On-line
Econ 2
Principles of
Macroeconomics Syllabus
Late Start Spring
2006,
Course Description and Goals for Economics 2
Topics
Covered in Principles of
Macroeconomics
Welcome to
Economics 2 - the Principles of Macroeconomics. I hope to make this course both
an interesting and interactive learning experience for you. Read this syllabus carefully to
find out more information about what we will be doing this semester.
In order to
access this course, you must obtain access to a computer with a connection to
the World Wide Web. Although
My name is
(Professor, Dr.) Ken Woodward. My master's degree in Economics is from the
University of Pittsburgh, and I have a Ph.D. from the University of California
at Riverside. I have been teaching economics for twenty years at various
colleges. My outside interests
include international travel and cyberspace.
Reaching
Me
E-mail: kwoodward@saddleback.edu.
I much prefer e-mail to phone messages.
Phone: 582-4868 at
Saddleback College. I much prefer
e-mail to phone messages. I am
on-line more than I am on the phone.
Written
Messages: My mailbox is in
BGS 302 at Saddleback College. You can send snail mail to: Dr. Ken
Woodward, P.O. Box 4035, Mission Viejo, CA 92690.
Office: SM 352 on the
Saddleback College campus.
Office Hours:
Online, and by appointment. You can also come and see me in person
at my office on the
Course
Description and Learning Objectives for Economics 2
Economics 2 is one
of the two introductory courses in Economics at Saddleback. Economics 2 is an
introduction to macroeconomics. Macroeconomics looks at the "big picture" or the
aggregate economy. Microeconomics (Econ 4) is the study of individual markets
and how they work. In short,
microeconomics is the economics of one thing at a time, and macroeconomics is
the economics of everything at once.
Contemporary
economic concerns such as unemployment, inflation, and economic growth will be
major concerns in Econ 2. The principal schools of macroeconomics and the
historical record of the application of macroeconomic theory to economic
problems through government policies will be examined. Emphasis will be placed on macroeconomic
policy, including the budget and spending decisions of the public sector, and
the role of the Federal Reserve.
The
principal learning objectives of the course will be to (1) describe and explain
macroeconomic behavior, (2) assess the potential of policy to change macro
outcomes, and (3) examine the institutional and political constraints on
economic policy. While this is a standard course in macroeconomics, there will
be a special focus on the international dimensions of macroeconomics throughout
the course. We will examine the
meaning of a "national economy" in a global context. This course is transferable
to all major colleges and universities.
Course
Website:
http://socccd.blackboard.com
The heart of the
on-line course is the course website, which uses the Blackboard platform. The Blackboard website has most of the
stuff you need to know, like announcements, course notes, homework quizzes,
extra credit, etc. Please bookmark
the Blackboard login
page
.
Here
is how to access the Blackboard course website: Go to
http://socccd.blackboard.com,
and click on the Login button.
Enter your user name and password. Your user name is your first initial,
last name and the number assigned as part of your Saddleback email address (no
capitals, no spaces). For
example, if your email address is jdoe0@sm.saddleback.cc.ca.us, your username
would be jdoe0 (zero, never the letter "o"). Your password is your PIN number
that you use to access MySite. (Default is your student PIN or the last
four digits of your social security number + two zeros.) When you change your email password, the
change will take place immediately on the Blackboard server.
Click
on the course title
ECON 2 - PRINCIPLES
(MACRO)
to
get into the course
website. The course ID is
20052_13300. You will not be able to access the course
website until you have officially enrolled. Please make sure that you are able to
log in to Blackboard as soon as possible.
Contact your instructor if you are having any problems with the
Blackboard site, or go to /itc/user/bb_students.html.
If
your instructor has verified that he has you listed on the roster in Blackboard
and you still cannot get in, email Sheri Nelson at mailto:snelson@saddleback.edu to have
your password reset.
Teaching
Methods
You should
read the assigned textbook chapters, and complete assigned homework exercises on
a weekly basis. All assignments
will be posted on the "Announcements"
section of the course website. Your
weekly assignment will be posted by Sunday night, and updated on Thursday. This is an online class.
This is not a self paced class. It is important that you keep up with the
reading and or complete assignments on schedule. Late assignments are not
accepted.
For you to
complete this online course successfully you must have continuous access to a
reliable internet connection that will allow you use Blackboard. If you go on vacation or leave the
country, it is your responsibility to make sure that you can continue the course
while you are away. I will not
modify assignment or examination due dates to accommodate your travel schedule.
