Henry Ford Community College

Course Syllabus - BEC 152
Principles of Micro Economics
ONLINE - section 098

Instructor & Contact Information:

Instructor: Jim Luke
Office: I am an adjunct and do not have an office on campus.
Phone & Voice Mail: 313-550-8884   (cell + text)
517-483-5384  (day office at Lansing Community College)
Email: hfcc.jol@plansolutions.com  
Do not use the uCompass email facility.
Emails sent to hfcc.jol@plansolutions.com will typically be answered within two business days (excluding weekends).
Office Hours: By appointment - call, text, or email to setup a time/place.

I. Division: Business & Economics

II. Course and Section Information:

Course Code: BEC152
Title: Principles of Micro Economics
Semester: Fall 2011
Class Meetings: ONLINE - no face-to-face class meetings


III. Credit Hours: 3

IV. Total Contact Hours: 47 (note this course is conducted online)

V. Prerequisites:  none

VI. Co-requisites: none

VII. Course Grading Scale: A-E

VIII. Catalog Description

Microeconomics is a required course for Business Administration majors planning to transfer to four-year colleges or universities. The course examines foundation of price theory. Areas of study include elements of a free market system, utility theory, cost and production theory, marke structure, resource allocation, market imperfections, government intervention, and international economics..

IX. Goal Statement:  

Students will develop the ability to understand and interpret microeconomic news and events.  Students will be prepared to think critically and approach business and economic problems analytically.

X. Measurable Objectives:

Major Core Course Objectives (* indicates meets critical thinking outcome)
  1. Define economics and explain its relation to the other social sciences.
  2. Define free market capitalism and explain its characteristics.*
  3. Define supply and demand. Explain how supply and demand determines price in a market. Develop and use graphs in the explanation.*
  4. Define and explain elasticity.*
  5. Explain production and cost theory. Develop and use graphs in the explanation.*
  6. Define market structure. Discuss the different types of market structure. Develop and use graphs in the discussion.*
  7. Discuss regulation of markets and antitrust policies.*
  8. Differentiate bettween fator and product markets.*
  9. Discuss market failure and externalities."
  10. Define and discuss absolute and comparative advantage.*

XI. Assessment of Academic Achievement

A. The following methods are used in this class:

Type of Graded Assignment    
 Points Available % of Final
Course Grade
Quizzes (online) 170 points 42.5%
Worksheets (online) 60 points 15%
Midterm Test 50 points 12.5%
Req'd. Forum Posts (2) 20 points 5%
Final Exam 100 points 25%
Total for Course 400 points 100%
Quizzes -  170 points

Quizzes are multiple-choice and true-false question tests with only one best answer for each question. Some graphs and minor calculations may be involved. After completing each of the 13 units, students will complete a short quiz of approximately 10-20 questions.  Quizzes are administered online. Students will be shown their score (# correct) immediately and which questions they missed. Students will not be provided correct answers after completing the quiz or later in the course. If you have a question or do not understand a question after having taken the quiz both times, contact the instructor for help. This is necessary since students will be taking the quizzes at different times and will also have the opportunity to re-take quizzes. Quizzes do not have time limits. Any quiz may be re-taken, but each quiz may only be taken a maximum of two times. The highest of the two quiz submissions will be counted.
Worksheets - 60 points

There will be 6 worksheet assignments. These worksheets are assigned in various different Units, but not all units will have a worksheet assignment.  A worksheet consists of a table of data and/or graph about an economic situation or problem. Some initial data is provided and students are expected to calculate the remaining data. After completing the blank parts of the worksheet, you will answer a short series of questions online. The data you calculate will be needed to answer the questions. Worksheet answers may submitted as many times as the student chooses.  In addition, students are encouraged to collaborate and discuss the worksheet problems on the discussion forums. Students who "go the extra mile" in helping other students in the online forums may receive bonus points
Midterm Test - 50 points
One midterm test will be taken online for 50 points.  It will consist of 50 multiple choice questions. It will be timed, limited to 90 minutes, and may only be taken once.
Required Forum Postings - 20 points

There are numerous forums available for online discussion and help.  Most forums are optional and exist for students to help each other with problems, issues, or to clarify course problems.  Three forums are required, though.   Students must participate and post to each of the three Required Forums. The two Required Forums are labeled as such and are located in Unit 1and Unit 14.  In most cases, students will recieve the maximum allowed points for their post.  The instructor reserves the right to lower the points though, if a post is trivial or uncivil.
Final Examination - 100 points
The final exam will be comprehensive and will have two parts. Each question counts for 2 points.  The departmental part will consist of 25 multiple choice questions and will count as 50 points. The instructor part will be 25 questions that will count as the other 50 points of the final exam grade. The final exam will be taken online during the HFCC final exam days: Dec 14-17.

B. Grading Scale:  A-E

Course Grade % of Possible Minimum Points Earned 
A 90-100% 360
B 80-90% 320
C 70-80% 280
D 60-70% 240
E 0-60% <240


XII. Instructional Materials

A. Required Textbooks:  

Taylor, Timothy;  Principles of Economics, 2nd Edition,  published by Freeloadpress,  2010, ISBN: 1-930789-13-0

Where to get the textbook: Traditional economics textbooks generally cost $150-$190, which I consider too much.  Instead I use a textbook that is available direct from the publisher in a printed version for only $33.  The book is available online at www.textbookmedia.com .  A direct link to the Taylor book in the Textbookmedia.com catalog is here: http://www.textbookmedia.com/Products/ViewProduct.aspx?id=3592 . 

