Use Ctrl-F
(F) with the Search Words provided in Syllabus and Success Assignment.
TSI
satisfied in Reading and Writing
You must log in at least 3 times a week and
check both Blackboard Messages and
Announcements. If I email you in Blackboard Messages, you must read and reply
or call your instructor if you do not understand. You must be sure you have
read all announcements since your last login.
I make every effort to return messages (course
email, phone, discussion postings) within 36 hours (weekends and holidays
excepted).
During
Online Office Hours (listed on the first page of this syllabus), I respond to
Blackboard Messages and postings on the Discussion Board. I am glad to help you
online, to meet you on campus, or to work with you by phone. If we both have
Blackboard open, working together by phone frequently brings the fastest
solution. I teach on two campuses: Richmond Campus on Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday and Sugar Land on Tuesday and Thursday.
·
Social Responsibility (SR) - intercultural competence, knowledge of
civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national,
and global communities
·
Personal Responsibility (PR) - ability to connect choices, actions and
consequences to ethical decision-making
Upon successful completion of this
course, students will:
1) Create an argument through the use of
historical evidence.
2) Analyze and interpret primary and secondary
sources.
3)
Analyze the
effects of historical, social, political, economic, cultural, and global forces
on this period of United States history. The Syllabus & Success Assignment provides
a link on why these matter to you.
This textbook is required for all written
assignments: David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen, and Mel Piehl, The Brief American Pageant: A History of the Republic, 9th edition. It is the one-volume edition containing 41 chapters and is used
for both History 1301 and History 1302. The ISBN is 9781337124645; however,
that ISBN is a “bundle” and includes both the textbook and an online program
called Mindtap. In this course, we will not use Mindtap.
You must use your textbook and other resources provided in the
course (including primaries for your 3-Part Writing assignment) as your only source for your written
assignments. For all written assignments, you must cite a specific page from the textbook or a primary for your facts. (See Required
Writing and Evidence Requirements.)
Distance Education has
provided these requirements: You will need a computer,
an external webcam and microphone, a reliable internet connection, and access
to the WCJC Blackboard site. Please note that embedded webcams cannot be used,
since they do not give good scans of the testing environment. An external
(clip-able) webcam is required for the webcam testing option.
An offer that may help some
of you with costs: If you have a laptop with
an internal webcam and microphone, I am willing to let you try to use it to do what Respondus calls an Environmental Check
with the Sample Respondus Exam. My experience is that a person who is very careful can do it correctly. If
you want to try this with the Sample
Respondus Exam, email me in Blackboard Messages. I will file your message and
reply back with some tips that I hope would increase your odds of making this
video be clear enough. When you speak into the microphone during the Respondus process,
remind me of our agreement. If I
approve, then keep being very careful
and continue to remind me of our
agreement with each exam.
Getting
Started provides Distance Education’s information on Respondus Monitor as well
as my Penalties List.
You are responsible to prepare your computer
and its browser to work with WCJC’s Blackboard. Getting Started provides the
Distance Education FAQs that contain the technical information you need and how
to get more help if needed.
This course uses Learning Quizzes, Lessons,
writing assignments, and other course work to help you learn the essentials of
history, but also to prepare you for the world of work or, if that is your
goal, for further academic study. You can:
·
Master basic concepts
and content that help you figure out what is happening in the world you live in
·
Practice skills
at learning new and varied things, something essential in a rapidly changing
world where workers may have to retrain many times
·
Develop skills
necessary as a successful decision maker about your own life and about your own
vote
·
Strengthen
practical skills in reading, problem-solving, and writing that are necessary
for all those roles.
United
States History I covers from the 1500s to 1877. The course is split into three Units, or major time periods, that
reveal shifts in our history:
·
Unit 1: From New
World to New Empires - the 16th Century to 1776
·
Unit 2: From
Making a Revolution to Making a Nation - 1776 to 1830s
·
Unit 3: Transforming
the Nation - 1830s to 1877
Two resources at the top of each Unit help you know
how to work:
·
The Checklist for Success for the Unit shows you what to do in the Unit.
