1. General Course Information

1.1 Course Details

Course Code: ECON1010

Course Title: Introductory Microeconomics

Coordinating Unit: School of Economics

Semester: Semester 1, 2024

Mode: In Person

Level: Undergraduate

Delivery Location: St Lucia

Number of Units: 2

Contact Hours Per Week: Lecture 2 hours/week, Tutorial 1 hour/week

Restrictions: Not to be studied by BAdvBus(Hons) and BAdvFin&Econ(Hons) students

Incompatible: ECON1011 or 2011

Course Description: Provides students with a practical understanding of the core economic principles that explain why individuals, companies and governments make the decisions they do, and how their decision-making might be improved to make best use of available resources.

Assumed Background:

There is a mathematical requirement for entry into degree programs offered by the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law. The mathematical requirements of this course are modest. Basic arithmetic and an ability to understand and manipulate simple graphs are required. These skills are basic employment requirements in the private or public sector.

1.2 Course Introduction

ECON1010 is an introductory course in Microeconomics. It focuses on how decision making agents within the economy (e.g. consumers, firms, government departments) make choices and how choices can be made in a way that makes the best possible use of limited available resources. Making choices is an integral part of everyday life - this course will help you to understand how the world operates, and, in doing so, shed light on how it might be changed for the better. For example, why do firms discount certain products but not others? Why is it so hard to find a good quality used car? Why does the government heavily tax petrol but not fast food? Why has the divorce rate increased over the past 50 years? This course will set you on the path to thinking critically about all areas of life where choices are made. A focus is placed on core economic principles that are immediately applicable rather than formal mathematical theorising.

Course Changes in Response to Previous Student Feedback

Student feedback over several years called for the delivery of lectures to be more flexible, with lecture content more efficiently accessible online. As a result, over 100 studio-produced lecture video segments, each of about 5 to 10 minutes duration, have been created for the course and are now available for students online. All course content is accessed through the course Blackboard site. In addition, Blackboard provides access to LearnX, a second learning platform where the studio-produced lecture videos and other learning materials can be accessed.

By providing access to lecture content through short video segments, students highly rate their learning experiences compared to listening to a single two-hour online lecture recording. The additional activities provided through the LearnX platform have also been shown to further enhance the learning opportunities for all students, especially those choosing to study the course fully online.

1.3 Timetable

Additional Timetable Information

Lectures commence in Teaching Week 1.

Tutorials and consultation commence in Teaching Week 2.
Please see the Learning Activities section of this Course Profile (Section 4.1) for the timetabling implications of public holidays.

Public Holidays: Fri 29 March (Good Friday), Thu 25 April (Anzac Day), Mon 6 May (Labour Day).
Mid-Semester Break: 1 April - 7 April. Semester 1 classes recommence on Mon 8 April.

Students should refer to the timetable prior to the commencement of classes to ensure that they have the most up to date information, as from time to time late room changes may occur. 

2. Aims and Learning Objectives

2.1 Course Aims

This course aims to enable you to begin to think like an economist, enhancing your ability to link economic theory with everyday issues to form well-reasoned, independent views.

2.2 Learning Objectives

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

3. Learning Resources

3.1 Required Resources

3.2 Recommended Resources

3.3 University Learning Resources

3.4 School of Economics Learning Resources

4. Teaching & Learning Activities

4.1 Learning Activities

Recording of Lectures: Please be aware that teaching at UQ may be recorded for the benefit of student learning. If you would prefer not to be captured either by voice or image, please advise your course coordinator before class so accommodations can be made. For further information see PPL 3.20.06 Recording of Teaching at UQ.

4.2 Other Teaching and Learning Activities Information

Important - Please Read

ECON1010 is a #2 unit course. UQ's expectation is that a #2 unit course requires a time allocation of, on average, 10 hours per week. Lectures, and tutorials materials account for about 4 hours per week. Therefore, if you are working through and completing all this material, it is expected that you will be spending a further 6 hours per week in self-directed learning. This ideally should include studying the lecture and tutorial materials in detail, completing the regular assessment tasks, attending consultation sessions, reviewing other online learning activities available through the course Blackboard site, etc. Please give serious consideration as to whether you are willing and able to make this time commitment before enrolling.

ECON1010 weekly face-to-face lectures will be delivered on campus. It will cover the essential material that is provided in studio-produced, pre-recorded videos. The videos will able to be accessed via the course Blackboard site prior to the face-to-face lecture. Studio produced video recordings of fully worked solutions to all tutorial will be made available at the end of each week during the semester. They can be watched anytime during the semester once released. We recommend that you complete the material relating to all lectures and tutorials.

