William Rainey Harper College
ECO 211 ONLINE!
Microeconomics: An Introduction to Economic Efficiency

Syllabus

SSUMMER 2014

ECO 211-W01, ECO 211-W02, and ECO 211-W03

~/~ Home ~/~ Syllabus ~/~ Schedule ~/~ Assignments ~/~ Video Lecture Notes ~/~ Practice Exercises ~/~ Textbook Website ~/~ Blackboard ~/~

THREE SECTIONS

These web pages will be used by three different class sections:
  • ECO 211-W01 (5-week, early 5/19-6/22)
  • ECO 211-W02 (8-week early 5/19-7/13)
  • ECO 211-W03 (8-week, late, 6/9-8/1)

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

ONLINE ORIENTATION

There is NO ON-CAMPUS ORIENTATION. Instead, there is an extensive course syllabus and a orientation quiz which must be competed during the first week of the semester. The orientation quiz is worth 5 points and you can take it as many times as is necesary. Only the highest score will be included in the gradebook. The orientation quiz will cover information found in (1) the course syllabus, (2) the course orientaion webpage, and (3) on the course Blackboard site. You will find all this information, and the orientation quiz, on the course Blackboard site.

If you have any questions please post them on the Blackboard Discussion Board so that all students can read the question and reply, or email me.

For your online orientation, study the ORIENTATION web page. Take the ORIENTATION QUIZ on Blackboard

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will cover the area of economics commonly defined as microeconomics which is concerned with the individual parts of the economy such as individual businesses or industries, individual consumers, and individual products. Our goal is to study whether the economy uses our limited resources to obtain the maximum satisfaction possible for society. We will concentrate on three issues or goals: ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY, PRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY, and EQUITY, or "efficiency, efficiency, and equity".

MATH SKILLS

This course requires students to have basic skills in mathematics, including the use of graphs. If your math skills are weak you might consider building them before taking this course.

COURSE MATERIALS

Brief list:

  • Required Textbook: Microeconomics, by McConnell, Brue, and Flynn, 19th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2011
  • Required Online Videos: Tomlinson Universal LearningPath Videos Instant Access Code, 1st Edition
  • Yellow Pages, (See link on our Blackboard site)
  • Recommended Textbook Study Guide: Study Guide For Microeconomics, McConnell/Brue/Walstad, 19th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2012

Details:

  • [The options and prices below are not guaranteed by your instructor. They are provided only to give students information on some of the options available. Students should verify the information before purchasing.]

    REQUIRED:

     

    Microeconomics, by McConnell, Brue, and Flynn, 19th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2011

    • ISBN: 978-0-077337-73-5

     

    • Textbooks can be bought or rented at the Harper College Bookstore (L building) or online at: http://www.harperstore.com
      • buy new for about $223 plus sales tax [Students can sell the book back at the end of the semeser]
      • buy used for about $167 plus sales tax [Students can sell the book back at the end of the semeser]
      • rent for about $95 and pay NO sales tax.

      OR

    • For various online sources (often cheaper) click HERE.

    REQUIRED:

     

    Tomlinson Universal LearningPath Videos Instant Access Code, 1st Edition

    • PRICE: about $35 for 365 days of access
    • TO BUY:
      • Go to: www.cengagebrain.com
        • Do not try to order it on a mobile device (like your phone). This does not seem to work. Do it on a computer.
        • Do a SEARCH for the ISBN number, do not use the REGISTER link.
      • Search for ISBN: 978-0-324-58136-2
        • you will create an account and purchase access to the videos with a credit card
        • once purchased click on "My Home" to access videos or see below.
    • TO ACCESS THE VIDEOS LATER:
    • Videos are usually between 5 and 10 minutes long and there usually between 5 and 10 per chapter. Also, most of them have (1) a written transcript available, (2) lecture notes, and (3) a ten multiple choice question review quiz.

    REQUIRED:

    The Yellow Pages are worksheets that I use in my face-to-face Micro sections. (They are printed on yellow paper.) We do most of the graphing exercises in class and some of the Quick Quizzes. For my online sections I post the Yellow Pages just for you to have for extra practice. You will not get points for doing them, but I think you will find them very useful while you prepare for the quizzes and exams.

    The Yellow Pages are available to you free on our Blackboard site.

