EBF 200: Introduction to Energy and Earth Science Economics

This syllabus is divided into several sections. You can read it sequentially by scrolling down the length of the document or by clicking on any of the links below to “jump” to a specific section. It is essential that you read the entire document as well as material covered in the Course Orientation. Together these serve as our course "contract."

• Course Instructor
• Course Overview
• Required Course Materials
• Assignments and Grading
• Course Schedule
• Course Policies

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Instructors

Farid Tayari, Ph.D., Energy Management and Policy, Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, Pennsylvania State University

E-mail: I will read and respond to Canvas e-mail and discussion forum posts at least once a day during the work week (Mon - Fri), and during most weekends.

NOTE: Please use Canvas for all e-mail communications with course faculty (see the Canvas Inbox tab). You will receive the quickest response if you send your e-mail to "All in Teachers" in Canvas.

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Course Overview

EBF 200 (GS): Introduction to Energy and Earth Sciences Economics (3)—Resource use decisions and their effect on local, national, and global development.
Prerequisites: None

This class is an introductory course in microeconomics with a focus on the applications of economics to energy and environmental markets. In the course, we introduce the economic method of analysis to the environmental and resource questions facing society. It introduces a "paradigm"—a way of thinking—that has four elements:

1. What advantages can be gained by using market forces?
2. What are the drawbacks of the market (“market failures") that may lead to a rationale for government intervention?
3. What are the drawbacks of using government intervention ("government failure")?
4. How do you apply these three concepts to real-world situations?

As a result of this class, students are expected to be able to synthesize information to better appreciate the complexity of modern resource policy. In addition, they are expected to be in a position to make more informed judgments on the nature and seriousness of these issues.

EBF 200 will be conducted entirely on the World Wide Web. There will be no set class meeting times, but you will be required to complete weekly assignments. The content of this course is divided into 12 lessons. Each lesson will be completed in approximately 1 week. Lesson learning activities take the form of discussions and quizzes.

On average, most students spend seven to nine hours per week working on the course. Your workload may be more or less depending on your prior experience with computing and the Web in general and with economics in particular.

I have worked hard to make this the most effective and convenient educational experience possible. The Internet is still a novel learning environment, but, in one sense, it is no different than a traditional college class: how much and how well you learn is ultimately up to you. You will succeed if you are diligent about keeping up with the class schedule and if you take advantage of opportunities to communicate with me, as well as with your fellow students.

Specific learning objectives for each lesson and project are detailed within each lesson. The class schedule is published under the Calendar tab in Canvas (the course management system used for this course).

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Required Course Materials

Textbook: Microeconomics: Private and Public Choice, 14th Edition, by Gwartney, Stroup, Sobel and MacPherson.
12th or 13th Edition of the book can also be used.

You will find that the textbook can be ordered as a physical book, or can be purchased with online access. Online access is a cheaper option and is fine for this course if you do not mind reading the text on your computer.

Among other things, that web page allows you to rent the textbook, or to get an on-line, digital version. Renting the textbook in digital format is an inexpensive way to access the materials if you do not mind reading it on your computer.

If you look on the websites of some on-line booksellers (or used goods sites) you may find used copies of this textbook for less money.

You will, of course, find many other economics education resources on-line, so if you have a pressing question or are having difficulty with a topic and I cannot be reached in short order, you may find that looking at some of these other resources may give you a helpful, different perspective from the one I am presenting.

Lesson material and any additional reading assignments for this course are presented online through this Course Web site and in Canvas. In order to access all materials, you need to have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password (used to access the online course resources). If you have any questions about obtaining or activating your Penn State Access Account, please contact the Outreach HelpDesk [3].

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Assignments

There are 12 lessons in this course. We can consider the course to be divided into four units, with three lessons in each unit (also see Course Schedule below). There will be 10 quizzes, 10 homework, one mid-term, and one final exam. Your grade in EBF 200 will be based on the total number of points you accumulate. We consider 100 points to be a perfect score. You earn points this way:

• Weekly Quizzes (16 points)
  There will be 10 multiple choice quizzes in this course. Each quiz is worth 2 points. We will consider the 8 highest scores (out of the 8) and add them together, so you can get up to 16 points from quizzes. You can choose to skip 2 of the quizzes if you wish, but I suggest taking all of them, just in case you catch the flu or run into technical difficulties along the way and want to use that week for your dropped grade.
  
  The quizzes will be open for seven days every week of a unit: 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning -- 11:55 p.m. on Sunday night.

• Weekly Homeworks (32 points)
  There will be 10 homeworks in the form of essay and problem solving questions. We will consider the 8 highest scores (out of the 8) and add them together. Each homework is worth 4 points so there will be total of 32 points from homeworks.

The homeworks also will be open for seven days every week of a unit: 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning -- 11:55 p.m. on Sunday night.

• Mid-term Examination (22 points)
  There will be a mid-term exam which will be worth 22 points. The mid-terms will cover material from lessons 1-6.

• Comprehensive Final Exam (30 points)
  The final exam will be worth 30 points. The final exam is cumulative, meaning that it covers the entire course. The best way to do well on this exam is to stay current with all the material, and to carefully review the feedback I provide in the weekly unit quizzes, homeworks, and mid-terms. The final exam will be similar to the quizzes and homeworks, but will not repeat exactly the same questions.
• Discussion Forum Participation(2 extra points) One of the features of this course is the existence of a discussion forum. Use the course Discussion Forums to get to know one another, work together, and learn from one another. It’s a special opportunity. You’ll learn more, enjoy the course more, and probably make a better grade. The designated Discussion Forums provide a place where you can work together to surface problems and questions and give me the chance to redirect or provide additional information if needed. You are welcome to write your questions and topics or add your thoughts and answers to the questions or topics of other students. You will be graded at the end of the semester on the quantity and quality of your contributions (posting and also replying) to the Discussion Forum. Since I expect there to be around 50 students registered in this section of the course, I am expecting some spirited discussion. I strongly recommend you to read the forums regularly and I would like the forum to be a place where we all exchange ideas about the interaction between the course material and the real world. This might be the place where you do the most "learning" in this course.

These elements will be weighted as a percentage of your course grade as follows:

Assignment and Weight

ASSIGNMENT	WEIGHT
Weekly quizzes (8 @ 2% each) Multiple choice questions. Drop the lowest two grades	16%
Weekly Homework (8 @ 4% each) Essay and problem solving questions. Drop the lowest two grades.	32%
Discussion forum participation	2% (extra)
Mid-term examination	22%
Comprehensive Final Exam	30%

Grades for each assignment will be posted in the Canvas gradebook.

Letter grades will be based on the following percentages:

Letter Grade and Total Percentage

GRADE	PERCENT
A	93–100%
A-	90–92.9%
B+	87–89.9%
B	83–86.9%
B-	80–82.9%
C+	77–79.9%
C	70–76.9%
D	60–69.9%
F	<60%
X	Unsatisfactory (student did not participate)

Percentages refer to the proportion of all possible points earned by the student.

NOTE: Grades will not be curved. Put your best effort into all of the assignments as you complete them.

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Course Policies