It is strongly recommended you keep a copy of this outline with your academic records.

You will need this outline for

any future applications for transfer credits to other colleges/universities.

Alexander College
Econ 103B - Principles of Microeconomics
Syllabus – Winter 2024

Course Information

Course Number and Credits:

Econ 103B - Principles of Microeconomics (3)

Course Description:
This is an introductory undergraduate course that teaches the fundamentals of
microeconomics. The primary purpose of this course is to provide the students with a
basic understanding of the fundamental principles of economics and how economists
view the choices made by individuals. This course introduces microeconomic concepts
and analysis, supply and demand analysis, theories of the firm and individual behavior,
competition, monopoly, and welfare economics.

I’d like to convince you that economics is a very useful field of study and you can use
economic theory in your daily experience to explain the types of behavior that
microeconomics seeks to explain. By the end of this course, you will be able to analyze
individual behaviors with Economic concepts.

Lectures Dates, Time, Campus, and Room Number:

Tuesdays and Thursdays 10 – 11.20 (ACB 241)

Technology Requirements: For all courses, it is mandatory to have a laptop

computer with a webcam, microphone, and reliable Internet connection.
There are also more technical issues with phones, including incompatibility with some of
our systems – if you run into issues with your phone during a quiz, lab or exam, you will
not be eligible for any appeal or extension.

Prerequisite Courses:
ENGL 098, ECON 100 or MATH 11 (B) or MATH 12 (C) or MATH 099 (C) or MATH 100 (P)

Articulation:
UBC ECON 101 (3)
SFU ECON 103 (3) Q/B-Soc
UVic ECON 103 (1.5)
UNBC ECON 100 (3)
TRU 1900 (3)

1
Instructor Information:

Instructor's name: Azadeh Khoshaien

Email: [email protected] or through Canvas

Office Hours:

• Tuesdays 1.30 PM – 2 PM (On-campus, ACB, WLC, Station 2)

• Thursdays 1.30 PM – 2.30 PM (On-campus, ACB, WLC, Station 2)
• Or By Appointment

Please note that you do not need to book an appointment for the scheduled office
hours. If the scheduled office hour does not work with your schedule, you can send me
an email and book an appointment. What I will need from you is an email with your
name, course and section ID (Econ 103B), your preferred time for office hours and a
brief description of what you would like to discuss (this will let me get the information
ready for your appointment).

For example, your email should read like this:

Hello,

This is (name), I would like to make an appointment on Tuesday. I am

available at 2 pm and I would like to discuss some questions from chapter 5
of the textbook.

After I receive this email, I will set up a meeting and send you the time of your
appointment. For virtual appointments on zoom, all you need to do is to use the
meeting ID I send you at the time of the meeting and we can discuss your questions.

Availability: Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or you’d like to get
an appointment for a face-to-face meeting if my office hour does not work with your
schedule.

• I will respond to your email within 24 hours after it was sent (excluding weekends and
statutory holidays).
• I will give you feedback on your assignments not later than 7 days after they are
submitted (excluding weekends and statutory holidays)
• I will provide your exam results within a week after the test.

Announcements: All the communication while we are not in the class will be posted
under the announcement. Please make sure you check it out often.

Discussion Boards:

2
 • There is a “Frequently Asked Questions” discussion board for your class. Please feel
free to use this platform as someone else in the class might have the same question.

Textbook

Mankiw, Kneebone, and McKenzie. Principles of Microeconomics, 9th Canadian

Edition. Cengage, 2023.

ISBN: 9781774740279

https://www.cengage.ca/c/principles-of-microeconomics-9e-mankiw-kneebone-
mckenzie/9781774740279/

Course Objectives

During this course the student will:

▪ Identify the fundamental concepts of economic analysis and apply them to real-
world issues.
▪ Learn the basic tools required for the more advanced economic courses.
▪ Study how people and firms make choices and how these choices are connected
through market interactions.
▪ Describe the law of demand and supply, determine market price and quantity.
▪ Discuss the impact of various policies (price controls/ taxes) on the allocation of
resources and on the economic well-being of individuals and of society as a
whole.
▪ Summarize how taxes being imposed in markets can affect the efficiency of these
markets.
▪ Illustrate how international trade can lead to more efficient and desirable
quantity and price outcomes for society.
▪ Review the profit maximization condition and how it is used to determine firms’
output in the short and long runs.
▪ Illustrate how the output and entry and exit decisions of firms in competitive
markets determine the price and supply of output in the short and long runs.
▪ Explain how prices and outputs are determined in markets characterized by just
one seller (monopoly), a few sellers (oligopoly), or by many sellers of unique but
similar products (monopolistic competition).

