ECON 111 - Principles of Microeconomics (Winter 2017)

Syllabus (updated 03/01/2017)

Schedule an introductory meeting: (now closed--but pop me an email if you want to come to meet to discuss something other than course content). I like to meet with students individually for 10-15 minutes to learn more about you, your goals as a student generally, and your goals as a student in this course. It's very much casual. It's also optional, but I strongly encourage you to participate. To sign up for a slot, click the link to the left and pick a time in the Doodle poll. If none of these slots works for you, send me an email and we can work out an alternative. Meetings are in my office, Willis 309.

Lecture slides: (blue subtopics below link to YouTube videos on those topics; italicized subtopics are optional and will not be covered on exams)

Problem sets: 1 (Solutions), 2 (Solutions), 3 (Solutions), 4 (Solutions), 5 (Solutions), 6 (Solutions)

Exams: Midterm 1 (Solutions, Results), Midterm 2 (Solutions, Results), Final (Solutions, Results)

Homework readings (other than textbook) and videos:

Other fun articles/videos (optional):

Feedback form

Group request form

Student resources:

    • Prefects: Charlie Martens (martensc@carleton.edu) (4a) & Huahua (Sylvie) Zhong (zhongh@carleton.edu) (6a)
    • Economics Department Student Advisors: Serena Bernthal-Jones (bernthals@carleton.edu), Caroline Greenberg (greenbergc@carleton.edu), Freddie Stensaeth (stensaethf@carleton.edu)

Review materials (from Fall 2016):

Problem Sets: 1 (Solutions), 2 (Solutions), 3 (Solutions), 4 (Solutions), 5 (Solutions)

Exams: Midterm 1 (Solutions, Results), Midterm 2 (Solutions, Results), Final (Solutions, Results)

END-OF-TERM STUFF

Exam details:

    • The exam is mandatory self-scheduled, meaning that you can take it in the Concert Hall during any of the ten exam slots. You don't actually schedule it, per se, you just show up. The exam will be waiting for you in an envelope with your name on it.
      • DON'T come to our regular classroom during our scheduled exam slot -- it is mandatory self-scheduled, meaning you must take it in the Concert Hall.
        • If you really want to take it in our scheduled exam slot, then you still can, but you take it in the concert hall.
      • Because you will be taking the exam at different times, academic integrity requires you to not discuss the exam with any other student until all students have taken it. If another students asks you as much as "Was it hard?" and you answer, that's technically a punishable violation. So please don't discuss the exam with other students until Tuesday.
      • For more details on self scheduled exams, see here.
    • The exam is cumulative, i.e. it covers all of the material that we've covered this term. It will have a slight focus on the material that we've covered since the second midterm, so perhaps about 45% of it will be on things that we've done since the second midterm.
    • The exam is two and a half hours. That's over double the length of our midterms. I tried to write a final that is about 1.5 times as long as the midterms, so you should find that you have more time per question. There are 13 questions in the exam, worth a total of 70 points.
    • No calculators. Don't bring one, because they will not allow you to take it to your desk. All of the math on the exam is simple. If you ever end up with a fraction that you're too lazy to simplify, just leave it: if you write 1800/9 instead of 200, that's fine (you won't lose any points). No notes or cheatsheets -- you will only be allowed to bring pens and pencils into the room.
    • If you think a question is unclear and unanswerable without further information, assume something that you believe makes it answerable (but hopefully not trivial). State your assumption clearly. Obviously, I do my best to make everything as clear as possible to avoid you having to do this.
    • Solutions to the exam will be posted on Wednesday evening. I will put your raw exam grades on Moodle at some later in the week, and add a file to the course website (like I did for the midterms) to help you contextualize your performance. If you want your graded exam back, drop by my office at some point the week following the exam (email to make sure I'm around). You can also pick it up next term.
    • I'll probably enter in your final grades to the system during the week of your exam, but you won't actually see them until the registrar posts them, which I think will happen on March 20th (or perhaps a little later).

Additional office hours:

    • I'm available by appointment for office hours on Monday and Tuesday. Email me if you want to meet.