Unit OutlineSchool of Economics and FinanceCollege of Business and Law

Unit Name: Introduction to Economic MethodsUnit Number: 200052Teaching Period: Semester 1 (Autumn)

Year: 2011

Contents:Section ASection BSection CSection DSection ESection F

General InformationUnit DetailsAssessment DetailsAssignment Cover SheetImportant Information, Policies and Procedures for StudentsAdditional Information

First point of contact for this unit is:

Name:

Girijasankar Mallik

Phone: 9685 9664

Email: g.mallik@uws.edu.au

Section A: General InformationUnit Weighting(credit points)

10

Level Level 1Pre-requisites Not ApplicableCo-requisites 200336.1 Business Academic Skill

Students are responsible for ensuring they have met all relevant pre-requisites and/or co-requisites for any unit(s) in which they are currently enrolled.

Units not to becounted forcredit with

Not Applicable

AssumedKnowledge

Some level of mathematics in HSC

ContactDetails Unit Coordinator: Dr. Girijasankar Mallik

Telephone: 9685 9664Email: g.mallik@uws.edu.au Office Location: Building: EDG, Room No: 116, Campus: Parramatta

Teaching Team:

Lecturer/Tutor: Dr. Girijasankar MallikTelephone: 9685 9664Email: g.mallik@uws.edu.au Office Location: Building: ED, Room No: 116, Campus: Parramatta

Administration Support:

School of Economics and Finance AdministrationEmail: sef@uws.edu.au Parramatta Campus: Building ED, Room G.142Phone: 02 9685 9665

Campbelltown Campus: Building 11, Room 11.G.24Phone: 02 4620 3224

Student Consultation

Please liaise directly with your lecturer regarding appropriate consultation times.

Mode of Delivery and Contact Hours: 2 hours lecture, 1 hour tutorial every week

Unit Name: Introduction to Economic Methods, Unit Number: 200052, Teaching Session: Sem1, 2011. Page 1 of 10

Teaching Schedule

Classes will be held over 13 sessions. The general approach will be to cover one topic per session over that period. A typical format will be an introductory lecture in mathematics followed by harder mathematics during first five lectures and statistics in the second half of the semester. For further details see the lecture/practical program attached.

There will be two hours of lecture every week followed by a one hour tutorial. All information’s will be discussed during the lecture and some information’s will be posted on the vUWS. It will be assumed by the lecturer that all information posted on the Intranet has been seen by all students enrolled in this unit. Therefore it is imperative that students access vUWS at least twice per week during the semester. Copies of the learning guide, unit outline, where available, lecturer notes and information on the examination and assignments will be posted on the site for downloading by students. Additional information regarding assignments, examinations, any course changes, reminders of work due etc may be posted regularly to the Intranet unit page and will be discussed during the lecture. It is the students’s responsibility to access this information from vUWS, and not rely on your lecturer to make such announcements during class time. Note: tutorials will start from week 2

AttendanceRequirements

Student should attend all classes (lectures and tutorials) in order to pass the unit. It is very important to note that at their discretion, your instructor may deem you have not attended a session if you just sign the class roll and then leave the class. Please let your lecturer know if you are unable to attend any session.

Essential Equipment and/or Resources

Scientific Calculator (the calculator must have a SD (Standard deviation) and REG/LR (regression/linear regression) function). For more information please contact your lecturer.

Occupational Health and Safety

Not Applicable

Criminal Record Checks

Not Applicable

Immunisation Requirements

Not Applicable

Changes and Improvements to the Unit as a Result of Student Feedback

Not Applicable.

Section B: Unit DetailsObjectives Introduction to Economic Methods will cover basic concepts in mathematics and statistics to help

their understanding of subjects like accounting, management, marketing, finance, and economics. In addition, the analytical techniques, concepts and models that will be discussed in this unit will play a foundation role in a business degree.

Topics include: Differential calculus and its application in business and economics; collection, analysis and interpretation of data using simple descriptive and inferential statistical methods; probability distributions, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing, and an introduction to regression analysis.

Outcomes Learning Outcomes: On completing this unit students should be able to:

Understand concepts of calculus and their use in describing economic concepts and solve elementary problems in unconstrained and constrained optimization as applied in business and economics.

Summarize the main features of data sets using descriptive statisticsUnderstand probability concepts and solve basic probability problemsUnderstand the differences between discrete and continuous probability distributionsPerform statistical inference involving interval estimation and hypothesis testing of

statistical population parametersCarry out basic correlation and regression analysis and interpret regression resultsapply

economic reasoning to make deductions about market behaviour

This unit also aims at developing the following graduate attributes:

Unit Name: Introduction to Economic Methods, Unit Number: 200052, Teaching Session: Sem1, 2011. Page 2 of 10

Effective Communication The ability to engage effectively and appropriately with information and communication

technologies.Independence and Creativity

The ability to work and learn independently.Critical Judgement

The ability to define and analyse problems.

