Economic Analysis I
In-person exams serve distinct purposes and address the existence of widely available AI.
Course Info:
- ECON 50/50Q: "Economic Analysis 1"
- Spring 2025
- Instructor: Christopher R. Makler
Pedagogy:
With the advent of widely available AI, many instructors are experimenting with in-person exams. The example below offers a clear description of the purposes of both midterm and final exams. It also careful walks through the many logistical issues that can complicate in-person assessments. Note that during the quarter when this course was offered, proctored exams at Stanford were only proceeding as part of a Proctoring Pilot, overseen by the Academic Integrity Working Group; more broadly and prior to this pilot, proctored exams have not been allowed under the Stanford Honor Code.
You can also explore how this course frames the homework assignments that lead up to the final exam.
Description of Exams
There will be two midterms held during class, on the Fridays of Weeks 4 and 7, as well as a final exam....
Purpose
The purpose of the midterm exams is to provide you an opportunity to solidify the material from each of the first two units, to give you practice taking exams, and to give you feedback as to whether you need to adjust your approach to the class. They are meant to be challenging learning experiences.
The purpose of the final exam is to evaluate how well you have mastered the material of the entire course. It is cumulative; all material is fair game. However, it will emphasize the material from the last three weeks of class, which are applications of the theory learned in the first seven weeks.
Honor Code
All exams will be in-person, closed-book and closed-note. You will be able to use a simple (non-graphing, non-programmable) calculator. This course is participating in the proctoring pilot overseen by the Academic Integrity Working Group (AIWG). The purpose of this pilot is to determine the efficacy of proctoring and develop effective practices for proctoring in-person exams at Stanford. To find more details on the pilot or the working group, please visit the AIWG’s webpage.
Exam Policies
If you are an athlete traveling on Stanford business, you should arrange to have an official traveling with the team administer your test. Please email me, copying that person, in the week before the exam....
If you miss the first midterm, the second will count for 25% of your grade, and the final exam will count for 40% of your grade.
If you miss the second midterm, the first will count for 20% of your grade, and the final exam will count for 45% of your grade.
If you miss both of the midterms, you cannot pass the class; you should withdraw before the Week 8 deadline. (The second midterm is Friday of Week 7.)
The final exam will be a paper exam delivered in-person (i.e. not online). Fortunately, it is also set to be during Week 10, when hopefully most of you are still on campus. However, I know that some of you will have departed campus for summer internships by the date of the final. Per the Econ Department Common Syllabus, we can accommodate remote administration for exams for this reason:
With Stanford on the quarter system, students sometimes face start-date difficulties for summer jobs or internships. In recognition of this issue, an exception may be requested on an individual basis if you are taking a job or internship that begins in the final exam period of the Spring quarter; however, such an exception is at the instructor's discretion and further is permitted only if you (i) make the request before the add/drop deadline in Spring quarter, (ii) provide appropriate documentation (an offer letter with confirmation of a mandatory start date that conflicts with the scheduled exam), (iii) make appropriate arrangements for and (iv) take the final exam at the same time as other students in the course, with the only difference thus being the test location. Documentation and testing arrangements information must follow your email.
Therefore, if you know that you're going to be taking the final remotely, please make arrangements and have them approved before Memorial Day. Note that a summer internship is the only valid reason to take the final exam remotely.
If you cannot take the Final exam due to illness or emergency, you may take an Incomplete in the class only if you meet the following criteria:
- Your average midterm grade is a C or better, AND
- You have a (curved) score of at least 80% on your quiz grades (so a raw score of at least 60%), AND
- Your homework score is at least 80 points