SYLLABUS

ECON 101: Principles of Microeconomics

Fall 2022
Section 3 (MW 8:25-9:40)
GENERAL INFO:
Professor: Steve Trost
Office: Sewell 6329 and Zoom #2163815731.

Office Hours: Tuesday 12-2pm, Wednesday 10-11am, Thursday 11am-12pm or by Appointment

E-mail: [email protected]

Head TA: Karla Hernandez ([email protected])

READ THIS!! You should know all the information given in this syllabus. If
you have a question during the semester, please try to find the answer here
BEFORE asking me. I have a policy of ignoring any questions that are
answered here.

IMPORTANT DATES:
 September 18 – First hard deadline for Achieve assignments.
 October 11 (evening) – First Exam – online.
 November 15 (evening) – Second Exam – online.
 December 13 (evening) – Third Exam – online.
 December 22 Final Exam (online)

Other important dates can be found here:

https://registrar.wisc.edu/dates/#fall-2022

1
 I. WHAT YOU NEED TO BUY:
1. TEXTBOOK AND ACHIEVE ONLINE ACCOUNT:

Required text: Principles of Microeconomics by Stevenson and Wolfers (with Achieve).

The text and online homework program (Achieve) are available through UW’s “Engage”
program. Unless you opted out, your materials will be automatically paid for. All you need to
do is register through Canvas.

Following the info on the Canvas site (Module 0), sign up for my Achieve course right
away.

NOTE: YOU MUST USE YOUR WISC.EDU EMAIL WHEN YOU SIGN UP FOR
ACHIEVE.

II. WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO DO:

GRADING:
 25% for the cumulative final,
 20% for each of two midterms (for a total of 40%). I will give three midterms
but drop the lowest grade of the three.
 15% for End of Chanpter (EoC) homework assignments in Achieve.
 5% for Pre-class Tutorial (PCT) assignments in Achieve.
 5% for Learning Curve (LC) assignments in Achieve.
 10% from Friday Section worksheets.

Exams will be curved if need be. Basically I will add a few points to everyone’s grade to
bring the average up.

Grading Scale:
93+=A, 88-92=AB, 83-87=B, 78-82=BC, 70-77=C, 60-69=D, 59 and below=F.

For the final course grade, I round to the nearest integer (so a 69.5% is a C for
example).

Homework:
Homework and other assignments will be done online through Achieve. This is an online
tool that comes with your textbook. It also has practice quizzes, news articles/videos and
other miscellaneous stuff. See Module 0 in Canvas for details.

To access Achieve, follow the directions on Canvas.

2
 Homework due dates will be clearly posted on the Welcome page for each Module.
Normally, the pre-lecture material will be due on Sunday and everything else for
that module will be due on the following Tuesday (9 days later) As long as they are
completed in Achieve by that time, you will be fine. Near the end of the semester, as we
move through topics more quickly, I may make homework due more often.

NOTE: HOMEWORKS ARE ALWAYS DUE AT 11:59PM. IF YOUR

COMPUTER SAYS OTHERWISE, SOMETHING GOT MESSED UP WITH
YOUR TIME ZONE SETTINGS.

IMPORTANT! I will not let anyone do the homework late because they “didn’t know it
was due.” Also, as we all know, computers and the internet are not 100% reliable.
Therefore, you should NOT wait until the last minute to do your homework. With 1000
students, I cannot be sympathetic to the excuse that, “I would have had my homework
done but my internet went out.” If you do the homework in advance, you can avoid such
problems.

Having said that, I will drop your lowest 2 grades for each assignment type. So missing a
couple will not affect your grade.

NOTE: The grades for individual assignments in Achieve will be stored in Achieve only.
Your cumulative grade for each assignment TYPE (EoC, PCT, LC) will be manually
exported to Canvas every few weeks. (sorry, Achieve and Canvas are going through
some stuff and need time to work it out.)

Lectures:
This is an “in-person” class. Lectures are MW at 8:25am – 9:40am in B10 Ingraham.
Lectures will not be recorded or Zoomed (this may change if all hell breaks loose).

Writing: You are not watching TV, you are trying to learn stuff. This means you should
write things down during lecture. We’ll also be drawing lots of fun pictures. If I draw,
you should draw. There has been lots of research on this. Writing helps you learn.
Colored pencils or pens are nice. Tablets would be ok but only if you can comfortably
write and draw on them.

For each Module, I will post pdf and ppt slides on Canvas (links will be on the
“Welcome” page for each module. Some of the slides will be blank—I will be drawing
graphs on them in class. You can print these out and write on them or just use a notebook
to take extra notes.

You should be writing something during lecture.