·
The Unit Study Guide (at the top of each Unit’s folder) helps you focus
your work so you save time—and make a good grade on your Unit Exam.
United
States History II covers from 1877 to the 21st Century. The course is split
into three Units, or major time periods, that reveal shifts in our history. The
three time periods are:
·
Unit 1: Creating a New America from 1860 to
1900
·
Unit 2: Moving to the World Stage – America from 1900 to 1945
·
Unit 3: Transformations – America from 1945 to
the Near Present
Two resources at the top of each Unit help you know
how to work:
·
The Checklist for Success for the Unit shows you what to do in the Unit.
·
The Unit Study Guide (at the top of each Unit’s folder) helps you focus
your work so you save time—and make a good grade on your Unit Exam.
The safest approach is to click on Learning
Modules. It provides everything you need in one place. Each Unit is the same:
its content, its Blackboard discussion, its quizzes, and its Unit exam.
The Getting Started activities are listed on the last page of the
Course Orientation link. If you come in past the due date, you must still do these activities but I
will record—temporarily—a 1.11 for the grade. At the end of the term, you email
your instructor that you have not been late with other assignments and I will
gladly change the grade to match what I have entered in the Comment for that grade.
Assignments That
Help You Learn Efficiently and Prepare for Exams and for Writing Assignments:
How Quizzes Work in This Course for Both
Self-Testing and to Earn Full Points
Whether Learning Quizzes or ones on the basics of evidence, quizzes always consist of:
·
A self-test so you find out what you
know and you do not know. The name
is self-test because you are testing yourself so you know
what you need to do.) The goal is
positive so no points are lost. Self-Tests are extra credit and have questions
that are only worth .01. (A .01 is so small that it is equivalent to a penny
compared to a dollar.)
Tip: On the other hand, it is in your interest to answer Self-Tests accurately so measure
your own brain accurately for 2 reasons.
1. You want to know what you know and do not know so you can work efficiently and correct or complete what you do not know.
2.
If you already know the content in the Self-Test
and prove that by being correct on over 80% of the questions on that Self-Test,
you earn the points for its Full-Test without
taking it.
The instructor enters those points at the end of each Unit after the Learning Quizzes close.
· Once you submit the self-test, Blackboard automatically displays additional content (if needed) and a Full-Test that has so that you can earn full points while teaching yourself the vocabulary and map locations you do not know. You may repeat as many times as you wish, and your highest score counts.
A Visual to Help You: How a Self-Test and
its Full-Test works.
You take a Self-Test |
|
↙ |
↘ |
You are right 80%
or more of the questions. Notice what you missed. |
You are right 79%
or fewer of the questions. Jot down what you missed—not the whole question but brief
words. Tip: You can always go back to look at the
Self-Test again. |
↓ |
↓ |
Blackboard sometimes displays resources, such as
dictionary definitions. |
Blackboard sometimes displays resources, such as
dictionary definitions. If it does, use Ctrl-F (Find) to search the resources
for what you missed. (Ask if you need help.) If Blackboard does not display the Full-Test, you made a 0
on the Self-Test. Email bibusc@wcjc.edu with your name, class, and the exact
name of the Self-Test. |
↓ |
↓ |
If you want to, you may take the Full-Test. |
You take its Full-Test until you understand. |
When the Unit tests close, |
Your highest score counts. |
↓ |
↓ |
You have the Full points |
You have the Full points |
|
|
There is an incentive for persisting explained
before the List of Due Dates at the end of the syllabus.
Evidence Quizzes as a Key to Understanding
Historical Writing and Basics That You Must Apply When You Write
The main
purpose of the Evidence Quizzes are to help you recognize the IF and
the WHEN
below:
Learning Quizzes let students focus on concepts, such as the meaning of words, the location and traits of places, and parts of essential documents. Understanding concepts helps you understand accurately the facts you encounter in print, online, or just talking. Questions from these quizzes are also 8 (about one-third) of the 25 questions on each Unit exam.
