Learning Outcomes for ECO 308: Intermediate Microeconomics

Last updated: October 5th, 2010


The following are a list of common learning objectives all instructors of ECO 308 will explicitly aim to achieve and are willing and able to assess.     

1. Students will be able to construct and use supply and demand models to determine the impact of a microeconomic policy on equilibrium price and output.
2. Students will be able to construct models of utility maximization in order to determine the impact of exogenous changes to an individual’s budget or preferences.
3. Students will be able to construct models of profit maximization (or cost minimization) in order to determine the impact of exogenous shifts to the firm’s allocation problem.
4. Using the tools above, students will be able to evaluate microeconomic policies from the standpoint of social efficiency (optimality).


Mapping to Economics Major Learning Outcomes


The above learning outcomes for ECO 308 are mapped to the economics major learning outcomes as described below.  Mapping of ECO 308 learning outcomes to CBA Undergraduate Curriculum outcomes is implied by the Economics Major learning outcomes document (passed on April 23, 2010) using the property of transitivity.

1.  Apply economic reasoning to explain social and economic events. Predict the impact of private and public proposals and changing market conditions on social welfare using economic models. Compare the models’ strengths and weaknesses in explaining outcomes.  

2.  Identify and analyze an issue within the framework of economic models. Evaluate, critique, and formulate solutions to an identified problem.

3.  Evaluate, critique, and formulate solutions to an identified problem.

4.  Compare the models’ strengths and weaknesses in explaining outcomes.