MPV_ARPM: Applied Research in Public Policy Making

Lecturer:  Martin Guzi (martin.guzi@econ.muni.cz)
Office Hours: by appointment (Office room 316)

Welcome to the course! 

We will be meeting on Mondays at 12:00 in Room P312.

The course is focused on problems related to labour market discrimination, income poverty and living wages, migration, and subjective well-being. The materials presented in the course are exclusively based on the recently published papers of recognized scholars. The classroom discussions will focus on thinking about challenges for public policy.

ARPM class team in Microsoft Teams

1. In case you may have any COVID symptoms do not come to class. You should connect to the class online via Teams and send email to the lecturer about your situation. Live streaming will be provided only when it is required by the circumstances.
2. Students can use Teams class channel to post any questions about the course. 
3. Students are automatically added to Teams but you can use this link to register for class in MS Teams yourself. If you need help installing the MS Teams app on your computer read the university manual for MS Teams.

Grading

You can earn 100 points over the semester and your grade will depend on the overall score. Grading is based on attendance (20 points), lecture assignments (15 points), two written assignments (2x10 points), midterm exam - online (15 points) and final exam (30 points). The basic condition for getting a grade (A-E) from the course is to gain at least 60 points overall and at least 18 points (60%) from the final exam.
Grading: A 100 - 92 points, B 91 – 84 points, C 83 – 76 points, D 75 – 68 points, E 67 – 60 points, F less than 60 points

Academic dishonesty

Copy-paste and plagiarism are not acceptable (read about Plagiarism detection at MUNI). Plagiarism at university has serious consequences, even when committed by accident. Sanctions include loss of credit for the assignment, a failing grade for the course, a permanent notation on the transcript, and dismissal from the university.

Written assignments are good practice to develop your communication and argumentation style. Always use your own language to express your ideas. If you are not sure how to reference and/or paraphrase, read this material (link). Do not forget to include your name, in every document you submit. Write clear, simple and short sentences. Avoid complicated text structures with no meaning. You can use Grammarly software to correct typos and simple grammar mistakes. Submit text that makes a good impression of your work.

Attendance (2 points for each attendance)

Class attendance is highly recommended. Attendance is recorded automatically from card readers at the door. Hence do not forget to 'beep your card' when entering the classroom. Send email to the lecturer about your attendance if you forget your card. 

Lecture assignments (10 points, several short assignments)

Students will work on several short assignments (homeworks) during the semester. These may take different formats and you will have 10 days to submit each assignment.

Two written assignments (2 x 10 points)

During the semester students shall attend two MUES seminars and elaborate two critical summaries. You are free to choose from the list of seminars.  Your task is to summarize and critically assess the main contribution and methods of the presented research (read guidelines). The critical summary should be around 700 words and you should upload it to the homework folder within 2 weeks after attending the seminar.

Midterm exam (15 points) and Final exam (30 points)

The midterm exam (online) is organized on November 6 from 12:00 until 14:00 (on Monday in the reading week). You can work on the exam for 70 minutes so please start the exam in the ROPOT before 12:40. 

The final exam (in class) is organized in the last week of the semester on December 18 (Monday) at 12:00. 

Instructions for exam: In case you are not able to attend the midterm or final exam, inform the lecturer by email at least 48 hours in advance.  Both exams will include choice questions, four open questions and a bonus question. Questions will be similar to those discussed during lectures and in students' class presentations. Every choice question has just one correct answer. Do not forget to answer all questions - every point counts.

All the best, good health and a cheerful mind!