3
Course Outline (Tentative Schedule)

NOTE: This outline will be updated as we go along.

Textbook Term Tests,

Week Dates Topic Chapter Quizzes, And
Assignments

MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION, FUNDAMENTAL INSIGHTS, AND TRADE

1 Jan 9 - Seven Microeconomics CHP 1 and 2

Principles

Jan 11 - Production Possibilities

Frontier

Jan 16
2 - Trade CHP 3
Jan 18

MODULE 2: SUPPLY AND DEMAND I: HOW MARKET WORKS

Jan 23 - Supply and Demand

3 CHP 4 Assignment 1
Jan 25 - Pro-D Day (Classes are (Jan 23, CHP. 1-3)
cancelled)

Jan 30
4 - Elasticity CHP 5
Feb 1

Feb 6 - Consumers, Producers, and CHP 7 Quiz 1 (Feb 8,

the Efficiency of Markets CHP. 1 – 5)
5
Feb 8 - Government Policies and CHP 6
their Cost

4
MODULE 3: SUPPLY AND DEMAND I: MARKETS AND WELFARE

Feb 13
6 - Taxation CHP 8
Feb 15

7 Feb 20 Midterm
- International Trade CHP 9 (Feb 20, CHP. 1-8)
Feb 22

MODULE 4: FIRM BEHAVIOUR AND THE ORGANIZATION OF

INDUSTRY

Feb 27
8 - The Costs of Production CHP 13
Feb 29 (Part I)

Mar 5
9 - The Costs of Production CHP 13 Assignment 2
Mar 7 (Part II) (Mar 7, CHP. 4-8)

Mar 12
10 - Perfect Competition CHP 14
Mar 14

Mar 19 Assignment 3
11 - Monopoly CHP 15 (Mar 21, CHP. 9-
Mar 21 14)

Mar 26
12 - Monopolistic Competition CHP 16
Mar 28

Apr 2 Quiz 2
13 - Oligopoly CHP 17 (Apr 4, CHP. 6 -
Apr 4 15)

5
14 Apr 9 - Review

It is the students’ responsibility to check the following webpage for Admission dates and
deadlines: https://alexandercollege.ca/admissions-and-registration/important-dates/

Assignment

Problem sets are due periodically throughout the term, and in total count for 15% of
your grade.

It is also suggested that you start the assignment as early as possible. The problem sets
represent the MINIMUM number of practice questions you do, and they are likely not
to be sufficient for most of you. Late assignments will not be accepted for marks.
If you get sick and cannot make it to the class to submit the assignment, you should
email it to me (I will not accept late assignments).

Canvas Gradebook vs. MyAC final grades:

All grades posted in the Gradebook are for the assignments, tests, etc. you earn during
the term. Final grade calculation is based on your cumulative grades for those
assessments and your final exam mark. Canvas Gradebook totals are unofficial grades
provided to you for information purposes. The final grade posted on MyAC is the
official grade for transcript and course prerequisite purposes.

Assessment & Grading Scale:

Assessment Item Value

Assignments (3 assignments - Each counts for 5% of your grade): 15%
Quizzes (2 Quizzes - Each counts for 10% of your grade): 20%
Participation (Different from Attendance) 10%
Midterm Examination (Feb 20, 2024): 25%
Final Examination (Cumulative) 30%

Letter Grade Percentage Performance

A+ 90-100%
A 85-89% Outstanding Achievement
A- 80-84%
B+ 76-79%
Above Average Achievement
B 72-75%

6
 B- 68-71%
C+ 64-67%
C 60-63% Satisfactory/Average Achievement
C- 55-59%
D 50-54% Marginal Pass
F 0-49% Failure of the course

Where to go for Help:

Service Link/ Email

Questions about the
[email protected]
class
Canvas [email protected]
Office 365/ Outlook [email protected]
Academic Writing Help https://alexandercollege.ca/student-success/writing-and-learning-
centre/
Research Help https://alexandercollege.ca/student-success/library/
MyAC Issues [email protected]
Zoom [email protected]
Student Advocacy
https://alexandercollege.ca/student-success/office-of-student-affairs/
Office
Emotional Support https://alexandercollege.ca/student-success/health-and-wellness/

Classroom Rules:

Participation:

Students are expected to demonstrate integrity, professionalism, commitment to active

learning and responsible behavior in and out of the classroom.