ContentStudent Workload

In order to optimise the value of your learning, it is strongly advised to prepare before each session, enthusiastically participate in each session, and then reflect on each session. The amount of time spent out of class will vary for each individual, depending on competencies and proficiency in any area. An approximation is between 80-120 hours per unit, which is an average of 8-12 hours per session. Effective learning requires interaction between you, your instructor, and your peers. The better prepared you are before each session the greater the learning value from more focused questions and discussions. In addition, reflecting on what you have learned is an important process for you to confidently apply your newly learned skills. Therefore, in order to gain the most learning value from the synergistic relationship between your support materials and your specific unit material it is highly recommended you follow these steps for each Session:

Before each Session

1. Read the Support Materials “lecture notes” and “tutorial questions”.2. Read the Support Materials notes and answer any given questions or problems.3. Pre-read your Instructor’s Lecture notes for more detailed comprehension before and after the

lecture4. Mark the unclear materials in the lecture notes and discuss it with your lecturer.

During each Session

Enthusiastically participate in the “Activities” guided by your Instructor.1. Contribute to each session with focused questions and discussions.2. Attempt any questions and problems shown in your session.3. Identify clearly what you know you know and what you know you don’t know.4. Ask your Instructor about any questions or problems from this or any session5. Answer (or at least try) all tutorial questions before coming to the tutorial

After each Session

1. Attempt any questions and problems advised by your Instructor.2. Reflect IN action (while doing these questions and problems).3. Review the worked solutions to questions and problems.4. Reflect ON action (after you have done these questions and problems).5. Identify clearly what you know and what you know you don’t know

TextsPrescribed Textbook:

No textbook is required for the mathematics partBerenson, M. L. et al (2010). Basic Business Statistics. 2nd edition. Pearson.

Texts can be purchase from the UWS Parramatta campus bookshop. You may check the availability of book by calling the bookshop on Parramatta or Campbelltown campus.

Unit Name: Introduction to Economic Methods, Unit Number: 200052, Teaching Session: Sem1, 2011. Page 3 of 10

Section C: Assessment DetailsAssessment Details There will be four (4) types of assessment in this unit.

Type of Assessment Timing As a percent of total marks

Mid-term ExaminationIn week 7 (week starting 11 April) 40

Home work (see detail in the learning guide) Any week 10

Final Examination (CLOSED BOOK EXAM)

As scheduled by the UWS. Date and time will be advised via exam timetable.

50

Assessment requirements Students are required to attempt all tutorial questions every week. Tutor will mark only three weeks tutorial answers and best two marks will be considered.

To pass this unit, a student must:

(a) achieve a overall 50% marks from all exams and assessments,(b) and achieve a 50% in the final examination

Final marks and grades are subject to confirmation by the School and College Assessment Committee (SAC) which may scale, modify or otherwise amend the marks and grades for the unit, as may be required by University policies.

Further information is provided in Section F.

Assessment Requirements

Students are required to attempt all tutorial questions every week. Tutor will mark only three weeks tutorial answers and best two marks will be considered.

Formal Examinations

The total value of the final exam is 50% of the total mark. The final exam is 3 hours in duration and will contain materials covered in lecture and Prac Classes. The precise format of the final exam will be discussed in the last lecture.

Assignment Cover Sheet

Answer all tutorial questions in separate sheet every week and they must be stapled

Submission ofAssessment Tasks

See the Learning Guide.

Referencing The School’s referencing requirement is the HARVARD SYSTEM. More details on this method of referencing can be found in the SGSM E-Handbook under the heading “References, Quotations and Bibliographies”. Full details of referencing systems can also be found at: http://library.uws.edu.au/citing.phtml. A full range of resources for searching and citing references is available at: http://library.uws.edu.au/training.phtml .

Resubmission Students must submit the tutorial answers (if asked by the tutor) during the beginning of the tutorial

Late Submission

Late submission of tutorial answer will not be accepted. In case of sickness or other valid reason please contact your lecturer

Extension of Due Date for Submission of Assessment Task

Special Consideration for one assessment task

No extension will be give unless sickness or other valid reason. In such cases please contact your lecturer

Where special consideration is sought for circumstances involving more than three consecutive days or more than five days within a teaching period, students should complete a Special Consideration Application , available from the UWS website or the Student Centre.

An application for Special Consideration does not automatically mean that it will be granted.