Please note that the book is available in 4 different options:

You may choose whatever option suits you.  HOWEVER I STRONGLY RECOMMEND GETTING A PRINTED OR PRINTABLE VERSION.  Students with printed versions seem to do better in the course and student feedback suggests it is the better option.  The online book requires you to be connected to the Internet whenever you read it. 

Other Materials and Resources 

Students must make use of the Instructor's website at http://moodle.plansolutions.com.  An alternate address is http://plansolutions.com/moodle. Both  URL addresses go to the same place.
Instructions how to log-in to the instructor's website will be provided by email at the beginning of the semester and can also be viewed at http://jimluke.com/HFCC/student-instructions.html.  Links to other resources about economics, websites, copies of in-class slide presentations, and practice quizzes are available on the Web on the course website

Technology Requirements

Students must have access to the World Wide Web using standard browsers such as Firefox, IE, Safari, Opera, Konqueror, or Chrome.  It is also useful to have access to software that reads .rtf files and .ppt files.  Microsoft Office (Word and Powerpoint) will do this. Openoffice will also do it and is available for free.  If you need software, look at http://jimluke.com/free-software-for-students/  It is advised to have a high-speed connection and a printer, but not essential. The final exam is taken in a "pop-up" window.  You will need to be able to allow pop-ups for http://plansolutions.com if your browser is set to block pop-ups.

VIII. Course Practices and Policies

Attendance Policy
Students are expected to be active online every week, however there not fixed due dates for assignments other than Unit 1, the Midterm, and Unit 12.  Students who go more than two weeks without logging in online and without explanation or notification to the professor are subject to being dropped for non-attendance.
Scheduling and Due Dates: Flexible Schedule
The online parts of this course are designed to provide a significant amount of flexibility to students in scheduling their own work.  There are only four firm "deadlines" as listed below. I have provided a recommended schedule for completing each unit but it is up to each student to plan and monitor their own progress. The requirement that students plan and schedule their own work is an integral part of learning economics. In particular it helps the student to experience concepts of scarcity, opportunity costs, production possibilities, and other economic principles. More information about scheduling and deadlines in Unit 1 of the course, and by checking the Schedule tab of the course website. Plan your own pace and schedule accordingly. 

You may proceed at your own pace. One lesson of economics is that all activities have opportunity costs and that everyone's opportunity costs are different. Therefore, the most rational or optimal scheduling can be determined by each student. You may proceed as fast or as slow as you wish so long as you meet the four mandatory deadlines. Please be advised that there is a definite advantage  in maintaining a consistent pace throughout the semester. Students who postpone much of the work to the last few weeks usually experience a significant additional cost in doing so: lower quiz scores, more anxiety, and more time to master the same material. Economics is much more difficult to learn in a compressed, short period of time.  Flexible scheduling DOES NOT MEAN PROCRASTINATING EVERYTHING TO THE LAST FEW WEEKS.  Students who are not making regular progress and are not regularly participating are subject to being dropped

The required deadlines are: 

Students may be DROPPED for NON-ATTENDANCE, IF ANY of the following occurs:
  1. the student fails to complete quiz #1 and make the first required posting to the Getting Started Forum by the deadline.
  2. the student does not access the course online for two whole weeks without informing the instructor of their plans
  3. the student has not completed all work up to and including Unit 12 by the deadline.
The instructor will review the participation and submissions of students several times throughout the semester.  Students who do not make regular submissions and do not notify the instructor of their plans will be dropped.  Students are encouraged to assist each other in learning and mastering the material, particularly when dealing with the problem worksheets. A discussion forum will be provided for this use. Collaboration, however, is only for students to help each other understand the material. Trading, sharing, or publishing of specific answers to specific quiz or exam questions is prohibited and will be considered a violation of academic integrity

IX.  Detailed Outline of Course Content and Sequencing

The course is divided into 13 Units.  Unit 1 and Unit 13 are an introduction to the course and a summary/conclusion of the course.  The other 11 units are organized into 4 Parts according to topics. The organization of the course roughly follows that of the textbook chapters, but not exactly and not in the same sequence. For more information and details see the Lessons tab of the course and the "Jim's Guide" for each unit.  Be advised that Unit numbers DO NOT CORRESPOND directly to chapter numbers in the book.  In order to know what to read in the textbook for each unit, it is necessary to first read the Jim's Guide/Reader's Guide online for that unit.

XI. Student Academic Integrity

The very nature of higher education requires that students adhere to accepted standards of academic integrity.  The HFCC policies on Academic Dishonesty will be enforced.

Additional Instructor's Policy

I encourage discussion between students and the sharing of ideas and information.  One of the best methods for learning and truly grasping economic concepts is to explain them to others.  Students are welcome to assist each other in learning.  However, the direct exchange of answers to questions without discussion, argument, or reasoned explanation is viewed as academic dishonesty.  I reserve the right to reject the score of any assessment that I suspect may have been obtained dishonestly and not through student learning, even without proof of any dishonest actions by the student.