"I was wondering if there are going to be more extra credit opportunities offered?"

Yes, there will be additional bonus point opportunities toward each exam.

"I'm so glad you use real life examples in class.  Aplia uses illogical situations about producing ice cubes and fur hats, just as the book picks two items at random to make into an example.  I don't see how anyone is going to relate to giving up 4.5 CDs for 1 measly bottle of water.  I wouldn't give up on CD for a bottle of water; the logic behind the example  is lost to me because I'm too busy wondering who, in the US, would choose to give up 4.5 CDs to get a bottle of water.  Perhaps it's just me, but I like the crimes and cars examples - it just makes good sense.  Thanks"

Admittedly economics is an abstract science and sometimes the product choices used for the examples may seem alien to some.  However, don't lose sight of the general principles being described in the problems.  Regarding CDs and Bottled Water (or Ice Cubes versus Fur Hats), the PPF merely illustrates the opportunity cost of producing one more unit of a good.  It is a fact of economic life that scarcity forces us to give up some goods in order to get more of others.  The rate at which we must trade off the production of these goods is largely governed by the technology of the production process.

"Good job keeping it interesting. I really liked the crime examples that we have done and almost everything has been related to some aspect of real life. I found the repitition on the PPF's to be a little boring because of the aplia assignment. If people did the assignment than they should have already known about them. But overall, this is turning out to be one of my most interesting classes this semester. Not what I expected at all, especially after being told how hard it would be."

Thanks for the compliment.  I will try to do a better job of avoiding repetitive questions regarding the Aplia assignments in the future.

"This Aplia program is very confusing.  I have been talking to some students who are in and have been through your economics class and have showed them this Aplia program and they are confused by it.  Not the concepts, but the wording and the lack of clarification in the problem questions.  I think we need to go over the concepts more in class before we go into the problems because most of the Aplia concepts we haven't even gone over before we have to do the problems." [There were a couple of comments along this same train of thought.]

No doubt some questions can be better worded---it would be helpful to me (and to Aplia), however,  if specific questions were identified so that I would know which ones lack clarity.  In the future, don't be bashful about identifying the exact questions.  The comment that we need to go over the concepts more in class before doing problems is a matter of learning theory.  I do not see my job merely as a dispenser of knowledge--students must take an active role in learning on their own to be successful.  I am here to guide your learning and challenge you in new ways of thinking.  Sometimes this means putting the burden on your shoulders to explore the material without much hand-holding.

"It wasn't really about today's class, it's all a matter of aplia.com.  There were so many questions saying the same thing but just a little bit different that I got mixed up and very angry.  I was sick of reading about corn, wheat, dry land, wet land, farmer #1, farmer Jim and the dragging the little dot from point to point.  The assignment was too long and while it taught me patience, I was too aggravated at the end to care what I was reading, doing, or even understanding.  Perhaps if the lesson was shorter, one wouldn't want to tear one's hair out...just a thought"

Point well taken about the length and repetitiveness of the questions.  Though the two assignments for Friday's class were not graded---they were merely practice problems--I will not assign any such lengthy assignment for a grade in the future.  I appreciate your patience regarding the Aplia material as this is a learning experience for me also to some extent.