Economics 1, Principles of Microeconomics

Winter 2004

Professor Shapiro

Office hours:

Professor Shapiro: TBA.
Head TA, John Hartman: Mondays 2:30-3:30 pm, and by appointment, NH 2044. Note that students with administrative questions and problems will have priority over other students during the head TA’s office hours.
Libby Ashley: Mondays 1:15-2 pm, Tuesdays 9:15-10 am, and Wednesdays 11-11:45 am, NH 2039.
Taeil Kang: TBA, NH 2048.
Rosemarie Lavaty: TBA, NH 2041.

THE TEXTBOOK: Robert Frank and Ben Bernanke, Principles of Microeconomics, Published by McGraw Hill (REQUIRED FOR THE CLASS).

Economics 1 is a course in microeconomics – the economics of the individual and the market. Likely, this is the first course in economics for most enrolled students, and it may be the only economics course ever taken. For some this is the beginning of the study of economics or business. The aim of the course is to satisfy the needs of both groups.

Exams will be given in lecture on January 28, February 18, and March 3. You will have 40 minutes to complete each exam. The two exams on which you received the best grades will be used as part of your overall grade. In addition there is a final exam on March 17 from noon to 3 pm. The exams on 1/28, 2/18, and 3/3 will have maximum scores of 25 each. The maximum score for the final exam is 50. The sum of your scores, relative to the overall distribution of scores in this class, determines your grade. (We use the class curve.)

PLEASE NOTE: On each of the exams, anyone arriving after 12:00 noon is subject to being turned away. Any student turned away from taking the test will receive a score of zero and will have no way to make up the exam.

All exams must be taken as scheduled except as follows:

DSP students should make accommodations with John Hartman as early as possible.
Students participating in NCAA-sponsored athletics should refer to any potential scheduling conflicts to John Hartman at least two weeks before any exam that may be affected.

Throughout the quarter there will be various activities done in lecture. These activities will require students to participate. Students will be selected at random. Students selected will have their final grade affected in the following ways:

A student selected that is not present or does not acknowledge being present will lose two percentage points to the overall grade at the end of the quarter.
A student selected that is present and acknowledges being present will need to participate in the activity of the day. As an incentive to participate to the best of one’s ability, the professor of the class and/or the TAs will assign a grade ranging from –1 to +2. This grade will be added on as percentage points to the overall grade at the end of the quarter.

Finally, any student can be called at any of the activities. Thus, being drawn at random for one activity will not change your probability of being selected for any other activity.

For example, suppose someone with 82 points out of 100 from the best two exams and the final is called once during the quarter to participate in an activity. Further suppose that this student receives a +2 from the activity. Then the final grade will be an 84 for this student.

Some activities may include the following:

Students will be asked one or more questions about material that students should know for that day’s lecture.
A group of students will participate in an activity in which each student is trying to achieve his or her best outcome. Note that one student’s best outcome may depend on how other students behave.

Note that other activities may be planned and students can be called upon at any time during any lecture throughout the quarter.

To be fair to students that do not get randomly called throughout the quarter, the class curve will be set before the addition of points from activities.

Although all students will be able to drop the lowest midterm grade, you should think carefully before missing any midterm. If you miss one of the first two midterms and later realize that there is an emergency that conflicts with a later midterm, you may have a very tough decision to make.

It is important for you to attend the section that you are scheduled in. First, if a TA lets you sit in on another discussion section, it is your privilege, not your right. Second, test results will likely be returned in your enrolled section. If you do not receive your scores from your TA, you will need to go to her or his office hours. Finally, part of the purpose of dividing students in individual sections is to try to evenly distribute the students to smaller groups of 30-40.

Professor Shapiro reserves the right to change any of the items on this syllabus as needed.

The schedule of lecture meetings is below, and is subject to change. At various times throughout the quarter, you will receive problems and reading assignments to work on. Some problems for the in-lecture activities will expect you to have at least a basic knowledge of the material in order for you to do well in these activities.