Special Consideration

For special consideration for part or the whole of the teaching session, the application should be submitted to the Unit Coordinator as soon as the student is aware that he/she has extenuating circumstances that will affect

Unit Name: Introduction to Economic Methods, Unit Number: 200052, Teaching Session: Sem1, 2011. Page 4 of 10

for more than one assessment task in a session.

studies for the session. Application for Special Consideration are available on UWS Website

Return of Assessment Material

The tutor will return the mark home work as soon as they arel marked

Section D: Assignment Cover Sheet (see the Learning Guide)

Unit Name: Introduction to Economic Methods, Unit Number: 200052, Teaching Session: Sem1, 2011. Page 5 of 10

Section E: Important Information, Policies and Procedures for Students

This information is to be read and applied in conjunction with each unit outline of your course.

The “Current Students” page of the UWS web site http://www.uws.edu.au/students contains many important links, including:

Student Administration http://www.uws.edu.au/students/stuadmin: This site contains much of the information necessary forthe administration of your course throughout your study at UWS;

Student Support Services http://www.uws.edu.au/students/ods: This site is a useful resource for students and a hub for coordinating developments to improve your university experience.

e-learning http://www.uws.edu.au/students/onlinesupport: This is your entry to all aspect of e-learning at UWS

Students with a disability should visit: http://www.uws.edu.au/students/counselling_disability

Course and unit rules http://www.uws.edu.au/students/stuadmin/enrolments/enrolmentrequirements: This site provides information on pre-requisites, co-requisites and other matters concerning how your course is structured.

Policies http://www.uws.edu.au/policies/a-z: This site includes the full details of policies that apply to you as aUWS student.

Important Policies Affecting Students Assessment Policy Examinations Policy Special Consideration Policy Review of Grade Policy Assessment Practice – Fundamental Code Misconduct – Student Academic Misconduct Policy (see extract of the policy below under the heading "What is Academic

Misconduct?") Misconduct – Student Non-academic Misconduct Policy Enrolment Policy (includes a section on the UWS Student Email Account)

What is Academic Misconduct?Academic Misconduct may involve one or more of the following:

PlagiarismPlagiarism involves submitting or presenting work in a unit as if it were the student's own work done expressly for that particular unit when, in fact, it was not. Most commonly, plagiarism exists when:

a. the work submitted or presented was done, in whole or in part, by an individual other than the one submitting or presenting the work;b. parts of the work are taken from another source without reference to the original author; or

c. the whole work, such as an essay, is copied from another source such as a website or another student's essay.

Acts of plagiarism may occur deliberately or inadvertentlya. Inadvertent plagiarism occurs through inappropriate application or use of material without reference to the original

source or author. In these instances, it should be clear that the student did not have the intention to deceive. The University views inadvertent plagiarism as an opportunity to educate students about the appropriate academic conventions in their field of study.

b. Deliberate plagiarism occurs when a student, using material from another source and presenting it as his or her own, has the intention to deceive. The University views a deliberate act of plagiarism as a serious breach of academic standards of behaviour for which severe penalties will be imposed.

CollusionCollusion includes inciting, assisting, facilitating, concealing or being involved in plagiarism, cheating or other academic misconduct with others.

CheatingCheating includes, but is not limited to:

a. dishonest or attempted dishonest conduct during an examination, such as speaking to other candidates or otherwise communicating with them;

b. bringing into the examination room any textbook, notebook, memorandum, other written material or mechanical or electronic device (including mobile phones), or any other item, not authorised by the examiner;

c. writing an examination or part of it, or consulting any person or materials outside the confines of the examination room, without permission to do so;

d. leaving answer papers exposed to view, or persistent attempts to read other students' examination papers; or e. cheating in take-home examinations, which includes, but is not limited to:

Unit Name: Introduction to Economic Methods, Unit Number: 200052, Teaching Session: Sem1, 2011. Page 6 of 10

(i) making available notes, papers or answers in connection with the examination (in whatever form) to others without the permission of the relevant lecturer;

(ii) receiving answers, notes or papers in connection with the examination (in whatever form) from another student, or another source, without the permission of the relevant lecturer; and

(iii) unauthorised collaboration with another person or student in the formulation of an assessable component of work. For the full definition of academic misconduct and the consequences of such behaviour, students are advised to readthe Misconduct – Student Academic Misconduct Policy in its entirety, refer to: http://policies.uws.edu.au/view.current.php?id=00051

Section F: Additional Information

Program and Readings Schedule

Week Week beginning

Topic Indicative Reading

1 28 FebruaryIntroduction (Summation, Equations and Graphs)

Read Unit outline & Learning Guide Explore vUWS and read lecture notes and download the tutorial questions

2 7 MarchFinancial Mathematics

Read lecture notes and answer thetutorial questions by yourself

3 14 MarchLimits

Read lecture notes and answer the tutorial questions by yourself

4 21 MarchDifferentiation

Read lecture notes and answer the tutorial questions by yourself

5 28 MarchApplications of differential calculus

Read lecture notes and answer the tutorial questions by yourself

6 4 April Introduction to Statistics (Measure of central tendency, variance and shapes)

See the practice mid-term questions invUWS and solve by yourself

7 11 April Mid-term Examination Will be held in Lectures

8 18 April INTER SESSION BREAK

9 25 AprilNo lecture or tutorial this week

Read chapters 1, 2 and 3 from Statistics textbook.