You work together as a group to ask and answer questions you have. The questions can come from Learning Quizzes, Evidence Quizzes, content in a Lesson, items in the Study Guide, or any content covered in the Unit. For discussions where students help each other learn, your instructor approves your post before it is visible to the group. If you made an error that might damage another student, your instructor gives you feedback so you can repost. Blackboard refers to these as “moderated” posts. Instructions and the grading rubric are in the Discussion’s Description.
3 Unit
Exams and the Goal of Exam Questions (Questions are easier—and more useful.)
There are 25 questions in sets (so students in Blackboard see
different questions). Eight of the 25 sets (about a third) in the Unit Exam are
pulled from Learning Quizzes so you not only pre-earn points for the quizzes, but you can pre-learn 8 of the 25 unit questions.
The goal of the exam questions determines the remaining seventeen
(about two-thirds) of the 25 sets of exam
questions. In this class, questions do not
require that you show you know everything,
but you show that you know something.
The questions focus on your recognizing significant traits of such things as
regions, time periods and their dominant beliefs or events, and representative
historical figures. Tip 1: The best
way to recognize and learn these is in the instructor’s Lessons in each Unit,
not in turning the pages of the textbook. Tip 2: The best way to use the Lesson links efficiently is to use the Unit’s
Study Guide (at the top of each Unit’s folder).
The Syllabus & Success Assignment provides a link with examples of these types of
questions.
The 25 questions, at 4 points each, in the Departmental Final Exam
were written directly or chosen by the History Department. Caution:
Departmental policy is an F for the course
if you do not take the Final. In other words, if you have an A average for all
the prior work in the course and if you do not take the Final Exam, I am
required to enter an F for your final LETTER grade for the course.
Distance Education has provided this introduction: This course
requires the use of Lockdown Browser for taking online exams. The Lockdown
Browser software prevents a user from accessing other applications or going to
other websites during an exam. The webcam records you during the exam to ensure
you're only using resources that are permitted. Together, these tools make it
possible for students to take online exams from any location, and at times that
are convenient. It also creates a fair testing environment for everyone in the
course. Instructions for downloading the Lockdown Browser software are posted
in the course.
In this course, you will find all you need for monitoring online
exams in a folder within Getting Started.
Your Instructor’s Perspective
Writing assignments are freshman level, brief, and use only the textbook and resources in the course. You focus on a specific historical question as though you were teaching another student. You follow rules for citation provided in the course. Every part of the writing and all feedback, including your peer review of others’ work, is to be based on the 5 Good Habits for Evidence. Grading is not about your style or your opinion or your memories—or mine. It requires you practice skills essential to get and keep a good job.
You post your writing in a type of Discussion that requires that you post before you can see other students’ writings. This means you must read the instructions carefully before you post your paper—you cannot rely on a good student showing you what to do. Your instructor does 2 things:
1. Opens and closes the same Discussion for each of 3 Parts according to the List of Due Dates
2. Based on your action, either makes you a Participant (a person able to post in the Discussion) or a Reader (a person who can only see the posts):
· If you have met the Evidence Quiz prerequisites, you become a Participant who can post the 1st Part.
· If you posted the 1st Part and you replied to my emailed feedback on it, you become a Participant who can post on the 2nd Part.
· If you did the 2nd Part, you become a Participant who can post on the 3rd Part
Tip: The objective of these prerequisites is to reduce the odds that you do work contrary to instructions and fail the whole assignment. Ask if you do not understand so I can help you.
By the date in the Course Schedule, you also post your peer
review of 2 other students’ work in the same Discussion. That peer review must
provide feedback on content and on evidence using the Good Habits for Evidence
rubric. You must reply to the peer review feedback from each student to get
points.
·
1st Part: For your paper, you follow
the instructions and answer the question provided. You use primaries. You write
a brief paper. Since a word count can be hard to think about with Discussion,
the paper—if printed—is to be under 1 page double-spaced. You provide citation
as specified.
Feedback: Your marked paper and your
marked Good Habits for Evidence rubric in an email in Course Messages
·
2nd Part: For your peer review, you
follow the instructions on how to give specific feedback in the Discussion
tool. You focus your feedback on whether the other student followed the 5 Good
Habits for Evidence. You also follow the rules for evidence in your peer
review. For example, if in your peer reviews you refer to something in the
textbook or primaries, you must follow the same rules for citation as you did
with the paper.
Feedback: Your instructor also
grades your peer reviews with a rubric in the Discussion tool.
·
3rd Part: For your response to the 2
people who peer reviewed your paper, you write a brief, evidence-centered
response.
Feedback: Your response and a brief
rubric in an email.
The Syllabus & Success Assignment provides links explaining primaries, peer reviews,
and citation. Use those links.
This is a 1000-point course, with points added
as you earn them. Announcements let you determine your current letter grade at
the end of each Unit. If the grade is lower than you want, ask for help. The
Final Letter Grade is determined by this scale:
Point
Range |
Final
Letter Grade |
895 – 1000 |
A (exceptional) |
795 – 894 |
B (above average) |
695 – 794 |
C (average) |
595 – 694 |
D (below average) |
Below 594 |
F (failing) |
The 1000-point course consists of these
points, with the last 2 being written work:
This course does not offer extra credit at the end of the class to
help a few people make a higher grade. It does offer extra credit to all students for doing things that will
make them better students in writing and with quizzes (explained below).
The History Department has student learner outcomes that require
writing based on evidence and that require that you use primaries as well as
secondaries. The Syllabus & Success Assignment provides a link to explain
those objectives and the meaning of the terms primary and secondary.
The written work must be over 25 percent of your final grade, a
requirement for all history instructors. That minimum means formal writing
assignments are essential to pass.
The Syllabus & Success Assignment provides a link to show you
math examples so you can see how that 25% writing requirements makes success in
writing essential.
For many students, a United States history course is the first
time they have had to write about something that is real—not just opinion—and therefore requires verifiable evidence from a reliable
source. Some students never had United States history before. Some students
are very uncomfortable and inexperienced with writing.
Also, history is cognitively like biology: both disciplines are
real and both are also detailed, complex, and interconnected. That means you
have plenty of ways to be wrong about those realities. Many students seem to
have problems with both of these disciplines.
To try to help students with the issues above, this course does
three things. First, it provides information and quizzes on these basic rules
of evidence so you can find out what you do not know about evidence before you write. Second, it uses one
rubric for all writing assignments and your feedback on that rubric tells you
which of the 5 Good Habits for Evidence—which way of working—you may need to
change. Third, with permission of the History Department to do this experiment
to try to help students, it divides written grades in two parts:
The Syllabus & Success Assignment provides
a link to show you how dividing written grades in those two parts can help your
grade—and your skills.
Merriam-Webster’s
Online Dictionary defines the word incentive as:
“something that makes a person try or work
hard or harder.” |
There are two types of incentives in
the course to help you persist:
1.
With the 3 Learning Discussions, you earn 10
incentive points on each one—small but a 50% increase
·
If you post as its rubric explains and if you
earn over 14 points out of 20
·
If you make over 60 on the Unit 1 Exam
2.
With Learning Quizzes and Evidence Quizzes, you
earn 1 incentive point for each quiz if you:
·
Either already knew the content in the Self-Test
and were correct on over 80% of the questions on that Self-Test, you earn the
points for its Full-Test without
taking it.
At the end of each Unit after the Learning Quizzes close, the instructor not
only enters the points for the Full-Test but also the 1 point incentive
·
Or complete both Self-Test and Full-Test 3 days
before the Unit Exam.