Since there are no actual lectures or
in-person class meetings and the professor can't give you a nasty look after
you've missed a week of classes, online courses require a high level of
maturity from the students. Procrastinators will probably not finish the
course. There is not a particular time of day that you need to be in class, but
there is still a schedule to be followed and those who fall way behind are sunk.
On the other hand, you can choose the time of day to "attend" class that best
fits your schedule, work habits, biorhythms, etc.
The
textbook for the course is Macroeconomics
(6th edition) by David Colander. It is available at the Saddleback bookstore,
and fine booksellers everywhere.
Every week-on Sunday- there will be reading assignments from the text.
These assignments will be posted weekly in the "Announcements” section of the
course website.
The assignments for the entire course can be found by clicking the
“Assignments” tab.
If you bought a new
copy of the 6th edition of Macroeconomics, you have an additional optional
resource available to you called DiscoverEcon. Inside your new
book there is a registration code that you can use to access the DiscoverEcon
website. http://www.discoverecon.com/colander6/
The DiscoverEcon
website has four features that you may want to utilize for the course:
1.
Read
Review key concepts with interactive tutorials and view your textbook online.
2. Watch Videos
Video tutorials
by Paul Solman of PBS' News Hour entertain while
reinforcing economics concepts in a fun, engaging way.
3. Practice
Practice what you have learned with auto-graded exercises to prepare for
your exams.
4. Explore
Read course-related articles utilizing the New
York Times and other weblinks, download software to
study to go with your PDA, and more.
Grading
Point
Distribution and Course Grade
Exams
200 points (50% of your final
grade)
Midterm
worth 100 points, 50 questions worth 2 points each
Final worth 100 points, 50 questions worth 2 points
each
Exams will total 200 points
Exams will have a strict time limit of 60
minutes
Do not start an exam unless you plan to complete
it
No backtracking on exams
On all exams you will
be given an average of 1.2 minutes per question
Blackboard
Homework Quizzes 130 points (32.5% of your final
grade)
13 Chapter
quizzes worth 10 points each
Each quiz
will have 10 questions.
The
questions are multiple-choice.
The
questions are based on your textbook readings.
You can do
each homework quiz as many times as you like until the due
date
The due
date for homework quizzes is two weeks after it is
posted
Do not open a quiz unless you plan to complete
it
Discussion
Board Postings 70 points (17.5% of
your final grade)
70 points
for one or more substantial postings dealing with a current macroeconomic issue
Minimum length for postings is 1000 words to receive full
credit
Minimum length for a single posting is 500
words
Postings
will be randomly checked for plagiarism
All Discussion Board postings are due Thursday, May 18 at 11
p.m.
Your course
grade will be computed using the following absolute
scale:
360-400
A
320-359 B
280-319
C
240-279
D
Important:
The course grade
point totals are based on a standard grading scale: 90% and above is an A,
80-89% is the B range, 70-79% is a C, and 60-69% is the D range. Generous extra credit opportunities will
be provided to allow you to raise your grade by a letter as explained
below.
You can keep track
of your points by or by clicking on “My Grades” under Course Tools, located on
the Blackboard site. Save and/or Print a copy of your My Grades results every time you
complete a quiz or exam. Email your
instructor immediately if you have
any questions regarding your grade.
If you see a lock on a given assessment, it means that you started and
failed to finish, or tried to
backtrack.
One half of
your course grade will be based on two examinations: a midterm and a final
exam. The exams will have equal
weights. The midterm exam will be worth 100 points. The midterm exam will consist of
50 multiple choice questions worth 2 points each. It may include some short answer
problems at the discretion of your instructor. Together the midterm and the final will
account for 200 points or 50% of your course grade.
The midterm
will come during the fifth week of the course. Your midterm will be available at
12 a.m. on Thursday, April 20, and will come down at 11 p.m. on Friday, April
21. Your final exam must be completed on Wednesday, May 17,
or Thursday, May 18. Mark these exam dates in your calendar now,
they are not flexible.
Please study before
opening the exam. You may
take these exams only once! You may
not backtrack to a question once you have answered it. The exams will be accessible for only 48
hours! Save and print a copy of your exam results
once you are done.
On both
exams you will be given an average of 1.2 minutes per question. The final will
exam will also have 50 questions, worth 2 points each, and will have a time
limit of 60 minutes.
The exam questions
have been tested and this average is plenty of time if you know your stuff. Warning: If you lose your internet
connection during one of the exams, you must be prepared to come to
Test Taking
Hints
All tests are taken
on Blackboard. You are required to complete the midterm and the final. Both tests are open book - open
note, and will be timed for 60 minutes. You will have
plenty of time to finish the exam if you are familiar with the material. One
point will be subtracted for every minute that you exceed the time
limit.
Even though you can
use your book and notes to take these tests, if you rely on these sources alone,
you will do poorly. Many of the questions are thought provoking type questions
or calculations, which require your understanding to reason out the correct
answer. Without this prior understanding, you will only get confused and will
run out of time (remember the time limit) and therefore end up with a low score.
The best thing you can do is treat these tests as if they were not open book -
open note.
If you have problems
finishing an exam, you are going to need to come to
Upon completion of
each test, you can and should check your score. Save and print a copy of your exam
results once you are done using the My
Grades feature.
Homework Using
Blackboard
On the
Blackboard website under “Homework”,
there will be a ten question multiple choice quiz for thirteen of the chapters
that we will cover in the course.
Because this is a late start course, there will typically be two homework
quizzes posted to Blackboard every week in which there is not an exam. You will have two weeks to complete each
homework quiz from the time it is posted.
Each quiz
is 10 questions long, and each correct answer counts for one point. You may
retake a quiz as many times as you like – only your most recent score counts-
until the date it is due.
When you take a quiz, you will be able to determine which questions that
you missed, but not the correct answer.
In total
the 13 short homework assignments will be worth 130 points total or about 32.5%
of your final grade. The
purpose of assigning homework is to encourage you to read the material in the
textbook in a timely manner. The
required homework chapters for Blackboard are 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11,
12, 14, 15, 17, and 18.
Requirements:
The
Discussion Board helps to make an online course work. This is where you will
have your most direct interaction with the other students and with the
instructor. You learn to think
about the economy by writing about the economy. My hope is that the Discussion
Board will give the student an opportunity to explore economic concepts in
greater depth than the examinations will allow.
As part of the
course requirements, you are asked to make one or more substantial postings on the Discussion
Board dealing with a current topic(s) from macroeconomics.
Your post(s) should
total 1000 words to be eligible for full credit of 70 points. However, quality, not quantity, is
what really matters for your grade.
You need to complete your Discussion Board activity by May 18, 2006 at 11 p.m. That is when the Discussion Board will
be removed from Blackboard for final grading.
What to write about
on the Discussion Board? The simple answer is
macroeconomics. The objective of
this exercise is to create class participation and to test your understanding of
how to apply economic concepts to the real world. Your instructor will create
multiple forums on the Discussion Board in Blackboard, relating to hot topics in
macroeconomics for you to write about.
I don’t
necessarily want to limit the Discussion Board to issues that interest me. Another source of Discussion Board
topics is your textbook. Your
textbook includes a feature at the end of every chapter called "Questions from
Alternate Perspectives." These special end-of-chapter questions present an
opportunity to discuss and analyze the material from the wide range of differing
schools of thought in Economics, including Feminist Economics, Marxist
Economics, Public Choice Theory, the
The
Discussion Board is an interactive process between writers and readers. Readers
may not agree with the opinions you express, and are free to tell you so. This
includes me, although I attempt to stick to assertions, facts, and conclusions
that are within the mainstream of economics. Please try not to be offended at
any comments I may make, but please do inform me if I do offend
you.
The author
of your textbook gives examples of and tips on how to write about economic
topics on the text website. Go
to:
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072978856/student_view0/writing_about_economics.html#
for some good
advice.
How to Post:
You
should compose your Discussion Board comments, using a word processing
program. Check your posting
for spelling and grammar: run a spell check and word count. Save your post on your own
computer in case something goes wrong.
Now you are ready to submit your post to Blackboard.
To post to
the Discussion Board, enter the Discussion Board area of the course
website. Then click on the
title of the forum you want to enter.
Click on “Add New Thread” to answer the question, and then copy and paste
it into Blackboard. Once you are
finished with your response click “Submit”. Remember: before you submit your posting
make sure that you have a saved copy
Please be
informed that all Discussion Board posts assignments submitted will be evaluated
by the 'Turnitin' software program which
detects plagiarism by comparing your work to content on the internet and
proprietary databases
What not to do on
the Discussion Board: Your posting must
not be copied from another source. This is important for two reasons: Expressing ideas in your own words helps
you understand the material better. Copying from the text or other websites is
considered plagiarism.
