RIO HONDO COMMUNITY COLLEGE COUR

Section #: 8831	Class Hours: WWW
Instructor: Megan Cummins	Voicemail: (562) 506-6195
Office Hours: By appointment (Don't be afraid to ask for help!!)	E-mail: WebCT Mail or mcummins@riohondo.edu
**The best way to reach me is via e-mail.

Instruction Begins	January 2nd
Last day to drop without a "W"	January 22nd
Midterm Examination Due	February 6th
Last day to drop with a "W"	February 22nd
Class Project Due	March 1st
Final Examination Due	March 10th

It is the student’s responsibility to drop classes they have stopped attending. Failure to drop a course you have stopped attending will result in an “F” in the course. Please feel free to call me if you have problems – academic or personal – that might make you consider withdrawing from this course. If you have fallen behind in the course, it is in your best interest to drop the course. I will not grant any extensions or incompletes at the end of the semester (there will no exceptions to this policy).

This is an introductory course in which students learn to describe and analyze the performance and policies of national economic systems with an emphasis on the U.S. economy. It is intended for Economics or Business majors as well as to satisfy General Education requirements. Topics include: production possibilities and tradeoffs; comparative economic systems; functions of government; national income and unemployment; business cycles; money and banking; monetary and fiscal policy; comparative advantage and trade policy; economic growth and stability; and income distribution and poverty. Graded or credit option. (Transfers to: UC, CSU). (3 units).

Students should plan to spend at least TEN hours per week completing the various readings, exercises, homework and quizzes for this course. Due to the accelerated nature of the course we will generally cover two chapters per week. Do not fall behind because it will be impossible for you to catch up. I do not accept late assignments and I will not issue incompletes at the end of the semester - either you finish the course in the allotted period of time or you will receive an "F" in the course.

Class grade will consist of homework, quizzes, participation in class discussions (discussion board), midterm, final exam and class project. Final grade will be determined using a straight percentage scale as follows: A= 90-100%; B= 80-89%; C=70-79%; D=60-69%; F= 0-59%. Credit/No Credit students must earn a minimum of 70% (420 points) for CREDIT.

A = 540-600 POINTS (90-100%)

B = 480-539 POINTS (80-89%)

C = 420-479 POINTS (70-79%)

D = 360-419 POINTS (60-69%)

F = 0-359 POINTS (0-59%)

There will be weekly quizzes in this course (10 quizzes total). Each quiz will cover one to two chapters. Quizzes will consist of multiple-choice, true/false, matching and/or short essay questions. Quizzes will be worth 10 points each for a total of 100 points. Please be advised that you should complete all quizzes on your own and you may use your notes and the book while completing the quizzes. Each quiz will have a time limit of 120 minutes so you should be prepared to take the quiz before you log on to it and you must complete it in one sitting. Quizzes are due by the deadline listed on the quizzes page and the Schedule of Assignments. It is your responsibility to take the quizzes on time. Once the deadline has passed, you will not be able to log onto the quiz and will receive zero points for that quiz. You may take each quiz three times and the highest quiz score will count towards your grade.

Students will be required to post responses to discussion board questions. Ten (10) points will be assigned for 1 post (1 posted response to a discussion board question) per week. You are required to post your responses every week during the course of the semester (10 weeks total). Administrative and/or technical questions (like “how do I get into the quiz?”) do not count as a post but I welcome you to post any general questions you may have on the administrative/technical issues discussion board.

Postings for credit must be in regard to the economic concepts that we are studying. I will post discussion questions to the discussion board on a weekly basis (corresponding to the material we are covering during that week). There are several different discussion boards corresponding to the various weeks of the course and you must respond to discussion questions in a timely manner. Discussion boards will close at the same time as the quiz each week. In order to earn the full 10 points you must post one message in response to the discussion question (see below for posting directions) during each week. The introduction posting will count is NOT included as part of the 10 weeks of postings (but is worth 5 points as long as you follow the instructions and your introduction is a minimum of two paragraphs).

Discussion board postings will be graded based upon the timeliness of the response, the quality of analysis/answers to the discussion board question, length and depth of the postings and neatness (please use complete sentences and proper grammar/spelling as this is an academic forum). Your posts should be at least two paragraphs long in order to receive credit. Incomplete and/or uninformed posts will not receive credit. Please do not post to the bulletin board until AFTER you have read the chapter and you fully understand the concept. It is blatantly obvious when someone has posted a response without reading the chapter and you will not receive credit for unresearched answers. Lastly, please feel free to respond to other students' posts.

Students are required to complete weekly homework assignments at www.aplia.com. You will receive a passcode and directions for accessing Aplia when you purchase your textbook. I will also post instructions for accessing Aplia on the "Start Here" page.

