Introduction to Economic Analysis - Fall 2012

Want to know what you are getting into?  These three sections below list student responses to their class finished in Fall 2012.

1. Section 1:  Students were asked to write a review of this class for you.  These are all of the responses unedited and uncorrected.
   
2. Section 2:  Students were asked to comment ont he course and their experience in taking it
3. Section 3:  Some graphs of their response to a variety of questions about testing and ttheir use of time.
   

Student reviews in their own words:

• This web based course is very thorough and requires special attention to detail when covering all topics. Do not underestimate any questions that could be asked in quizzes because chances are that question will show up.

• I strongly recommend taking this course.  You must be willing to put forth the time and effort required to read each chapter and the slides.  This is the only way that you will be able to do well in the course.  If you do this you will definitely have a better understanding of economics and you will truly learn something new with every module, and will most likely receive an A.  Whats better than that?

• Hello prospective students and/or advisor,

  This course wil not babysit you. it's your duty to stay up to date and continually make progress during the semester. It goes quickly so be sure to stay on top of things or you'll come ot the end of the semester realize you have three modules and a paper to get done in a week (not an easy feat by any means). I was forwarned before taking the class and as a result was able to finish all 15 modules and submit the final paper before the class was technically over and all items due. Based on the looks of things it looks like not everyone is in the same boat.

  My three pieces of advise for completing this class sucessfully would have to be:

  1: stay on track, you're only hurting yourself by procrastinating

  2: be sure to study the lecture notes and powerpoints before attempting the quizzes. The book proves useful at times but they're the keys to doing well on the quizes.

  3: ask questions if you don't understand something! Don't just ignore the difficult concepts because chances are likely the next module you take will work off those same concepts as a starting point and build upon them from there.

• Very good class, just make sure you don't get too far behind and stay self-disciplined enough to make yourself learn the material.

• I am an engineering student and only signed up for this course because it is necessary for me in order to complete my degree. At first I took this course very lightly, since I have been focusing on my other classes more. It wasn't until the second essay assignment where we applied the knowledge learned in this course to analyze the U.S. and Ohio economies on our own. This sparked a great interest in economics for me, and I now regret not taking the time to properly learn the material. This is a great course and should apply to any college student. Even if this does not help you with your career, it will help to just understand some of the important topics, debates, and issues occurring in the world around us.

• I felt this course was well organized and had an easy format.  I was worried sighing up for the class because it was my first online course, but it was not hard to learn how the class operated.  The material was harder than I anticipated but not impossible.  If you studied the prober amount of time in the proper way then it was fine.  I felt the biggest challenge in the course is not falling behind and forcing you to take the time to do the class.  It was a online class and there are a lot of distractions that can pull you away from the class.  Overall I am happy with the class and the amount of information that I have learned.

• The Introduction to Economic Analysis course is a great way to further your knowledge of the way the economy works in the United States and how it affects the world economy.  Being an online class it makes taking the course much easier to manage on your time.  I took this course while on a co-operative work assignment and it was a great chance to be able to take a class in the off time of working.  On the note of the class being online, it does take more responsibility and focus than a normal class at the university since you are completely responsible for presenting the information to yourself, as opposed to a professor presenting the class that you attend.  Overall this class is a great way to further knowledge of economics, and to complete an additional class on your time.

• If you think that you are taking this course as just an easy A class, I would rethink taking it. This course most definitely takes a few hours each week to keep up with. It is a rewarding class to learn though. The concepts in it are very helpful in understanding basic business decisions. If you understand you need to do a little work, then I highly recommend taking this class. Also, be sure to use all the resources available to you.

• I think the course was organized very well, but was just not for me. If economics was my major I think it would have came easier for me, but alot of the concepts were harder to grasp and I think if I were in a classroom setting and all this information was taught to me instead of me teaching myself basically, it would have been more beneficial and I would have learned alot more. There is nothing wrong with the course, it just was not my cup of tea. The professor was always on time (within his 48 hour response time) and Ben, the TA was extremely helpful with tutoring for this subject.

• Read everything in the module. I thought reading the textbook would be enough but reading everything helps when completing the quizzes.

  Do not fall behind. It is very hard to catch up right before a writing assingment is due.

  Lastly, use office hours if you need extra help. I found this very helpful. Good luck!

• I thought this course was very effective.  I feel as if I learned a lot and I really enjoyed the web-based verison of this course.  Dr. Myers taught the class in a very organized fasion.  He provided a syllabus with a very clear layout of the entire course, providing what module each chapter would be taught and if it was considered microeconomics or macroeconomics.  He also provided a calendar in which explained which module should be completed for which week so that students could be aware of where they needed to be with the course to stay on track. 