Plagiarism
is not permitted according to the Student’s Rights and Responsibilities section
in the
Cite any
outside sources, including blogs and websites, so that they can be found easily
by other readers. For information
on various citation styles, see the helpful website prepared by
Your discussion board postings will be easier to read if you keep your paragraphs short. Sometimes the logic of the content requires long paragraphs, but in most cases you can break extremely long paragraphs into two or more shorter ones without damaging the flow of your writing.
Points will
be subtracted if the language is disrespectful. Points will be also be subtracted if the
language in your posting is so muddled as to be unclear; or if there are major
errors in punctuation, spelling, grammar, and usage that are obvious and
distracting. Thirty to forty
points minimum will be subtracted for a posting that is mostly copied. Express your ideas in your own
words. You will also be docked if
your post(s) taken together fall short of the 1000 word
requirement.
Note: There is an
overall course limit of 50 points on extra credit points that a student can earn
from all sources discussed below.
To
incorporate online interaction with other students enrolled and with me, you
will be given extra credit if you participate in the Discussion Board on the Blackboard
website by replying to the Discussion
Board postings (including book
reviews) of your classmates.
To receive extra credit you should compose a response to the posting of a
classmate. In your replies you can:
Expand and or clarify a point made in the posting. Offer an additional argument to support
a position taken in the posting.
Suggest ways in which an idea could be more clearly expressed. Identify passages from the text where
you think the writer misunderstood a concept or applied it incorrectly. Disagree with a point or
position.
Important!
If you are disagreeing with the views of another student, please be constructive
and respectful. You may criticize a position but not the author. Just writing
“Your position on taxes stinks” is not an acceptable reply. Personal attacks on fellow
classmates will be penalized! “Your ideas are half-baked” or other personal
insults are not acceptable!
When you
are ready to reply to a classmates posting, go to that classmates posting click
on the posting. (Do not click on the author’s name or you will open an email
window.) The selected posting will appear. Click on Reply in the lower right hand corner and
type or paste in your reply. Click Submit
and you are done!
The
Discussion Board is not an informal chat room. Your postings should be
thoughtful, considerate and use college-level language and grammar. Also feel free to utilize the Discussion Board to post interesting
material, questions or comments for other students to view.
I will
usually give up to five points for every reasonable reply (demonstrates the
economic way of thinking) to a posting or comment until a student has earned 20
course points. The Discussion Board
extra credit postings are due by the same deadline as your main Discussion Board
post. You need to complete your
Discussion Board activity by May 18, 2005 at 11
p.m. That is when the
Discussion Board will be removed from Blackboard for final grading.
You can
also earn 50 extra credit points for completing the Blackboard multiple-choice quizzes for the five
chapters in your text that have not been assigned as homework. These can be
found in the Extra Credit section of
the course website. Each quiz is 10
questions long, and each correct answer counts for one point. You may retake a
quiz as many times as you like – only your most recent score counts- until the
due date.
Chapters
that can be done for extra credit are 4, 10, 13, 16, and 19. Chapter 4 must be completed and
submitted for extra credit prior to the first midterm.
Other extra
credit possibilities may be made available at your instructor’s
discretion.
Supplemental
materials, including class notes, for each chapter that we will cover will be
available in on the course website under
Course Notes.
If you want
more, the textbook has a very useful website with lots of good study materials.
If you really want to do well in the course you may wish to review the chapter
assignments utilizing the many helpful features on the Online Learning Center on the Colander
Macreconomics website
at:
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072978856/student_view0/index.html
The
Course-Wide Content
- The Leading Indicator provides
easy access to the most interesting and useful economics-related sites on the
Web.
- Colloquial Glossary from the back
of the book is a glossary with a sense of humor.
- Glossary from the back of the
book provides definitions to key terms.
- Inside Cover Info provides you
with all of the tables and charts from the inside covers of all three Colander
texts.
- Web Newsletters use selected Wall
Street Journal articles to illustrate relevant topics. Brand-new newsletters
are posted seven times per semester.
- Writing about Economics gives
examples of and tips on how to write essays.
Chapter-Specific Content
Select a chapter from the drop-down
menu, and then choose from the following features:
- Practice Exercises give you the
opportunity to test what you've learned using fill-in-the-blank, multiple
choice, and graphing.
- Tutorials are essay questions
that use interactive graphing applets.
- Multiple-Choice Pre-tests and
Post-tests are available to assess your comprehension of the chapter.
- Chapter Summaries give an
overview of the chapter.