Why Do the Full-Tests? 1) Its
Full-Test lets you teach yourself any missed concepts by taking the test as
many times as you want and you pre-learn about one-third of the Unit Exam
questions. 2) Completing both tests results in the 1 point incentive. 3) That
the highest score counts is also an incentive to persist—what Duckworth calls “grit,” something everyone needs.)
For a link to Duckworth’s Ted Talk, use the Syllabus & Success Assignment. She is very impressive.
I make every effort to provide
feedback for written assignments by the date in the List of Due Dates. If I
cannot, I post an announcement. I generally:
WCJC requires—as it should—that instructors include WCJC’s Academic Honesty in Online Courses statement in the course. Look carefully at WCJC’s Academic Honesty Statement for Online Classes (provided in Getting Started), and you will see the reason for WCJC:
· Requiring instructors to monitor online testing
· Requiring students to act with online testing with equivalent actions that they would do for an on-campus exam
To speak personally, I take my responsibility to WCJC seriously so I will be looking carefully at those videos of each of you taking each exam. There is also another reason that I take this seriously. The habits that students practice are who they become. If somehow a few of you got used to cheating, the greatest wrong is the damage that you have done to yourself. In the real world where you must make a living, you will not be ready to get or, what’s harder,-keep a good job.
You may have habits for testing that are totally innocent, such as preferring to take exams on your bed or couch. On the other hand, instructors experienced with the monitoring online testing say taking an exam on a bed or couch makes it easy to hide cheating from the webcam used in monitoring.
So what do you do? A person who did not want to look like a cheat would—for example—either not sit on a bed or couch for the test or be very careful to show that you are not using hidden materials. When you take an exam online, you do the equivalent actions to what you would do in an on-campus exam. In other words, whether you were cheating or not in an on-campus class, you would not want to look like you were cheating and you would act accordingly. The list of actions below let you know:
· What actions dishonest students do during an online test
· What penalties experienced instructors apply to exam grades when they see those actions
First, look at these penalties and the descriptions of the actions that result in 0 points for the exam or 30% off the grade. Second, look at the next sections so you do online testing in that way that protects you.
Caution about the Penalties List: Instructors experienced with monitoring exams recommend these penalties, and I will apply these penalties if you do these things:
If
You Do One of These Things |
The Penalty Is |
|
0
for the Exam |
Minus
30 percentage Points |
|
Do an incomplete video for what
Respondus calls the Environmental Check |
|
X |
Do not have enough lighting for
the instructor to tell if you are cheating |
|
X |
Do not position your Photo ID
carefully. Your name must be readable and your photo must be clear. Tip: practice with your webcam
so you can do this. |
|
X |
Have anything near where you take
the exam unless your instructor has told you to use specific resources during
the exam. |
0 |
|
Move so you are not recorded at
all by the webcam |
0 |
|
Move the webcam from where it was
during what Respondus calls the Webcam Check so it no longer shows your face
and upper body |
|
X |
Play music or other audio
recordings during exams |
0 |
|
Talk with anyone for any reason
at any time during the exam |
0 |
|
Turn off the microphone although
it worked during what Respondus calls the Webcam Check |
|
X |
Instructors have to do online monitoring and students have to do online testing following the rules in Distance Education’s video for students. Students will not be able to see the current exam unless they either do 1 or 2:
1. If you have never used Respondus Monitor at WCJC, carefully followed the requirements shown in Distance Education’s video for students and then take the Sample Respondus Exam that Distance Education provides (both provided in a folder for Distance Education in Getting Started). If you take it more than one time, be sure to tell me which one to check.
a) You email your instructor to check your video and also state that you read and understand the Penalties List.
b) Then your instructor checks the video and:
· Either gives you feedback on how you have to redo it
· Or emails that you were correct and enters the points for the Respondus Acknowledgement.
2. If you believe you have correctly used Respondus Monitor at WCJC many times, you may skip the Sample Respondus Exam and just complete the Respondus Acknowledgement, a quiz used as a way to acknowledge that you know the requirements. The first link in the folder for Distance Education {in Getting Started) tells you what to do before you do that Acknowledgment.