    RECOMMENDED:

     

    Study Guide For Microeconomics, McConnell/Brue/Walstad, 19th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2012

    OR

    • The printed version of the Study Guide can be bought at the Harper College Bookstore (or elsewhere) or online at: http://www.harperstore.com
      • ISBN 978-0-077338-00-8
      • Cost about $63 new, $29 used, plus tax

BLACKBOARD

Students in sections -W01, W02, and -W03 will use the same Blackboard site: "ECO211-W01 W02 W03 - MICROECONOMICS (Summer 2014)".

Blackboard Instructions:

All students must log-in to our Blackboard website, study the syllabus, and take the required 5-point, online, "Orientation Quiz" . The sorientation quiz may be taken as many times as necessary and only the highest score will be counted.

  • Always use the the Firefox browser when using Blackboard (download for free at: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/)
  • Go to http://harper.blackboard.com
  • Follow the instructions to "log-in". (If you need help see the Student Service Desk link below the Login button.).
  • You should see your course Blackboard site in the "My Courses" box. If you do not please e-mail the instructor: mhealy@harpercollege.edu 

The "CHAPTERS - BEGIN HERE" link on our Blackboard site will give you access to EVERYTHING that you should be doing for this class. For each chapter you will find:

  • OPTIONAL: Meme
  • OPTIONAL: Short Intro Video
  • REQUIRED: Reading and Video Assignments [ASSIGNMENTS]
  • REQUIRED: Video Lecture Notes [VIDEO NOTES]
  • REQUIRED: Yellow Pages
  • PRACTICE: Practice Exercises [PRACTICE EXERCISES]
  • POINTS: Required Activities
  • POINTS: Quiz (for certain chapters only)

 E-MAIL

Option to Forward Mail from your Harper E-mail Account
You should always use your Harper email account when e-mailing your instructor. All e-mails from harper will be sent to your Harper e-mail account. If you do not check your Harper e-mail account often, you can find instructions on how to forward e-mail from that account to one you check frequently by logging in to the Harper Student Portal and clicking on the "My Harper E-Mail" tab. All correspondence in this class will be sent to your Harper e-mail account.

When e-mailing your instructor always put "ECO 211", your section number, and a message in the subject line. Please use proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

TEXTBOOK WEBSITE

Click on TEXTBOOK WEBSITE then select a chapter from the "Choose One" drop-down menu.

ASSIGNMENTS: READINGS, VIDEOS, and OUTCOMES

The entire course is divided into 26 modules. Some chapters are divided into a few modules (like chapter 3: modules 3a, 3b, 3c) and other chapters have only one module (like chapter 6: module 6a).

On the Blackboard ASSIGNMENTS link you will find the following for each chapter:

  • Reading Assignments
    • Be sure to check before you begin reading a chapter. A "chapter" may be only partial and/or may include pages from other chapters or online.
  • Online Video Lectures
    • Most online video lectures are from the Cengage Tomlinson Universal LearningPath Videos. You must purchase access to these videos (see above). These are listed on the page by their numbers (eg. 2.1-1, 2.1-2, 2.2-1, etc.). Other videos are free online. Videos are usually between 5 and 10 minutes long and there are usually between 5 and 10 videos per chapter. Most of the the Cengage Tomlinson videos have the following: (1) lecture notes, (2) a written transcript, and (3) a multiple choice review quiz available.
    • Be sure to see the VIDEO NOTES link on Blackboard
  • Learning Outcomes - These should be very useful in guiding your studying

PRACTICE EXERCISES - To do well you need to practice doing problems.

On the Blackboard PRACTICE EXERCISES Link you will find the following:
  • a list of certain Study Guide multiple choice and short answer problems (The online, or paperback Study Guide For Microeconomics by McConnell/Brue/Walstad must be purchased - see above.)
  • some Worked Problems from the textbook website
  • selected questions from the Web Quizzes from the textbook website
  • certain End-of-Chapter Questions and Problems from the textbook (Answers are on our Blackboard site.)

Multiple choice problems can be found at the following links on Blackboard:

  • REQUIRED ACTIVITIES
  • YELLOW PAGES
  • PRE-QUIZZES
  • "CLICKER QUIZZES"
  • VIDEO LOGIN (review quizzes for most of the online video lectures)
  • OTHER REVIEW

DISCUSSION BOARD

  • Use the Blackboard Discussion Board for any question which might also be of use to other students - like asking a question in class. Do not ask such questions via e-mail. If you use the Discussion Board everyone else can also read the answer.
  • To ask a question or leave a comment, go to the class Blackboard site and click on the "Discussion Board" link. Then click on "STUDENT QUESTIONS", then click on "Create Thread"
  • Since we do not use the Discussion Board a lot, it is strongly suggested that you SUBSCRIBE to the discussion board thread so that you get an e-mail whenever a new message is posted. Just click on the "Discussion Board" link, click on "STUDENT QUESTIONS", then click on the "Subscribe" button.

