EC 270 - Course overview
EC 270 - Intermediate Microeconomics I - Fall 2026
Tue & Thu 11:30 a.m.-12:50 p.m. · LH 1011 · Logan McLeod
Office hours Tue & Thu 1:30-2:30 p.m. · Tutorial Fridays, from Sept 25
Source: the syllabus in Course Info/
Assessment
| Component | Weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| iClicker — lectures | 5% | best 16 of 21, from Week 2 |
| iClicker — tutorials | 5% | best 8 of 10, from Week 3 |
| Assignments (Smartwork5) | 10% | best 5 of 6 |
| Midterm test | 40% | Fri Oct 30, 5:00-7:00 p.m. — consumer theory only |
| Final exam | 40% | Dec 12-23 period — producer theory only |
80% of the grade is two proctored sittings, and neither covers the other's material. There is no reweighting — you must write the midterm on one of the two dates.
Deferred midterm: Friday November 13, 2026, 5:00-7:00 p.m. To take it, complete the Missed Test quiz on MyLearningSpace within a week of the test. Every reason is accepted — no documentation needed. (Known conflicts must be declared in the first two weeks, no later than Sept 24.)
Assignment due dates — best 5 of 6
| # | Due | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun Sep 27 | Ch. 2, 3 |
| 2 | Sun Oct 11 | Ch. 4, 5, 6 |
| 3 | Wed Oct 28 | Ch. 8, 15 |
| 4 | Sun Nov 15 | Ch. 16, 19 |
| 5 | Sun Nov 29 | Ch. 20, 21, 22 |
| 6 | Wed Dec 9 | Ch. 23, 24, 25 |
All on Smartwork5, due 11:59 p.m. 25% per day late, no exceptions.
Schedule
| Wk | Tuesday | Thursday |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | Sep 10 · Intro & Math Appendix |
| 2 | Sep 15 · Ch. 2 Budget Constraint | Sep 17 · Ch. 3 Preferences |
| 3 | Sep 22 · Ch. 4 Utility | Sep 24 · Ch. 5 Choice |
| 4 | Sep 29 · Ch. 5 (cont.) | Oct 1 · Ch. 6 Demand |
| 5 | Oct 6 · Ch. 8 Slutsky | Oct 8 · Ch. 8 (cont.) |
| — | Reading week, Oct 13-16 | |
| 6 | Oct 20 · Ch. 15 Market Demand | Oct 22 · Ch. 16 Equilibrium |
| 7 | Oct 27 · Ch. 19 Technology | Oct 29 · Review class |
| 8 | Nov 3 · Ch. 20 Profit Max | Nov 5 · Ch. 20 (cont.) |
| 9 | Nov 10 · Ch. 21 Cost Min | Nov 12 · Ch. 21 (cont.) |
| 10 | Nov 17 · Ch. 22 Cost Curves | Nov 19 · Ch. 22 (cont.) |
| 11 | Nov 24 · Ch. 23 Firm Supply | Nov 26 · Ch. 24 Industry Supply |
| 12 | Dec 1 · Ch. 25 Monopoly | Dec 3 · Ch. 25 (cont.) |
| 13 | Dec 8 · Review class |
24 meetings. The two review classes are the two that are not iClicker-tracked, which is how "24 meetings" and "best 16 of 21" fit together.
Worth knowing
- Textbook: Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus. Very much a textbook course — read the chapter before the lecture.
- Tutorial questions are exam-level and worth zero. Assignments sit below that level. Practising the tutorial questions is the stated path to exam performance.
- Derivatives only, no integration. Work through the math appendix deck and the derivative rules — both are in
Course Info/. - Email: put
EC270in the subject line. He is department chair and filters hard. One business day; nothing in the evening or at weekends. - No new content is assessed the same week it is taught — Ch. 19 lands the Tuesday of midterm week and is not on the Friday midterm.
The syllabus says tutorials begin "the second full week of class (i.e., May 13)" — a leftover from a spring-term version. The real date is Friday September 25, which McLeod gave in the first lecture. Where they disagree here, he was right.