  For each module, Dr. Myers provided an audio clip of him explaining the module and the topics that would be covered. He also provided a powerpoint with the notes for each chapter, worksheets and other files pertaining to the information.  I also bought the book pertaining to the course and used this to learn the material.  The quizzes pertained to the information that was covered in the powerpoint and the book very well, so these materials were very good study sources.

   Overall, I would rate this course with an A+.  This course did not take too much time, it took just the perfect amount of time.  I really enjoyed being able to work at my own pace and use the materials provided and my book to learn the material.  It was definitely a learning experience to not have the face to face interaction with the teacher, but it taught me to be independent as a student and learn to use my own resources to answer some of my own questions.  I really enjoyed this course and would suggest it to any student. 

• Overall, this course is very well structured and laid out to be accessable to students who do not have much evperience in web-based courses. PAcing yourself for this class and setting up a schedule on when you want to have modules completed is key to staying on top of things in this class. If you fall behind in this classes recommended pacing you really have to work hard to catch back up again. Between the textbook and online material supplied by the professor, there are plenty of learning tools at your disposal. This course requires you to do work and learn the material well so, don't sign up for this class if you are expecting to put in no effort and still get an easy A.

• What I most liked about this course is the time flexibility.

• To those who are able to schedule study time weekly and manage your time weekly for the year, I say you are ready not only for this course but others. If you're not, I suggest you feel the presence of the professor in real life so you understand how real the course is and how real the grades are as a result of slacking. For this course of economics, I found all the material given by the professor to be helpful. You get presentations, leturce notes, and questions to answer on your own time.

  However, the lonliness of never meeting the students may get to you. This course is packed full of info, but the lack of socialilzing that goes on in real life may be the biggest bore for you. For this, I suggest meeting the professor or students in real life if it bothers you. Nonetheless, this cours does teach micro and macro economics in one sesmester and is packed with info. So much so that you should sing out of the book to study. But really, if online courses are for you, then have at it. It's not easy, it can be lonely, but you can do well.

• This course was not exactly what I had originally expected it to be. This class is required for me to graduate, and I purposely scheduled to take it while I was on co-op. I had expected to essentially blow the class off except for 15 minutes a week and still be able to pull off an easy A. Well, after the first quiz of the first module, I realized that my expectations were very wrong. I had to dedicate just as much, if not MORE time to this class than any other course I've taken, whether it was online or not. Once I got my priorities into check and began dedicated the time necessary to succeed, I began to learn more about economics. This class can be intense at times, and several modules/chapters present a lot of different concepts at once. With that being said, I believe that I learned a ton from this course. Not only about supply and demand, but about concepts like interest rates, insurance, taxes, and other things that will help me make financial decisions in the future. I would rate this course as excellent in terms of fitting a lot of information into a shorter amount of time/modules, which is good for people that only have nights/weekends to give to a class. Once I mastered my person time management, I found this class was successful. Make sure you have enough time to give to a class, because even though it is an online course, it is just as much work than you would have to give if you took it in person.

  I wouldn't put the class off or fall behind, because once you fall behind it can be very difficult to get back on track. Stay on pace with the course and you should be successful.

• My review would be a prospective student. If you take an economic class, make sure that you understand the economic concepts before you go to the next chapter because every piece of information depends on the previous information. This course requires a lot of effort, so make sure you study regularly and not get behind becuase it is really hard to catch up once you get behind. The materials themselves are not complicated, but it is quite challenging. The help for this course is great. You will and understand more if you seek help. So get the advantage of that. Good luck!

• This web-based course focuses on microeconomics and macroeconomics. Most of the modules pertain to micro but the last part is macro. You will have quizzes and two papers. MAKE SURE TO NOT FALL BEHIND!!! I fell behind by only one module in the beginning and I felt like I played catch up the whole time and plus life happens which amplified that feeling. Since so many students take the course, the professor has to advance all of them at different modules. Therefore, you won't always be advanced instantly, and that could affect your module schedule.

• This course is no brainer if you are undecided on what Econ class to take. everything is well prepared, neat, easy to understand. you just have to make sure you don't fall behind schedule and then you be crammed with moduels you need to finish before the deadline. intresting class and you get to learn a lot! 

• I enjoyed this class a lot more than I would've probably enjoyed another economics course. This is because of the online nature of the course, as long as you can manage your time properly you will enjoy not having to go to a classroom to complete this course. I believe all of the resources given are sufficient to help you do well and even though this isn't a face to face learning class, I think that it was easier to learn with all the information given for everone to see.

• I believe this course was overall a quality course that I would recommend for other students. It is a very basic class that does not require a lot of attention and can be easily completed in a student's own time instead of spending 2 and a half hours in class every week plus homework. A very manageable online classs that students can use to learn the basics of economics.

• The course was overall really informative. I learnt a lot of things about micro economics and macro economics. I know much about how the world works than earlier.

•  I recommend this course especially to students who have a tough course load such as engineering students. This course allows you to complete at your own pace, just have to keep on track with the course. It's nice to spend a few hours once a week to complete a module and if you have time can complete two. Overall, I say it's a good course and if you like web base courses you'll love this course because it is well set-up and organized.

• Dear student,

  This course is set up very well. You must be focused and not procratinate in order to do well in the class. The professor is very nice and he can help you with whatever it is that you need. If you are a good self teacher you will be good in this class. Just stay on task and it will go well

• If you would like to take a striaght foward, online course this would be a good class for you. 

• If you are required to take Intro to Econ Analysis take this course.  I sat through one of my friends normal lecture course of this and it was dry and boring.  It amounted to wasting 5 hours of your life a week listening to someone drone in a monotone about economics.

  Being able to sit on a comfortable couch with my textbook and learn when and where I wanted to makes for a much better experience than sitting in a classroom.  Also, the material exactly (I mean exactly) follows the text.  There are no surprises. (I hate surprises, especially on exams)

  This course amounts to learning and then testing. Minimal annoyances.

• This course is very well organized.  If you follow the schedule given to you at the beginning of the course, you will be successful.  It is very nice that you can buy the older edition of the textbook, its nice that a teacher acknowledges that college students are not made of money.  Overall there is plenty of info between the book and powerpoint presentations made by the professor, and it makes modules easy.

• This course was very well organized for an online course. I learned a lot about economics and I was much more interested in the subject than when I began. It was actually not what I had expected when I started. The quizes are very reasonable as long as you work through the powerpoint slides in each module. I would deffinitely recommend this course to somebody with any interest in economics.

• Thank you Dr. Myers for helping me during the semester.

• In this course, time management is by far the most important thing.  Without scheduled classroom visits, the course moves at the pace you choose it to move at.  Doing 1 module each week is extremely important.  I feel 1 week behind about halfway through and didn't catch up until the end (and it was stressful to try and manage with other classes).  As long as you take good notes, you can easily achieve an 8 or 9 on the quizzes.  However to achieve a 10 you need to be very knowledgable as some of the questions require much more analysis than others. There are questions that refer specifically to a historical data figure, so writing down as much as possible will ensure that you don't have to guess on anything.