- Learning Objectives provide an
at-a-glance list of what concepts you will need to master.
- PowerPoint Presentations are
another great way to review the chapter material.
- Web Notes bring the chapter
alive. When you see the web note symbol in the margin, go to this section to
see related information on the web.
- Web Questions are the
end-of-chapter Web Questions with active links.
- Flashcards from the glossary
terms are organized by chapter
The On-Line Learning
Center content will also available on the Blackboard course website, and as a
link under macro links.
As
discussed above, if you bought a new copy of the 6th edition of Macroeconomics,
you have an additional resource available to you called DiscoverEcon. Inside your new
book there is a registration code that you can use to access the DiscoverEcon
website. http://www.discoverecon.com/colander6/
Course
Outline
The
following outline is tentative and for general planning purposes only. Any particular topic may take more or
less time than planned and the outline may change accordingly. Additions, deletions, or modifications
may be made. The chapter and page
references refer to Colander’s Macroeconomics (6th
edition).
Topics
Covered in Principles of
Macroeconomics
This
is an online class. This is not a self paced class. It is important that you keep up with
the reading and or complete assignments on schedule. Late assignments are not
accepted. Read all appendices to
all assigned chapters.
I. Introduction to Global
Macroeconomics
A. Economics and Economic Reasoning (Read
Chapter 1) Week 1 (March 20-March
25)
B. Trade, Tradeoffs, and Government Policy
(Read Chapter 2) Week 2 (March 26-March
29)
C. The Evolving
I would advise
reviewing Chapter 4 on Supply and Demand. We will not cover this chapter
explicitly in class, but understanding the supply and demand framework is a
crucial skill in economics. You can
complete the Blackboard quiz on Chapter 4 for extra
credit.
II. Economic Growth,
Business Cycles, Unemployment, and Inflation (Read Chapter 6) Week 3 (April 2-April 5)
III. Measuring the
Economy: National Income Accounting (Chapter 7) Week 3
(April 6-April 8)
IV. Growth and
Productivity (Chapter 8) Week 4 (April 9-April
12)
V. Aggregate Demand
and Supply (Chapter 9) Week 4 (April 13-April
15)
Catch up
and Review: Week 5 (April 16-April 20)
Midterm
Week 5 (April 20-21)
VI. Money, Finance, and Monetary
Policy
A. Money, Banking, and the Financial
Sector (Chapter 11) Week 6 (April 23-April
26)
B. Monetary Policy and the Debate about
Macro Policy (Chapter 12) Week 6 (April 27-April
29)
VII. Fiscal Policy
and the National Debt
A. Fiscal Policy and Demand
Management (Chapter 14, especially pages 360-370. You should also re-read pages 234 to 240
on Aggregate Demand Policy in Chapter 9) Week 7 (April
30-May 3)
B. Politics, Deficits, and the
National Debt (Chapter 15) Week 7 (May 4-May
6)
VIII. International
Macroeconomics
A. International Trade Policy, Comparative
Advantage, and Outsourcing (Read Chapter 17. Week 8 (May
7-May 10)
B. International Financial Policy (Chapter
18, including Appendix A.) Week 8 (May 11-May
13)
Final
Exam: Week 9 (Your final exam must be completed on Wednesday, May 17 or
Thursday, May 18.)
IX. Macro Policy in
a Global Setting (Chapter 19) Week 8 (Chapter 19
is optional. You will not directly be tested on the material in this
chapter. You can do the Chapter 19
quiz on Blackboard for extra credit.)
The required homework chapters for
Blackboard are 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, and 18. Chapters that can be done for extra
credit are 4, 10, 13, 16, and 19.
|
First Week
of Class Begins: |
|
Monday,
3/20/2006 |
|
Add without
Instructor Permission by: |
|
Sunday,
3/19/2006 |
|
Drop with
Refund by: |
|
Friday,
3/24/2006 |
|
Elect CR/NC
by: |
|
Wednesday,
4/5/2006 |
|
Drop without
'W' Grade by: |
|
Wednesday,
4/5/2006 |
|
Drop with
'W' Grade by: |
|
Wednesday,
4/26/2006 |
|
Last Week of
Class Ends: |
|
Thursday,
5/18/2006 |
It is assumed that any student who registers for and
remains in this course has read these materials and will comply with them. If
you cannot comply with them for whatever reasons -- cannot meet paper deadlines;
lack the English ability to write papers; do not have the computer skills to
take an online course; etc. -- you should drop the course right away rather than
end up with an F at the end of the
semester.