GRADING

The final grade for the class will be awarded according to the following point system. Changes may be made to this grading policy. All changes will be posted on the class Blackboard page and an email will be sent to all students.

ACTIVITY

INFORMATION

POINTS

1 orientation quiz

5 points, must be taken online at: http://harper.blackboard.com/

5 points

16 Required Activities

The Required Activities are online (Blackboard) chapter review quizzes of about 20 questions - usually multiple choice. They are worth two points per quiz/chapter. They can be retaken as many times as you wish and only the highest score will be included in the final grade.

32 points

5 online quizzes

10 multiple choice questions, 1/2 point each each

25 points

3 unit exams

40 multiple choice questions each *

120 points

Final Exam

80 multiple choice questions, COMPREHENSIVE

80 points

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TOTAL: 262 POINTS

* EXTRA CREDIT: Each of the three unit exams will also have an extra credit essay question worth 3 points

Letter grades will be awarded as follows:
90%=A, 80%=B, 70%=C, 60%=D, below 60%=F

EXAMS

The three unit exams and the final exam will be taken on the Harper campus in the Assessment Center, Student and Administration Center, room A-148, phone 847-925-6541 [see: Assessment Center hours]. To take the exams you simply go to the testing center with a picture ID and ask for the appropriate exam for ECO 211.

Exams should be taken on, or before, the day listed on the "SCHEDULE" link on Blackboard, but they may be taken later. Try to stay on schedule, or better yet, get ahead.

Exams 1, 2, and 3 consist of 40 multiple choice questions (each worth one point) and an extra credit essay ( worth three points). After you SUBMIT your answers to the forty multiple choice questions the extra credit essay link will appear under the Blackboard "EXAMS" link. The Blackboard link "EXTRA CREDIT" will give you more information on the extra credit questions.

The comprehensive final exam is 80 multiple choice questions with NO extra credit..

When going to the Testing Center be prepared to give the staff the following information:

  • Picture ID
  • Course number: ECO 211
  • Instructor name: Mark Healy
  • Test number
  • Whether the test is the first attempt or a retake

RETAKE EXAMS

Optional "retake" exams (same chapters, different questions) are available for the unit exams 1, 2, and 3. If you take a retake, only the higher score will be included in your total score. Be sure to tell the Testing Center personnel that you wish to do a RETAKE. Retake exams also have an extra credit essay question.

Please do not take the retake on the same day that you took the exam. If you need to retake an exam then you need to study more first. Retake exams can be taken at any time durikng the semester, but please try to have them done before final exams week.

EXAM MAKE-UP POLICY

Students should take the exams according to the class "SCHEDULE". Exams can be taken early or late. If you plan on taking an exam over a week later than the scheduled date please email the instructor first. Students who get behind often do poorly. Try to stay on schedule, or better yet, get ahead. No exam, quiz, or any other assignment can be taken after the final exam date.

QUIZZES

The five quizzes are online at our Blackboard site and they will be taken at home via the internet. They consist of 10 multiple choice questions each and will be worth 5 points per quiz. They can be attempted ONLY ONCE (i.e. you must finish the 10 questions the first time you access them), but there is no time limit.

REQUIRED ACTIVITIES

For each chapter you will need to complete the online "Required Activity" (Note: there are two for chapter 1 and chapter 11). These can be found on Blackboard under the "REQUIRED ACTIVITIES" link. The required activities are worth two points each. You can do them as many times as you wish and only the highest score will be recorded. Most Required Activities are twenty multiple choice questions. Every time you open a Required Activity, even if you do not answer a single question, you must click on the SUBMIT button before you close the page.

Click on SUBMIT EVERY TIME, even if you haven't finished all of the questions.

