SYLLABUS

INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS
ECO 301
Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Spring 2016
9:00am 9:50am

Unique # 33250
SAC 1.402

Instructor: Dr. Wayne Hickenbottom Office: BRB 3.102B

Phone Number: 475-7816
Email: hicken@austin.utexas.edu (same as through Canvas)
Office Hours: MWF 7:30 8:30am and MW 2:15 3:30pm. Often there will also be OH on Tue.
and/or Thur. I will post this periodically on Canvas announcements. Appointments are also an option.
Catch me before or after class or send email with times that work for you.
TAs office hours: To be announced. Watch announcements on Canvas.

Textbook
All 3 of the following items are required:
1. Principles of Economics by N. Gregory Mankiw 7th Edition. We will not be covering all of the
chapters of this book. Details about the exact chapters and specific readings will be presented every
day at the beginning of class. I do not necessarily expect you to have read the material we will cover
before each class. You need to use the book, and lecture for that matter, in a way that is useful to
you. Whether you read and come to lecture, or come to lecture then read is irrelevant to me. I will
explain the same material as the book does, but often in a slightly different way. The will give you
multiple explanations of most topics. It is important to look at both perspectives over a short time
frame. There is a due date on each reading in the Aplia page, but this is just a suggestion, not a
requirement.
2. Aplia software package. For all the chapters we cover, there will be required problems you will
need to complete using this software. Due dates for this material will not start until at least next week.
A representative of the company will be here next week to answer questions about registration and
using the software. The package of materials available in the bookstore has both the textbook and
the software. My understanding is that the bookstore package is cheaper than buying a used
textbook and the software separately. The easiest way to register is going to the class URL
http://login.cengagebrain.com/course/RDZA-B8XA-TCYX. If you go directly to the CengageBrain
website, you will need the Course ID which is RDZA-B8XA-TCYX.
3. iclicker. If you have one from a previous class, you can use it here. It is easy to register the clicker
for the class by simply going to the iclicker section of Canvas. It can be either the simple iclicker , an
iclicker II, or the web-based version.

Overview
The course will do its best to summarize, in one semester, what economics is about. More
specifically the course will introduce you to the methodology that economist use, familiarize you with
some economic terminology, and show you some important questions where economic thinking can
be a useful tool. Finally, this course will try to show you how economic thinking can be helpful to you,
either in your everyday decision-making, or in making more sense of many pieces of media you
encounter. Do keep in mind that a one semester class will only give you a brief glimpse into the wide
variety of economic problems and insights. Also note that this course carries the Quantitative
Reasoning flag. Quantitative Reasoning courses are designed to equip you with skills that are
necessary for understanding the types of quantitative arguments you will regularly encounter in your
adult and professional life. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come
from your use of quantitative skills to analyze real-world problems.

Prerequisites
The only official prerequisite for this course is a minimal mathematical background. I am going to try
to keep the use of mathematics to a minimum, but the use of graphs and some mathematical
concepts is essential in understanding some economic concepts.
Evaluation
Your final grade will be based on the following work:
4 homeworks (worst is dropped)
10 In-class iclicker questions (top 7 count)
Aplia problems
3 midterm exams ((best counts double, worst counts )
Final exam

180 points
70 points
90 points
420 points
240 points
1000 points

Exam dates and times

The midterm exams will be on Feb. 15th, Mar. 9th, and Apr. 22nd. All of these exams will be at the
regular class time and classroom. The Final Exam will be comprehensive and is currently scheduled
for Saturday, May 14th, from 7-10pm at a site to be determined later. NO make-ups will be given for
ANY of these exams. However, there is a procedure for taking any exam early which can be found in
the Module section of Canvas. I almost always grant these requests if procedure is followed. If one
of the midterm exams is missed or poor, the score on the final exam (scaled appropriately) will be
used for the worst MT score.
Procedure and due dates for Homework
Homework will be due on Feb. 12th, Mar. 7th, Apr. 20th, and May 6th. All HW will be distributed by
email and available under Assignments on Canvas. You are allowed to work on homework
assignments together, in fact, I encourage it, but each student must complete and submit in his/her
own copy. Simply copying someone's answers is not only dishonest, but will usually result in poor
exam scores. HW must be turned in at the beginning of class on that date. As soon as all the HWs
are collected, I will discuss the answers to that HW. Because the answers will be public information at
the start of class, no late homework assignments will be accepted. I am VERY strict on this point. If
you know you will not be able to make it to class to turn in work, or think you will not be able to get to
class on time you have 3 options: (1) turn it in to my office or the Dept. of Economics office (1st floor
BRB) at an earlier date, (2) Have someone else bring it to class on the due date, (3) turn it in to the
Department of Economics earlier in the day. It must be time stamped before 10am or it will be
considered unacceptable. The office opens at 8:00am. Do not place homework on or under my door
on the due date. In summary, your homework needs to be in my hand, or be time stamped at the
Department of Economics office and placed in my box before 9am on the due date. Your homework
grade will consist of the sum of your best 3 HWs so you get to drop your worst score.
The HW questions are not meant to be something you can just look up in the book or in the notes and
immediately find the answer. They are meant to be problems that you have to think about, and apply
a variety of ideas from the book and from lecture in order to provide a thorough answer. Note that the
value of homework is not so much in the points you gain, but in providing practice in the kinds of
problems you will be doing on the exams.