Notice
these cautions about online monitoring in all classes and specifically in this
class.
· Caution: Respondus Monitor is now a more powerful and more convenient tool for instructors.
· Caution: Your points for any exam—even the Final—may change until the instructor announces that she finished reviewing all of those exams.
·
Caution:
In this course, you cannot ignore your instructor’s concerns about the video of
your taking your exam. If your video for the current exam is not correct (whether you
took the Sample Respondus Exam or completed the Respondus Acknowledgement quiz
instead), your instructor:
o
Will notify you by sending you screen prints of what you did
o
Will block you from seeing any future exams until you deal with that feedback
o
Will deduct the points from your exam according to the Penalties
List
·
Caution:
Although the current plan is to use Respondus Monitor only with Unit 1 Exam and
the Final Exam, your completing the Respondus Acknowledgement quiz is a
requirement to see Unit Exams 2 and 3 as well.
Why?
I reserve the right to use Respondus Monitor with the other 2 exams also and—if
that occurs—I will notify all of you with an Announcement that will
automatically copy you in an email to your WCJC email.
It is your
responsibility to email or talk to your instructor if you do not know what to
do. The earlier we communicate, the better are our chances for success.
With due dates for
any assignment, including exams and required writing, there are no extensions
unless it is appropriate to make an extension to all of you. You have these responsibilities:
Tip: Examine
the Course Schedule to determine if you have conflicts and immediately propose
an earlier date. Caution: Use
the Course Schedule (not the calendar and not any other source of dates). Ask;
do not assume.
·
With
a valid, written excuse for
something that no one could plan for, these rules apply.
§
If you miss an
exam, your make-up exam is taken on the date
of the Final Exam.
§
If you miss a
Required Writing (with the exception of Peer Reviews), you receive an
extension, set by me, with no penalty.
·
Without
a valid, written excuse for
something that no one could plan for, you receive a 0.
Tip: If
you had an event that does not meet the criteria of something that no one could
plan for and if you cannot prepare as much as you prefer, do the assignment as
best you can. A low grade is better than a 0.
If Blackboard is non-functioning, first,
please try a different browser to determine if the source of the problem is
browser-specific. If the problem persists within another browser, then submit a
Request for IT Support Form (opens is same
window/tab) or contact them
directly at 979-532-6568. See
the Blackboard Login Page for a link to IT Help Desk hours of operation. Also
contact your instructor immediately using a working form of communication
(email, phone, etc.) should a Blackboard outage occur.
WCJC’s Student Handbook explains
responsibilities for attendance and when a student should withdraw from the
course. With distance education, Blackboard stores extensive data on time spent
and where. Given the speed of an 8-week course covering 16 weeks’ of work,
students should log in at least 3 times a week to work online with quizzes,
resources, and student discussions. Students should also work offline,
including careful reading of the required sources.
WCJC’s Student Handbook explains student
responsibilities for civility. As with on-campus classrooms, each student is
expected not to disrupt the class or abuse any person. Blackboard stores what
you do (including messages you create with any tool), when you do it, and where
you go. Some Blackboard tools—such as the Discussion Board—not only store
messages permanently, but also make what you write visible to everyone in the
class. When communicating publicly with the whole class and with individuals,
you need to be both kind and collaborative. (See the Course Orientation for
specifics.)
WCJC’s Student Handbook explains student
responsibilities and provides examples of misconduct. It states “plagiarism and
cheating refer to the use of unauthorized books, notes, or otherwise securing
help during a test; copying tests [or] assignments….” The Handbook provides
details on college-level consequences. Also see the Academic Honesty Statement
for Online Classes in Getting Started. In this course, copying any part of an
assignment from the Internet or another source is a zero (0) on the assignment.
In the History
Department, instructors may not drop students. Students must drop their course.
WCJC sets the last date for a student to drop a course. That date is on the first
page of this syllabus and also on the Course Schedule in the General
Information section in the List of Due Dates. In making this decision, make
sure you also understand the 6 Drop Rule from the Texas legislature.
