FAQs for Distance Learning Classes

The answer to this is yes. You can buy older editions of this textbook or rent or use it at your local library, but you need the textbook. You use it as your source of facts when you write; I use it when I grade your evidence.

Edward Ayers, Lewis Gould, David Oshinsky, and Jean Soderlund. American Passages: A History of the United States. 4^th edition. The ISBN for the current 4th edition in paperback is ISBN: 9780547166469.

If you need tips on buying or borrowing a cheap book, click here. You can use many of the older books as long as they have 32 chapters.

Caution: You cannot use the BRIEF, 4^th edition which has 2 fewer chapters than the 32 chapters in the other 4^th editions and all prior editions of this book.

How does my instructor grade my written work – my essays? How is the textbook part of that grading?

Because the goal of writing is to help you learn our nation’s history and the priority is for you to be accurate, I grade your writing by comparing what you wrote side by side with the facts in the textbook. With essays submitted, I use a method that lets me quickly identify all of the submissions where the students wrote on the same question.

1. I download those submissions, print them, and place them side by side:

· On the left, the textbook opened to the probable section or sections students should have used.

· On the right, the submissions of students’ papers on that question.

2. I mark the paper copy, using 2-letter abbreviations for feedback (such as NT for Not true) and grade each student’s submissions one by one.

3. If there are multiple possible questions, I then repeat the steps above with the next question.

With the two essays for the Unit exams, I grade one of the questions using the method above. Unless I find problems such as factual errors in that essay, I grade the other one without the textbook side by side with your paper—a quicker method.

ESSAYS AND EVIDENCE

What is the goal of writing in this course? AND what does the phrase teach your smart cousin mean?

The purpose of writing is to help you learn the history. With something that people talk about in many ways, sometimes it helps to state what is not the goal. With writing in this course, you are not summarizing or paraphrasing the textbook. You do not, therefore, need to repeat every fact or word in the textbook. You are also not showing your personal writing style while stating your feelings or your opinions.

Instead, in this course, the goal of all writing assignments is for you to do activities that help you learn the history of our nation. One of the most powerful ways to learn something is to try to teach it.

You will succeed in these assignments if you do these things:

· If you read carefully and work to understand what happened and ask if you need help.

· If you figure out what essential facts that you would teach your cousin.

· If you figure how you could organize those facts as simply and as accurately as you can.

· If you write in a common sense way as though you are teaching your cousin history that he or she needs to understand.

How can I find all the essay topics I have to answer for each Unit essay exam?

As with most things in this course, you can reach most things in two ways so you choose the method that works best for you. With essays, you can find the possible topics:

· At the top section of the webpage for each Unit (a link called Everything You Need for This Unit)

· Essay Topics (from the left-hand menu)

What is the best way to prepare for the essay exams?

For essay exams, use the link at the top of each Unit webpage (at the top of the unit). It lists all the possible questions so you know what to read. If you can’t find information, you can email me and I will add to the list some tips that everyone can see.

For general success, use these resources:

· In the course--the Unit webpage, including things to help you self-test in history.

· In the discussion for the Units—ask for the help you need.

· With your prof—if you post asking for help and no student responds in a few days, then I can offer content and make it visible to everyone.

What are some tips to help me read and plan a practical essay?

You can see an example and PowerPoint movie of practical tips on how to read for evidence. It also offers a PowerPoint movie on why taking notes does NOT work for learning stuff quickly and well.

The link is http://www.cjbibus.com/1301_1302_Method_to_Read_Understand_Write_Fast.htm

WHY CAN’T I SEE…

Why can’t I see the Unit 1 Essay Exam? I know I did the Practice Essay (History Changes Essay)?

The course includes a Practice Essay so that students find out the typical requirements for a factual essay without getting their grade average (or their futures) messed up:

1. You prepare and do the Practice Essay.

2. Your instructor gives you feedback on that essay and tells you the essay grade for the Practice Essay AND for any future essays if you do the work in same way.

