ECON 121 Syllabus

Course Syllabus: 

2018 Spring Microeconomics Online Werboff Syllabus.pdf

Meet Your Instructor:  I'm Ann Werboff, your instructor for this course. I've been teaching at Santa Ana for a few years both in person and online and I also teach at other community colleges and Cal State University. I think it is so important for everyone to have a basic understanding of how the economy works because so many political and social issues have an economic component to them. 

Course Description: Microeconomics is an introduction to the science of economics emphasizing the role of the individual economic unit within the overall system. Topics covered include the economic explanation of consumer behavior, the theory of the firm, the characteristics of the four basic market structures, the role of price in the allocation of resources, products and income (who gets what; the distribution of income). 

Textbook Information:  Principles of Microeconomics, 10th Edition, by David C. Colander with Connect access code (for online assignments)

Course Learning Objectives: 

1. Gain an understanding of economics reasoning, supply, demand, and economic institutions.
2. Calculate elasticities of supply and demand; understand taxation, market failure, and government intervention.
3. Understand international trade and its importance.
4. Understand different market structures of producers: competition, monopoly, and oligopoly.
5. Understand the labor market and its issues.

Student Learning Objectives: 

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Identify and explain the fundamental economic problem of allocating scarce resources and the role of positive economics in explaining choices.
• Communicate by using basic economic terminology, interpret relevant economic data, and follow and construct fundamental economic arguments.
• Apply analytical reasoning and problem solving skills to model cause-and-effect relationships and formulate predictions at the individual consumer, firm, and industry levels.
• Explain the processes through which a market system allocates scarce resources at the individual level and analyze the efficiency of and the effects of government policies on the resulting allocation.