10 2 MayProbability

Read chapter 4 from textbookand try to solve the tutorial questions

11 9 May Random variables and discrete distributions

Read chapter 5 from textbookand try to solve the tutorial questions

12 16 May Normal distribution, confidence interval and determination of sample size

Read chapter 6 from textbook and try to solve the tutorial questions

13 23 MayHypothesis testing

Read chapter 7, 8 and 9 from textbook and try to solve the tutorial questions

14 30 MayRegression Analysis

Read chapter 10 and 12 from textbookand try to solve the tutorial questions

15 6 June STUVAC

The lectures in each session will be accompanied by tutorial exercises that reinforce the actual applications of techniques. They will be theoretical and practical in nature and will be centered on the use of the scientific calculator.

Additional References

ReferencesPurchase of further references is not compulsory. However, students are advised that other than the prescribed text, lectures will frequently be augmented with additional references.

Indicative List :

Bradlet, T. (2008) Essential Mathematics for Economics and Business, 3rd Edition, John Wiley &

Unit Name: Introduction to Economic Methods, Unit Number: 200052, Teaching Session: Sem1, 2011. Page 7 of 10

Sons, Ltd.Bradfield, J., and Turner, R. (2005), Mathematical Economics, 2nd ed. Mason, OH: South-Western Thomson Learning.Gujarati Damodar N. (2006) Essentials of Econometrics. 3rd ed. Boston, [MA]: Irwin/McGraw-HillBernstein, S and Bernstein, R, (1999) Schaum's Outline of Elements of Statistics I, McGraw Hill.Bernstein, S and Bernstein, R, (2000) Schaum's Outline of Elements of Statistics II, McGraw Hill.Edward T. Dowling, (2001) Schaum's Introduction to Mathematical Economics, 3rd edition, ISBN 007135896X, 2002, McGraw Hill.Jacques, I. (2009) Mathematics for Economics and Business, 6th Edition, Prentice Hall.Knox David M. (1999) Mathematics of Finance, McGraw-HillNewbold, P. Carlson, W. L. and Thorne, B. (2006) Statistics for Business and Economics, 6th Edition, Prentice Hall.Shannon, John (1995) Mathematics for Business, Economics and Finance, Wiley.Salvatore-Reagle and Derrick Regel, (2002) Schaum's Outline of Statistics & Econometrics, 2nd

edition, ISBN, 0071348522,2002. McGraw Hill.Edward T. Dowling, (2001) Schaum's Introduction to Mathematical Economics, 3rd edition, ISBN 007135896X, 2002, McGraw Hill.Turkington, D. A. (2007) Mathematical Tools for Economics, Blackwell Publishing

Additional Administration Information

Mobile Phones

Students who conduct conversations or use mobile telephones during class represent a serious distraction for both the lecturer and other students and these actions will not be tolerated. If you need to have your mobile phone on for personal or work reasons please notify your lecturer before class.

Taping of lecturesTaping of lectures without the permission of your lecturer is against university policy. If you wish to tape lectures for study purposes, please seek your lecturer’s permission first.

Enrolment Changes

If you do not formally withdraw from a unit on or before the census date you will incur a debt for the unpaid tuition fee. That debt cannot be transferred or deferred to another semester.

You need to enrol and withdraw from units online via the My Student Records (MySR) site; https://myuws.uws.edu.au/mysite. Verbal notification will not be accepted. Please notify your unit coordinator if adding/removing a unit.

All withdrawals from units must be done online (https://myuws.uws.edu.au/mysite) before the relevant quarter’s Census Date.

Important Notes:

UWS Library E-Resources E-Reference Collections Blackwell Reference Online Dictionary of finance and investment termsEncyclopedia of business and financeOxford Reference Online

E-Book Collections NetLibrary Informit e-Library (Australian) MyiLibrarySpringerLink

E-Resources Business Source Complete –business resources for undergraduate/postgraduate use, with extensive archive of scholarly articles. Access to company reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses and more.

Others: ABI/Inform Global – comprehensive business database.

Unit Name: Introduction to Economic Methods, Unit Number: 200052, Teaching Session: Sem1, 2011. Page 8 of 10

Factiva –full text news, business and company information from major Australian and international news sources. ***See also E Resources page for Economics and Finance at:http://library.uws.edu.au/subjectGuides.php?sid=11

Unit Name: Introduction to Economic Methods, Unit Number: 200052, Teaching Session: Sem1, 2011. Page 9 of 10