Overview
This unit introduces basic principles of microeconomic and macroeconomic theory and the methods of economic analysis . You will examine the demand-supply model, market equilibrium, elasticity, and how the prices of goods and services, and the cost and revenue curves are determined. You will compare the key market structures: perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly and examine why government intervention is necessary in order to correct market failure and achieve allocative and productive efficiency. You will be introduced to the key macroeconomic indicators and their role in managing the economy. You will be given the opportunity to explore the dynamics of macroeconomic policies, and their effectiveness in achieving national economic objectives and dynamic efficiency to achieve long term economic growth.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2022
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from In Class
Spend more time on explaining graphs during lecture and review the understanding during tutorial.
Students find graphs difficult to interpret. Therefore considerable amount of time in relevant parts of the lectures and tutorials will be spent on graphical interpretations.
Feedback from Student Evaluation Survey
Assessment and resources have been well structured and greatly benefit a student's ability to comprehend what is asked of each task.
Structured Moodle resources and assessment with clear assignment criteria will be provided.
Feedback from Student Evaluation Survey
The zoom tutorials were engaging and informative and greatly assisted in my learning and development in this unit.
To discuss real-world examples applying the theory, engaging zoom tutorials and breakout sessions for students interactions in zoom teams were provided.
Feedback from Self Reflection
This unit has large number of AF & WF which is of concern to the Unit Coordinator.
This unit underwent a 'Full Review' in the 2nd Term 2021 by the HOC, due to high AF & WF rates. Suggestions were taken on board by the UC to revise the weekly content coverage and assessment task weighting for 2022. Following the unit review process, unit change proposal has been submitted in December 2021.
- Describe and illustrate basic economic principles as they relate to consumer and business decisions.
- Describe the firm's production decisions in a range of market structures.
- Demonstrate how government intervention may be beneficial in cases of market failure in order to achieve more desirable outcomes for the economy and the society.
- Explain macroeconomic goals and assess various macroeconomic policies to stabilise the economy.
This Core Unit meets the Bachelor of Business (Accounting) professional outcomes and standards as required by the external accrediting bodies.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 20% | ||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 50% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Textbooks
Essentials of Economics
5th edition (2022)
Authors: Hubbard, G.R., Garnett, A. M., Lewis, P., & O’Brien, A.
Pearson Education, Australia
Sydney Sydney , NSW , Australia
ISBN: ISBN 9780655702870
Binding: Paperback
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
j.ananda@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to Economics: Choices and Trade-Offs
Chapter
Hubbard et al. (2022) Ch. 1 & 2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Market Demand, Supply and Elasticity
Chapter
Hubbard et al. (2022) Ch. 3 & 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Technology, production, and costs
Chapter
Hubbard et al. (2022) Ch. 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Market structures and competition
Chapter
Hubbard et al. (2022) Ch. 7
Selected sections of Ch. 8 & 9
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Market failure and government intervention
Chapter
Hubbard et al. (2022) Ch. 11
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Introduction to Macroeconomics and Measuring GDP
Chapter
Hubbard et al. (2022) Ch. 13
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Unemployment and Inflation
Chapter
Hubbard et al. (2022) Ch. 14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Monetary Policy
Chapter
Hubbard et al. (2022) Ch. 17
Selected sections of Ch. 15 & 16
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Fiscal Policy
Chapter
Hubbard et al. (2022) Ch. 18
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
International finance and exchange rates
Chapter
Hubbard et al. (2022) Ch. 20
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
International Trade and Globalisation
Chapter
Hubbard et al. (2022) Ch.19
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Revision Week
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Online Quiz(zes)
Number of Quizzes = 4 (5 marks each = 20 marks)
Students must attempt all four (4) quizzes online (Moodle). These quizzes cover the topics from the first three weeks of study (Chapters 1 - 4 & 6 of the prescribed text).
The quizzes comprise multiple-choice questions and students are expected to complete these graded quizzes progressively and not in one go.
4
Week 5 Monday (4 Apr 2022) 11:45 pm AEST
Feedback is provided after the completion of the quiz.
No Assessment Criteria
- Describe and illustrate basic economic principles as they relate to consumer and business decisions.
- Describe the firm's production decisions in a range of market structures.
2 Written Assessment
Assessment 2 takes a short-answer format and requires responding to four questions focusing on the topics covered in Weeks 4-6 (Chapters 7-9 & 11 of the prescribed text).
The task involves theoretical questions, graphs, calculations, real-life applications of market structures, externalities, and the role of government.
It is recommended that students work on the questions progressively rather than attempt to complete them in one go.
It is important that you familiarise yourself with the University Plagiarism Policy
https://www.cqu.edu.au/student-life/services-and-facilities/referencing/what-is-plagiarism
Penalties apply for plagiarism including own plagiarism.
Penalties (5% of the Assessment marks per day) also apply for late submissions without an approved extension.
Re-attempt option
This assessment allows for a resubmitted attempt in certain circumstances. If you have achieved between 40–49% of the total marks for this assessment item, you may request the Unit Coordinator for this unit to allow you to make a
resubmission. You must make this request in writing via email within three calendar days of receiving your marks and feedback for this assessment.
The Unit Coordinator has the sole discretion for allowing a re-submission attempt. If the Unit Coordinator allows a resubmission attempt, the decision will be conveyed to you in writing via email to your student email address. The
notice will include instructions for you on:
- What has to be done by you
- When and how you must resubmit (no more than seven calendar days from the decision being emailed to you will be allowed).
Your resubmission will result in no more than 50% of the allowed marks for this assessment item being awarded in total. That is, if you are allowed a resubmission, you can achieve no more than 50% for this assessment item, regardless
of how well you perform in your resubmission.
No extensions will be allowed for your resubmission.
Week 8 Tuesday (3 May 2022) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 10 Tuesday (17 May 2022)
The assessment criteria include:
- Clarity of explanations,
- application of economic theory,
- analysis of the real-life scenario or policy,
- clarity of presentation,
- evidence of research and referencing.
More details of the task will be available on the Unit Moodle site.
- Describe and illustrate basic economic principles as they relate to consumer and business decisions.
- Describe the firm's production decisions in a range of market structures.
- Demonstrate how government intervention may be beneficial in cases of market failure in order to achieve more desirable outcomes for the economy and the society.
3 Written Assessment
This assessment task covers the macroeconomic section of the unit. It requires you to demonstrate both theoretical and applied knowledge relating to the macroeconomy. In this task, students will analyse contemporary macroeconomic
policy issues and write an extended short-answer response on the topics covered (approximately 2000-2500 words). The task may require some research effort to develop a quality response. Students are strongly encouraged to commence the task early, well before the deadline.
It is important that you familiarise yourself with the University Plagiarism Policy.
https://www.cqu.edu.au/student-life/services-and-facilities/referencing/what-is-plagiarism
Penalties apply for plagiarism including own plagiarism.
Penalties (5% of the Assessment marks per day) also apply for late submissions without an approved
extension.
Review/Exam Week Friday (10 June 2022) 11:45 pm AEST
Marks and feedback will be released after the grade certification.
Hurdle requirement: 30% of the marks allocated for the assessment.
The assessment criteria include:
- Clarity of explanations,
- application of economic theory,
- analysis of the real-life scenario or policy,
- clarity of presentation,
- evidence of research and referencing.
More details of the task will be available on the Unit Moodle site.
- Describe and illustrate basic economic principles as they relate to consumer and business decisions.
- Explain macroeconomic goals and assess various macroeconomic policies to stabilise the economy.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
