Course ePortfolio

Principles of Microeconomics

This collection contains the California Open Educational Resources Council (CA OER) list of peer-reviewed textbooks for Principles of Microeconomics (common course-id ECON 201), one of the top 50 college courses identified for inclusion in the California Open Online Library for Education (COOLforEd).

CID Number: ECON 201

General Course Description: ECON 201

This is an introductory course focusing on choices of individual economic decision-makers. Topics include scarcity, specialization and trade, market equilibrium, elasticity, production and cost theory, market structures, factor markets, and market failure.

Minimum Units: 3.0

Date Added to MERLOT:: May 15, 2014
Created by:: California Open Education Resource Council CA OER
License:

Prerequisites

Prerequisite(s): Elementary Algebra

Corequisite(s): None

Advisories/Recommendations: Intermediate Algebra

Pedagogical Approach & Learning Outcomes

Pedagogical Approach

None

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

Utilize the concept of scarcity to explain economic trade-offs, opportunity costs, and rational behavior.
Calculate and interpret measures of elasticity.
Demonstrate how markets function and what happens in the presence of market failures.
Analyze production and costs of the firm.
Demonstrate how firms attempt to optimize their objectives in response to price signals under a variety of market structures in the short and long-run.

Assessment & Other Information

Assessment

Assessed written work is recommended for this course and may include any of the following (colleges are encouraged to work with local CSU and UC departments to determine writing requirements):

Current event analysis
Term papers
Essay questions on exams
Exams and Quizzes containing one or more:
Multiple Choice questions
Short answers
Problem Solving
True/False
Essays
Homework Problem Sets
Presentations
Debates and class discussion
Group projects
Experiments

Other Information

None

Course Resources

Principles of Microeconomics 2.0 (Open (Access) Textbook)

NOTE: This 2.0 version has a cost to students of either $24 or $49. Version 1.0 is available for free at:... More

NOTE: This 2.0 version has a cost to students of either $24 or $49. Version 1.0 is available for free at: https://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=440663 Authors Rittenberg and Tregarthen have written both a microeconomics and macroeconomics textbook and use integrating themes to present economics so that students realize that it is a unified discipline and not an array of seemingly unrelated topics. The integrating theme for microeconomics is the marginal decision rule, a simple approach to choices that maximize the value of some objective. Following its presentation in an early microeconomics chapter, the marginal decision rule becomes an integrating device throughout the discussion of microeconomics. Each chapter features pedagogical devices to aid student mastery: Heads Up sections clarify potentially confusing aspects of each concept. You Try It sections encourage students to walk through scenarios related to concepts and ideas. Case In Point sections feature real-world applications to ground the concepts in reality. Faculty e-Portfolio of Matthew Holian: http://contentbuilder.merlot.org/toolkit/users/COOLforEd/economics_holian_oer_eportfolio
Modern Microeconomics (Open (Access) Textbook)

Bookboon’s free text authored by Sanjay Rode provides an explanation of modern microeconomic theories with simple... More

Bookboon’s free text authored by Sanjay Rode provides an explanation of modern microeconomic theories with simple examples in 5 chapters. Consumer equilibrium, production function, game theory, information economics and social welfare are the major topics of this book. It features systematic analysis of consumer utility and behavior illustrating the decision making of the consumer. Each chapter features questions at the end and chapter 6 provides a bibliography for further exploration.
Microeconomics: Theory Through Applications (Open (Access) Textbook)

Russell and Andrew’s open textbook presents all the theory that is standard in Principles books. But by beginning with... More

Russell and Andrew’s open textbook presents all the theory that is standard in Principles books. But by beginning with applications, students get to learn why this theory is needed. The authors take the kind of material that other authors put in “applications boxes” and place it at the heart of their book. Each chapter is built around a particular business or policy application, such as minimum wages, the stock exchange, and auctions. The authors’ applications-first approach ensures that students will not see chapters with titles like “Cost Functions” or “Short-Run Fluctuations”. They introduce tools and ideas as and when they are needed. Each chapter is designed with two goals. First, the application upon which the chapter is built provides a “hook” that gets students’ attention. Second, the application is a suitable vehicle for teaching the principles of economics. Important tools appear over and over again, allowing students to learn from repetition and to see how one framework can be useful in many different contexts. These are collected separately in a “toolkit” that provides students with an easy reference and also gives them a condensed summary of economic principles for examination preparation.
Principles of Microeconomics 2e (Open (Access) Textbook)

The OpenStax College text authored by Taylor and Greenlaw covers the scope and sequence for a one-semester... More

The OpenStax College text authored by Taylor and Greenlaw covers the scope and sequence for a one-semester microeconomics course. The text also includes many current examples, including; the Keystone Pipeline, Occupy Wall Street, and debates over the minimum wage. The pedagogical choices, chapter arrangements, and learning objective fulfillment were developed and vetted with feedback from educators dedicated to the project. The outcome is a balanced approach to economics and to the theory and application of economics concepts. Learningpod has partnered with OpenStax College to offer free pods (question sets) for the Principles of Microeconomics textbook. You can answer questions, get explanations and track your results. You can also generate quick practice sets (Instapods) on any subject you're interested in. The Learningpod goal is to help our community build the largest library of free, online practice questions in the world and to help our community build the largest library of free, online practice questions in the world. Learn more at http://www.learningpod.com
Principles of Economics (Open (Access) Textbook)

This is a free, online textbook from Saylor Foundation. The authors teach economics as the study of choice by providing... More

This is a free, online textbook from Saylor Foundation. The authors teach economics as the study of choice by providing students with an accessible, straightforward overview of economics. This text combines the clarity and writing of Tregarthen's seminal periodical The Margin with great teaching insights. Rittenberg and Tregarthen help students to understand how real individuals actually work with economics. In this new book, the authors illustrate the practicality and relevance of economics with a variety of new illustrations and insights.
Principles of Microeconomics 1.0 (Open (Access) Textbook)

The authors teach economics as the study of choice by providing students with an accessible, straightforward overview of... More

The authors teach economics as the study of choice by providing students with an accessible, straightforward overview of economics. This text combines the clarity and writing of Tregarthen's seminal periodical "The Margin" with great teaching insights. Rittenberg and Tregarthen help students to understand how real individuals actually work with economics. In this new book, the authors illustrate the practicality and relevance of economics with a variety of new illustrations and insights. The authors take a three-pronged approach to every concept: (1) the concept is covered with a Heads Up to ward off confusion, (2) a You Try It section makes sure students are staying on top of the concept and (3) a Case and Point section that uses a real-world application to harness the concept in reality.