Can’t I just read the book?: There is good reason to attend lecture AND read. I will not
lecture straight from the book. Often the terms I use may differ slightly from those used
by the book. In addition, I will cover some topics that are not in the book. You are

3
 responsible for all material presented in class and material from assigned readings. The
two will reinforce each other.

iClickers: We will be using the iClicker Student App on your phones to ask questions during
class. This app comes free with Achieve. There will be no grade attached to the iClicker. I
use it as a teaching tool, not to take attendance or test you. First connect through Achieve (to
get iClicker for free) and sign up, then Download the iClicker Student App.

Weekly recitations: Every Friday you will a session with a TA to nail down the lecture
material a bit more. The TA will go over examples, recap material, and take questions. There
will also be some written worksheets that you will work on in groups but turn in individually
for credit (that 10% of your grade). More on this in class.

III. WHEN ARE THE EXAMS?

Midterm Dates: Tuesday October 11, Tuesday November 15, and Tuesday December
13th. Exams will take place on Canvas during the evening (you will be given a time
window). Midterms are 60 minutes long.

Final Exam:
December 22 (yes, that late – it sucks for all of us). It will be online and you’ll
have a window of time. You can take it from anywhere (including home). The
final will be 120 minutes long.

 Please let me know if you have conflicts with any of these dates! You can change a
final time if you have 3 finals in 24 hours.

Make-up exams:

If you miss an exam for a GOOD reason, I will open up a make-up exam for you.
Since I drop one exam, I only allow make-up exams to occur with a couple days of
the original exam. If you can’t take it by then, I just drop the exam.

If you have athletic or other university-sponsored travel (with a letter from the
coach or advisor) that requires you to miss an exam, I can allow you to take the
exam before you leave or when you get back (if reasonable). If you are missing an
exam due to these reasons, let me and your TA know well before the exam so we can
make arrangements.

4
 IV. ONLINE MATERIALS:

Canvas: As you’ll see, the content of the class is run through Canvas Modules. The only things
you can’t see in modules are your grades, the announcenments and the homework assignments.
The latest announcement will always be on the front page. Older ones are under
“Announcements”. Everything else, including notes and what homework you have (but NOT the
homework itself), you’ll see in the Module for each week. I strongly advise using these modules
as the course and not trying to “jump around” to find things.

Important class announcements will be made through Canvas. You are responsible for reading
these announcements.

Achieve: All of the readings, homeworks, and other assignments will be done through Achieve.
There are also practice quizzes and other fun stuff. Achive is linked to the Canvas page through
the “Macmillan Launchpad” tool on the left hand side of your Canvas site. In Achieve, I
recommend using the “Course Content View” as it will show you everything that’s available in
each Module – both graded and ungraded assignments. Once you do the intro assignments, you’ll
have a pretty good idea what is there.

V. WHAT WE WILL COVER IN THIS CLASS:

(Brief) Course Overview:
This course provides an introduction to the way of thinking offered by economics. In doing so,
we will discuss a wide variety of topics with an emphasis on the Theory of the Consumer, the
Theory of the Firm, and the Successes and Failures of Markets.

We will cover a large part of the book in this class (most of Chapters 1-18). However, some
topics that are presented in the book will be omitted and some topics that are not in the book will
be added. If a topic is not discussed in class, you do not need to know about it for the exams. I
will be clear about these when I come to them.

This class meets for two 75-minute class periods plus a single discussion session each week over
the semester and carries the expectation that students will work on course learning activities
(reading, writing, problem sets, studying, etc) for about 3 hours out of the classroom for every
class period.

5
Brief Outline of Topics Covered (with approximate dates) Subject to change!

1. Core principles of Economics (Ch 1), September 7-12

2. Demand (Ch 2), September 12-14
3. Supply (Ch 3), September 19-21
4. Markets (Ch 4), September 26-28
5. Elasticity (Ch 5), October 3-5
Exam 1 – Tuesday Night (Online), October 11 (Chapters 1-5)
6. Intervening in Markets (Ch 6), October 10-12
7. Measuring Efficiency (Ch 7), October 17-19
8. Trade (Ch 8 + 9), October 24-26
9. Externalities and Public Goods (Ch 10), October 31-November 2
10. Inequality (Ch 13) Note I am going out of order here. November 7-9.
Exam 2 – Tuesday Night (Online) November 15
11. Labor Markets (Ch 11 + 12), November 14-16
12. Firm Market Structures (Ch 14), November 21 (no class on November 23)
13. Entry/Exit and Firm Strategy (Ch 15 + 17), November 28-30
14. Game Theory (Ch 18), December 5-7
Exam 3 – Tuesday Night (Online), December 13
15. Wrap-up/Review, December 14
Final (cumulative) Dec. 22 (Online)