3. You follow the instructions in that feedback--an

4. What happens next depends on what you did:

· If you found the problems the instructor pointed out, she replies back saying she will enter the points for the essay itself AND the extra credit.
The points for the extra credit cause Blackboard to display the Unit 1 essays to you.

· If you did not, she may do several possible things such as:
- Read her response and then reply back
- Have a phone or face-to-face meeting

READING FOR EVIDENCE: RELIABLE SOURCES

READING FOR EVIDENCE: FACTUAL ACCURACY

Why this emphasis on factual accuracy?

If history is not factually accurate, it is useless—and dangerous.

Being factually accurate is a good life skill (not just for history). In real life, no one will pay you for copying words passively. No boss will reward you for being wrong about how something works.

WRITING WITH EVIDENCE: NOT COPYING

Why this emphasis on not copying words?

READING AND FACTUAL ACCURACY, RELIABLE SOURCES, AND NOT COPYING

Why this emphasis on factual accuracy?

If history is not factually accurate, it is useless—and dangerous.

Being factually accurate is a good life skill (not just for history). In real life, no one will pay you for copying words passively. No boss will reward you for being wrong about how something works.

Why this emphasis on not copying words?

Two reasons:

1. When a student plagiarizes, he or she has handed the professor the evidence to use in any way the professor wants. If you do not use the required quotation marks (“”) around an author’s words, you are saying you wrote those words.
I want for you to know what you are doing—not to hurt you but to keep you from being hurt.
FYI: If you want to quote a lot, I am OK with that. If you use the “” accurately and if the quotations you chose reveal that you understand well, I am fine.

2. Students who plagiarize never understand the history. They are only faking out themselves.

Writing simply in your own words is a good life skill (not just for history). In real life, no one will pay you for copying words passively.

Why this emphasis on using the textbook or a link in the course as the reliable source?

Reliable sources matter for good thinking, and this history textbook is honorable and reliable.

I started using the textbook for grading because I do not want to grade on politics. Your politics and your beliefs are your business, not mine. On the other hand, your evidence for what you say about history is not just my business but my responsibility to help you.

I kept grading using the textbook because I discovered that I can usually tell how you are working and frequently it is how students are working that keeps them from being successful. To use a military metaphor, how you fight is how you trained. If you want to be able to do successful in the future, you need to train yourself now and to choose habits that fit the future you want.

I also found that a single short essay—the Practice Essay (History Changes Essay)—meant I could make it where you could see for yourself how you were actually working.

What is the Practice Essay (History Changes Essay)

Here’s the Section from the Syllabus

Practice Essay (History Changes Essay)

The Practice Essay introduces you to essential content for your understanding of United States History. With this essay, I provide a table to help you see how events changed and I list the specific pages for you to read for each possible question. I provide an overview and you are encouraged to ask questions about the content in class. I provide a link in the top section of the Unit 1 webpage that lists all possible questions and how to find what to read for each one. The version of the test you receive determines which question you must answer.

Here’s the Information Right above the Practice Essay at Quizzes & Exams

The practice essay opens at 12:00 am on the first day shown above and closes at 11:59 pm on the last day. You have 25 minutes to answer the question displayed by Blackboard. This is a practice essay that is required to see any of the Unit essays, but it also lets you earn full points as extra credit. Maximum word length is 175 words. It’s practice—and it cannot hurt your grade.

For more about the extra credit, see your syllabus. For the possible essay questions that Blackboard may display and for the required readings for each of those questions, click on Essay Topics (on the left menu). You can also find this information in the 1st link in the Unit 1 learning module. You also can ask questions about this work in the Unit 1 Ask and Answer discussion topic.

Requires a password because you can take it ONLY one time. The password is: onetimeonly

What are the possible extra credits for the Practice Essay (History Changes Essay) and additional benefits beyond the extra points?

By completing the instructions for the 10-point Practice Essay, you can earn 10 points extra credit.