Under section 51.907 of the Texas Education
Code, “an institution of higher education may not permit a student to drop more
than six courses, including any course a transfer student has dropped at
another institution of higher education.” This statute was enacted by the State
of Texas in spring 2007 and applies to students who enroll in a public
institution of higher education as a first-time freshman in fall 2007 or later.
There are many exceptions to this rule. Please refer to the current WCJC
catalog for information.
Dates |
Some dates overlap in order to give students maximum flexibility during each unit. Last day
for you to “Drop” the course with grade of “W” – Holidays during the 1st 8-week class – Labor Day (September 3, 2018). |
Due Dates and Dates for Incentives |
All assignments are due at the time in the column Due Date/Hour. There is however a small incentive for completing all quizzes 2 days before the start of each Unit Exam. Those Incentive Dates are listed below. (For details in this Syllabus, click Ctrl-F and type the words About Incentive.) |
Password You Enter for Self-Tests |
Learning Quizzes and Evidence Quizzes have this password: selftest < no capitals, no spaces, and no punctuation Why that password? You measure what you know and do not know (thus the name Self-Test). Once you take it, Blackboard automatically displays its Full-Test and sometimes resources. |
Password You Enter for Unit 2 Exam and
Unit 3 Exam |
Unit 2 and Unit 3 do not use Respondus Monitor but have this password: onetimeonly < no capitals, no spaces, and no punctuation Why that password? Typing that password means you know you can take it one time only. |
The List of Due Dates and Where You Do
Your Work |
The List of Due Dates below have the same headings as the names on Learning Modules. For example, the first heading below—Getting Started (AUG 27-AUG 28…—is also the name of the 1st Learning Module that you use When writing work occurs within the time period of a Unit, the row in the Unit includes the phrase Required Writing and Evidence Requirements so you know where you do that work. |
Getting Started (AUG 27-AUG 28 with Respondus through SEP 9) & Staying Successful All 8 Weeks
Assignment |
Open Date/Hour |
Due Date/Hour |
Complete tasks listed on the last page of the Course Orientation link.
Caution:
If you cannot do those tasks by 8/28, email your
instructor a proposed date immediately
either as a Reply to my email to you in WCJC email on 8/25 or as a new message in Course Messages
(the email in this Blackboard course). |
8/27–8:00 AM |
8/28–11:59 PM |
Complete Distance Education’s Sample Respondus
Exam exactly as they require or complete
the Respondus Acknowledgement quiz. Caution:
You cannot take the three Unit Exams or the Final Exam
without successfully doing one of these. |
8/30-8:00 AM |
9/9-11:59 PM |
Unit 1: From New World to New Empires – 16th Century to 1776 (AUG 29-SEP 16)
Assignment (Listed in the Order They Become Open Date/Hour) |
Open Date/Hour |
Due Date/Hour |
Use the Lessons in Unit 1 and its Study Guide
(Textbook chapters: 1 to 6) |
– |
– |
Take the Learning Quizzes in Unit 1. Tip: See
instructions at the top of its folder. |
8/29–12:00 AM |
9/16–-11:59 PM |
Post and/or reply in Unit 1 Learning Discussions. Tip: See
instructions in the 1st post or in Discussion Instructions on the Course Menu
for how you use current content and how you post. These Discussions end one
day before the exam starts so others have a chance to use your work. |
8/29–12:00 AM |
9/13–12:00 AM (Ends 1 day before the exam starts) |
In Required Writing and Evidence Requirements, begin Evidence
Quizzes. Tip: See
instructions at the top of the folder for how to work efficiently. |
