The final examination is an individual assessment task and it consists of 2 hours writing and 10 minutes reading time. It will cover all the topics taught in the unit. It will be closed book, with no cheat sheets, and will comprise a section of multiple choice questions and a section where students will be asked to provide written answers to short-answer questions.

There will be no formula sheet provided as part of the final examination paper.

Students are only allowed to use non-programmable calculators. Calculators with text retrieval abilities and/or those with a full alphabet on the keyboard are NOT permitted.

The final examination period spans from Monday 13 November until Friday 1 December. Students who missed the final exam due to unavoidable disruptions may apply disruptions of studies. A supplementary exam will be given upon successful application.

All students will have to complete a set of online quizzes periodically during the session. In weeks 3, 6, 9 and 12, you must complete a quiz available online on iLearn. The quizzes will become available on Fridays at 6pm, and will have to completed and submitted by the next Thursday at 11: 59pm- apart from these open and closing times, the quizzes are untimed. There is no option for completing this assessment after the submission closing time. No extensions will be granted. Students who have not submitted the task prior to the deadline will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved. In this case an alternative assessment will be given. The quizzes will be automatically marked.

The questions will be multiple choice, and each student will have to answer a random selection of questions from a large test bank. Each of the quizzes will have equal weight in the assessment.

You need to interview someone who has experienced one of the following eras or situations. Perhaps this person can be part of your family, a friend or even someone you know through work. You will then write a 600-800 word summary of the interview, possibly including some information about the person you interviewed such as their relationship to you. You do not need to provide their name. You should also provide a reflection on your experience of the situation, including links that you make between the interview and the topics covered thus far in the unit. This part should be approximately 200-250 words. Try to make your write-up relevant to what you have been learning in the unit.

Possible Topics:

• Global Financial Crisis (not in Australia)

• 2007-08 World Food Price Crisis

• 1997 Asian Financial Crisis

• Black Tuesday (October 1987)

• Early 1990s recession

• Energy crises- 2000s, 1973, 1979

• Heisei Recession

• Great Leap Forward (1958-1961)

• Great Depression (1929-1935)

• Homelessness

• Long-term unemployment

• Trading in black market goods

• Wars- WWII (1939-1945), Korean War (1950-1953), Vietnam War (1954-1975) (focus on economic implications)

• Refugees (focus on economic implications)

• Natural disaster (focus on economic implications)- e.g. Hurricane Katrina, 2004 Indian

Ocean earthquake and tsunami, 2010-11 Queensland floods

Note: if you would like to choose a topic that is not listed above, please send Mara, the Teaching Assistant for ECON110, an email at mara.hammerle@mq.edu.au.

A separate document on iLearn entitled Guidelines for Narrative Interview Assignment explains what you need to do in more detail.

This assignment will be discussed in tutorials in week 1, and your write-up will have to be submitted online in iLearn in Week 8 – by Friday 6 October 2017 at 11:59pm. This is a firm deadline, though if you submit your assignment later, you will suffer a penalty of 10% for every 24 hours up to a maximum of 72 hours after the deadline. Exceptions will be granted for cases in which an application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved.

There are 2 parts to this assessment

PART 1 - MOCK RBA MEETING ASSIGNMENT (worth 15%)

PART 2 - TUTORIAL ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT (worth 5%)

PART 1 -  MOCK RBA MEETING ASSIGNMENT (worth 15 out of the 20 marks)

This is a group assignment, done with the group members you will be working with in tutorials throughout the semester. Your tutor will put you in a group at the second tutorial. Contact your tutor after Week 2 if you are not in a tutorial group.

This group assignment will be discussed in tutorials in week 1. At your tutorial in week 12 (beginning 30 October 2017), we will hold a mock RBA meeting. Each of you will work in a group and decide what you believe should happen to the cash rate (the interest rate the RBA sets) at the next RBA meeting. Your group should decide on a policy recommendation, supporting your recommendations with a brief summary of the data and economic trends that led to your recommendation. At the mock meeting, your group will present one of six sections. More information on these sections will be made available on iLearn. Your tutor will assign your group to one of the sections. You will need to do a PDF or PowerPoint presentation for your allocated section of not more than 4 slides. Your group’s presentation must be limited to 4-5 minutes, in order to leave time for each group to present and have time for some general discussion and a vote afterward.

Your group will also need to prepare a report with answers to all sections (including the one your group presents in class). Your report must be no more than three pages in length (excluding graphs).

By 11:59pm of the Friday of week 11 (27 October), your group must submit your full report through Turnitin on iLearn. You will also need to send your prepared presentation to your tutor’s email address by this time. This is a firm deadline, though if you submit your presentation later, you will suffer a penalty of 10% for every 24 hours up to a maximum of 72 hours after the deadline.  Exceptions will be granted for cases in which an application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved, which in this case an alternative assessment will be offered. The group is responsible for arranging for a member to submit on time.

 This assessment will attract both a group and an individual mark. The group mark (out of 5 marks) will be based on your ability to work as a group and critically devise a policy suggestion. Your individual mark (out of 10 marks) will be based on your individual presentation and your individual question. More information will be available on iLearn.

A separate document on iLearn entitled Guidelines for Mock RBA Meeting explains what you need to do in more detail.

PART 2 - TUTORIAL ATTENDANCE-ENGAGEMENT (worth 5 out of the 20 marks)

Tutorial attendance is compulsory in this unit.

This is an individual assessment. A question sheet for each tutorial will be uploaded on iLearn on the Friday of the week before. At the start of the tutorial, you will work on the answers to the questions in the group to which you will be allocated in week 2. This will be followed by a class discussion led by your tutor. You will be expected to individually contribute to the discussions throughout the semester. Solutions to the tutorials will be posted at 5pm on the Friday of the week of the tutorial.

If you do not attend a tutorial in a week, you will be awarded a mark of 0 for that week, except for cases in which an application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved.