This is a printed copy of this course document. This document is subject to revision as announced by the instructor. The official, current version of this document can be found on the instructor's website at http://users.drew.edu/dlawson/
Dr. Daniel Lawson
204 Lewis House
x3722 (973-408-3722 from off campus)
dlawson@drew.edu
Office hours are posted on my website.
Economics endeavors to be the social science: it undertakes to explain and predict how people spend their time, where they live, how they live, what they produce, how they produce it, who gets to use that which is produced... and what causes this to be different for different individuals, different households, different regions, different countries, and different time periods. Microeconomics models the decision-making of households and firms in response to market signals.
This course begins by introducing basic vocabulary and concepts of microeconomics. The course continues to study competitive markets, examining households and firms, the primary actors in these markets, and how competitive markets lead to efficient allocation of resources. Finally, this course investigates several causes of market failures and some of the policy measures that attempt to remedy them.
Students successfully completing this course:
Students need to bring the notebook to class on a daily basis. Assigned readings come from the textbook.
Under ordinary circumstances, these factors, and only these factors, are the determinants of grades. In particular, there is no extra credit. If extraordinary circumstances exist so that this course grade determination policy does an exceptionally poor job measuring how well a student achieved the course objectives, that student should speak with the instructor about devising an alternate method of evaluating how well the student achieved the course objectives. Any such conversation would need to take place before the final exam.
Two exams will be administered on dates to be announced during semester in class time. The final exam will be administered on the date and time determined by the Registrar. The two exams during the term will test material covered in class, in the homework assignments, and in assigned readings since the previous exam (since the beginning of the course for the first exam). The final exam will be cumulative, with an emphasis on material covered after the second exam. The instructor reserves the right to change the date of any exam if necessary. Unless academic accommodations necessitate otherwise, all exams must be taken at the time specified. There are no make-up exams.
Before each new chapter is covered in class, students shall read the chapter. In a section of the course notebook, students shall write out definitions for each of the bold-face terms in the chapter, and be prepared to identify or define any such terms during the coming class periods. These definitions should be complete sentences. Students may use either the terms in the textbook or their own words in completing the definitions, as long as the student understands what the term means.
Students will complete problem sets from each chapter of the text as the material is covered. Students must complete homework assignments in their course notebook, and be prepared to share their solutions when they are called upon. At the beginning of class, students will be called upon to present their solutions to homework problems.
Students shall write up their definitions and solutions to homework problem sets in a class notebook, as described above in the supplies section.
From time to time, the instructor will collect these notebooks to ensure that students are keeping them up to date. The homework and definitions grades will be determined by students' responses when called upon in class to answer questions and by these checks on students' class notebooks. It is essential that students bring their notebooks to class on a daily basis. Assignments in the notebooks will be graded on a credit/no credit basis. For definitions, to receive credit, a chapter's definitions must be correct and complete. For problem sets, to receive credit, the work must show a serious attempt to answer each of the questions. If work in a notebook is of marginal quality (the student wrote something meaningful, but the work does not show serious engagement with the material for problem sets, or correct and complete definitions), it will be given a third rating: revise and resubmit. Work given this rating does not receive credit, but it if is redone, it will be reconsidered for credit the next time the notebook is collected. Any work marked revise and resubmit that has not been redone by the time the notebook is next collected will receive a score of no credit. Work marked no credit will not receive credit during a subsequent reading of the notebook.
Failure to turn in the class notebook when called upon to do so will result in a grade of no credit for all assignments since the notebook was last collected (as well as any pending revise and resubmit sections. This also applies if a student who has not arranged an absence is not present at the time she or he is called upon to turn in the notebook, regardless of the student's presence earlier or later in the class period.
For this assignment, students will present a poster that illustrates the operation of supply and demand in determining market price and quantity. Students should choose a market for a good or service they find interesting. It would be helpful if the market chosen is a competitive market, with many buyers and sellers.
The purpose of this project is to illustrate the operation of supply and demand in a real-world market. Poster should stand alone to explain the concept it illustrates; it should not require any explanation.
Posters should contain at least three items:
Posters might also include pictures, other background information, or other content that helps the reader understand what is going on in the graph and why the market is interesting.
Posters should leave a three inch by three inch space in the upper right-hand corner for the poster's number to be affixed on the day of presentation. Posters must not reveal the student's name on the front side.
Students must inform the instructor of their topics via e-mail dlawson@drew.edu before Class 7. Students present their posters during Class 9.
Posters will be evaluated on the following criteria:
Requests for academic accommodations must be formally filed with the Office of Educational Services. It is the student's responsibility to self-identify with the Office of Educational Services. To schedule an appointment call x3327 (973-408-3327 from off campus) or stop by BC 114. Please note that there are no retroactive accommodations.
To promote learning and fairness, Drew University College of Liberal Arts standards of academic integrity apply to work done in this class. Suspected violations of these standards will be reported to the Dean of the College in accordance with the established procedures.
A vital part of the learning process at a liberal arts college comes from the community of learners that grows in each course. Each student's engagement with course material creates positive externalities for classmates. For optimal learning outcomes for both each individual student and all other classmates, each student should prepare for and attend each class period. When students are unprepared or absent, this impedes not only that student's own learning, but also the learning of the entire class.
Participating in class discussions and activities improves understanding of course material and helps ensure that topics confusing or interesting to students are addressed. Students are strongly encouraged to ask questions about material, even if they believe the question is an "easy" one -- it is likely that other students have the same question.
While perfect attendance is ideal, students may arrange to miss class on up to three (3) occasions during the semester without it directly affecting their course grade. There is no distinction between "excused" and "unexcused" absences. Regardless of the reason that necessitates that a student misses class, exactly two conditions are both necessary and sufficient for the absence to not directly affect the student's grade:
If a student arranges in advance to miss a class in which a homework assignment or definitions from a chapter are due, that student will be taken out of the rotation for the day, and thus not called upon to present definitions or answers to homework, or turn in a notebook. If a student arranges in advance to miss a day of class in which an exam or poster presentation is due, the student will not be graded on that exam or presentation, and the final exam grade will be weighted heavier to compensate for the missing grade.
If a student is absent but has not arranged that absence in advance, the student will receive no credit for any assignment the student is called upon to turn in that day. This will have a significant negative effect on the student's grade in the course.
The Course Schedule is avaliable online. It is subject to revisions as announced in class.