Ensure you attain the marks necessary to achieve the grade to which you aspire. Some students aspire to a 6 or 7, whilst others aspire to a 4. Our job is to clearly specify the grade cut-offs, clearly state the marking criteria for assessment and then mark all students according to this criteria. In a very large course such as ECON1010, it is inevitable that some students will end up close to a grade cut-off. You control your own destiny, so ensure you are on the right side of a grade cut-off. Marginally missing out on a grade cut-off is not grounds for a re-mark. Assessment results will only be revisited if a marking error has occurred (e.g. assessment has not been graded according to the stated marking criteria), or if an administrative error has occurred (e.g. results for individual assessment pieces have not been added up correctly). If you feel that either of these have occurred, contact us immediately. After each assessable item, students will be given the opportunity to view their assessment and so satisfy themselves that a marking or administrative error has not occurred. The formal process of querying a course result (requesting a remark on academic grounds) is set out in the UQ Policy and Procedures Library under the Assessment policy 3.10.02 (https://ppl.app.uq.edu.au/content/3.10.02-assessment).

Make sure you check your student email and the ECON1010 Blackboard site regularly (at least every few days). All important correspondence will be communicated to students throughout the semester by email and/or via Blackboard.

Lectures

During the semester, fully recorded studio-produced lectures (to be viewed online anytime) and lecture notes will be available before the actual face-to-face lecture on campus. The studio-produced lectures have been edited into 5 to 10 minute video segments. The weekly face-to-face lecture will cover the essential material in studio-produced lecture videos. The ECON1010 Blackboard site will be used to provide students with all learning materials, including lecture notes, tutorial questions, along with other interactive learning activities.

Tutorials

Weekly tutorials of 50 minutes duration will commence in Teaching Week 2. All of the tutorials in any week cover the same work and are based on material covered in the previous Teaching Week's lecture.

Most tutorials work through a series of pre-set questions that can be found on the ECON1010 Blackboard site. You should work through the material before attending a tutorial. Do not expect your tutor to simply provide you with the answers during tutorial sessions. This is not their job. The tutor will direct questions to students during the class to encourage students' active participation.

During the semester, video-demonstrated solutions to each tutorial question will be made available on Blackboard. The solutions are presented by a series of experienced tutors and will only become available at the end of each tutorial week (see Blackboard for release dates and times). It is hoped these video solutions will be a useful learning resource for students wanting to review their work.

Consultation

Consultation is your chance to speak directly with the teaching staff, one on one. A consultation timetable listing the consultation times and locations of teaching staff will be posted on the ECON1010 Blackboard site under "Course Help". There is no need to make an appointment for consultation and you may attend any teaching staff's consultation session. Note that consultation sessions may be busy prior to assessment due dates. 

Don't be shy to seek out one-on-one help from teaching staff during consultation sessions. They are there to help. Note however that staff on consultation will expect that you have been performing your side of the bargain i.e. dedicating 10 hours per week to ECON1010. If it becomes obvious that you have not, you'll likely be asked to return when you have done so.

5. Assessment

UQ students: Please access the profile from Learn.UQ or mySI-net to access all course contributor details held in this profile.

5.1 Assessment Summary

This is a summary of the assessment in the course. For detailed information on each assessment, see 5.5 Assessment Detail below.

5.2 Course Grading

Example criteria for each of the grades can be found in PPL 3.10.02 Assessment Procedures - section 7 Appendix.

Grade 1, Low Fail: Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes:

0% - 29%

Grade 2, Fail: Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes:

30% - 46%

Grade 3, Marginal Fail: Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes:

47% - 49%

Grade 4, Pass: Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes:

50% - 64%

Grade 5, Credit: Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes:

65% - 74%

Grade 6, Distinction: Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes:

75% - 84%

Grade 7, High Distinction: Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes:

85% +

Other Requirements & Comments:

5.3 Late Submission

Non-submission of CML Quizz(es) and CLEAR-JEs assessments will incur a penalty of 100%.

5.4 Other Assessment Information

Supplementary Assessment

Should you fail a course with a grade of 3, or a non-graded ‘N’, you may be eligible for supplementary assessment. Refer to my.UQ for information on supplementary assessment.

Supplementary assessment may not be available for all courses, or for some of the assessment items for a course. The highest grade you can receive following supplementary assessment is a 4 or P. Details of availability of supplementary assessment for this course are set out below.

Supplementary Assessment is available for this Course.

Refer to my.UQ for how to apply for supplementary assessment.

Supplementary assessment can take any form, for example, an oral or a written exam. Students who are eligible and approved for a supplementary assessment and the form of assessment is an examination, are expected to be available to sit the supplementary exam during the University’s Deferred and Supplementary examination period. Once approved, supplementary assessment cannot be rescinded by the student.

Other

Plagiarism

The School of Economics is committed to reducing the incidence of plagiarism. Further information on plagiarism and how to avoid an allegation of plagiarism is available in this course profile under Section 6.1 - Assessment Related Policies & Guidelines. Please refer to Section 6.1 and the link to the Academic Integrity Module (AIM). It is strongly recommended that you complete the AIM if you have not already done so.