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• I think being an online class it forced me to read and master the material. This helped me truly understand concepts.
• This was my first attempt at an online course, I thought it would be a nice way to knock out some mandatory credits with on co op. I feel that I was able to work full time, complete the modules on time, and still have leisure time. I will attribute this to the clear layout of the course and the fact that I was given adequate time to complete each module.
• I feel that lectures waste my time, so I was more comfortable in an online learning environment.
• Overall, this course was exactly what I thought it would be: a class with a high level of freedom that allows me to learn more about economics, work at my own pace, and still get all required credits for completing it.
• Time management. Students I met in real life about this course said they slacked off after the first essay. I don't know what happened to them after that, but you likely know how well (or bad) they did for slacking off. Lesson: students should complete the mods on time to do their best.
• I felt like I put in more work than other classes but that may be from taking my first online course and being on co-op at the same time.
• I did think that some of the quizz questions are a little tricky, just because you get the answer wrong doesnt mean you didnt understand the concept.
• Overall, I liked this course. I really wish that I would have had more time in my schedule to spend on this class. My only real problem with this course was that if during the quiz I would come across a question where I was confused by wording or what the graph wanted me to look for that I would often end up having to guess what the question was asking me. I know I ended up missing easy point because of issues where I did not fully understand what the question was asking for. One thing that I believed really hurt me in this class was that my textbook that I ordered did not arrive for me till the start of the 5th week of classes. From that point on the class felt very rushed for me, since I was trying to play catch-up till about week 13 of the class, and I felt as though I was spending more time playing catch-up than actually taking the time to fully understand all the material.
• Each module felt like it took forever to read everything but when I think about it, it was probably the same time I would spend going to class three times a week and studying.
• I think for me personally, it would have been beneficial to take this course in a classroom setting.
• Great course for an Intro class.
• I know that Dr. Meyers warns in the beginning of the course that this course may be as much or even more work than an in person class, and I couldn't agree more. I came into this class thinking that I could blow it off and work on it for 15 minutes every Saturday and be fine, and I quickly realized that I spent more time on this online course than I think I would if I would have taken it in person. Thanks for the warning, it's definitely true!
• I feel the course did a good job testing the information from the chapters.
• While I spend more time in other course that I have taken, this had a larger time commitment than I expected.
• The Power points were helpful.
• The quizzes were generally fair but I didn't get a single 10. I feel like some of the questions were too tricky, and although you commented on this halfway through the semester and reminded us that it is a course on analysis, I still felt the same way about them.
• I think the course was set up well. It was very organized and easy to follow. All the opportunity was given in order to succeed. Also, you were open for help and questioning which was helpful.
• I enjoyed that it was online because could complete it at my pace since so busy with engineering courses.
• N/A
• Good class, glad to be graduating
• This was my first online course and I was really happy with it. I thought it was structured very well, I liked how it was self paced, and I was able to learn a lot being away from campus.
• Need to make some questions more easy.
• I really enjoyed taking this course, it taught a lot of things that I never knew before and have always wondered about
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I belive the quizzes were effective in testing the learning objectives of each module.
	Strongly Disagree		0	(0 %)
	Disagree		0	(0 %)
	Neutral		2	(6.9 %)
	Agree		21	(72.41 %)
	Strongly Agree		6	(20.69 %)
I believe the quizzes mostly tested recall or 'look-it-up' type of facts.
	Strongly Disagree		0	(0 %)
	Disagree		6	(20.69 %)
	Neutral		9	(31.03 %)
	Agree		9	(31.03 %)
	Strongly Agree		5	(17.24 %)
I believe the quizzes mostly tested basic concepts and simple applications.
	Strongly Disagree		1	(3.45 %)
	Disagree		3	(10.34 %)
	Neutral		6	(20.69 %)
	Agree		17	(58.62 %)
	Strongly Agree		2	(6.9 %)
I believe the quizzes mostly tested by using analytical or 'problem solving' questions.
	Strongly Disagree		0	(0 %)
	Disagree		5	(17.24 %)
	Neutral		8	(27.59 %)
	Agree		14	(48.28 %)
	Strongly Agree		2	(6.9 %)
I believe the quizzes had just the right amount of analytical or 'problem solving' questions.
	Strongly Disagree		1	(3.45 %)
	Disagree		1	(3.45 %)
	Neutral		7	(24.14 %)
	Agree		16	(55.17 %)
	Strongly Agree		4	(13.79 %)
Taken all together I believe that the testing in this class was fair.
	Strongly Disagree		0	(0 %)
	Disagree		1	(3.45 %)
	Neutral		6	(20.69 %)
	Agree		15	(51.72 %)
	Strongly Agree		7	(24.14 %)
Based on this type of mastery-level testing with multiple attempts tied to the learning objectives, I believe I learned as much as I could in a face-to-face class.
	Strongly Disagree		1	(3.45 %)
	Disagree		5	(17.24 %)
	Neutral		3	(10.34 %)
	Agree		13	(44.83 %)
	Strongly Agree		7	(24.14 %)

I liked my economics course.
	Strongly Disagree		1	(3.45 %)
	Disagree		1	(3.45 %)
	Neutral		13	(44.83 %)
	Agree		10	(34.48 %)
	Strongly Agree		4	(13.79 %)
Economics is an interesting subject.
	Strongly Disagree		0	(0 %)
	Disagree		6	(20.69 %)
	Neutral		5	(17.24 %)
	Agree		13	(44.83 %)
	Strongly Agree		5	(17.24 %)
I have become more interested in economics as a result of this course.
	Strongly Disagree		0	(0 %)
	Disagree		6	(20.69 %)
	Neutral		6	(20.69 %)
	Agree		11	(37.93 %)
	Strongly Agree		6	(20.69 %)
My economics course was a better use of my time than other things I could have done.
	Strongly Disagree		2	(6.9 %)
	Disagree		3	(10.34 %)
	Neutral		11	(37.93 %)
	Agree		9	(31.03 %)
	Strongly Agree		4	(13.79 %)
My economics class was a better learning experience than my other courses at UA.
	Strongly Disagree		2	(6.9 %)
	Disagree		6	(20.69 %)
	Neutral		14	(48.28 %)
	Agree		6	(20.69 %)
	Strongly Agree		1	(3.45 %)
My economics course was more work than my other courses at UA.
	Strongly Disagree		6	(20.69 %)
	Disagree		10	(34.48 %)
	Neutral		5	(17.24 %)
	Agree		5	(17.24 %)
	Strongly Agree		3	(10.34 %)