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ECONOMICS 103-Spring 2009
SHACKELFORD
ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE:
CLASS MEETINGS - In addition to the scheduled meetings on Tuesday
and Thursday, Economics 103 will meet in a once-a-week common hour on Wednesday
evening at 7:00 P.M. Some of those sessions will be jointly with the other sections
of Economics 103, others will be with Professor Shackelford's other Economics
103 section.
The Wednesday night sessions are intended to supplement
and complement the material covered in the course. We have attempted to make
these sessions different, interesting, informative and entertaining? There will
be some movies, some videos, maybe a computer lab or game--and other projects.
Several of these "Wednesday night specials" may run over one hour.
We hope that the uniqueness of these sessions will be attractive enough to keep
you there beyond 7:53 P.M. We'll try to give you some idea of how long you can
expect to be there as we move through the semester.
READING THE NEW YORK TIMES daily is important to your success in the course and in understanding how economic theory and policy is practiced in the real world. I am asking you to subscribe to and read a daily national paper because I believe that it's important to know and understand how economics influences and is influenced by the local, national and global events. We know from experience that it's easier to learn and to retain economic ideas and concepts if they are reinforced with real examples. I prefer that you recieve a copy of the THE NEW YORK TIMES or the FINANCIAL TIMES each day, but the Times is available electronically with a (free) subscription. THE WASHINGTON POST is also a paper that some of you might want to read. It is very expensive to subscribe to the Post in Lewisburg, however a free electronic version is available. Reading the Times during the semester will reinforce the ideas we develop and provide numerous opportunities to integrate theory and reality. Please write your reflections on these articles in your Journal.
If you would like to create your own "on line" newspaper that
you can access, you may do so with CRAYON.
(This program was developed by a couple of BU engineering students.)
RULES: If you engage in any computer communications (including subscribing to
these papers, you are bound by the Policy
for Acceptable Usage of Computing Resources at Bucknell.
If you do use an electronic resource, make sure that you record the correct
URL in your journal entry. I have given you the URL's for the New York Times
and the Washington Post. Reading these documents "on line" doesn't
replace your "hard copy" subscription. You will quickly see that
not all of the NYT's is on line. A note of caution. Currently on-line subscriptions
to the New York Times electronic journal is free. You must however read
an agreement before you are allowed to subscribe. If you agree to the conditions
set forward by the publication you will be allowed to subscribe. There are
responsibilities incurred by subscribing. Make sure that you remember your
passwords and that you logoff if you choose to cancel your subscription.
From time to time I may ask you to check out current economic statistics a number
of which are linked on the Economic Resources page. There are several good collections
of economic data. One reference is the New
York Times Newsroom Navigator.
Another is the Economics Information at the White
House.
JOURNAL - Don't forget to hand your journal in three times during the semester. The second time MUST be two full weeks before the end of the sememster. (Before April 19th!) The final (3rd time) is May3rd - the last day of class.
EXAM SCHEDULE - If an examination for this course is scheduled on a religious holiday that you observe, please notify me very early in the semester.
QUESTIONS/KEY CONCEPTS - Throughout the text, there are questions, key concepts and review questions at the end of chapters. These should be used to test your understanding of the material and to give you practice in using economic concepts and ideas. If you work at these questions as you proceed, it should deepen your knowledge of economics. Some of these questions will be assigned as homework.
CLASS ETIQUETTE - Please make sure that you leave your dorm room early enough to arrive in class on time. Also, make sure that you are prepared to remain in class for the full period. The class is disruped by latecommers and wanderers. (Certainly, if you find yourself in the middle of a coughing fit, please feel free to go get a drink of water, otherwise, please wait until class is over.)
Make sure that your cell phone is turned off when you enter the classroom.
CLASS PARTICIPATON - You are expected to come to
all class sessions, to have completed the assigned reading, and to contribute
actively. Your class participation will be evaluated in the standards below.
Remember, you cannot participate if you do not attend class
A 4.0 Excellent. Perfect attendance.
Always well prepared. Contributes actively in almost all sessions, in making
contributions and in reacting to those of others.
B 3.0 Good. Only missed two or three class/sessions. Almost always came
well prepared. Usually contributed actively, both in making contributions and
reacting to others.
C 2.0 Satisfactory. Attendance at least 80%. Usually came prepared. Contributed
actively in about half of the sessions.
D 1.0 Unsatisfactory. Attendance at least 70%. Prepared about half of
the time. Contributed actively in at least 20% of our sessions.
F 0.0 Fail. Attendance spotty. Preparation poor. Little active participation.
ACADEMIC RESPONSIBILTY- The following
passage is taken from the academic regulations section of the Bucknell University
Catalog and the Bucknell website outlining Academic Responsibility:
"Bucknell students are responsible for the preparation and presentation
of work representing their own efforts. Acceptance of this responsibility is
essential to the educational process and must be considered as an expression
of mutual trust, the foundation upon which creative scholarship rests. Students
are directed to use great care when preparing all written work and to acknowledge
fully the source of all ideas and language other than their own."
"I fully support the above principles and the institutional process that
deals with violations of academic responsibility at Bucknell. I will not hesitate
to initiate this process if the above mentioned “mutual trust” is
violated in my course. In addition, it is important that you recognize that
there may be instances when collaboration is appropriate in my class and other
instances when it is not. Absent specific instructions to the contrary, you
are to assume that all assignments are to be completed without collaboration.
Finally, in acknowledging the source of all ideas and language other than your
own, you must cite the creator of Internet posted information just as you would
an author of a textbook, a journal article, a reference book, emails, or personal
conversations from which your have used information or ideas."
This page is produced and maintained by Jean
Shackelford. Last updated January 2011.