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Summer Semester
Course Coordinator: Mr John Snelling
Office location: Nexus 10, Level 3, Room 3.35


Please note ECON 1000 Principles of Macroeconomics and ECON 1004 Principles of Microeconomics have been combined into a single course in semester in 2016 – the new course is ECON 1012 Principles of Economics I

Link to course outlines:
 

Semester 1		/course-outlines/108149/1/sem-1/2016/
Semester 2		/course-outlines/108149/1/sem-2/2016/

Knowledge and Understanding:
This course aims to develop an understanding of how various markets interact to determine aggregate outcomes such as total production of goods and services and aggregate employment, as well as the determination of prices, inflation rates and interest rates. (Learning outcomes 1-6)

Communication Skills:
This course aims to develop students’ abilities to construct and sustain an argument using the phrases and concepts that economists use in their deliberations. A theoretical framework is developed in which students acquire an understanding of how economic agents interact and by doing so develop the literacy and verbal communication skills necessary for presenting arguments of an economic nature. (Learning outcomes 7-12)

On the successful completion of this course students should be able to:

1	Explain how markets organise the allocation of scarce resources and the distribution of goods and services
2	Understand why economists use theoretical models to help think about what they observe in the data
3	Understand how theoretical models can be used to help think about what is observed in the data
4	Describe why it may be beneficial to use models when considering changes to economic policies
5	Explain the limits of theoretical models and the potential dangers of atheoretic forecasting
6	Relate the basic economic theory and principles to current macroeconomic issues and evaluate related public policy
7	Use economic models to analyse a situation in terms of economics
8	Interpret charts, graphs, and tables and use the information to make informed judgments
9	Work and learn independently and with others
10	Communicate their knowledge and understanding of economic issues using written, verbal and visual expression
11	Evaluate outcomes based on the costs and benefits involved
12	Understand the broader social consequences of economic decisions making

Text Book

McTaggart, Douglas; Findlay, Christopher and Parkin, Michael, Macroeconomics, 7th Edition, Pearson Education Australia. (An eText version is available from Pearson for $50).

It is strongly recommended that you own a copy of this book. Although all of the topics discussed in this course are available from various sources the organization of the class will follow the text, you are well advised to read it.

You will notice from the topics schedule above, that the organization of the course parallels the book. Nonetheless, I may provide additional material, outside references and other recommended readings. The intention is for each individual aspect of the course to reinforce every other aspect. For example, the lectures will reinforce the material in the text and vice versa. Furthermore, you have
access to some electronic content that also reinforces the same material. The goal is for you to learn this material; it is up to you to determine how you do it.

Any student studying Economics should also make a special effort to read those parts of daily newspapers which relate to the economy, particularly those articles associated with monetary and fiscal policies. The discipline of economics provides a series of simple yet powerful tools with which everyday economic, social and political phenomena may be analysed. While there must be detailed consideration of basic theory in the course, we shall also devote much time to the use of economics in analysing real-world events. It is important, therefore, that you keep abreast of current events - when you read the newspaper, try to see how the economic theories that you have learned can be applied to the events of the day. If you do this, economics can be both relevant and fun! It will also help you in tutorial discussion. Apart from the daily popular press, Australia's top daily source of economic and business information is the Australian Financial Review. You should try to read it. Two magazines with excellent coverage of economic and business matters are Business Review Weekly and The Economist.

This course will make extensive use of MyUni for the posting of course materials, announcements and other important course tasks.
Please check the course MyUni page regularly.

Each session is divided into a lecture component and a tutorial component. The lecture covers the key concepts of a particular topic to complement the text. Tutorials will consolidate your understanding of course material by working through problems similar to those in the text and expand your understanding of course material through group discussion on current issues related to the topic.

The University expects full-time students (ie those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This translates to 12 hours per week for a semester course or 24 hours per week for a summer course.

