Course: Principles of Microeconomics (ECON 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Kessler
Module: Week 8 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute lectures
Objectives covered: cumulative — Objectives 1–4 (Weeks 1–7): scarcity, opportunity cost & the PPF; comparative advantage & gains from trade; demand, supply & equilibrium; elasticity; consumer/producer surplus & efficiency; government intervention.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 8 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that posts when the module opens. This is the midterm week — it runs differently from a regular week. Dates assume a Tuesday/Thursday lecture pattern with Week 8 sessions on Tue Oct 20 and Thu Oct 22; the Midterm window opens Mon Oct 19 and is due Sun Oct 25, 11:59 p.m.; Discussion 8 (the debrief) is also due Sun Oct 25.

(A) Module 8 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 8: Midterm Review & Exam

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work through the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside this module.

Heads-up: this is the midterm week, so it runs differently. There is no regular quiz, no assignment, and no workshop this week — the Midterm replaces them all. Instead, the week is built to get you ready: both lecture sessions are a complete review of the first half, you work through a three-part prep kit, you sit the exam, and then you reflect on how it went. The midterm is cumulative over Weeks 1–7 (Objectives 1–4) — scarcity and the PPF; comparative advantage; demand and supply; elasticity; consumer and producer surplus; and government intervention (price controls, taxes, and deadweight loss). It does not include production costs, market structures, factor markets, or market failure, which start in Week 9.

The week's big question

"Across the whole first half — what it means for markets to work, how they respond to shocks, and what happens when governments intervene — can I do the one honest move each topic asks of me, and avoid the mistake that sinks it?"

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all four out loud, you are ready for the exam.

• [ ] Think like an economist (Obj 1) — compute an opportunity cost from a PPF, label points as efficient / inefficient / unattainable, explain why a real PPF bows outward, and tell a positive statement from a normative one.
• [ ] Apply comparative advantage (Obj 2) — compute opportunity-cost ratios from a production table, identify who has comparative advantage in each good, and name a mutually-beneficial terms of trade (between the two opportunity costs).
• [ ] Analyze markets (Obj 3) — solve for equilibrium P and Q algebraically, predict the correct comparative-statics result for any demand or supply shock, and keep the movement-along vs. shift distinction clean.
• [ ] Measure welfare and policy effects (Obj 4) — compute elasticity via the midpoint formula and interpret it with the TR test; compute CS, PS, and total surplus from a linear market; and find the buyer price, seller price, tax revenue, and DWL from a per-unit tax.

What's due this week, and what to do

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

There is no Quiz 8, no Assignment 8, and no Workshop 8 this week — the Midterm stands in for all of them. The Study Guide, Exam-Prep Tutorial, and Practice Exam are your prep kit; the Midterm and Discussion 8 are what's graded.

A note on the AI prep tutorial: the Exam-Prep Tutorial works just like every weekly tutorial — the chatbot will sometimes claim the most tax burden falls on whoever legally pays, confuse a movement along the demand curve with a shift, or miscompute elasticity using slope instead of the midpoint formula. Catching those errors is part of being ready for the exam itself. (Reminder: AI is not permitted on the Midterm — only on the prep.)

How to succeed this week

• Review actively, not passively. Don't re-read notes — do the moves. Solve for equilibrium, compute elasticity, compute CS and PS, find the DWL from a tax. The Study Guide and Practice Exam are built exactly for this.
• Bound your studying. The midterm covers Objectives 1–4 only (Weeks 1–7). Production costs, market structures, factor markets, and market failure (Weeks 9–15) are not on it.
• Drill the quantitative moves cold. The midpoint formula (each percentage change is the change over the average). The surplus triangle formula (one-half times base times height). The DWL formula (one-half times tax times change in Q). These appear on the exam — make them automatic.
• Know the classic traps. Price change = movement ALONG, not a shift. Tax incidence depends on elasticities, not who writes the check. A non-binding ceiling or floor does nothing. Comparative advantage is about opportunity costs, not absolute production levels.
• Use the prep kit in order. Study Guide → Exam-Prep Tutorial → Practice Exam. The tutorial finds your weak spots; the timed practice exam tells you whether you have fixed them.

You have already built every one of these skills across seven weeks. This week just asks you to name them all and use them in one room. Come to class with questions on Tuesday.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 8

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Mon Oct 19, 2026 (the day the midterm window opens) — not before.

Subject: Week 8 — Midterm week: review, prep kit, exam

Hi everyone,

We are at the halfway mark, and this week is different from the others: it is midterm week. There is no regular quiz, no assignment, and no workshop — the Midterm takes their place. Everything this week is built to get you ready and then let you show what you can do.

Here is the shape of it: both lecture sessions (Tue Oct 20 / Thu Oct 22) are a fast, complete review of Weeks 1–7 — scarcity and the PPF, comparative advantage, demand and supply, elasticity, consumer and producer surplus, and government intervention. The exam is cumulative over Objectives 1–4 and does not reach production costs, market structures, factor markets, or market failure, which start next week.

Your prep kit, in order: work the Study Guide first (it has topic-by-topic review of all four objectives with fresh practice problems and vetted answers), then run the Exam-Prep Tutorial with an approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) and submit the share link, then sit the Practice Exam timed to find any soft spots before you sit the real thing.

The three dates that matter:
1. Midterm — window opens Mon Oct 19, due Sun Oct 25, 11:59 p.m. (20% of your grade; 20 items; one attempt; AI not permitted).
2. Exam-Prep Tutorial — submit your chat share link before the exam closes (Sun Oct 25).
3. Discussion 8 — the midterm debrief — initial post Fri Oct 23, replies Sun Oct 25; reflect on what prep worked, which idea finally clicked, and your plan going forward.

One reminder: you have built every one of these skills already over seven weeks. This week just asks you to name them and use them under one roof. Open the Start Here / Module Overview page first — it lays out the whole week in order with every due date.

You've got this. Come with questions Tuesday,
Prof. Kessler

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