Catalog Description:  Prerequisite/Corequisite:   A course dealing primarily with economic problems.  Emphasis is given to markets, production functions, economic concepts and economic role of government, agricultural problems, labor-management relations, imperfect competition, interest and capital, economic security, international trade and finance, and economic development.  This course partially satisfies requirement-3,000 words (S.B.E. 6A-l0.030).

MEASURABLE COURSE OBJECTIVES  (Upon successful completion of this course    

the student will be able to):

1.        Demonstrate comprehension of the methodologies by which knowledge is discovered and organized in the discipline and by which research is conducted

2.         Recognize and identify definitions and examples of the major concepts and theories of the discipline

3.         Apply those concepts and theories in the analysis of real life situations

Objectives of Microeconomics

Prerequisite: ENC 1101 or permission of instructor. A course dealing primarily with economic problems. Emphasis is given to the economic role of government, agricultural problems, labor-management relations, imperfect competition, interest and capital, economic security, international trade and finance, and economic development. This course partially satisfies requirements of S.B.E. 6A-l0.30. The course will give you a basis for decision making, whether the decisions concern personal or professional questions.

Microeconomics is being presented in a unique learning environment, WebCT, that offers students the opportunity to be an active participant in an on-line environment. Students can access the course information page, lecture and help resources. They can participate on-line through the communication and search tools while having the ability to check their progress periodically throughout the course. The lecture resources consist of: Lecture objectives, readiness assessment quizzes, lecture notes, in-line exercises, discussion questions, hyperlinked summaries, lecture homework assignments, practice exams and sample tests. While this course is structured to be taken on an independent basis, it is not self-paced. All deadlines must be met in order to successfully complete this course.

Interaction with Instructor:

Given the nature of distance learning, I just want to emphasize to you that I am more of a facilitator for your learning than an instructor. With the taking of a distance learning course, you need to realize that you will be the one that must make most of the effort in understanding the material.  College Students who take the face-to-face classes, spend 2.5 hours per week in class and should spend approximately (depending on the course) another two hours outside of class for every hour in class.  Given you do not have an instructor who is explaining this in a face-to-face format, you may have to spend more than the the 7 or 8 hours a week that the average student would spend on this class in the face-to-face format.

All assignments should be turned in via WebCT email (use the bulletin board for your postings and for messages to the entire class).  I will strive to answer your questions within a time-frame of approximately 24 hours.

1. Course Overview

    

   While this is an independent study course but it is not self-paced. Since the class does not meet synchronously, instructors will not be reminding students of assignments that are due. On the other hand, since real time is not an issue, students can complete the material any time, day or hour of the week. College-level reading and writing skills are necessary in order to succeed in the course, so students may want to consult the Learning Resource Center, L100, for assistance in writing papers as well as additional computer programs which may be available. Time should be spent reading the course outline carefully and skimming through the required text. The instructor through e-mail or on the class discussion board posting may then address questions and concerns.

   WebCT Lecture notes for the assigned chapters as well as the textbook should be read and studied. At the end of many WebCT Lecture Note chapters in the summary section, a PowerPoint presentation should be viewed (in "slide show" mode) for a better understanding of the material. Some of these files are rather large and will take some time to download (dependent upon the speed of your connection and computer). They are worth the wait. Converted files are also available - these allow for easier viewing but at the "opportunity cost" of no sound, action, etc.

    

2. Course Requirements

    

   The requirements for this course include two tests, ten quizzes, nine homework assignments, a weekly  "Bulletin Board" postings, an "article review" and one "business interview" (which have a minimum word requirement of 1,000 words each).

   Tests - A midterm and a final exam will be given in this course. The midterm exam will be taken online (possibly under supervision).  The final will be taken open book, open note, online and under supervision.  If you cannot take the final exam with a lecture session, exams may be scheduled during the same week  closed book, closed note at Sanford Makeup Testing Office (students make the appointment by calling 407.708.2311).

   The Final exam will be taken under supervision of an official exam proctor.   No exams will be given after the semester ends. Both the Midterm and Final must be taken in order to successfully complete the class

   Quizzes - In your syllabus (& under the icon "Homework/Quizzes"), you'll find quizzes associated with many chapters. The "Quizzes" of selected chapters will be counted in your grade. These must be completed during the period that they will be "available" to the student. This usually means the week in which the chapters are to be covered. For more specific dates, see the Course Syllabus (generally the last day to take a quiz will be the Sunday following the week in which they are assigned)."

   The ten quizzes will be worth a total of 20% of your grade. Each quiz will have 10 questions. If, for instance, the student averages eight out of 10 questions for the ten quizzes taken, the student will have 16 points (80% of the 20 points available) correct out of the 100 points possible for the course. You will only have 20 minutes to take each quiz. Taking longer than 20 minutes may lead to a grade of zero for the quiz.

   Out of the eleven quizzes that will be available for the course, ten will count toward your grade with either a missed quiz or the lowest grade being dropped. There is a practice quiz available with the first chapter. If you'd like to take a practice test with other chapters, go to the icon picture of the textbook at the top of every page and click on to the publisher's website. There are practice tests available with every chapter.

