Principles of Economics: Econ 1

Summer Session A

July 7th 2021

Instructor: Domenico Fabrizi

E-mail: [email protected]

Lecture Days and Time: Tuesday and Thursday, 10:45am-12:50pm Pacific Standard Time (PST)

Office: Zoom link will be posted on CCLE

Office Hours: Friday 9am-11am (or by appointment)

Course Description

        Introduction to principles of economic analysis, economic institutions, and issues of economic policy. Empha-sis on allocation of resources and distribution of income through price system.

Material

        Class website (on CCLE): Check this site regularly. Announcements, problem sets, slides from lecture, addi-tional readings, and other useful items will be posted there.

Textbook: Principles of Economics. N. Gregory Mankiw, 9th Edition with MindTap, Cengage Learning. You can purchase it directly on the class website: it grants access to MindTap (where MindTap Quizzes are). If you need further assistance, please reach out to https://cengage.force.com/s/login/.

        Required Readings: newspaper articles will be posted on the class website. Some questions will be asked about them during the exam.

Course Outline

        The schedule of topics covered in lectures will approximate the schedule below.

Plan for Remote Instruction

Instruction

Instruction consists of pre-recorded material and live classes, as follows:

● The first class (on June 22nd) will be live. You will find the zoom link on the class website (CCLE).

● All other classes will be made of two parts:

– Recorded Video: I will post a video (from 60 to 120 min) about the content of the chapter the day before the class;

– Q&A sessions: it is a 1 hour live class at the scheduled time at 10:45am (PST). I solve exercises and answer questions about the class. Q&A sessions will be recorded to allow students in different time zones to see them.

Examinations

Examinations will be held at the posted dates in two different times:

● morning exam at 10:45 am PST (both midterm and final);

● evening exam at 7pm PST (both midterm and final).

For any student the default time slot is in the morning. However, one or two weeks before each exam, I will send an email asking whether the student wants to be moved to the evening time slot. Not responding to the email implies you are taking the exam in the morning. No changes will be allowed 48 hours prior to the exam time.

Format: CCLE exams. We will have a mock quiz for you to get familiar with the tool.

Proctoring: students will be proctored via Zoom. Students will be asked to have their videos on during the entire exam. If you plan to use your iPad to take notes, please plan to join the zoom call from your computer. Exams will be open notes and open book.

MindTap Quiz, Examination and Grades

        There will be two exams, one midterm and one cumulative final exam. The weighting scheme of the exams is as follows:

● 40% Midterm Exam (July 8th 2021)

– 25/30 multiple choice questions about Ch1-Ch5 + 1/2 multiple choice about the required readings

– students will take the exam on CCLE

– two time slots (morning and afternoon)

– the exam lasts 1 hour

● 50% Final Exam (July 29th 2021)

– 50/60 multiple choice questions about Ch1-Ch10 + 3/4 multiple choice about the required readings

– students will take the exam on CCLE

– two time slots (morning and afternoon)

– the exam lasts 2 hours and 5 minutes

● 10% MindTap Quiz

– students will do the quizzes on Mindtap

– 5 quizzes: one per week (except for week 6)

– The weekly Quiz will be accessible on MindTap from Monday of any week to Saturday

– Each week you have two attempts to do the quiz. Only the highest score is considered.

        At the end of the term, a curve will be applied to the overall grades. Since the curve depends on the overall class performance, I am not able to provide estimates for what grade you need on a particular exam in order to pass the class.

        For any student the default time slot is in the morning. However, one or two weeks before each exam, I will send an email asking whether the student wants to be moved to the evening time slot. Not responding to the email implies you are taking the exam in the morning. No changes will be allowed 48 hours prior to the exam day.

        A not graded practice exams will be provided on the web site. They give a good indication of the style and level of questions likely to be on the exams you will be given.

        Policy on Missed Exams: Exams must be taken at their scheduled time. Please note that department policy does not allow for any makeup exam to be administered if a student misses a midterm. If a student has a legit-imate reason (by “legitimate reason” I mean something serious and unanticipated) and can provide acceptable documentation of such of an excuse, then additional weight will be placed on the final exam. Any such documen-tation, such as a doctor’s note, should clearly state that the student was incapacitated and was therefore unable to take the exam or faced a serious impediment that prevented attendance at the exam and should be provided in a timely manner. A student who misses an exam without a valid, verifiable excuse will receive a zero. If due to a verifiable emergency, a student misses the final exam, then that student will be required to take a makeup final exam administered by the department. If a student misses all exams, the student will receive an automatic grade of “F”. Also, please note that once a student sits for an exam, I do not allow a retroactive dismissal of the exam nor do I change the weights specified in the syllabus.

        Exam Rules: All exams will be conducted online through CCLE. The exam will be proctored through Zoom. At the start of the exam, each student will sign in by reporting their name and UID to the TA. For the duration of the exam, they will leave their computer/phone camera on as the TA proctors. The exams will be open book, open note, and multiple choice. People should join the Zoom meeting 30 minutes before the starting time of the exam. People should be active on the Zoom meeting for all the duration of the exam. Moreover people should avoid closing and opening the exam tab on CCLE: as many people will be online in the same moment, the system is likely to slow down.

        Center for Accessible Education (CAE): Any student with a pre-existing illness or condition who requests special arrangements must (a) qualify under CAE rules for such special arrangements and (b) must take the exam with CAE. Any such arrangements with CAE must be communicated to the instructor during the first week of classes. For additional information and the qualification conditions of the Center for Accessible Education please visit their website at https://www.cae.ucla.edu/. All other students must take the exam at the scheduled time under the same time constraints. It is the responsibility of all students who request special arrangements with CAE to be familiar with all of their rules as well as the rules of this class.

        Academic Dishonesty: Any cases of cheating will be reported to the Office of the Dean of Students. For more details please refer to the Office of the Dean of Students website at https://www.deanofstudents.ucla. edu/Academic-Integrity.