Students may earn extra credit by completing the weekly assignments on www.discoverecon.com. I will give you 2 points extra credit per chapter if you complete ALL of the weekly assignments associated with each chapter. Partial credit will not be given. If you do not complete ALL of the assignments for a chapter, you will not receive extra credit for that chapter. Note: You must be enrolled in our specific course on discoverecon.com in order to receive extra credit for the chapters you have completed there. Once you get logged into our course on discoverecon.com, please send me an e-mail to verify that you are in my gradebook on discoverecon.

All exams are mandatory and failure to complete all exams will result in an “F” in the course. The midterm will consist of 60 multiple-choice and 2 essay questions and will cover chapters 1-7. The final exam will have 100 multiple-choice, short answer and true/false questions and will cover all chapters that have been covered in the course (Chapters 1-16). Both the midterm and final examinations will have 2 hour time limits. BOTH EXAMS ARE CLOSED BOOK, CLOSED NOTES EXAMS. You should NOT use your book to check your answers or your essays. All of your work should be your own (do not copy from anyone else or from the book). If I suspect you have used your book/notes on the examination or that you have plagiarized, you will receive an "F" on the exam. Once you have logged into an exam, you must complete the exam within 2 hours. Failure to complete the exam within the time limit is the student’s responsibility and no extensions or make up examinations will be allowed. This means that you should have already studied for the examination and that you are fully prepared to complete the examination before you log into the exam. There will be no extensions for any reason. It is your responsibility to complete the exam before the deadline. Please be sure that you take the exam at least one day before the deadline in case of any technical issues. Once the deadline is passed, even if you had technical issues, the exam will NOT be reopened for you.

Throughout the course of the semester, you will be required to find and analyze ten (10) newspaper articles which address the issues we are covering (e.g., supply and demand, externalities (social cost), price floors/ceilings, aggregate supply/demand, inflation, etc.). The project is worth 100 points towards your class grade. Students who do not turn in a project will receive an automatic "F" in the course (even if you have completed all of the other assignments). The class project is due to the instructor the week prior to the final exam (please see assignment schedule for due date). **Please see the project instructions page for more details.

Students with verifiable disabilities who want to request academic accommodations are responsible for notifying their instructor and the Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSP&S) as early as possible in the semester. To arrange for accommodations, contact the DSP&S office located in the Science building, Room S205. Any person requiring TDD should call the disabled students TDD number at (562) 463-4633. If you have any issues with the website, please contact me as soon as possible so I can fix it immediately.

Please do not contact the instructor or the virtual college office for your final scores/grades. The instructor will post grades on the site approximately one week after the final exam is due. Grades may be obtained approximately three weeks after the conclusion of the semester via touchtone telephone (562) 692-1284, at RIOWEB.rh.cc.ca.us or by going to the Admissions and Records Office. You may also submit a self-addressed, stamped postcard to the instructor with your project. Grade cards submitted to the instructor will be sent out approximately one week after the final exam is due.

Plagiarism, cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty will NOT be tolerated. Plagiarism is taking words or ideas from any other source without giving credit to that source. It is against school policy and is not acceptable in any forum. Any test or essay must be exclusively your work and must be done entirely on your own. Everything must be in your own words. If you work with another person on a test or copy material from any other source, you will receive a failing grade in the class. Cheating in any of its many forms will result in an “F” in the course. Please be reminded that the midterm and final examinations are CLOSED-BOOK, CLOSED-NOTES exams. Any student suspected of using their book or notes to complete the midterm or final exam will receive an "F" on the exam. Also, your discussion board postings should be in your own words and use your own ideas. If I find that you have used outside sources on your discussion board postings, I will give you an "F" in the course.

If you have technical issues or problems with WebCT, your account, etc., please call the Virtual College technical support office at (562) 692-0921 x3077 or fill out an online help form at www.riohondo.edu/help. You may also visit the Virtual College for help in person in Room L4000D - 4th Floor Library, Monday thru Friday from 8:00AM to 4:30PM. If you have a technical issue, don't panic - just ask for help! That said, it is a good idea to complete the quizzes/exams well before the deadline in case you do have technical issues.

The schedule of assignments contains the due dates for all assignments, quizzes and tests. If you do not turn in an assignment when it is due, you have no right to complain or ask for an extension. No tests or quizzes will be reset for anyone for any reason.

I will be conducting weekly "virtual office hours" in the Chat Room. I will announce chat times on the course homepage. If you have any administrative or content questions, please feel free to come and ask them in the chat room. I will give you 5 points extra credit for the FIRST time you participate in a chat room discussion. Participation in the chat room means that you come with questions and interact with your fellow students and instructor.

Every time you log into the course, you should go to the homepage first to read important announcements that I will post on a regular basis. Before you e-mail me with any questions, please be sure to read the homepage in case the answer is already posted there.