EC107-30 Economics 1
Introductory description
This module allows students to develop an understanding of fundamental and intermediate concepts in micro and macroeconomic analysis by equipping them with a range of appropriate analytical skills, including descriptive, graphical and mathematical methods. This allows students to develop the capacity to apply analytical techniques to real world problems.
Module aims
- To develop in students an understanding of fundamental and intermediate concepts in micro and macroeconomic analysis
- To equip students with a range of appropriate analytical skills, including descriptive, graphical and mathematical methods; and
- To develop the capacity to apply analytical techniques to real world problems and build economic models that enable students to better understand the world around us
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Typically, topics covered will include those such as:
Micro (term 1)
- The Capitalist Revolution
- Technology, Population and Growth
- Scarcity, Work and Choice
- Social Interactions
- Property and Power
- The Firm: Owners, managers and employees
- The Firm and its Customers
- Supply and Demand
- Markets, Efficiency and Public Policy
Macro (Term 2)
- Consumption, saving and investment.
- Aggregate demand, the multiplier and the IS curve
- The labour discipline model of equilibrium unemployment
- Wage setting, inflation and the Phillips Curve
- Social Preferences over inflation and unemployment, the central bank
- Monetary policy stabilisation: central bank responses to economic shocks
- Fiscal policy stabilisation
- Economic growth in historical and global perspective
- The Solow model of economic growth
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Subject Knowledge and Understanding:... demonstrate knowledge of economic behaviours, outcomes, trends, developments, phenomena, institutions and policies.
- Subject Knowledge and Understanding:...demonstrate an understanding of key concepts, principles, theories and models in Economics.
- Subject Specific/Professional Skills:...demonstrate the capacity for abstract reasoning and to simplify economic problems through the application of theoretical models.
- Subject Specific/Professional Skills:...demonstrate the capacity to interpret economic data and to use data to inform the selection and application of appropriate economic tools of analysis.
Indicative reading list
Please see Talis Aspire link for most up to date list.
View reading list on Talis Aspire
Subject specific skills
Students will have the opportunity to develop skills in:
Analytical thinking and communication
Analytical reasoning
Critical thinking
Strategic thinking
Problem-solving
Abstraction
Policy evaluation
Analysis of incentives
Analysis of optimisation
Transferable skills
Students will have the opportunity to develop:
Research skills
Numeracy and quantitative skills
IT skills
Written communication skills
Oral communication skills
Mathematical, statistical and data-based research skills
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 40 sessions of 1 hour (13%) |
| Seminars | 16 sessions of 1 hour (5%) |
| Private study | 244 hours (81%) |
| Total | 300 hours |
Private study description
Private study will be required in order to prepare for seminars/classes, to review lecture notes, to prepare for forthcoming assessments, tests, and exams, and to undertake wider reading around the subject.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Students can register for this module without taking any assessment.
Assessment group D5
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment 1: Problem set (group work) Micro | 5% | No | |
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Group work assignment |
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| Assessment 2: MCQ Test | 10% | No | |
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50 minute Multiple Choice Question class test held online |
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| Assessment 3: Problem set (group work) Macro | 5% | No | |
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Group work assignment |
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| Assessment 4: MCQ Test | 10% | No | |
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50 minute Multiple Choice Question class test held online |
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| in-person Examination | 70% | No | |
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A paper which examines the course content and ensures learning outcomes are achieved.
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Assessment group R4
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-person Examination - Resit | 100% | No | |
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A paper which examines the course content and ensures learning outcomes are achieved.
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Feedback on assessment
The Department of Economics is committed to providing high quality and timely feedback to students on their assessed work, to enable them to review and continuously improve their work. We are dedicated to ensuring feedback is returned to students within 20 University working days of their assessment deadline. Feedback for assignments is returned either on a standardised assessment feedback cover sheet which gives information both by tick boxes and by free comments or via free text comments on tabula, together with the annotated assignment. For tests and problem sets, students receive solutions as an important form of feedback and their marked assignment, with a breakdown of marks and comments by question and sub-question. Students are informed how to access their feedback, either by collecting from the Undergraduate Office or via tabula. Module leaders often provide generic feedback for the cohort outlining what was done well, less well, and what was expected on the assignment and any other common themes. This feedback also includes a cumulative distribution function with summary statistics so students can review their performance in relation to the cohort. This feedback is in addition to the individual-specific feedback on assessment performance.
Pre-requisites
This module is available as an optional module for all students outside the Economics Department (except for WBS students) who have achieved a Grade B or better in Mathematics at A-level, or the equivalent. It is a pre-requisite for EC204: Economics 2 and EC238/EC239.
Post-requisite modules
If you pass this module, you can take:
- EC201-30 Macroeconomics 2
- EC239-15 Economics 2: Macroeconomics
- EC204-30 Economics 2
- EC226-30 Econometrics 1
- EC208-15 Industrial Economics 1: Market Structure
- EC208-15 Industrial Economics 1: Market Structure
- EC221-15 Mathematical Economics 1B
- EC242-15 Environmental and Resource Economics
- EC205-15 Development Economics (Macroeconomics)
- EC238-15 Economics 2: Microeconomics
- EC220-15 Mathematical Economics 1A
- EC233-15 Development Economics (Microeconomics)
- EC202-30 Microeconomics 2
- EC203-30 Applied Econometrics
- EC230-15 Economics of Money & Banking
- EC241-15 Experimental Economics
- EC353-15 Industrial Economics 1: Market Structure for Finalists
- EC353-15 Industrial Economics 1: Market Structure for Finalists
- EC354-15 Development Economics (Macroeconomics) - For Finalists
- EC228-15 Political Economy: Theory and Applications
- EC243-15 Economic Growth: Causes and Consequences
- EC351-15 Development Economics (Microeconomics) for Finalists
- EC352-15 Economics of Money and Banking for Finalists
- EC236-15 Topics in Applied Economics (2b)
- EC236-15 Topics in Applied Economics (2b)
Courses
This module is Core for:
- Year 1 of UIPA-L1L8 Undergraduate Economic Studies and Global Sustainable Development
- Year 1 of UECA-LM1D Undergraduate Economics, Politics and International Studies
- Year 1 of UPHA-L1CA Undergraduate Economics, Psychology and Philosophy
- Year 1 of ULNA-R1L4 Undergraduate French and Economics (4-year)
- Year 1 of ULNA-R2L4 Undergraduate German and Economics (4-year)
- Year 1 of ULNA-R4L1 Undergraduate Hispanic Studies and Economics (4-year)
- Year 1 of ULNA-R3L4 Undergraduate Italian and Economics (4-year)
- Year 1 of UMAA-GL11 Undergraduate Mathematics and Economics
- Year 1 of UECA-GL12 Undergraduate Mathematics and Economics (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 1 of ULNA-R9L1 Undergraduate Modern Languages and Economics (4-year)
- Year 1 of UPHA-V7ML Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics