Econ 1BB3 is all about Macroeconomics, unlike Econ 1B03, which is about Microeconomics. It is recommended that you take 1B03 first then 1BB3, but people did the opposite anyways.

Macroeconomics, according to Dictionary.com is:

The branch of economics dealing with...

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It was a pretty easy course if you went to lectures and did the readings.

How hard were the tests and the exam? Were the questions from Aplia and the textbook?

Originally Posted by Dumbo

How hard were the tests and the exam? Were the questions from Aplia and the textbook?

similar to aplia questions. so if you do aplia and recommended questions from textbook you shouldn't have problem getting 11 or 12

Overall Rating 8
Professor Rating 8
Interest 10
Easiness 8

For those who are wondering what the difference is between Macro and Micro, it's just as it sounds... Macro is the Big Picture of the economy, while Micro is the individual functions within an economy. Macro is both much harder and MUCH more interesting than Microeconomics.

Macroeconomics is less about the numbers and more about how economies work... with government actions, consumer reactions, and foreign influences. I found this course to be really easy only because I was interested in the material... if you decide to take this as an elective just because you thought Micro was easy, you are not going to do well.

The textbook is fairly useless, though it is good for clarification from time to time. I focused on the lecture notes and the podcasts. The exam is also far easier than the Micro exam, but be sure to do well on the tests.

basically I think the prof is interesting and helpful, much more interesting than the prof in 1b03..

I found Macro to be way more interesting than Micro

was ok, i think

can anyone add anything on the exam? any studying tips or advice would be greatly appreciated

Originally Posted by nadinee

can anyone add anything on the exam? any studying tips or advice would be greatly appreciated

There's really no advice for doing well on it other than knowing the material.

This course was all about Keynesian economics. Mankiw really has a hardon for John Keynes.
I e-mailed Bridget for some help, and she did help. I followed up with an e-mail asking if she had any economics books to recommend for further reading (to see if she'd recommend something by Makniw or Krugman instead of Sowell and Friedman) and she did not reply.
That kinda boiled my cannolis a bit.

I've heard from a friend that the course has changed a lot from previous years. Would the difficulty be more or less the same as Econ1b03? I found the tests to be alright for that, but the exam was a lot more difficult than I was expecting. I'm looking for a lighter elective since my other courses are a little heavier next term.

I've got macroeconomics this winter term, I've heard that it's a lot harder than micro, which doesn't really mean much to me because I haven't taken micro - could someone shed some light on the difficulty of this course?

ECON 1BB3: INTRODUCTION TO MACROECONOMICS

Course Outline

More Course Outlines for Economics Classes

This is not a bird class. Don't let anyone tell you it is, and certainly don't take it just because you think it will be easy. I found this course quite challenging (much harder than ECON 1B03) and if the material doesn't interest you it will be quite painful

There were three 50-minute lectures and a week, and an optional 50-minute tutorial every other week.

ASSIGNMENTS

Midterm 1 (25% or 20%)

I came out of this midterm thinking: "Wow, I got at least 80% on that." And I didn't. A lot of people were in the situation as me too. Many of the questions on here were tricky, and it was nowhere near as easy as the first ECON 1B03 midterm. All I can suggest is that you review your notes and textbook like crazy (the textbook really is useful, something I didn't realize until later on in the course). This midterm was 50 multiple choice questions in an hour and a half, with no bonus marks like in 1B03- rather, if you filled in your scantron incorrectly, there was a mark penalty.

Oh, this midterm is listed as "25% or 20%" because the midterm with your lower score is worth 20% of your grade, and the higher is worth 25%.

TIP: Go over the Aplia problems again, as some show up on the midterm.

Midterm 2 (25% or 20%)

Like Midterm 1, Midterm 2 was 50 M/C questions in an hour and a half, and was, by most people's accounts, more challenging than Midterm 1. I studied a lot for this, and ended up with a percent lower than I did on the first midterm (I thought I had done really well when I finished, too). Both of these term tests were quite tricky, and you really gotta know your stuff for them.

TIP: Read the textbook. Yes, it is pointless for ECON 1B03, but for this class it really is useful.

Final Exam (40%)

The final exam was 75 multiple choice questions covering the entirety of the course. It was 2 hours long. A lot of people found this exam very difficult, but I studied like crazy and found it... okay. (Then again, I don't know what I got on it yet.)

TIP: KNOW YOUR GRAPHS. They really help- if you know the graphs, you can use them to solve the questions in front of you, instead of doing everything in your head.

