San Diego Community College District

San Diego Community College District Miramar College Online Course Syllabus - Available in Vista WebCT

Instructor: Frederica Carr Semester/Session: Spring 2009 Course Title: Principles of Economics II Subject Area: ECON 121 Course CRN#: 62452 Email:[email protected] or [email protected] Course Begins: January 26, 2009 at 1am Scheduled Online Hours: Mon/Wed. 10:30 – noon Course Ends: May 23, 2009 at 1am Non-Scheduled Online Hours:Twice daily on weekdays. Office Hours: Tue/Th 9-9:30am & 11-11:30am RmT102

Course Description: Introduction to basic economic principles and theory relating to problem analysis, structure of institutions and the formulation of public policies. Emphasis is placed on the economic decision making of individuals, households and firms (micro analysis) with concentration in such areas as demand and supply analysis, consumer choice, producers maximization problem, market structure, efficiency and equity, and factor markets.

Course Objectives: 1. To identify and interpret the fundamental concepts used in economics. 2. To develop a knowledge of the basic tools of economic analysis 3. To be familiar with the range of applications in which economic analysis is used.

Course Benefits: As any economist will tell you, people make choices based on their perceived costs and benefits. Since you probably already know the costs of this course to you, I would like to detail some of the benefits. This course will provide you with opportunities to work on such skills as; research, writing, problem solving and analysis. You will learn about the economic basis for different public policies and political views. In addition, after completing this course, you will be able to appreciate how changes in the economy can impact you.

Evaluation: The final grade in the course will be based on a total of 1000 points broken into 6 parts. -There are 15 LEARNING MODULES that contain the following; 15 Assignments – These include questions and problems from the textbook as well as Homework Sheet questions. They must be submitted by the last date given for the UNIT no later than 11am PST. You will be evaluated based on completion. 10 points each 15 Online Quizzes – Quizzes will consist primarily of multiple choice questions and must be completed by 11am of last day listed for the unit. 10 points each 15 Discussion Board Questions – Only postings posted by 11 am the last day listed for the unit will be counted . They will be evaluated based on quality and quantity of content. 10 points each You are expected to complete 14 Assignments, 10 Online Quizzes and 6 Discussion Board Questions for a total of 300 points. You are encouraged to complete more but they will NOT be included in your grade. 300 points -You will be expected to complete a PROJECT as outlined under Project Description. There are two components to the project. The first component which will be completed with a group of other students in the class, is an online presentation which you will post on the Discussion Board (worth 40 points). The other component is a four part paper which you will do by yourself, and must be submitted no later than May 14th at 11am PST. (worth 160 points) 200 points

-There are 3 TESTS (the best two will be counted for 150 points each) and a FINAL EXAM (worth 200 points) will consist of a combination of multiple choice questions, definitions, problems and essays. NOTE All assignments and exams must be in by the course closing at 1 am PST onMay 23 rd. 500 points

DSPS: If you have a hidden or visible disability, which may require test accommodations, please contact me soon as possible. If you have not already done so, please register with Disabled Students Programs & Services at 858-536-7212 or 619-388-7312. Their office is located in C304. Grading: The final grade will be calculated based on the following percentage breakdown. There will be no curve, each student will receive the grade he/she has earned. A 90-100% B 80-89% C 70-79% D 60-69% F below 60%

Academic Integrity: This class will be conducted in accordance with the College Student Code of Conduct (Policy 3100, Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Administrative Due Process) and basic standards of academic honesty. Cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty are not acceptable and will not be tolerated. Violations of standards of academic honesty may be reported for disciplinary action.

Conflict Resolution: If you feel that you have valid grounds to challenge a grade, you must first attempt to resolve your problem informally with me, your instructor. If the grade challenge cannot be resolved, you must file a petition for grade challenge with the Dean of Business, Math, & Science who will work with the Department Chair to help resolve the issue. If a resolution does not occur, your next step is to file an appeal with the Vice President of Instruction., the Grade Challenge Procedure may be found in the college catalogue.

Material Requirements: To participate in this online course, you will need to be familiar with standard internet navigating and /email operatations. -For those who have the latest Microsoft Office, you will need to convert your files to a file readable in an earlier vesion of Microsoft Office. -For hardware and software specifications consult the Main page at www.sdccd.net. -Many of the assignments and some test questions will require that you create graphs. Since there are very limited graphing capabilities within the online course program, it will be necessary for you to devise some way to submit graphs. Graphs that can be created in programs such as Excel generally do not allow you to create the kind of graphs needed for this course. There are other graphics programs that some of my students have used in the past. If you have one use it, otherwise you may consider constructing your graphs with pencil and paper and then scanning them. Another option would be to take a picture and submit the picture. -An email account.

