Faculty

ECON-2301 Principles of Macroeconomics

Nicholas Jenkins

Credit Fall 2024

Section(s)

ECON-2301-017 (89788)
LEC MW 10:30am - 11:50am EGN EGN1 1251

ECON-2301-020 (89790)
LEC MW 12:00pm - 1:20pm EGN EGN1 1251

ECON-2301-021 (89791)
LEC MW 1:30pm - 2:50pm EGN EGN1 1251

ECON-2301-043 (97918)
LEC MW 9:00am - 10:20am EGN EGN1 1251

Course Subjects

This course is meant to give students insight into the dynamics of our national economy. The knowledge gained in the course will make students better informed citizens and allow them to follow the debates over national economic policy reported in the news media. This course is also a foundation course that will prepare students to be successful in upper division finance, marketing, business administration, economics, government, and social work courses.

Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives

Course Objectives:

Develop a wider understanding of the economic world in which we live, the forces operating on it, how they fit together, and how changes affect the economic environment in which you make decisions.
Develop graphical skills in presenting information graphically and utilizing graphs in analytical thinking.
Develop analytical and reasoning skills, including the ability to make missing connections, and come up with logical conclusions.

Course Outcomes:

Critically evaluate GDP, unemployment, and inflation data.
Explain the business cycle and its phases.
Describe how a fractional reserve banking system works.
Manipulate the basic Aggregate Supply, Aggregate Demand model of the macro economy.
Explain fiscal policy tools and defend and criticize the usage of fiscal policy.
Explain monetary policy tools and defend and criticize the usage of monetary policy.

Discipline Program Student Learning Outcomes:

Model and explain under what circumstances markets are capable of creating socially optimal and socially suboptimal outcomes.
Defend and criticize the role of economic policy in a mixed market economy.
Critically evaluate economic data.

Readings

Textbook: Foundations of Macroeconomics 9e Bade/Parkin and MyLabEcon

Previous Editions: In order to complete the assigned work, you must use the e-textbook and MyLabEcon resources. There are assigned readings from this textbook (and the textbook can also serve as a reinforcement for content introduced in lecture). The assignments are done through the Pearson website in MyLabEcon.

Supplementary Readings: Will be assigned on Blackboard.

How This Class Work

This course has both in-classroom (in-person) and outside classroom (online, self-directed) activities that include lectures, handouts and online videos, homework, written projects, quizzes, exams.

In-person activities include:

Explaining and practicing difficult concepts
Expanding on the textbook to include newer and more advanced information
Getting an overview of major concepts, minor points, and how they fit together
Group discussions
Asking and answering questions
Pre-lecture quizzes and Class Exercises.
Exams

Online coursework includes:

Reading assignments in Blackboard and Pearson e-textbook
YouTube videos
Pre-lecture quizzes and Class Exercises
Assignments in Blackboard and MyLabEcon

Estimated Weekly Time Commitment:

Activity	Time (hours)
Classroom	3
Reading and learning concepts (e-textbook, YouTube, and instructor provided videos)	3
Pearson MyLabEcon Assignments	3
Practice exercises	3
Minimum time commitment per week	12

Course Requirements

Must meet ACC proficiency requirements in Reading, Writing and Math (see the course catalog or an advisor).

**Grade Components**
Component	Possible Points/Percentage
Graphing Exercises	10%
Practice Exercises	20%
Homework	20%
Exam #1	25%
Exam #2	25%
Total	100%

**Course Grade Calculation**
Grade	A	B	C	D	F
Points/Percentage	90-100%	89-80%	79-70%	69-60%	59-0%

Pre-Course Assignments (Total of 2)

There are 3 Pre-Course assignment that are required as part of your Homework grade:

MyLabEcon Getting Started Assignment – a short assignment to make sure you have access and are familiar using the Pearson online platform for assignments.
Blackboard Orientation Quiz – a 10 questions quiz based on the information contained in this syllabus and the course Blackboard site.

Both are located in the Pre-Course Assignments folder on the Blackboard course site. You are allowed unlimited attempts to complete these assignments. The highest score achieved will be retained.

These assignments must be completed with a score of at least 80% by midnight on Friday August 30 in order to continue in the course. Otherwise, you will be marked as “absent” and will be withdrawn from the course.

MyLabEcon Assignments (Total of 10)

Homework assignments will be made available in MyLabEcon at the start of the class and due on the date published in the syllabus. Each homework consists of multiple-choice, graphing, and short answer problems. You will have an unlimited number of attempts to complete each assignment, and the highest score will be retained. A penalty of 1% per day will be assessed for homework completed after the due date. No exceptions. At the end of the semester, the lowest homework grade will be dropped.

Graphing Exercises (Total of 2)

In order to fully understand and articulate the concepts learning in class, being able to draw basic economic models is essential. Once during each half of the semester, you be asked to demonstrate this skill by creating an economic model from written information.

These exercises can be accessed via Pearson MyLabEcon and will require a written or electronically created submission. Download the assignment and then either draw the models by hand or you create them using any software of your choosing. Your submission must be uploaded to MyLabEcon as a single pdf document. No paper submissions will be accepted.

Practice Exercises (Total of 10)

Exercises will be assigned to help reinforce the concepts learned in the module and prepare you for the format in which questions are asked on exam. You are allowed to use notes, your textbook, and work with others to complete the exercise. Practice Exercises will often start during class and can be completed outside of class. They are due on the date posted in the syllabus. You will have an unlimited number of attempts to complete each assignment, and the highest score will be retained. A penalty of 10% will be assessed for exercises completed after the due date. No exceptions. At the end of the semester, the lowest Practice Exercise grade will be dropped.

Exams (Total of 2)

The exams consist of 30 – 50 multiple choice and short answer questions covering the sections published. All exams will be completed using Respondus Lockdown Browser during class time. A calculator will be included in the Respondus Lockdown Browser for any required computations. You may also bring your own calculator as long as it is not your phone You will be permitted to bring to the exam two pages (both sides) of handwritten or printed notes. These notes must be turned in upon completion of the exam.

Bonus Points: Pre-Lecture Quizzes (Total of 10 – maximum of 10 per exam)

At the start of each new module, a quiz will be given based on the readings for that module. Each quiz is 10 questions and timed for 12 minutes. The questions are multiple choice. The answers will be reviewed in class, and you should anticipate being invited to discuss your answers.

Each quiz is worth 10 points. The total of all quizzes leading up to an exam will be divided by 2 and the result will be the number of points added to your exam score. For example, there are 5 Pre-Lecture Quizzes leading up to Exam #1. If you get 10 out of 10 on all 5 quizzes, that is a total of 20 points. Divided by 2, that would 10 points be added to your Exam #1 score. If you received a score of 79% on Exam #1, the 10 bonus points increase your Exam #1 score to 89%.

Quizzes will be made available only at the start of a class and will only remain available for the time allotted. You must be present at the start of class to have the opportunity to take the quiz. For example, if class starts at 9am, the quiz will be available at 9am and no longer available at 9:15. It is therefore helpful if you arrive to class promptly and have your device logged into the course Blackboard site to have maximum time to complete the quiz.