Microeconomics III | Course rules

The final grade is calculated on a basis of a weighted average of scores received for the following components (weights in brackets):

a) active class participation (30%),

b) in-class presentation and a written report on the presentation topic (20%),

c) final exam (50%).

In order to pass the course, it is required to obtain at least 50% of the maximum exam score AND at least 50% of the maximum total score obtained from points a), b), and c).

In the retake session, it is allowed to retake the exam and to resubmit the written report only. The new result invalidates the previous one.

Active class participation (max 30 points):

• An entry short test every other class.
• The test may cover the whole material already discussed in class (until the time of the test), with the emphasis put on the last two classes.
• All forms of tasks in the tests are possible: open problems to solve, multiple choice questions, true/false questions, etc.
• Absence or lack of participation in a test results in zero points from it.
• There is no retake of entry short tests.
• Points for the active class participation are calculated on a basis of the average score obtained in all entry short tests excluding one test with the lowest result.

Online organization of an entry short test:

• During the online class, I display on my shared screen a problem or problems to solve within an entry short test.
• You are given specified time to solve the test.
• Within the allotted time, you also need to submit your hand-written solution (a photo of your writing on a piece of paper, or a picture of your hand-written solution on a tablet) to my email address with a specific title.
• When the time of the entry short test is over, a randomly selected student is asked to discuss her/his solution aloud.
• If the student is NOT able to justify her/his submitted solution, it suggests cheating and the student obtains zero points for the active class participation—i.e., no possibility to gain points from entry short tests in the next classes and cancellation of points obtained in the previous classes.
• If the student is able to justify her/his submitted solution but the solution is incorrect, the test is graded normally (i.e., some points can be assigned if any parts of the solution are correct).
• All other solutions submitted to my email are graded normally as long as they are submitted within the alloted time.
• Late submissions are given zero points.
• The solution you send as first is considered. For example, if you think you did a mistake and you submit a new solution to the same problem within the alloted time, only your first submission is graded.

Presentation (max 10 points) and report (max 10 points):

• This work is done in groups of five students (or smaller if the class size makes the groups of five impossible). At the maximum, there are five presentation slots per tutorial group in the whole term.
• The presentation and the written report concern the same topic—they should discuss a microeconomic problem based on the existing literature and closely related to the topics covered in the course.
• The goal of the presentation and the report is to find and understand actual applications of the concepts discussed in class to real-life problems.
• This work should be based on at least two scientific articles published in acknowledged economic journals (e.g., found via Google Scholar), which concern a chosen topic covered within the course. Once the articles are selected, the presentation and the report should discuss the research work conducted in these articles and critically analyse the findings (e.g., if the two selected articles discuss a similar problem but in two different countries, students may conduct a comparison of evidence across these countries).
• Each group show their presentation in class (by sharing the screen) and this should take no more than 10 minutes.
• The report should have only one page and may consist of brief, separate sections (e.g., introduction/theoretical concept, literature and existing evidence, discussion).
• It is strongly recommended to consult the specific topic and the selection of the articles with the group lecturer, before starting working on the problem.
• The presentation slides should be submitted by email to the group lecturer by Thursday 11.59 pm preceding the class with the presentation. Each started day of delay with the submission results in subtraction of 2 points.
• The last slide of the presentation should include the names and student ID numbers of all authors of the presentation. If the authors contributed to different degrees to the work, this can be explained on this final slide (e.g., as percentage values describing the participation in the joint work).
• The report needs to be submitted by email to the group lecturer by January 31, 2021, 11.59 pm, as a Word document. Each started day of delay with the submission results in subtraction of 2 points. Please name the Word document by your presentation day and time: e.g., 29 Jan 11.30 for a presentation done at January 29 at 11.30. The email title should be: Microeconomics 3 report.
• The Word document should have two pages: one page with the report and the second page with the list of authors. If the authors contributed to different degrees to the work, this can be explained on this second page (e.g., as percentage values describing the participation in the joint work). The reference list can be on the second page of your report, along with the list of authors.
• The reports will be checked for plagiarism. Even a single sentence copied from a work of others without a proper reference and quotation marks is a plagiarism. Zero points will be given when plagiarism is detected and the case will be reported to the Faculty Disciplinary Committee. The Committee will decide on further consequences.
• The topic slots: two on governmental interventions, two on externalities, two on public goods, and two on asymmetric information. One member of each group should submit the selection of the topic slot with the names of all group members by November 6, 2020, 11.59 pm, to the group lecturer via email. Given the limited number of slots, the slots will be assigned on the first-come-first-serve basis.
• No submission of the topic slot before the deadline means no participation in this grade component and so zero points.
• In the retake session, only the score for a written report can be improved if the report is graded at less than five points. The new report must be submitted by the end of the retake session (i.e., by March 7, 2021) and must be written on an entirely new problem.

Final exam:

• The same for all groups taking course in Microeconomics III.
• Organized by the course coordinator, dr hab. Olga Kiuila.
• At the end of the term, within the exam session.
• Single-choice questions with negative points for incorrect answers.
• The range of the exam material includes all topics listed in the “Full description” in the course syllabus in USOS. The exam questions will not concern problems discussed in the students’ presentations.

Grading scale