations, to continue current operations, to cut back operations, or to close down in the short run.

15. Compare and contrast the characteristics of the four market structures.

16. Explain how a natural monopoly comes into existence and how it is operated.

17. Outline government approaches to mergers and monopolizing behavior.

18. Outline the decision-making rules that a profit-maximizing firm would use when hiring labor.

19. Describe reasons for income inequality.

20. Define interest and explain what determines its level.

21. Contrast positive and negative externalities and devise a government program to respond to each.

22. Describe what must be done to provide society adequate amounts of a public good.

23. Explain the importance of comparative advantage and give examples.

24. Compare and contrast who benefits and who loses in free international trade and in protected international trade.

25. Contrast a flexible foreign exchange rate system with a fixed exchange rate system.

 

METHOD OF EVALUATION:

1. There are 11 weekly quizzes, worth 10 points each. The divisor will be 100 points.

2. There are four exams, worth 100 points each.

3. There are assigned Study Labs in MyEconLab: 50 points maximum completion grade.   

3. Total points 550.

5. With no curve, you need 90% for an A; 80% for a B, 70% for a C; and 60% for a D.

 

            EXAMS:

1. Each exam contains short answer essay questions, problems, and fill-in the blanks. All

questions come from the course study guide. Exam dates are listed in the class schedule

but could change.  Any changes will be announced in class.

2. Missed exam: If you miss exam 1, 2 or 3 for any reason, you will need to take a make-up

exam during final exam week. There is no provision for you to make up a missed exam 4.

 

            WEEKLY QUIZZES:

1. At the beginning each Tuesday class (except on exam days or “get exam back” days), there

will be a quiz over material covered during the previous week.

2. You must complete the quiz in the first 10 minutes at the beginning of the class. If you

arrive for class later than ten minutes past the class start time, you cannot take the

quiz. There is no way to makeup a missed quiz.

3. If you leave class after the quiz without prior permission, your quiz grade automatically reverts to zero.

 

MY ECONLAB:

Complete assigned Study Labs in MyEconLab. I will allocate up to 50 points (equivalent to

one letter grade), depending on the degree of completion. I will take a completion reading on

each exam day. Complete the appropriate study labs before taking an exam. You will get no credit

for completing them after the exam date.

 

 

ATTENDANCE POLICY:

  1. You are expected to attend every class and participate in class activities. The weekly quizzes are used to measure prompt attendance. Multiple absences and/or tardiness indicate you are indifferent to what grade you receive in the course. Therefore, you will not be included in any curve to determine letter grades.
  2. You are responsible for all work assigned and all material covered in class.
  3. Religious Holy Days:  please refer to the current Collin Student Handbook

 

E-MAIL ETTIQUETTE:

If you email the instructor, put ECON 2302 and your last name in the Subject line, i.e., “ECON 2302

Rodriguez”. If you fail to do this, the instructor will not respond to the email. Otherwise, you will get

an answer your email no later than the next college class day.

 

ELECTRONIC DEVICES:

Put away all electronic devices - cell phones, laptop and notebook computers, music players, and the like. Do not use these devices in the classroom without obtaining consent from the instructor prior to each class. Silence your cell phones and pagers before class starts. If you get a call, quickly and silently leave the classroom. You may not use your cell phone as a calculator without prior permission.

 

COURSE WITHDRAWAL POLICY:

See the current Collin Registration Guide for the last day to withdraw. Withdraw on or before the last day to withdraw. All students still registered in the class after that date will receive a letter grade based on the work successfully accomplished.

 

COLLEGE-MANDATED INFORMATION:

COURSE REPEAT POLICY:

A student may repeat this course only once after receiving a grade, including “W”.

 

GENERIC SYLLABUS:

You can get a generic syllabus at the division office or at http://iws.ccccd.edu/syllabus.

 

ADA STATEMENT: It is the policy of Collin County Community College to provide reasonable accommodations

for qualified individuals who are students with disabilities. This College will adhere to all applicable federal, state

and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to

afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the ACCESS office, SCC-G200 or

972.881.5898 (V/TTD: 972.881.5950) in a timely manner to arrange for appropriate accommodations.

 

ACADEMIC ETHICS: The College District may initiate disciplinary proceedings against a student accused of scholastic dishonesty. Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts, or omissions related to applications for enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or the submission as one’s own work material that is not

one’s own. Scholastic dishonesty may involve, but is not limited to, one (1) or more of the following acts: cheating, plagiarism, collusion, use of annotated texts or teacher’s editions, and/or falsifying academic records.