Text Required: Economics: A Contemporary View Eighth edition, by William A. McEachern. ISBN-13: 978032457121-5 For the Seventh edition ISBN-13: 9780324288605 You may also use the Sixth edition OR Microeconomics: A Contemporary View Eighth edition, by William A. McEachern. 8th edition ISBN-13: 9780324579512 7th edition ISBN-13: 9780324288667

Internet Exercises: Exercises as listed in Homework under Assignments in the learning modules are to be completed and submitted through the same Assignments section. Be sure to keep a hard copy of all submitted work for your records. Submit completed assignments by 11am PST by last date given for the UNIT as listed below.

Interactive Quizzes: Included as an integral part of the course are quizzes based on reading assignments from the text. Quizzes need to be completed by the last date shown for a UNIT per the schedule below.

Discussion Board: To receive credit for Discussion Board postings, they must be posted no later than the last date shown for the UNIT at 11 am, per the schedule below. You may continue to post after the deadlines but they will not be considered for grading purposes.

On-Examinations: There will be three exams plus a final. These will be posted and submitted in the Assignments section for UNITS 6, 9, 14 and 19. Post dates will be made by announcement in blackboard.

Administrative Notes: Be sure to send an email to: [email protected] with your name, email address, mailing address, fax number (if available), and phone number. This will insure a record of your active email address. This is to be done before the FIFTH day of instruction for the Spring Semester (January 30th , 2008). Failure to meet this deadline may result in being dropped from the course! College Add/Drop Policies: If you are not registered for this course on the course start date of January 26th, I will permit you to add the course if you notify me within the first two days of the semester and there is room. However, you must add the class on or before Friday February 6th or you will not be allowed to continue unless there are extenuating circumstances. Students who decide to drop the course, have until February 6th to do so without receiving a W. All drops between February 6th and April 3rd will receive a grade of W. The last day to drop the course is April 3rd.

Special Note: ° It is the student’s responsibility to drop all classes in which he/she is no longer participating prior to the last day to withdraw from the class (without a W Feb. 6th), (with a W Apr. 3rd). °It is the instructor’s discretion (choice) to withdraw a student after the add/drop deadline (Feb. 6th) due to a lack of participation. ° Students who remain enrolled in a class beyond the published withdrawal deadline, as stated in the class schedule, will receive an evaluative letter grade in this class

UNIT DATES TOPICS TESTS ONE Jan. 26-Feb. 5 Introduction - What is Economics?- Graphing TWO Feb. 2 - 12 What is an Economy? - The PPF and some Fundamental Economic Idea THREE Feb. 9 - 19 Modeling a Market – The Supply and Demand Curves FOUR Feb. 17 - 26 Modeling a Marker - Changes in Supply & Demand - Equilibrium FIVE Feb. 23 – Mar. 5 Consumer and Producer Surplus and Efficiency – Markets vs. Government as Allocators – Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem SIX Mar. 5- 6 TEST 1 SEVEN Mar. 2 – Mar. 12 Measures of Elasticity –Price Elasticity of Demand - Price Elasticity of Supply – Cross Price Elasticity of Demand - Income Elasticity of Demand EIGHT Mar. 9 - 19 Consumer Theory – Deriving the Demand Curve - Budget Constraint & Indifference Curves NINE Mar. 19 - 20 TEST 2 TEN Mar. 16 – 26 Producer Theory - Costs of Production ELEVEN Mar. 23- Apr. 13 Perfect Competition – Short Run Profit Maximization for a Single Firm & TWELVE Mar. 26 – Apr. 13 Perfect Competition – Long Run Profit Maximization – Perfect Competition and Efficiency THIRTEEN Mar. 30 – Apr. 15 Monopoly - Oligopoly - Monopolistic Competition FOURTEEN Apr. 16 - 17 TEST 3 FIFTEEN Apr. 20 - 30 Markets & Efficiency - Imperfect Information – Imperfect Competition SIXTEEN Apr. 27 – May 7 Markets & Efficiency – Externalities– - Common Pooled Resources - Public Goods - Inequality SEVENTEEN May 4 – May 14 Poverty and Income Distribution PAPER Due EIGHTEEN May 8- 20 Labor Markets - Discrimination in the Labor Markets NINETEEN May 21 – 22 FINAL EXAM *The instructor reserves the right to change the above schedule without prior notice.