Lectures
The lectures are designed to provide the framework on which students can build their knowledge and understanding of the key concepts and principles in macroeconomics. As mentioned above the organization of the course parallels the text, and consequently each lecture will explicate the key concept covered in the corresponding chapter of the text.
Tutorials
Tutorials are an important component of your learning in this course. The communication skills developed in tutorials by regularly and actively participating in discussions are considered to be most important by the School and are highly regarded by employers and professional bodies. The tutorials require students to analyse the ideas covered in lectures and then apply them to specific contemporary economic issues. The summative component of the tutorials will relate to current macroeconomic policy in a way that will encourage independent and critical styles of thinking.
Weekly Quiz
Although the weekly quiz contributes towards the final grade it should be considered formative rather than summative. It is designed to provide feedback to students on their recall, analysis, and evaluation skills in economics.
Group Assignment
In the assignment students are expected to apply the theoretical framework of economics developed in the course to the analysis of current macroeconomic policy in Australia. The aim is to develop students’ literacy and problem-solving skills especially as these apply to economics.

Weekly Tutorial Assignments	20%
Weekly Online Quizzes	10%
Group Assignment	10%
Final Exam	60%

Students will be assessed on their understanding of the concepts covered in the course and their ability to employ appropriate economic models to critically analyse contemporary issues. This will include their ability to develop a written response using the relevant economic terms and concepts.

Legible hand-writing and the quality of English expression are considered to be integral parts of the assessment process. Marks may be deducted in the final examination because of poor hand-writing.

It is each student's responsibility to read the examination timetable. Misreading the timetable is not accepted as grounds for granting a supplementary exam. University staff are not permitted to provide examination times to students over the telephone or in response to personal enquiries.
Examinations will be held only at the time and locations stated in the University’s Examination Timetable and so students should not make any arrangements to be absent until after the examination period.

Due to the generous and flexible grading scheme and the optional nature of weekly online quizzes, weekly tutorial assignments, and the group assignment, there will generally not be any special consideration given for illness or compassionate issues, but you are welcome to speak to the Lecturer-in-Charge if you have any personal concerns.

Assessment includes a weekly online quiz, tutorial work that will consist of weekly assignments, a major group assignment and a final exam. The weekly tutorial assignments, the quiz, and the group assignment are optional and redeemable by the exam.

The weekly quizzes will be conducted online through MyUni every week from week 2.

Each quiz will be available for one week from 5.00pm Friday to 4.00pm the following Friday.

The quizzes will consist of 20 multiple choice questions and the grade will be based on the best 4 out of 5 quizzes. This component of the assessment is both optional and redeemable. This means that if you choose not to do it, the weighting for the exam will become 70% of the assessment. Also, if you do choose to do it but attain a grade that is worse than that of your final exam, the exam becomes 70% of the assessment. So there is no disadvantage to attempting them.

Starting from tutorial two, students will be asked to submit, at the beginning of their tutorial, written answers to a question provided in the tutorial exercise that is to be downloaded from MyUni. Comments will be provided on these answers and will be returned to students in the tutorial of the following tutorial. The best eight papers will contribute to the assessment of tutorial work, which in total will be 20% of assessment. These tutorial assignments are, like the weekly test, both optional and redeemable.

The group assignment is to be a 1500 word examination of a contemporary economic issue similar to the Reading Between the Lines analysis covered in each chapter of the McTaggart text. Although it is not a requirement, the preferred option is that the assignment is a collaborative effort between three or four students and it will count for 10% of the final assessment. If you decide not to do the assignment the exam will count for 70% of the assessment. The topic and due date will be decided in the second week.

 

The final exam is 3 hours plus 10 minutes reading time and may cover any of the topics from the chapters in the text book that have been set as part of the course.

Please note that, following University policy, dictionaries are not allowed in School of Economics exams.

Students must retain a copy of all assignments submitted.
A Group Assignment Cover Sheet signed and dated by all group members must be attached to the group assignment before submission. All team members are expected to contribute approximately equally to a group assignment.
Assignments will not be accepted after the submission date unless there are exceptional circumstances.  

Assessment marks will be displayed on the course website prior to the final exam.  Students are encouraged to check their marks and notify the lecturer of any discrepancies.

The policy of the School of Economics is not to return final exam scripts to students. However, they are made available for students to read under the supervision of the course coordinator, at a time and place to be announced.

Additional Assessment

If a student receives 45-49 for their final mark for the course they will automatically be granted an additional assessment in the form of a new exam (Additional Assessment) and will have the same weight as the original exam. If, after replacing the original exam mark with the new exam mark, it is calculated that the student has passed the course, they will receive 50 Pass as their final result for the course (no higher) but if the calculation totals less than 50, their grade will be Fail and the higher of the original mark or the mark following the Additional Assessment will be recorded as the final result.