Students are expected to participate in all classroom activities. I encourage you to ask
questions about anything regarding the course and to contribute to classroom
discussions.

There will be kahoot questions/ discussion questions/ quick quizzes/ module questions
every class that you can participate to make sure you understand the materials and you
will gain 0.5 point for each time you participate in these activities (so, you need to
participate almost every session).

In general, students are expected to complete 2 hours of homework (including the

reading of textbooks, preparation for quizzes and exams, assignments and exercises) for
every hour of classroom activity.

7
At the start of class you should have the following things available to you: your class
notes, paper, pencils, pens, and/or laptop/desktop/tablet and/or any other specific
equipment necessary for your course (e.g. ruler, calculator). In class, learning and
problem-solving activities will take place.

Late Assignments:

The student is responsible for completing all assignments for their courses according the
to deadlines set by their instructors. Late assignments will not be accepted. If students
miss or fail to complete in-class activities such as quizzes, exercises, and/or worksheets,
they will receive a grade of 0 (zero) on those activities.

Makeup Exams:

In exceptional cases, students may be excused from taking an exam at the scheduled
time. To be excused, the student must:

➢ Notify the Instructor of an inability to take the exam prior to the scheduled time of
the exam, when possible.

➢ Provide proof of inability e.g. a doctor's note.

If you fail to do either of the above, you will get a zero in the test. No makeup
exams will be arranged for midterm exams. Students who miss an exam for legitimate
reasons will have the weight of the missed exam moved to the final exam.

Students, who miss the final exam for legitimate and sufficient reasons, may appeal for a
deferred exam with the campus Director. The format of the MAKE UP EXAMS
might be TOTALLY DIFFERENT from the other tests.

Policies:

Attendance:

No absences will be excused. Students are responsible for completing all course
material and assignments whether present or not. Students who miss an exam due to
illness or incapacity should refer to the exam deferral process in the Academic
Calendar: (http://alexandercollege.ca/admissions-and-registration/academic-calendar/).

English Only:

The school has an “ENGLISH ONLY” policy for all classroom activity. All
communication must be in English.

2024 Winter Semester (Jan 8 – Apr 18, 2024):

8
Important Dates can be found anytime on our website:
https://alexandercollege.ca/admissions-and-registration/important-dates/

Honour Code

We, the students of Alexander College, are an academic community dedicated to

behaving in a manner that commands the respect and trust of our Instructors, peers,
and college as a whole. As a member of this community, I pledge on my honour, to act
with the highest level of honesty, integrity, and dignity. I promise to uphold the
community of trust, of which I am an important member. By signing this contract, I
agree not to violate the Honour Code in my studies at Alexander College. I will:

1) Be honest in my academic career.

2) Create a positive learning environment for myself and all others in my academic
community.
3) Be responsible for my own actions.
4) Respect the rights, feelings, and personal or academic property of others.
5) Grow in the understanding of other cultures, perspectives, and beliefs.
6) Display and uphold academic honesty by:
a. Completing my assignments within the guidelines set by the Instructor
b. Properly citing all of my research and resources
c. Using the Internet for appropriate research or study
d. Only using materials authorized by my Instructor during an exam
e. Collaborating in approved study groups
f. Presenting only true and official marks or grades
g. Submitting true and correct official documents
h. Always telling the truth
i. Respecting the rights of others
j. Showing respect to others with my words and actions
k. Taking care of school property (including classroom desks, surfaces,
computers, printers, and windows)
l. Respecting the property and belongings of other students
m. Valuing all classes, meetings, student activities, and social events (either on
or off campus)
n. Helping other students do all of the above

7) Follow all of the Alexander College school policies and rules.

8) Help others in my academic community to uphold the Honour Code.

--------------------------------------- Detach Here ----------------------------------

I have received, read, and understood the information contained within my course
outline including the policy plagiarism and academic integrity. (Econ 103B)

9
_______________________ _______________________
Student Name (printed) Student Number

_______________________ _______________________
Student Signature Date

10