COMMON COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR ECON 101 (as determined by the
Department of Economics)
Following the completion of this course, students will be able to:
• Explain basic economic concepts such as scarcity, opportunity cost, supply and demand,
and market failure
• Recognize how households and firms respond to incentives and make economic
decisions
• Identify and apply mathematical models to answer economic questions (QRB-1)
• Express relationships among economic variables verbally, graphically, and numerically
(QRB-3)
• Read current news articles and recognize and critique economic arguments
• Apply marginal analysis and cost-benefit analysis in a variety of settings

When You are Struggling:

Don’t wait until it is too late to get help when you need it. Please know that you are not alone.
Many new learners struggle at first with concepts that are new and unfamiliar. Economics is
unique in that, unlike other courses you may take in college like English or History, this may be
your first exposure to economics. Get help during office hours (mine or your section TA) if you
need it. We can’t help if we don’t know you are struggling.

6
 VI. MISCELLANEOUS (REQUIRED BY THE
DEPARTMENT OR UNIVERSITY):
FORMAL COURSE INFO:
Principles of Microeconomics
ECON 101 002 ( 4 Credits )
2022 Fall
Description: Economic problems of individuals, firms and industries with emphasis on value,
price, and distribution of income. Enroll Info: None
Prerequisite(s): None
Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A requirement. Not open to students with credit for
ECON 111
Breadths: S - Social Science
Instruction Mode: Classroom Instruction
Section Level Com B: False
Department: Economics
College: Letters and Scienc

ECONOMICS CAREER DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

If you are interested in learning more about careers related to this course or careers for economics majors,
you are encouraged to contact the Economics Career Development Office. This office is staffed by
economics specific career advisors who can help you throughout the job/internship exploration and
application process. To learn more or make an appointment, visit their website: econ.wisc.edu/careers/.

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

McBurney Disability Resource Center syllabus statement: “The University of Wisconsin-
Madison supports the right of all enrolled students to a full and equal educational opportunity.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Wisconsin State Statute (36.12), and UW-Madison
policy (Faculty Document 1071) require that students with disabilities be reasonably
accommodated in instruction and campus life. Reasonable accommodations for students with
disabilities is a shared faculty and student responsibility. Students are expected to inform faculty
[me] of their need for instructional accommodations by the end of the third week of the semester,
or as soon as possible after a disability has been incurred or recognized. Faculty [I], will work
either directly with the student [you] or in coordination with the McBurney Center to identify
and provide reasonable instructional accommodations. Disability information, including
instructional accommodations as part of a student's educational record, is confidential and
protected under FERPA.” http://mcburney.wisc.edu/facstaffother/faculty/syllabus.php

7
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Institutional statement on diversity: “Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and

innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound
ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the
university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research,
outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and
inclusive community for people from every background – people who as students, faculty, and
staff serve Wisconsin and the world.” https://diversity.wisc.edu/

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT:

“Society depends upon some minimal level of integrity in our graduates, not just upon their
academic knowledge or skills.”

- Gary Pavela, founding member of The Center for Academic Integrity

Academic misconduct is a vital issue concerning all members of the University community.
Those who engage in academic misconduct, and those who ignore it when they become aware of
it, threaten the integrity of the University and of the educational process.

As a UW-Madison student, you have the right to expect that you and other students will be
graded fairly, and you have rights of due process should you be accused of misconduct. You also
have an obligation to conduct your academic work with honesty and integrity according to
University standards. Therefore, it is important that you:

 Become familiar with the rules of academic misconduct.

 Ask your instructor if you are unsure what behaviors constitute academic misconduct in a
specific class or assignment (for example, how to cite from the web or whether to work
with another student on an assignment).
 Let your instructors know if you think you see incidents of misconduct.
 Be aware that helping someone else to cheat is a violation of the rules and may result in
misconduct charges against you.

By enrolling in this course, each student assumes the responsibilities of an active participant in
UW-Madison’s community of scholars in which everyone’s academic work and behavior are
held to the highest academic integrity standards. Academic misconduct compromises the
integrity of the university. Cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, and
helping others commit these acts are examples of academic misconduct, which can result in
disciplinary action. This includes but is not limited to failure on the assignment/course,
disciplinary probation, or suspension. Substantial or repeated cases of misconduct will be
forwarded to the Office of Student Conduct & Community Standards for additional review. For
more information, refer to studentconduct.wiscweb.wisc.edu/academic-integrity/.

8
Misconduct Statement from the Department of Economics

Academic Integrity is critical to maintaining fair and knowledge based learning at UW

Madison. Academic dishonesty is a serious violation: it undermines the bonds of trust and
honesty between members of our academic community, degrades the value of your degree and
defrauds those who may eventually depend upon your knowledge and integrity.

