Syllabus

NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE

COURSE SYLLABUS

 

Course Title: Principles of Microeconomics

Course Prefix & Number:  ECON2302

Section Number:  340

Semester/Year: Fall 2017

Semester Credit Hours: 3

Lecture Hours: 3

Lab Hours: 0

Course Description (NCTC Catalog):

Analysis of the behavior of individual economic agents, including consumer behavior and demand, producer behavior and supply, price and output decisions by firms under various market structures, factor markets, market failures, and international trade.

Course Prerequisite(s): None

Required Materials:

McConnell, Brue & Flynn.  Microeconomics:  Principles, Problems & Policies

(ebook with Connect Plus with Learn Smart)

McGraw Hill 21st edit

ISBN 9781259915734

 

Connect Access:  The textbook, LearnSmart, and Connect activities are all maintained within the McGraw-Hill Connect System.  Students need to be enrolled immediately in Connect, which can be purchased at the bookstore, or online directly from McGraw-Hill in Canvas on the first day of class.  Temporary access can be obtained from McGraw-Hill for 14 days.  Students must be enrolled by the end of Day 1, as assignments are due immediately.

 

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Name of Instructor:

Melissa Blankenship

Campus/Office Location:

FM 107

Telephone Number:

972-899-8400 x8504

E-mail Address:

mblankenship@nctc.edu

 

OFFICE HOURS

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

9:30-11am

9:30-11am

9:30-11am

9:30-11am

By appt

 

2-4pm

 

2-4pm

 

Outside of these hours by appointment

 

 

 

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (From Academic Course Guide Manual/Workforce Education Course Manual/NCTC Catalog

At the successful completion of this course the student will be able to:

 

Explain the role of scarcity, specialization, opportunity cost, and cost/benefit analysis in economic decision-making.

 

Identify the determinants of supply and demand; demonstrate the impact of shifts in both market supply and demand curves on equilibrium price and output.

 

Summarize the law of diminishing marginal utility; describe the process of utility maximization.

 

Calculate supply and demand elasticities, identify the determinants of price elasticity of demand and supply, and demonstrate the relationship between elasticity and total revenue.

 

Describe the production function and the Law of Diminishing Marginal Productivity; calculate and graph short-run and long-run costs of production.

 

Identify the four market structures by characteristics; calculate and graph the profit maximizing price and quantity in the output markets by use of marginal analysis.

 

Determine the profit maximizing price and quantity of resources in factor markets under perfect and imperfect competition by use of marginal analysis.

 

Describe governmental efforts to address market failure such as monopoly power, asymmetric information, externalities, and public goods.

 

Demonstrate the benefits of free trade using the concept of comparative advantage.

 

GRADING CRITERIA

# of Graded Course Elements

Graded Course Elements

Percentage or Point Values

25

Homework/LearnSmart (5 pts each)

125

11

Quiz (25 pts each)

275

5

Discussion Boards (25 pts each)

125

2

Projects

150

4

Exams (200 pts each)

800

 

 

 

GRADING POLICIES

 

 

The 2 lowest Assignment grades will be dropped.  Assignments include LearnSmart and homework.  The lowest quiz grade will be dropped.  No late assignments will be accepted.  The lowest exam grade will be dropped.  There will be 4 unit exams and a final cumulative exam.  If a student is happy with their grade after the 4 unit exams, they may choose not to take the final exam.  No makeup exams are given – you must check the schedule and notify me at the beginning of the course if you have a conflict with an exam date.   For 1 extra credit point, send me a picture of a duck.  Students MUST complete the Assessment Quiz in order to have their lowest grade dropped.

 

Extra credit assignments are NOT guaranteed and will be given at the discretion of the instructor.  Any extra credit will be assigned to enhance the learning experience and not simply to raise a grade.

 

CANVAS/CONNECT ACCESS:  All students must have complete access to Canvas for the entire semester.  It is the student’s responsibility to have access to the internet at all times, as well as having all needed programs to complete an online course.  Students are not to give any other person access to his/her Canvas account.  Students can be removed from the online course immediately for violating this rule.  Once a student has given another person access to his/her Canvas account, the credibility of any work becomes questionable.

 

Assignments must be submitted via Canvas/Connect.  No assignments will be accepted via email.

 

Projects:

To help students relate to economics in the “real” world, there will be two assignments intended to connect the study of economics to popular culture.  These assignments are intended to be fun – I promise!

 

The Economics in Pop Culture assignment requires students to find an example of an economic principle in some sort of popular culture.  This could include a movie, a book, a comic strip, or even a video game!  Students will prepare some sort of presentation to illustrate the pop culture economic reference.  More details available in Canvas.

 

The EconSelfie assignment requires students to compose a “selfie” that illustrates an economic concept and post that picture to a discussion board.

 

 


 

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

 

All dates subject to change.  Please refer to the Canvas calendar for most current schedule.

 

LS = LearnSmart Modules

HW = Homework Assignments

 

Date

Assignment

8/28

Classes begin

8/30

DB#1

9/1

Math Practice, Intro to Connect Graphing, Course Introduction Quiz

9/8

Ch 1 LS, Ch 2 LS Ch 1&2 HW, Ch 1&2 Quiz

9/15

Ch 3 LS, Ch 3 HW, Ch 3 Quiz

9/20

DB#2 initial post due

9/22

Ch 4 LS, Ch 4 HW, Ch 4 Quiz, DB#2 reply posts due

9/23

Exam 1 opens

9/25

Exam 1 closes

9/29

Ch 6 LS, Ch 6 HW, Ch 6 Quiz

10/6

Ch 7 LS, Ch 7 HW, Ch 7 Quiz

10/13

Ch 9 LS, Ch 9 HW, Ch 9 Quiz

10/14

Exam 2 opens

10/16

Exam 2 closes

10/20

Ch 10 LS, Ch 11 LS, Ch 10&11 HW, Ch 10&11 Quiz

10/27

Ch 12 LS, Ch 12 HW, CH 12 Quiz

11/3

Ch 13 LS, Ch 13 HW, Ch 13 Quiz

11/8

DB#3 initial post due

11/10

CH 14 LS, Ch 14 HW, Ch 14 Quiz, DB#3 reply posts due

11/11

Exam 3 opens

11/13

Exam 3 closes

11/17

Ch 16 LS, Ch 16 HW, Ch 16 Quiz

11/20

EconSelfie due

11/29

DB#4 initial post due

12/1

Ch 26 LS, Ch 26 HW, Ch 26 Quiz, DB#4 reply posts due

12/2

Exam 4 opens

12/4

Exam 4 closes

12/6

DB#5 due

12/8

Econ in Pop Culture project due

12/10

Final Exam opens

12/13

Final Exam closes

 

 

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Regular and punctual attendance is expected of all students in all classes for which they have registered.  Student will be dropped from a class by the Registrar upon recommendation of the instructor who feels the student has been justifiably absent or tardy a sufficient number of times to preclude meeting the course’s objectives.    Persistent, unjustified absences from classes or laboratories will be considered sufficient cause for College officials to drop a student from the rolls of the College. From Board Policy FC (LOCAL)

Regular login to Canvas is crucial to successful completion of this course.  Dropping a course is the student's responsibility, but you MAY be dropped for excessive absence.  See Attendance Regulations in the North Central Texas College Catalog.

 

You should plan on logging in to this course at least twice per week. 

 

 

Last day to withdraw from a course with a “W” is November 9, 2017.

 

DISABILITY SERVICES (Office for Students with Disabilities)

The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) provides support services for students with disabilities, students enrolled in technical areas of study, and students who are classified as special populations (i.e. single parents).

Support services for students with disabilities might include appropriate and reasonable accommodations, or they may be in the form of personal counseling, academic counseling, career counseling, etc.  Furthermore, OSD Counselors work with students to encourage self-advocacy and promote empowerment. The Counselors also provides resource information, disability-related information, and adaptive technology for students who qualify.

For support, please contact the counselors at (940) 498-6207 or (940) 668-4321.  Alternatively, students may stop by Room 170 in Corinth or Room 110 in Gainesville.

CORE CURRICULUM FOUNDATIONAL COMPONENT AREA (For classes in the Core)_______     

 

o         Communication

o         Mathematics              

o         Life and Physical Science

o         Language, Philosophy & Culture

o         Creative Arts

 

            Government/Political Science

X         Social and Behavioral Sciences

o         Component Area Option

o         American History


 

REQUIRED CORE OBJECTIVES (For classes in the Core)

 

X             Critical Thinking

X              Communication

X              Empirical and Quantitative

 

o           Teamwork

                Personal Responsibility

        X      Social Responsibility

 

COURSE TYPE

o           Academic General Education Course (from ACGM but not in NCTC Core)

X          Academic NCTC Core Curriculum Course

o        WECM Course

 

 

STUDENT HANDBOOK

Students are expected to follow all rules and regulations found in the student handbook and published online.

 

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, academic falsification, intellectual property dishonesty, academic dishonesty facilitation and collusion.  Faculty members may document and bring charges against a student who is engaged in or is suspected to be engaged in academic dishonesty.  See Student Handbook, “Student Rights & Responsibilities: Student Conduct ([FLB(LOCAL)]”. 

 

Academic Dishonesty will not be tolerated in this course.  You are not to give any person (which includes parents, spouses, friends, etc) access to your Canvas account at any time during the semester.  If you do, you are putting the integrity of the course work completed in question.  Do not ask someone to email me on your behalf in Canvas.  If you have an emergency and cannot contact me yourself, it is best to have an alternative person contact me on my office phone, 972-899-8400 x8504, or my NCTC email address:mblankenship@nctc.edu.  Again, do not give anyone access to your Canvas account.  Any student who cheats on any course material (exams, assignment, post tests) will immediately fail the course and academic dishonesty papers will be filed with the Dean and VP of Instruction.

 

 

QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, or COMPLAINTS

Name of Chair/Coordinator:

Crystal R.M. Wright

Office Location:

Gainesville Campus, Room 824

Telephone Number:

940-668-7731, ext. 4320

E-mail Address:

cwright@nctc.edu

Name of Instructional Dean:

Dr. Larry Gilbert

Office Location:

Corinth Campus, Room 305

Telephone Number:

940-498-6216

E-mail Address:

lgilbert@nctc.edu

 

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