Economics (ECON) 247
Microeconomics (Revision 10)
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Area of Study: Social Science
Faculty: Faculty of Business
ECON 247 has a Challenge for Credit option.
Télé-université du Québec equivalency: ECO 1300.
Welcome to Economics 247: Microeconomics, a three-credit, junior-level course in introductory economics at Athabasca University. This course introduces you to microeconomics—the area of economics that deals with the behaviour of specific economic units (households and firms). Microeconomics focuses on the operation of the economy at the level of the units in which basic choices are made in the face of scarcity; therefore, it is primarily concerned with markets and prices.
The course as a whole is designed to allow you to gain the knowledge and skills you will need to accomplish the following objectives:
- Describe how certain economic principles are derived.
- Explain specific economic principles, and give examples of their application.
- Select an appropriate principle and, given the relevant facts, apply it to derive a solution for an economic problem.
- Unit 1: The Nature and Method of Economics
- Unit 2: The Market Forces of Demand and Supply—The Basics
- Unit 3: The Elasticity of Demand and Supply
- Unit 4: Markets and Economic Welfare
- Unit 5: The Economics of the Public Sector
- Unit 6: The Costs of Production
- Unit 7: Firms in Competitive Markets
- Unit 8: Monopoly
- Unit 9: Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly
- Unit 10: The Markets for the Factors of Production
To receive credit for ECON 247, you must receive a grade of D (50 percent) or better on the final examination, and achieve an overall grade of at least D (50 percent) for the entire course. Your final grade is determined by a weighted average of the grades you receive on the activities listed below. The weightings for each of these activities are as follows:
|Assessment Activity||Credit Weight||When to Complete|
|Quizzes (10 @ 3% each)||30% of final grade||After each unit|
|Assignment 1||10% of final grade||After Unit 5|
|Midterm Examination||20% of final grade||After Unit 5|
|Assignment 2||10% of final grade||After Unit 10|
|Final Examination||30% of final grade||After Unit 10|
|Total||100% of final grade|
The midterm and final examinations for this course must be taken online with an AU-approved exam invigilator at an approved invigilation centre. It is your responsibility to ensure your chosen invigilation centre can accommodate online exams. For a list of invigilators who can accommodate online exams, visit the Exam Invigilation Network.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.
Mankiw, N. G., Kneebone, R. D., & McKenzie, K. J. (2017). Principles of microeconomics (7th Cdn. ed.). Toronto: Nelson Education Ltd. ISBN: 978176591977
A print version of the eText may be available for purchase from the publisher through a direct-to-student link provided on the course website; you can also acquire the textbook on your own if you wish.
All other learning resources will be available online.
Challenge for Credit Overview
The Challenge for Credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about Challenge for Credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Paper Exam (4 hours)
Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Course Registration Form
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.
Opened in Revision 10, June 30, 2017.
View previous syllabus