The additional benefits are that:

If you did well, you have extra points.
If you did not do well, the extra credit protects your grade and you know what you need to change about how you prepare for the Unit essays.

HOW TO DEVELOP HABITS THAT PREVENT PROBLEMS WITH EVIDENCE AND PLAGIARISM (INCLUDING “HALF-COPY” PLAGIARISM)

How can I avoid problems with using quotation marks and “half-copy” plagiarism?

Essential Background: If You Think Facts That You Write in Your Own Words Do Not Need to Be Cited or That Words from the Source Do Not Need Quotation Marks

The submission of a paper with words from an author without quotation marks can be the professor's evidence that you plagiarized. Some may not notice, but some may call it plagiarism. Some professors may label your work as “half-copy” plagiarism (term from The Bedford Handbook, page 692) if you:

· Either copy an author’s phrases without quotation marks (“”)

· Or use the author’s sentence and just swap a few words with what you think are synonyms
Caution: If you think saying the name of the source means you can copy another’s words without quotations marks, look at this table.

What are the rules for citation and use of quotation marks? The rules vary depending upon whether you are writing:

· A fact from the source in your own words

· A fact in the author’s words (you are quoting):

What Kind of Fact Are You Using	Do You Need Citation (Page # etc.)?	Do You Need Quotation Marks (“”)?
A fact in your own words	Yes—although I do not require that in the Blackboard’s tiny box for essays	No
A fact in the author’s words	Yes	Yes

Essential Background: If You Are Confused about What Words in the Author’s Textbook Require Quotation Marks In Your Writing

If you are confused about this, look at these examples.

What the Author Wrote	What Words You Want to Write	Do You Need Quotation Marks (“”)? and Why
the Mississippi River	the Mississippi River	No – Proper nouns belong to all of us.
the green, roaring river	the river	No – Common nouns belong to all of us.
the green, roaring Mississippi River	the roaring Mississippi River	Yes *<Notice this.* – These are the author’s unique string of words so you identify them as not your creation with a a pair of quotation marks (“”) at the beginning and ending of the author’s words. You write: Trade was harder because of the “roaring Mississippi River.”
	roaring	Yes *<Notice this.* – This is the author’s labeling of a condition and it is easier to use the author’s words with the pair of quotation marks (“”). You write: The author explained that the “roaring” river made trade more difficult.

How Do You Avoid Changing Quotations Without Revealing Those Changes?

The rules for showing what you have taken out (…) of the author’s words or put in ([ ]) are complex and for most of us they are not worth learning.

This trick lets you be accurate but avoid learning those rules:

Choose 3 to 6 words to quote and change nothing (not an ing or an ed, not a comma, nothing) between the first and the last word.
Put a “ before the first word and a ” after the last word.
Place those words with the “”within your sentences.
If something sounds awkward about your sentences, then change your own words—the only words you have a right to change.

BLACKBOARD AND RESPONDING TO FEEDBACK ABOUT THE Practice Essay (History Changes Essay)

On a mail message how to I use strike through?

1. Click reply on the message (and do plan what you want to do before you do that).

2. Look at the edit box--on the left it shows 3 small buttons T T T (for bold, italic, and underline).

3. Look at the edit box on the same line but far right. You see a small button showing 2 downward pointing Vs or arrows or whatever you want to call them. It is a very common symbol for MORE stuff available by clicking here

4. Click on that the small button for MORE.

5. Notice on the left it NOW shows 4 small buttons T T T T (for bold, italic, underline, and strike through). It also shows a LOT of other types of buttons.

With thanks to WCJC’s Director of Distance Education, Professor Michele Betancourt, for her permission to use her Getting Started documents (including her exact words) in the Getting Started sections of our WCJC courses.

WCJC Department:	History – Dr. Bibus
Contact Information:	281.239.1577 or bibusc@wcjc.edu
Last Updated:	2013
WCJC Home:	http://www.wcjc.edu/