Spring 2008 - ECON2106 - Introduction to Microeconomics

1. Introduction

This is a self-study course with tutorial support offered by your professor (by email and, as necessary, in person). All study and testing materials are available online. Although it is recommended that students purchase a physical textbook from the college bookstore, even the textbook can be purchased as an eText. There are weekly homeworks and tests (one per textbook chapter), one proctored midterm exam (the sign-up sheet will be posted on my office door, AH-E140, at the beginning of the term) and one proctored final exam (sign-up sheet also on my office door). [Prep exams for the midterm and final will also be made available.] Except for the proctored midterm and final (which are to be taken in the AH-N132 computer lab), all work can be done to fit your convenience and time-schedule. The only requirement is that you take the online homeworks and tests by the stated deadline. If you wish, you may zip through the whole course in a few weeks - although you will still have to take the midterm and final at the scheduled times.

2. Is self-study for me? Maybe yes, maybe not at all

Having administered the self-study course for more than a year, it is clear to me - the instructor - that self-study is NOT for everyone. Click on the links to read unedited comments from students who took this class in Spring 2007 and Fall 2007. You'll see many positive comments but also some that may ring a warning bell about self-study. If you are unsure about self-study, take the traditional in-class course. If you are looking for an "easy A" course, you may be in for a shock.

3. Tutorial support by your professor

ASU first offered this course as a hybrid class/online course in the Spring 2006 semester (mandatory class attendance; but online testing). In the Fall 2006 semester, we made class attendance voluntary, improved the offering of online study materials, and also greatly improved the online testing environment. Within 2 weeks, class attendance dropped to near zero - THAT'S how much students loved the option of mastering the material by themselves according to their own study, work, and family schedule and timing. From the students' course evaluations, however, we also learned that students very much appreciated that your instructor (that's me!) was ALWAYS and QUICKLY available when needed, either by email or in person. Now that the Hull College of Business has decided to offer this course as a complete self-study course only (i.e., without any formal class component at all), we nonetheless insist on a real-life professor being available to you. That's the reassurance part: if you struggle with any bit of the study material - i.e., when you need a safety-net - email me with questions or schedule a one-on-one tutorial session (see syllabus for times).

4. Syllabus, course schedule, and assignments

Please read (and print) the syllabus. It contains general information and recommends a specific study procedure for you to follow, at least until you are comfortable with the course and its software. (The study procedure is based on what previous students found helpful.) The week-by-week readings and assignments are listed in the course schedule. The online portion of the course requires you to purchase the course textbook and sign-up on the textbook publisher's web site so that you can make use of the online study materials and take the online homeworks and tests (see #5 and #6 below). Note that your new textbook MUST come with a prepaid software ACCESS CODE. If you purchase/d a used textbook or a textbook without access code, you MUST buy access to MyEconLab separately on the publisher's web site (go to www.myeconlab.com, then click on "Tours & Training;" select "Students" and take things from there).

5. Two web sites

My ASU web site is www.aug.edu/~sbajmb [you are obviously on it right now!]. To the left is a menu. Clicking on "Teaching" and then on "ECON2106" gets you to the page you are reading just now. You are welcome to explore my site. The textbook publisher's web site is www.myeconlab.com. Instructions for registering your participation in this ECON2106 course with MyEconLab are available here. This also tells you how you may purchase the textbook online (as an eText). For technical problems, call the publisher at 1-800-677-6337, M-F 8am-8pm EST and Sunday 5pm-12am EST. Do not email or call your instructor or ASU’s Information Technology Services (ITS) department as the MyEconLab product is maintained and serviced by the textbook publisher only.

6. MyEconLab user's guide

Once you are registered on the publisher's site as being properly enrolled in this class, go through the MyEconLab user's guide I prepared. Click here to access and print a/o download it.

7. ASU computer labs that have MyEconLab installed

AH-E126 (MIS/ACCT lab) | AH-E152 (24 hour lab; all computer stations except ST3117) | AH-N132 (also the midterm and final exam room, so you may want to become familiar with it) | AH-N344 | UH-131 (24 hour lab) | UH-223 | Library 3rd floor (computer stations ST505-ST511). | For after-hours and weekend access, call ASU Public Safety (706-737-1401), tell them you are registed in ECON2106, present your ASU ID card, and they’ll open the building for you to use one of the labs.

8. Non-ASU computers

ASU has 6,000+ students. While MyEconLab works perfectly well for most students' home, office, or on-the-road computing environment, please understand that neither I, nor ASU, nor the publisher can take responsibility for any non-ASU computing environment. MyEconLab does not yet work on Mac/Apple computers; it requires a Windows XP environment, Internet Explorer 7+, and a very fast braodband connection (usually cable, although some students are happy with DSL speed).

9. Assignment summary and assignment completion confirmation

When you take a graded assignment (homeworks, tests, midterm, and final), the MyEconLab program asks you whether you wish to print a summary of the assignment. (Click here to see an example.) YOU SHOULD ALWAYS PRINT THE SUMMARY AND PUT IT WITH YOUR CLASS NOTES. Outside of the MyEconLab software environment, this is your only independent proof that you completed the required assignment. The assignment summary printout contains a unique assignment completion ID number (not shown in the example) that is generated when you submit an assignment. If you cannot show me the printout (and unique completion ID) on demand, you haven't done the assignment.

10. Missed assignments ...? Access to past assignments

You can access and review but cannot complete homeworks or tests after the deadline noted in the course schedule. These are due dates and times (EST), not start dates and times. (If you start at 11:55pm, and it's due that day at 11:59pm, you've got 4 minutes!) Unless ASU’s ITS department certifies to me that the ASU labs and network designated for course work were not working properly (and there are six labs available for your use!), computer problems are not a valid excuse for missing work. If you know that you have family or work commitments coming up, complete your assignments early. They are all online now.

Also note that every semester grandmothers die, parents get heart attacks, women give birth, and students or their children get sick. We cannot always anticipate the timing of these or similar events but we can stay ahead of the assignment DEADLINES. My recommendation - and that of past students - is that you always stay one week ahead of schedule so that when unanticipated things happen, you are still in good shape study-wise. I never grant requests for exceptions (because if I grant to any one student, I have to grant exceptions to all students - and that's simply not feasible).

11. Me contacting you and you contacting me

It is very likely that I will send out class announcements a/o individual emails on at least a weekly basis. Announcements will be posted on the MyEconLab bulletin board; emails will be sent to the email account you use to register for MyEconLab. An example: Suppose I get 3 or 4 emails one day, all indicating difficulty with the same study concept. I may then work up the specific problem, post it on my web site (see #12 below), and then make a general announcement on MyEconLab. If you check the announcements and your email regularly, you may well minimize or prevent specific study problems other students have already experienced.

I am in the office (AH-E140) for sure MW 4-5pm and 7-8pm and Tu 4-8pm. (You are also welcome to stop by at other times, although without guarantee that I'll be in. Many students stop by just to say hello and chat.) However, the best, surest, and often fastest way to reach me is by email (jbrauer@aug.edu). I will check and respond almost daily. In the subject line, state your course (ECON2106) and your full name (LASTNAME, firstname), e.g., ECON2106- BRAUER, Jurgen.

12. Problematic problems ....

Click here to go to a page where I am posting examples of worked problems from the in-chapter and end-of-chapter exercises and the StudyPlan, or address other problems students tend to struggle with. If you encounter a problem that stumps you, and if I feel that the class as a whole would benefit from a worked example, email me and I'll work it up. (However, email me in good time.)