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ECO 108.01 - .10 An Introduction to Economic Analysis Spring 2014

This course is an introduction to microeconomics (the study of individual, firm, industry, and
market behavior) and macroeconomics (the study of the determinants of national income, the rate of
economic growth, employment, and inflation).
Prerequisite: C or higher in MAT 122 or MAT 123 or AMS 151 or level 4 on the mathematics placement
examination
Instructor: Dr. William Dawes
Instructor Office Hours: TBA
TA Office Hours: TBA
email Address: TBA
Text: Text available at the University Bookstore NOTE: The Text is required and you need to have your
own copy.
Other: A numeric keypad from TurningTechnologies, a clicker, available at the University Bookstore. If
you have not registered your clicker in BlackBoard for another curse, you will need to go into the
BlackBoard page for this course and register your keypad.
Course Learning Objectives: Understanding the basic concepts of introductory economics
Understanding how to use the basic micro and macro models of economics
Your grade in this course is determined by the quality of your answers to the questions in the text,
the quality of your groups work in recitation, your participation in Lecture Activities, and on four or five
tests. Here is how each of those is weighted in the calculation of your course grade:
Tests: 87% (10% for Test #0 and 19.25% for Tests #1, #2, #3, and #4 or
0% for Test #0 and 21.75% for Tests #1, #2, #3, and #4)
The test schedule is: February 13 Test #0 (in the evening, 8:45 pm 10:15 pm)
February 27 Test #1 (in the evening, 8:45 10:15 pm)
March 31 Test #2 (in the evening, 8:45 pm 10:15 pm)
April 17 Test #3 (in the evening, 8:45 pm 10:15 pm)
May 8 Optional (in the evening, 8:45 pm 10:15 pm)
May 16 Test #4 (during the final exam period: 11:15 am 1:45 pm)
Recitation: 8% (Performance on recitation questions and spot checks of your answers to the Text
questions.)
Lecture Activities: 5%
Test #0 will cover the material from the first several weeks of class. At the end of that test and
before you hand it in, you must indicate whether you want the test to count as 10% of your course grade or
0% of your course grade. There will be a box towards the top of the first page of Test #0. If you sign
your name, Test #0 counts; if you dont, it doesnt. Test #1 will include the material from Test #0.
It is possible that the test schedule will be modified. The "Optional" on May 8 covers the material
on Tests #1, #2, and #3. If you take it and do better on it than on any one of those tests, we will replace the
worst of your grades from those three tests with your grade on the Optional. If you do worse on the
Optional than any of those tests, your grade on the Optional will not count. If you miss any one of Tests
#1, #2, or #3 for any reason, the Optional is the makeup test. This means that if you miss one of those
tests, you must take the Optional. There are no exceptions to this. Important notes: If you choose to have
Test #0 count as 10% of your course grade, the Optional cannot be used to replace your Test #0 grade. Test
#4 is not comprehensive; it just covers the material from the last part of the course. Everyone must take
Test #4.
The Text is an extensive series of Activities, each with a set of questions, designed to guide you
through particular economic topics. The questions in the Text will be spot-checked in recitation for both
completion and accuracy. They will also often serve as the basis for some of the Lecture Activities. You
must bring your Text to all lectures and recitations. When you come to office hours, you should also bring
it as well.
All requests for regrades must be submitted in writing and include an explanation as to why you
think a reconsideration of your work is appropriate. Except in the case of mistakes in addition, I reserve the
right to regrade the entire piece of work if it is submitted for a regrade. Requests for regrades must be
submitted within 7 days of when the graded work is first available in recitation. This means that if you wait
two weeks to look over your test, you cant submit it for a regrade. There will be no make-up exams or
makeup recitations. You may not improve your grade by doing extra work.
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In general, office hours are held in the 6-th floor lobby of Social and Behavioral Sciences. If you
need to see me or any of the TAs outside of office hours, please make an appointment. Also, if I am not in
the lobby during my office hours, please look for me in my office, S 641. I usually pass through the
lobby many times during the course of a day; if you are working in the lobby and would like to ask me a
question, feel free to do so. If I have time, Im happy to help.
The recitation for this class usually involve groups of 2 or 3 students working at a computer to
complete a series of questions. It is important to understand that knowledge of computers is not a pre-
requisite for this course.
Historically, students in this class have found it useful to get in the habit of coming up to office
hours whenever they are working on the questions in the text. In many courses, students often consider
office hours for a course as a resource to be utilized only when they are studying for a test that is 22 hours
away or having a terrible time doing an assignment that is due in 20 minutes. Those circumstances are
seldom conducive to a good learning experience. The 6
th
Floor lobby in SBS is a good place to study.
The classroom is not an appropriate environment for you to receive cell phone calls or check your
email. Please be sure your cell phone is turned off before class. You should know that falsely reporting a
students attendance, whether by doing her / his Lecture Activity or recitation and handing it in or allowing
a student to copy directly from your work will not be tolerated and is considered academic dishonesty. All
students involved in such situations will be charged with academic dishonesty.
At various times during most classes, you will be given an opportunity to complete what we refer
to as a Lecture Activity, a series of questions covering current course material. The sole objective of
these Activities is for both of us to assess the level of your understanding of particular topics and/or
mastery of particular skills. The Lecture Activities will take two forms, responses registered using the
keypad response system and hardcopies to be handed in during lecture. You will need to buy the keypad
from the bookstore. As long as you try to complete all the Lecture Activities for a particular lecture, you
will receive full credit for that set of Activities. If a particular Lecture Activity involves participation at
several points during a lecture, you must participate in all the parts to receive credit. You can miss up to
three Lecture Activities without lowering your lecture activity grade. Note: The only time you can do the
Lecture Activity is during the allocated lecture/recitation time. As part of the assessment process, not every
student will necessarily get the same Lecture Activity during any particular lecture/recitation. This will
give us the opportunity to increase our understanding about teaching and learning that will improve our
efforts in those areas. Historically, students who do not bother to make a real effort to do their best on
Lecture Activities do not do well in the course. Please bring a straight edge (longer than your ID card) and
a calculator to all classes.
Various course documents, including old test questions, this syllabus, office hours, and other
useful information will be available over the Web in the Blackboard account this class. You can access
class information on-line at: http://blackboard.sunysb.edu For help or more information see:
http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/helpdesk/docs/blackboard/bbstudent.php
Americans with Disabilities Act: If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning
disability that may impact your course work, please contact Disability Support Services, ECC (Educational
Communications Center) Building, room128, (631) 632-6748. They will determine with you what
accommodations, if any, are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation is confidential.
Academic Integrity: Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be
personally accountable for all submitted work. Representing another person's work as your own is always
wrong. Faculty are required to report any suspected instances of academic dishonesty to the Academic
Judiciary. For more comprehensive information on academic integrity, including categories of academic
dishonesty, please refer to the academic judiciary website at
http://www.stonybrook.edu/uaa/academicjudiciary/
Critical Incident Management: Stony Brook University expects students to respect the rights,
privileges, and property of other people. Faculty are required to report to the Office of Judicial Affairs any
disruptive behavior that interrupts their ability to teach, compromises the safety of the learning
environment, or inhibits students' ability to learn.