University of Delaware

ECON101 - Introduction to Microeconomics

Spring 2015 Syllabus
Jesse Melvin
Email: jmelvin@udel.edu
Phone: (302) 222-5280
Office: 032 Purnell
Office Hours: MWF 12:15 1:45PM and by appointment
Objective: In this course, we will cover the conventional basic topics of
microeconomics. By the end of the semester, you will have developed a broad
understanding of the decision making process of individual customers, workers,
households, and business firms. If you would like to continue your economics
education, what you will learn in this class will be the basic foundation of knowledge
which you will draw from time and time again. If this is your last economics course, then
you will find this knowledge useful to you in the real world, as you will be better able to
understand how businesses and markets operate.
Lecture Notes: Most, if not all, of the classroom notes will be based on PowerPoint
presentations. These will be available to you on Sakai before class begins. I strongly
suggest that you print out these slides and bring them to class with you.
Grading: The breakdown for grading will be as follows:
Attendance 5%
Assignments 15%
Midterm 1
25%
Midterm 2
25%
Final Exam 30%
Attendance: The way I will be recording the attendance of the class will be slightly
unconventional. Every day in class, I will be asking randomly selected members of the
class a question that pertains to the material being taught. If that person is not present,
they will not receive attendance credit. If the student is present but doesnt know the
answer, they may simply say pass and receive credit for being in class. If the student
answers the question correctly, they will receive extra credit, in addition to the
attendance credit. So show up and pay attention and it will pay off directly.
Assignments: There will be two types of assignments: problems sets and online
quizzes. The problem sets will be created by me and handed out in class. These will
typically be a little more in-depth, and working in groups is encouraged if you are unable
to complete it alone. For the online quizzes, we will be utilizing McGraw-Hills Connect.
Textbook: McConnell, Brue, Flynn. Microeconomics, 20th ed. McGraw-Hill
Publications (2014)

Academic Dishonesty: The faculty of the Department of Economics are strongly

committed to upholding the University policy on academic honesty. You are responsible
for knowing and abiding by this policy. This policy is presented in the Official Student
Handbook in the Code of Conduct Section. Violations will not be tolerated.
Disabilities: "Any student who thinks he/she may need an accommodation based on a
disability should contact the Office of Disability Support Service (ODSS) office as soon
as possible."
-Office of Disability Support Services
Once you have contacted DSS, they will contact me with the recommended
accommodations, thus ensuring your privacy.
Exams: I advise that you bring a calculator to assist you during the exam. I will only
accept simple calculators, so graphing calculators (or anything with recordable memory)
are not acceptable. If for some reason you need to be excused for an exam, speak to
me about it beforehand and I will work with you to administer the test. I will probably
have you complete the exam before the rest of the class, so some forewarning is nice.
If you miss an exam and have an excuse after the fact, it will need to be backed up by a
doctors note or some other evidence.
Correspondence: I am very available to help you, and communication between us
should be considered to be open. That being said, keep it professional: the subject line
should start with ECON101 and try to use a formal formatting for the email material. If
your message is time-sensitive (<12 hours), feel free to shoot me a text, just dont forget
to let me know who you are in the message.
Topics:
1. Marginal Analysis and Opportunity Cost
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 7, pg. 153-155
2. Market Demand, Supply, and Equilibrium
- Chapter 3, pg. 54-67
3. Government Intervention
- Chapter 3, pg. 68-70
Mid-Term 1
4. Elasticity
- Chapter 6
5. Firms and Production Theory
- Chapter 9
Midterm 2
6. Markets under Perfect Competition
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
7. Monopolies
- Chapter 12