PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS I

Summer  2009

Required Texts: McEachern, William. Macroeconomics: A Contemporary Introduction, 8th edition.

Course Objectives

 The objectives of this course in the two course sequence of Principles of Economics include the following:

• to understand the nature of the economic problem;
• to become familiar with the basic structure of the American economic system;
• to understand the role of consumers, business, banks and government in influencing the level of economic activity in an economy;
• to be able to interpret economic vocabulary and media stories about the economy
• to develop analytical skills.
• use the World Wide Web to access and retrieve economic data and reports

Examinations and grading

Two midterm exams each worth one third of your final grade will be given on May 27 and June 9. The final exam also counts as one-third of your final grade and has been scheduled for June 19 at 11AM. Each will be worth 50 points. Study guide questions will be emailed and posted at the end of each class. Extra credit can be earned by submitting inclass writing assignments when offered.

Web enhancements

Virtual handouts page provides links to online instructional examples. Instructional examples should be printed out by the student and included in your class notes. Web resources page includes links to other websites referred to during class time.

Attendance policy

All students are expected to attend all classes. Attendance is critical to success in this course. No refunds for missed classes. Missing class will hurt your performance on course assignments! If you will be out of town on university endorsed travel on a test date, make arrangements to take the test in advance. If you miss a test because of a documented serious medical or family emergency, the other tests will count proportionally more.

Decorum

This is not an open classroom.  Arriving late and leaving early are disruptive. You are expected to be in your seat when the class hour begins and remain in your seat until the end of the class hour. Chewing tobacco or gum and eating are not proper activities for a classroom. Cell phones should be turned off.

You should be asking questions, asking for clarifications of material you do not understand and responding to questions the instructor puts to the class.

Honor Code

Please review the student Honor Code in the student handbook and posted in most classrooms. Any student caught cheating on an exam will receive a grade of F for the course if this is the first offense. Other penalties may also be imposed. A second offense usually results in dismissal from the university. For more information, visit the Dean of Students academic integrity website at http://www.radford.edu/~dos-web/academicintegrity.htm

Last modified: May 15, 2009