9/2–12:00 AM |
Continues in Unit 2. |
Take Unit 1 Exam
(Incentive Date for all
quizzes: 9/12-12:00 AM, ends 2 days before the exam starts) |
9/14–12:00 AM |
9/16–11:59 PM |
Unit 2: From Making a
Revolution to Making a Nation – 1776
to 1830s (SEP 16-OCT 1)
Assignment (Listed in the Order They Become Open Date/Hour) |
Open Date/Hour |
Due Date/Hour |
Use the Lessons in Unit 2 and its Study Guide
(Textbook chapters: 7 to 14.) |
– |
– |
Take all Learning Quizzes in Unit 2 (Tip: same
instruction as Unit 1.) |
9/16–12:00 AM |
10/1–11:59 PM |
Post and reply in Unit 2 Learning Discussions. (Tip: same instruction as Unit 1.) |
9/16–12:00 AM |
9/28–12:00 AM |
In Required Writing and Evidence Requirements,
complete Evidence Quizzes. You must complete the Self-Tests for Evidence
Quiz 1, 2, 3, and 4 to see the instructions for the 3-Part Writing Assignment
(9/11) and to post (9/18-9/25). |
Continues from Unit 1 |
10/1–11:59 PM |
In Required Writing and Evidence Requirements, post your paper in the 3-Part Writing discussion. Caution: You must post before 9/25 11:59 PM to do the other 2 parts of the 3-Part Writing Assignment. Late papers are not accepted. |
9/18–12:00 AM (Instructions are available 9/11) |
9/25–11:59 PM |
Take Unit 2 Exam (Incentive Date for all quizzes: 9/27-12:00
AM) |
9/29–12:00 AM |
10/1–11:59 PM |
Unit 3: Transforming the Nation–1830s to 1877 (SEP 30-OCT 16)
Assignment (Listed in the Order They Become Open Date/Hour) |
Open Date/Hour |
Due Date/Hour |
Use the Lessons in Unit 3 and its Study Guide
(Textbook chapters: 15 to 22.).) |
– |
– |
Take all Learning Quizzes in Unit 3. (Tip: same
instruction as Unit 1.) |
9/30–12:00 AM |
10/16–11:59 PM |
Post and reply in Unit 3 Learning Discussions (Tip: same instruction as Unit 1.) |
9/30–12:00 AM |
10/13–12:00 AM |
In Required Writing and Evidence Requirements when the 3-Part Writing reopens, peer review 2 other students’
papers on evidence (not grammar). Caution: I will provide you with feedback by email in Blackboard Messages. You
will not be able to post until you
follow the directions to respond to that feedback. Tip: I am also glad to talk with you by phone or face to face. |
10/3–12:00 AM (Feedback provided before end of
day 10/2.) |
10/10–1:00 PM (Notice extra time to post.) |
In Required Writing, when the 3-Part Writing reopens again, carefully
examine the comments about evidence by the 2 students who peer reviewed your
paper. Reply to their peer review according to the instructions. |
10/12-12:00 AM |
10/17–1:00 PM (Notice extra time to post.) |
Take Unit 3 Exam (Incentive Date for
all quizzes: 10/12-12:00 AM) |
10/14–12:00 AM |
10/16–11:59 PM |
Final Exam: 16th Century to 1877 (Opens early for those taking it early, OCT 8 –OCT 18)
Caution: You must successfully take the Sample
Respondus Exam (Getting Started) before you can take the Final Exam.
Assignment (Listed in the Order They Become Open Date/Hour) |
Open Date/Hour |
Due Date/Hour |
Check all existing grades. If you think there is an error, email the specifics. |
-- |
10/14–11:59 PM |
Take the Final Exam on either date. Caution:
History instructors are required to fail students for the course if they do not take this exam. |
10/13–7:00 PM |
10/14–11:59 PM |
10/17–7:00 PM |
10/18–11:59 PM |
|
Check all new grades. If you
think there is an error, email in Blackboard Messages the exact name of the
grade and your phone # before NOON. Caution: I will be
completing the review of the Respondus videos of the Final Exam over the
weekend. Those grades are not final until I announce that I have checked all
videos and deducted, if necessary, the penalty |
-- |
10/19 12:00
PM (noon) |
I reserve the right to modify the syllabus
during the semester.