BRIEF COURSE OUTLINE

IMPORTANT: For exact reading assignments see: ASSIGNMENTS. We may not read the whole chapter or a "chapter" may include pages from other chapters, so always check the "ASSIGNMENTS" page before reading

Unit 1: An Introduction To Economics, Efficiency, and the Market System

  • Ch. 1 -- Limits, Alternatives, and Choices and the 5 Es
  • Ch. 2 -- The Market System: The Market and the 5 Es
  • Ch. 3 -- Individual Markets: Demand and Supply and the 5 Es
  • Ch. 5 -- Market Failure and the Role of Government

Unit 2: Elasticity, Consumer Decisions, and the Costs of Production

  • Ch. 4 -- Elasticity: Deciding How Much
  • Ch. 6 -- Consumer Behavior and Utility Maximization: Consumer Decisions
  • Ch. 7 -- The Costs of Production: Producer Decisions / Costs

Unit 3: Product Markets: Decision Making and Efficiency

  • Ch. 8 and 9 -- Pure Competition
  • Ch. 10 and 18 -- Pure Monopoly and Regulation
  • Ch. 11 -- Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly

Unit 4: Resource Markets: Decision Making, Efficiency, and Equity

  • Ch. 12 -- The Demand for Resources
  • Ch. 13 -- Wage Determination
  • Ch. 20 -- Income Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination
  • Ch. 22 -- Immigration

NOTE: This outline may be changed! Any changes will be announced via our Blackboard site..

LIBRARY RESERVE

A few textbooks and study guides have been placed on reserve in the library in case you leave yours at Grandma's house. Some can be checked out from the circulation desk for two days at a time and one is for in-library use only.

HOW TO PASS ECONOMICS

This is a difficult course! There is an old rule of thumb concerning studying for college courses: on average during a regular 16 week semester, students should attend class 3 hours a week and they should study outside of class TWO hours for every ONE hour of class. Therefore for a regular semester 16-week three-credit-hour online class this means that you should plan for NINE hours a week (three hours of "class" PLUS 2 x 3 hours of studying). This is an average, which means some courses require more study time and some less. You may find that economics requires MORE.

In the summer with 5-week and 8-week class sections you will need to study more hours each week. DO THE MATH: 8-week summer session = 18 hours of studying per week; 5-week summer session = about 29 hours of studying per week.

The following suggestions should help you learn economics:

  1. Passive reading of the textbook is not very helpful. Take notes. Read with a pen in your hand and a notebook on which to list, repeat, copy, calculate, etc. ALSO, pay close attention to the TABLES and GRAPHS. THEY ARE IMPORTANT.
  2. Watch the online video lectures. This is like attending class for a face-to-face course. "VIDEO NOTES" from your instructor are available on our Blackboard site. Students have said that they are helpful. Also, do the review quizzes that are available for most of the Cengage Tomlinson video lectures.
  3. Ask questions on the Blackboard Discussion Board
  4. DO PROBLEMS. If you don't do the assigned problems you will do poorly on the quizzes and exams.
    Multiple choice and other problems can be found at the following links on Blackboard:
    • PRACTICE EXERCISES
    • REQUIRED ACTIVITIES
    • YELLOW PAGES
    • PRE-QUIZZES
    • "CLICKER QUIZZES"
    • VIDEO LOGIN (review quizzes for most of the online video lectures)
    • OTHER REVIEW

     

  5. Call or email the instructor for assistance. This should be done EARLY in the semester.
    • mhealy@harpercollege.edu
    • cell: 815-861-7265

     

  6. Free tutoring may be available at the Harper College Tutoring Center
  7. Keep up or get ahead. It is easy to get behind. To get a good grade you will have to devote a significant amount of out of class time to studying economics. If you get behind there simply will not be enough time.
  8. Try to APPLY the concepts learned in class to the "real world" including issues in the news and aspects of your personal life.

 

SCHEDULE

ECO 211-W01 (5-week, early 5/19-6/21)

  • Unit 1 = 2 weeks
  • Unit 2 = 1 week
  • Unit 3 = 1 week
  • Unit 4 = 1 week

ECO 211-W02 (8-week early 5/19-7/12)

  • Unit 1 = 2 weeks
  • Unit 2 = 2 weeks
  • Unit 3 = 2 weeks
  • Unit 4 = 2 weeks

ECO 211-W03 (8-week, late, 6/9-8/1)

  • Unit 1 = 2 weeks
  • Unit 2 = 2 weeks
  • Unit 3 = 2 weeks
  • Unit 4 = 2 weeks