Math Review Test (3%) - Optional

I can see you freaking out in front of your computer screen right now, but don't worry. This is very easy, and you can do it with your friends (it's online). Also, most of the math here never shows up again in the course.

TIP: Use a calculator, and don't submit an answer until you know it's right!

Homework (12%) - Optional

This is your Aplia work. Aplia is an online learning centre where you will have a quiz to complete every week. There are 14 quizzes total, and your 10 highest are counted for your final grade, so you effectively have 4 "free passes." These quizzes are actually pretty helpful, and questions from them often show up on the midterm/final exam, so do them!

TIP: Although it is supposedly "not allowed," do the Aplia work with friends. It helps.

Note that you can opt out of both the Math Review Test and Homework (hence the optional tag next to both). If you choose to do so, your Final Exam will be worth 55%.

Furthermore, if you attend all five tutorials, 5% of your final exam weight is shifted to your highest term test. Four tutorials= 4%, three=3%, and 0-2 means no shift.

PROFESSOR

I had Bridget O'Shaughnessy for this course. She was a very direct and engaging professor, which I liked. I appreciated the effort she made in terms of class participation, with iClicker questions and group demonstrations. However, she could occasionally go too quickly through things, and got aggravated at student's questions sometimes, which I consider a big no no.

Tutorials here were somewhat useless. Basically, every other week you would get in a group with the same four or five people and work on a few problems. I liked my group and so enjoyed them, and it was nice to get some extra practise in, but I rarely learned much. We were usually done the questions in 10-15 minutes. Despite that, though, I strongly recommend attending these, because you get the aforementioned exam weight shift, and it is good to talk to other people in your class about the material (and also work through it).

OVERALL

Do not take this course just because you think it will be easy- it isn't. There are some difficult concepts in here and the midterms and exam are quite hard. Don't let that scare you- of course, anyone can do well here- but don't underestimate the course.

i'm enrolled in this course for the summer term and i'm just wondering if this course has actually gotten harder? i looked at the practice tests and they all seem so straight forward and simple. Am I missing something here?

Originally Posted by mastercool

i'm enrolled in this course for the summer term and i'm just wondering if this course has actually gotten harder? i looked at the practice tests and they all seem so straight forward and simple. Am I missing something here?

The practice tests were easier than the midterms for sure

Macroeconomics is a very interesting course, I had Dr. O'Shaughnessy.

Dr. O does not post her powerpoint slides on Avenue, so you must go to class if you want them. They are very vague notes however, she always supplements them verbally which she doesn't put on her slides.

The first 4 chapters are a complete review of Econ 1B03.

Because Dr. O does not post her notes (which is very minimal powerpoint slides), I found myself doing a lot of self-studying for this course.

For some reason, I never listened in class, and once we started Chapter 5 (the new stuff), I would just go to class to copy notes but never really listened.

Instead, I read the textbook, took notes, so when exam came, I just read my notes instead of the textbook. She puts textbook questions on the tests/exam, 95% of them are discussed in lecture though.

Even during exam time, I never looked back at Dr O's notes, I just looked at my textbook notes, and I did fine on the exam and tests.

Honestly, I wish I just watched the podcasts instead of going to class, because I found that when I was lost at one point in lecture, I would just lose focus and not bother trying to listen whatever else the prof was saying. But in podcasts, there's a rewind and forward button, which can be useful.

Aplia is extremely useful, I really recommend it, some questions are very similar to test questions, and that's most of the practice you get for each other chapters. Look at the answer key to the textbook questions she posts (most of them aren't useful, but one or two are and WILL be on the test and exam). It's also worth 12%, and most people get around 95% on them.

The Math Review Test is really easy too, and it's worth 3%! Make sure you do well on it.

Prof gave us an option to shift 5% of the exam to our highest test if you attended all 5 tutorials, attended 4, she shifts 4%, 3, she shifts 3%. I recommend this too, because your tests are likely to be much higher than your exam grade.

I found tests fair and doable in the timeframe, although it is tight (50 MC in 90 minutes). The prof posts practice tests which are somewhat helpful (except it is easier than the actual midterm she gives you). She does not provide you the answer key to your tests, she will only take up 10 difficult questions in class.

The exam is where we lacked preparation. Chapter 12-15 gets harder, but if you put the time, you'll get it, it's just not as easy as the rest of the course. We aren't tested on this material, and the prof DOES NOT post a practice exam except for 12 really easy MC questions about these chapters (Seriously, one of the questions was: what is labelled on the y-axis of this diagram).

I think that's why people found the exam harder, so don't underestimate it, I found myself pressed for time, you have two hours for 75 multiple choice.