Aplia problems
For most of the chapters we cover, you will be assigned the chapter questions in the required Aplia
software package. The software is set up so you can try the assignment up to 3 times. Each time
through, the questions change to some extent. You will receive full credit if your best score is 85% or
above. You will receive credit if you go through all 3 tries but your best score is not above 85%. In
calculating your grade I will drop the 4 worst scores. For example, we end up with 16 Aplia
assignments, dropping the worst 4 means counting the best 12 Aplia assignments. This makes each
one worth 7.5 points since 7.5*12 = 90. Chapter 1 and 2 aplia problems are there for you to practice
with the system but will not count toward your grade. The first set of problems that count will be
Chapter 3.
Clicker Questions
Periodically there will be examples of multiple choice questions, typical of what will be on the tests,
presented in lecture. You will answers these questions with the iclickers, so you should bring them
to class every day. You will also need to register your clicker through Canvas so the scores can be
recorded. You will earn 10 points for each correct answer. Each question answered, but answered
incorrectly will be earn 5 points. As stated above there will be 10 questions throughout the semester,
the best 7 scores will count toward your final grade. Part of the reason for these drops is to account
for technical problems. If you are here, but your clicker does not register, you will get no credit. We
will be running trials the first few days of class to work out any technical problems. If you have a
disability that affects your ability to complete these questions, get that documentation to me as soon
as possible.
Assigning final grades
The University assigns grades in a +/- system. An A is worth 4.00 in GPA, an A- is worth 3.67, a
B+ is worth 3.33 etc. No individual assignment will be given a letter grade. Final grades will be
assigned based on total weighted points described above. The percentage earned is irrelevant. I will
assign final grades based on the following criteria: (1) I am looking for gaps in the total points as the
dividing line between grades. (2) I am looking for the overall GPA of the course to be somewhere in
the 2.5 to 2.7 range. I do not care about percentage of total points and I do not give a set percentage
of a particular type of grade. Depending on where the breaks in the total points occur, some years I
have given quite a few As but a fairly large number of Ds. Other years Ive given relatively fewer
As but lots of Bs and very few Ds.
Electronic Information
Most of you should have already received at least one email from me. I am using the mailing list built
by Canvas. If your email with The University is not current, you will not be getting general email
announcements from me. I will be sending HW assignments, corrections to HW, and other important
information through this email list.
Listed below are the sections of Canvas I typically use and what I tend to put there:
Announcements: TA office hours, adjustments to my office hours, other procedural notes, and
corrections to HW.
Assignments: Copies of questions for HW, clickers, and MT exams.
Syllabus: Schedule of all HW, Aplia, and Exams.
Modules: grade dispute form, early exam form, practice exams with some answers, MT review
information and results, grade estimates, templates for note taking, and completed class notes
(posted about a week before each exam).
Grades: What appears here will be your raw score. Any calculation of cumulative or percentage
points computed by Canvas will not be of any value. You can, of course, always come in during office

hours if you wish clarification. More accurate estimates for grades will be presented following each
exam. The Canvas numbers will keep you apprised if your HW, Aplia, iclicker, and test scores have
been recorded correctly. See instructions above for disputed grades if you find a discrepancy on
Canvas. Since I have over 200 students to keep track of, it is important that you keep your work to
verify any mistake in posting scores.
i>clicker: Go here to put in your remote ID from the back of the clicker.
Procedure for disputed grades
If you have disputes about the score on any of your work, go to the Modules section of Canvas,
download the grade dispute form and follow its directions. This applies to simple matters, such as
mis-added points, as well as more involved problems such as re-reads of entire questions. See the
form for specific instructions. Disputes on any work except HW #4 or the final, will not be considered
after May 6th.

Procedure for class schedule and reading assignments

This syllabus doesn't provide a day-to-day outline of what will be covered in each lecture. Providing
such an outline is common in many classes. I choose not to do that for two reasons: first, all the rules
I lay out in this syllabus are non-negotiable; second, given I feel this way, providing a day-to-day
outline would force me to stick to it. Some concepts you will want explained in more depth in class.
Others, we may move through more quickly than anticipated. I usually start each class by outlining
what will be covered in class for the next few weeks. This will include reading assignments,
homeworks, Aplia deadlines, and exams. If you have any questions about where we are heading
over the next few weeks, be sure to ask.
Procedure for exam days
These items apply for all 3 in-class midterms. There will be some modifications for the final exam.
1. You will want some sort of calculator. While this calculator cannot be part of any communication
device (phone, laptop, pad, etc.), I have no objection to some sort of graphing calculator.
2. For each exam, you will be allow to reference one 8X11 sheet of paper with notes, graphs,
formulae, etc. that you previously prepared. It is ok to write on both sides. Each of you will,
obviously, only be allowed to reference material from you own sheet, which will be turned in with the
exam.
The syllabus is the law
My assumption is, having read this syllabus and chosen to stay in the class, you agree to abide by all
of the terms and conditions it states. This is your only reference for procedural questions regarding
how this class operates. If you have questions about grades, exam dates, etc., please refer to this
document before you ask me. If you ask me a question that is answered here, I will simply tell you to,
"Look it up in the syllabus."

Info for students with documented disabilities

Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of
Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 471-6259. Please get
your accommodation letter to me as soon as you can so we can discuss whatever arrangements you
need.