Examples of academic misconduct include, but are not limited to: cheating on an examination
(copying from another student's paper, referring to materials on the exam other than those
explicitly permitted, continuing to work on an exam after the time has expired, turning in an
exam for regrading after making changes to the exam), copying the homework of someone else,
submitting for credit work done by someone else, stealing examinations or course materials,
tampering with the grade records or with another student's work, or knowingly and intentionally
assisting another student in any of the above. Students are reminded that online sources,
including anonymous or unattributed ones like Wikipedia, still need to be cited like any other
source; and copying from any source without attribution is considered plagiarism.

The Dept. of Economics will deal with these offenses harshly following UWS14 procedures:
1. The penalty for misconduct in most cases will be removal from the course and a failing
grade,
2. The department will inform the Dean of Students as required and additional sanctions may
be applied.
3. The department will keep an internal record of misconduct incidents. This information will
be made available to teaching faculty writing recommendation letters and to admission offices
of the School of Business and Engineering.

If you think you see incidents of misconduct, you should tell your instructor about them, in
which case they will take appropriate action and protect your identity. You could also choose to
contact our administrator Tammy Herbst -Koel [email protected]) and your identity will be
kept confidential.

For more information, refer to https://www.students.wisc.edu/doso/academic-integrity/

Grievance Procedure

The Department of Economics has developed a grievance procedure through which you may
register comments or complaints about a course, an instructor, or a teaching assistant. The
Department continues to provide a course evaluation each semester in every class. If you wish to
make anonymous complaints to an instructor or teaching assistant, the appropriate vehicle is the
course evaluation. If you have a disagreement with an instructor or a teaching assistant, we
strongly encourage you to try to resolve the dispute with him or her directly.

The grievance procedure is designed for situations where neither of these channels is appropriate.
If you wish to file a grievance, you should go to room 7238 Social Science and request a Course
9
Comment Sheet. When completing the comment sheet, you will need to provide a detailed
statement that describes what aspects of the course you find unsatisfactory. You will need to
sign the sheet and provide your student identification number, your address, and a phone where
you can be reached. The Department plans to investigate comments fully and will respond in
writing to complaints.

Your name, address, phone number, and student ID number will not be revealed to the instructor
or teaching assistant involved and will be treated as confidential. The Department needs this
information, because it may become necessary for a commenting student to have a meeting with
the department chair or a nominee to gather additional information. A name and address are
necessary for providing a written response.

10
 iClicker
I will be using iClicker to make our class time more engaging. This will help me understand what you know, give
everyone a chance to participate, and increase how much you learn in class. This will also provide you with
feedback on how well you are comprehending course concepts, and help you master challenging concept.

Participating in my iClicker sessions will not be counted towards your final grade. BUT, I will assume that anyone
who does not do these questions does not actually care about their grade.

Participate with the iClicker student app on a smartphone, tablet or laptop. Follow the steps below to properly
register your iClicker account so you can participate.

In order to participate in my iClicker activities, follow the steps below:

1. Log in to Achieve and click the iClicker link in the yellow banner at the top of the course page. If you
do not already have an iClicker student account, create one.
● If you already have an iClicker account, sign in. DO NOT create a new account. You can only
receive credit from one account.
● iClicker access is included with Achieve, so there is no extra cost to participate in class with the
iClicker student mobile or web app! You do not have to buy an extra access code or subscription.

2. Add my iClicker course to your iClicker account.

● In your iClicker account, use the + sign to search for my course.
● In the “Find Your Institution” field, enter University of Wisconsin - Madison
● In the “Find Your Course” field, enter ECON 101-3 Fall 2022 Trost
● Select “Add This Course” and it will be added to the main Courses screen of your iClicker account.

3. Set up the device(s) you’ll use to participate in class.

● You can download the iClicker Student mobile app via the App Store or Google Play, or you can
use the iClicker web app by signing in as a student at iclicker.com.

4. Now the fun part! Participate in my iClicker class activities.

● When it’s time for class, make sure you have selected my course from the main screen of your
iClicker account.
○ When I start a class session in iClicker, select the Join button that appears on your
screen, then answer each question I ask in iClicker.
○ For short answer, numeric, and target questions, make sure you select Send. (not sure
we’ll use these).
● For this semester, you can participate from wherever you are. I will (hopefully) by live-streaming
the class somehow.

Need help with iClicker?

● If you are having issues connecting to the iClicker student app, check out these iClicker connectivity tips.
● If you are having issues seeing your iClicker points, check out this troubleshooting guide.
● Find answers to many of your questions and contact the iClicker Tech Support Team by visiting
iclicker.com/support at any time.

11