       Plagiarism is the use of an author’s words or ideas as if they were one’s own without giving credit to the source, including, but not limited to, failure to acknowledge a direct quotation.

Cheating is the willful giving or receiving of information in an unauthorized manner during an examination, illicitly obtaining examination questions in advance, copying computer or Internet files, using someone else’s work for assignments as if it were one’s own, or any other dishonest means of attempting to fulfill the requirements of a course.

Collusion is intentionally or unintentionally aiding or attempting to aid another in an act of scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to, failing to secure academic work; providing a paper or project to another student; providing an inappropriate level of assistance; communicating answers to a classmate during an examination or any other course assignment; removing tests or answer sheets from a test site, and allowing a classmate to copy answers.

 

Any incident of academic dishonesty will be reported immediately to the Division Dean and to the Dean

of Students for adjudication. Until adjudication is complete, you will receive a “zero” on the work in

question.

 

 

ECON 2302

Required MyEconLab Study Plans

 

To be completed by Feb 11 (EXAM 1):

Part 1

Ch 1: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4

Ch 1 Appendix: 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10

Ch 2: 2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9

 

Part 2

Ch 3: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7

Ch 4: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7

 

To be completed by Mar 11 (EXAM 2):

Part 3

Ch 20: 20.1, 20.2, 20.3, 20.4, 20.7

Ch 21: 21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4

 

Part 4

Ch 33: 33.1, 33.2, 33.3, 33.4, 33.5, 33.6

Ch 34: 34.1, 34.2

 

To be completed by Apr 6 (EXAM 3):

Part 5

Ch 22: 22.1, 22.2, 22.3

Ch 23: 23.1, 23.4, 23.5, 23.6, 23.7, 23.8

 

To be competed by May 11 (10.00 class) or May 13 (8.30 class) (EXAM 4):

Part 6

Ch 24: 24.1, 24.2, 24.3, 24.4, 24.5, 24.6, 24.7, 24.9

Ch 25: 25.1, 25.2, 25.3, 25.4, 25.5, 25.6, 25.7, 25.8

Ch 26: 26.1, 26.2, 26.3

Ch 27: 27.1

Ch 28: 28.1, 28.2

 

Part 7

Ch 29: 29.1, 29.2, 29.3, 29.4

Ch 31: 31.1, 31.4

Ch 32: 32.1, 32.2, 32.3, 32.4

 

 

 

 

            CLASS SCHEDULE (dates subject to change)

 

 

T Jan 19

R Jan 21

First Class; Read Chapters 1 and 2

Ch 1 and 2

Part 1, no quiz

Part 1

T Jan 26

R Jan 28

Ch 1 and 2

Read Chapters 3 and 4

Part 1, quiz

Part 2

T Feb 2

R Feb 4

Ch 3 and 4

Ch 3 and 4

Part 2, quiz

Part 2

T Feb 9

R Feb 11

Ch 3 and 4, review

 

Part 2, quiz

EXAM 1

T Feb 16

R Feb 18

Read Chapters 20 and 21

No Class

Part 3; no quiz

 

T Feb 23

R Feb 25

Ch 20 and 21

Ch 20 and 21

Part 3, quiz

Part 3

T Mar 2

R Mar 4

Read Chapters 33 and 34

Ch 33 and 34

Part 4, quiz

Part 4

T Mar 9

R Mar 11

F Mar 13

Ch 33 and 34, review

 

Last Day to Withdraw

Part 4, quiz

EXAM 2

 

T Mar 16

R Mar 18

Spring Break –

No classes

 

T Mar 23

R Mar 25

Read Chapters 22 and 23

Ch 23 and 23

Part 5, no quiz

Part 5

T Mar 30

R Apr 1

Ch 22 and 23

Ch 22 and 23, review

Part 5, quiz

Part 5

T Apr 6

R Apr 8

 

Read Chapters 24 through 28

EXAM 3

Part 6

T Apr 13

R Apr 15

Ch 24 through 28

Ch 24 through 28

Part 6, quiz

Part 6

T Apr 20

R Apr 22

Ch 24 through 28

Ch 24 through 28

Part 6, quiz

Part 6

T Apr 27

R Apr 29

Read Chapters 29 through 31

Ch 29 through 31

Part 7, quiz

Part 7

T May 4

R May 6

Ch 29 through 31

Ch 29 through 31, review

Part 7, quiz

Part 7

T May 11

R May 13

Final Exam Week

EXAM 4 (10.00 class)

EXAM 4 (8.30 class)