  • Orientation Quiz: Take the 5-point Orientation Quiz at: http://harper.blackboard.com/ before Friday, 5/23
  • Unit 1 Exam: on, or before, Saturday, 5/31 (2 weeks)
    • Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 5
    • Required Activities, Quizzes 1 and 2, and Exam 1
  • Unit 2 Exam: on, or before, Saturday, 6/7 (1 week)
    • Chapters 4, 6, and 7,
    • Required Activities, Quizzes 3 and 4, and Exam 2
  • Last day to withdraw from the course: Sunday, 6/15
  • Unit 3 Exam: on, or before, Saturday, 6/14 (1 week)
    • Chapters 8, 9, 10, 18 and 11
    • Required Activities, Quiz 5, Exam 3
  • The comprehensive final must by completed on, or before, Saturday, 6/21 ( weeks)
  • Orientation Quiz: Take the 5-point Orientation Quiz at: http://harper.blackboard.com/ before Friday, 5/23
  • Unit 1 Exam: on, or before, Saturday, 5/31 (2 weeks)
    • Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 5
    • Required Activities, Quizzes 1 and 2, and Exam 1
  • Unit 2 Exam: on, or before, Saturday, 6/14 (2 weeks)
    • Chapters 4, 6, and 7,
    • Required Activities, Quizzes 3 and 4, and Exam 2
  • Last day to withdraw from the course: Sunday, 6/29
  • Unit 3 Exam: on, or before, Saturday, 6/28 (2 weeks)
    • Chapters 8, 9, 10, 18 and 11
    • Required Activities, Quiz 5, Exam 3
  • The comprehensive final must by completed on, or before, Saturday, 7/12 (2 weeks)
  • Orientation Quiz: Take the 5-point Orientation Quiz at: http://harper.blackboard.com/ before Friday, 6/13
  • Unit 1 Exam: on, or before, Saturday, 6/21 (2 weeks)
    • Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 5
    • Required Activities, Quizzes 1 and 2, and Exam 1
  • Unit 2 Exam: on, or before, Saturday, 7/5 (2 weeks)
    • Chapters 4, 6, and 7,
    • Required Activities, Quizzes 3 and 4, and Exam 2
  • Last day to withdraw from the course: Sunday, 7/20
  • Unit 3 Exam: on, or before, Saturday, 7/19 (2 weeks)
    • Chapters 8, 9, 10, 18 and 11
    • Required Activities, Quiz 5, Exam 3
  • The comprehensive final must by completed on, or before, Friday, 8/1 (2 weeks)


Accessibility Statement / Access and Disability Services

Your success in this class is important to me. If you have a disability (learning, physical, psychological or other) and may require some accommodation or modification in procedures, class activity, instruction, requirements, etc. please contact me early in the semester so we can refer you to ADS who will discuss and arrange for reasonable accommodations. The Access and Disability Services department is in the Building D, D119, 847.925.6266 or TTY (847) 397-7600

Equal Opportunity Statement

William Rainey Harper College provides equal opportunity in education and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability.

Student E-mail Notifications

All notifications related to student registration or other business activities are sent to students via a G-mail account that is assigned to students upon registration. Students access the G-mail account via an icon in the student portal (where you registered for classes). Please check this e-mail frequently. To forward e-mails from this account to a personal e-mail account please follow the instructions for forwarding Harper e-mail available at http://harper.blackboard.com/  

Academic Honesty Policy

Harper College is strongly committed to the promotion of high ethical standards. Such standards can best be accomplished in an environment where honesty and integrity are practiced. For this reason the College strongly condemns academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism or other improper appropriation of another's work as one's own and falsifying records to advance one's academic standing.

Cheating includes but is not limited to copying answers, stealing and/or disseminating tests or answer keys, using someone else's data in preparation of reports or assignments, and assisting others in such practices.

Plagiarism involves the presentation of another person's words, ideas, or work as one's own. It includes but is not limited to copying any material (written or non-written) without proper acknowledgment of its source, and paraphrasing another's work or ideas without proper acknowledgment.

Falsifying records includes but is not limited to falsifying or improperly altering college records and documents, or knowingly supplying false or misleading information to others (e.g., the College, other educational institutions, or prospective employers).

Any form of academic dishonesty as defined by the faculty member or department is a serious offense requiring disciplinary measures. Discipline for academic dishonesty involving a specific course shall be first determined by the instructor of the course and may include failure of the specific assignment, project or test, or failure of the course. The student may appeal the instructor's decision in accordance with the College's Student Academic Complaint Procedures. In cases of academic dishonesty the faculty assigned grade supersedes a student-initiated withdrawal. In cases where disciplinary measures beyond course failure may be deemed appropriate by the instructor, or dishonesty that is not related to a specific course, the student may be disciplined in accordance with the Student Conduct Policy with the appropriate vice president involved in the decision.