EC142 – Principles of Microeconomics

Instructor: Dr. Ashley Piggins

ashley.piggins@nuigalway.ie

Who should be here?

• 1BC1 students ONLY.• Rather confusingly, there are three courses

called “Principles of Microeconomics”.• These are for other students, and they are not

taught by me.

Lectures

• Monday 2-3, Kirwan Theatre.• Wednesday 11-12, O’Flaherty Theatre.• Thursday 9-10, O’Flaherty Theatre.

Course information

• 36 hours of lectures.• One 2hr exam at the end of the semester.

Lecture notes

• Can be found on Blackboard under EC142.• Make sure you are on Blackboard and

registered for this course.

Exam

• Course assessed by 2hr exam at the end of semester 1 (more details to follow).

• The exam is worth 70% of your mark and coursework is worth 30% of your mark.

• In order for your coursework to count towards your final mark you need to get at least 35% in the exam (35% rule).

• This means that you can’t just focus on the coursework and ignore the exam.

Textbook• You MUST purchase Mankiw and Taylor, “Economics” FROM the

NUIG bookshop. The 2nd edition.• It contains access information to something important called

“Aplia”.• My lecture notes will complement the chapters in the books.• You must read my notes and the corresponding chapter in the

book.• Book used in my course and Dr. John Cullinan’s course in Semester

2, “Principles of Macroeconomics”.• John will use Aplia too.• Therefore purchasing the book is good value.• 350 copies, first come first served!

Aplia• Remember 30% of your mark comes from coursework.• This coursework is actually completed on-line using

Aplia.• 10 weekly homeworks to complete on-line by specified

deadlines.• Miss a homework and you get zero for the homework

(no exceptions to this rule).• First homework is due on Sunday 30th September.• From then on, homework is due every Sunday till Sunday

2nd December.• Work needs to be submitted by 11.45pm on the due

date.

PRODUCT KEY

• 85QM-TKEZ-K3PA• Connect to http://login.cengagebrain.com/• If you already have an account, sign in. From

your Dashboard, enter your course key (85QM-TKEZ-K3PA) in the box provided, and click the Register button.If you don't have an account, click the Create a New Account button, and enter your course key when prompted: 85QM-TKEZ-K3PA. Continue to follow the on-screen instructions.