There are 2 parts to this assessment:

PART 1 - MOCK CENTRAL BANK MEETING ASSIGNMENT (worth 10%); and PART 2 - TUTORIAL ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT (worth 10%)

PART 1 - MOCK CENTRAL BANK MEETING ASSIGNMENT (worth 10 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 first 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 2. Your tutor will help you to decide which actual country your group will consider. No-one will be allocated Australia, since that is what is done in ECON 110.

At your tutorial in week 12, (beginning 30 October 2017), we will hold a mock central bank meeting. Each of you will work in your group and decide what you believe should happen to the interest rate your central bank sets at its next 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. Your group will submit (1) a short video presentation and (2) a written report.

(1) For the mock meeting in week 12, your group will prepare a video presentation (a few minutes only) of the outcome of your Board's meeting. This video will have been submitted on the Tuesday on week 12 on iLearn. It will be played at your week 12 tutorial and the rest of the class will be able to vote on its quality. 

(2) Your group will also prepare a written report  that must be no more than three pages in length (excluding graphs). The report will be divided into sections, and each group member must be allocated primary responsibility for at least 1 section.

By 11:59pm of the Tuesday of week 12 (31 October), your group must submit your video presentation and your full report through Turnitin on iLearn.  

This is a firm deadline, though if you submit your video presentation later, you will suffer a penalty of 10% for every 24 hours up to a maximum of 72 hours after the deadline. If your video submission is too late for your tutorial class, you will not get the benefit of your classmates' vote.  Exceptions will be granted for cases in which an application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved. 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 section in your group's report. More information is available on iLearn. A separate document on iLearn entitled Guidelines for Mock Central Bank Meeting explains in more detail what you need to do. 

PART 2 - TUTORIAL ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT (worth 10 out of the 20 marks)

As mentioned above, students will be organised into groups of 3-5 in the tutorial. A question sheet for each tutorial will be uploaded on iLearn on the Thursday night of the week before . You will be expected to individually contribute to the discussions throughout the semester. A separate document detailing the tutorial program is available to students on iLearn. 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. 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.

NB Groups will be determined at the first tutorial, which will be in Week 2. (There are no tutorials in Week1.) Contact your tutor if you have not joined a group in week 2.

This assessment relates to the following learning outcomes:

Critical thinking: You will learn how to think and analyse economic issues systematically.

Problem solving: You will learn how to apply macroeconomic models to explain economic phenomenon and understand key macroeconomic policy decisions.

Communication (oral and written): You will learn how to articulate economic arguments in a logical and profession way.

Teamwork: You will learn how to cooperate with your peers in groups.

There will be 4 online quizzes in this course, each containing 20 multiple choice questions randomly selected from a large test bank. Each student will face a different set of questions.

The quizzes will be accessed online through iLearn at http://ilearn.mq.edu.au.

All students must access and complete the quiz by the closing time. Within this time period, there is no time limit.

Failure to complete the quiz will receive a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved. Students must be aware that IT failures can occur, and that with large numbers of students, congestion can at times limit access. It is the student’s responsibility to plan for these possibilities and completion of the quiz soon after release is strongly advised. While any catastrophic system failures will be taken into account, events such as system outage with three hours to go before the quiz closes will not. Online quizzes will be available on iLearn at the following times and dates:

Quiz Availability

1: Week 3   6pm 17 August (Thursday)     – Midnight 24 August  (Thursday);

2: Week 6   6pm 7 September (Thursday)    – Midnight 14 September  (Thursday);

3: Week 9 6pm 12 October (Thursday)   – Midnight 19 October (Thursday)

4: Week 12 6pm 2 November (Thursday)   – Midnight  9 November (Thursday)

This assessment relates to the following learning outcomes:

Critical thinking: You will learn how to think and analyse economic issues systematically.

Problem solving: You will learn how to apply macroeconomic models to explain economic phenomenon and understand key macroeconomic policy decisions.

A 1-hour mid-semester closed book test will be held during your lecture in week 7 (Wednesday 13 or  Thursday 14 September 2017). The test will comprise both multiple choice questions and a short-answer question based on the topic from week 1 to 6. The details of the test will be announced in your week 6 lecture. You must only sit the test in the lecture you have been assigned in your timetable. If you haven't been assigned a seat in one of the lectures, you should attend either test (Wednesday or Thursday), and inform the lecturer.

NB: The tests will differ significantly on the 2 different lecture days for the unit. 

This assessment relates to the following Learning Outcomes:

Knowledge: You will learn the theoretical models that form the body of contemporary macroeconomics.

Critical thinking: You will learn how to think and analyse economic issues systematically.

Problem solving: You will learn how to apply macroeconomic models to explain economic phenomenon and understand key macroeconomic policy decisions.

Communication (oral and written): You will learn how to articulate economic arguments in a logical and profession way.

A 2-hour final examination for this unit will be held during the University Examination Period. The exam is close book, and the details of the exam will be announced in Week 13's lecture. The conditions for the requesting and granting of requests for Disruption for Studies are set out in the Policies and Procedures section of this Unit Guide.

This assessment relates to the following Learning Outcomes:

Knowledge: You will learn the theoretical models that form the body of contemporary macroeconomics.

Critical thinking: You will learn how to think and analyse economic issues systematically.

Problem solving: You will learn how to apply macroeconomic models to explain economic phenomenon and understand key macroeconomic policy decisions.

Communication (oral and written): You will learn how to articulate economic arguments in a logical and profession way.