   Some browsers do not work well with the quiz function of WebCT (see opening page of the WebCT). In addition, the JAVA script for your computer must be enabled. If you are having problems with your quizzes, contact the Office for Distance Learning for assistance.

   Homework Assignments- The student will be responsible for completing ten "Homework Assignments" as assigned in the course schedule. Each homework assignment will be worth  2% of the course grade for a total of 20%. The student will have two attempts to submit the homework.  The two attempts will be averaged (on the second attempt, answer the questions you got correct on the first quiz the same way; there may be different questions on the second attempt - if you are satisfied with the score on the first attempt and don't want to risk a lower average, don't attempt the Homework again).

   Participation - Participation will consist of  Bulletin Board Postings (BBP's).  There will be 11 participation opportunities; you may use the 11th extra to either make up a missed participation or for extra credit.

    

   Bulletin Board Postings (BBP's) -  There will be asynchronous postings to the "Bulletin Board" (Bulletin Board Postings).  The posting will occur on a Monday (see Course Schedule).  Students must respond with a paragraph (minimum 50 words) on two separate days, at least 12 hours apart (that's a total of two 50 word paragraphs; a submission at 11:58 p.m. on Saturday and a 12:01 a.m. submission on Sunday will not count as two submissions) in response to the original posting or to another student's posting (thus the two postings could be one original posting to a "Discussion Point"  and another posting which is in reference to what another student has written).  Postings that are simply restatements of what another student(s) has(have) said, have not taken into account what other students have posted, or have not taken into account additional instructor postings, will not be counted for credit (thus read previous student/instructor postings - use the "compile  thread" function to read all postings under one "Discussion Point").  The last posting to be counted in the participation will be the Sunday following the Monday's posting. For full credit, the student's posting should be based on materials from the textbook, PowerPoint presentations (i.e. "positive economics"), etc., and not opinions ("normative economics"). on two separate days in response to the original posting or another student's comments.   The last posting to be counted in the participation will be the Sunday following the Monday's posting.  You should try to post early as some Discussion Points will be closed to further postings once the correct answer from a student is posted.

    

                                                         Student participation should be relevant to the course, i.e. all bulletin board & chat

                                                         postings should be on matters that pertain to all students in the microeconomics

                                                         course.  All postings which are purely for advertisement of a product or event or 

                                                         are not appropriate and could lead to participation points being deducted.  Use the 

                                                         email function  to communicate directly with the instructor and to turn in student

                                                         assignments.

          

   Seminole Community College allows instructors to initiate a course withdrawal for students who do not participate in the course. Participation in this course will be defined as keeping current on all assignments.

   Written Assignments  - One "article review" (AR) and a "business interview" (BI) are required.

   Business Interview - The written assignment will be an interview of a member of the business community (this may be a member of your family). The interview will be based on the interviewee's knowledge/perception of the importance of the following topics to the decision-making process within the organization and to its customers. The paper should cover a minimum of 4 areas from:

   *Knowledge of supply & demand *Government regulation *Price (as relates to elasticity) *Production & cost of firm’s *Market structure *Labor market faced by the firm *International trade & comparative advantage*Market Failure (when there is government intervention)

   The result of the interview should be typed and have the same format as the article reviews and no less than 1,000 words and should include a graphical application on market structure (discuss your graph!). Include the name, best time to contact and telephone number of the interviewee. Submit the results of the attached survey with your interview paper (this will also help you focus your questions for the interview as well). Ten percent of the interviewees will be contacted based upon the contact information you provide. For late submissions, 10% will be deducted each day after the due date. (remember, under the State of Florida's writing requirement for this course, the review must be turned in or the student can receive a grade no higher than a "D" for this course). The review is due the first day of the week noted on the course outline.

   The review will be worth 10% of the total grade.

   This writing requirement, under the State of Florida Gordon Rule, must be satisfied or the student can receive no better than a grade of "D" in this class.

   Extra Credit - Up to three points can be added to your final grade through the taking of an exam based upon the book, The Worldly Philosophers. The extra credit assignment will be available during the last week of class before the final. You will only have 20 minutes to take the exam and it will be available for a limited time period.  Students who choose to attempt the extra credit, must inform the instructor 4 weeks before the final exam.  In addition, if there are more participation assignments than the required 10, students who have completed the required 10 will receive extra credit for completing these assignments.

   III.  Grading Procedures

    

   Students should be aware of the types, numbers and point values the instructor has assigned for each task in the course:

   ASSIGNMENT TYPE	POINTS POSSIBLE
   Quizzes (10)	20%
   Homework (10)	20%
   Midterm	10%
   BI	10%
   Final Exam	20%
   Participation (BBP's & Chat Reviews)	20%
   TOTAL	100%

    

   In addition to the grading procedures, students need to be aware of the grade distribution for the course:

   POINTS	CORRESPONDING LETTER GRADE
   90 - 100%	A
   80 - 89%	B
   70 - 79%	C
   60 - 69%	D
   Below 60%	F