This is what I showed you as we discussed
parts of the syllabus. The links for you are ones that I’d click on. Success is
possible but it—in my experience—has to be “intentional” and thinking about
that has saved me many times.
Students fail not because they are incompetent but because they do not understand:
· That college is different from high school – The rules are different and the risk shifts to the student. (With each of these bullets I am trying to make sure you understand because I want you to be OK.)
· That history is different from other classes—The History Department has rules that all history instructors must follow. I believe in these rules and support them, but you have to know about them to succeed.
·
That this history class is different from other classes—I have done things to try to help
different kinds of students both learn
what the History Department requires AND
be able to earn a decent grade. The
differences are to help you.
So what do you do? Do these 3 things carefully.
1. Use
this web link and its links so you can see what I’d show you if we were
together. Also, the searchable syllabus has a table of contents—something not
in the formal syllabus. You can see what’s there and click on it. You also can
always the magic combo of Ctrl-F for Find. Click that and then key the words
you want in the box. Tip: Try brief search letters first. Example: if you
want to find Learning Modules, try
the letters Modu first.
I have tried to shade in blue every statement or link of
something I’d show you if we were together. That may help you.
2. If you have questions, ask. The Discussion
named 2. Searchable Syllabus Discussion is just below this link. If you do not have a question, you might want to look to see if others
do. Answer if you know.
3. When you are done, click on the assignment
named 3. Searchable Syllabus Assignment.
You download the small file and state you agree and then submit it to
the Assignment. Do not just get it done. Do you can have a higher grade and
less misery, OK?
Table of Contents:
General Education Core Objectives:
History Department Student Learner
Outcomes:
Required Preparation to Use Blackboard:
1 Method (and the Only Safe Method)
to Know When Work Is Due
2 Methods to Locate Work in the
Course:
Method of Using Quizzes to Help
Students with Varied Backgrounds:
Course Requirements and Graded
Assignments
Learning Quizzes and the Exam for the
Unit:
3 Unit Exams and the Goal of Exam
Questions to Be Useful for Your Life
Departmental Final Exam—F for the Course If Not Taken
Requirement to Do the Sample
Respondus Exam Correctly in Order to Take the Final Exam
Caution
about the History Department’s Course Objectives and Its 25 Percent Writing
Requirement
How This Course Tries to Help Different Types of
Students Succeed with Writing about History:
Extra Credit (Incentives to Help You Persist)
Online Classroom Behavior
Policy/Classroom Civility:
Dropping a Course with a Grade of
“W”:
Addition: What does WCJC’s Orientation
for Students Say? Guys, it is an alert to you. Look!
Addition: Why Learning How to Figure
Things Out Is Useful
Addition: What Are the 5 Big Rewards of
College?
TSI
satisfied in Reading and Writing
You must
log in at least 3 times a week and check both Course Messages (Email) and Announcements. Both are on the
course menu (Blackboard’s menu you may
display on the left of the screen). Caution:
If I email you in Blackboard, you must read and reply or call your instructor
if you do not understand. You must read all announcements since your last
login.
Visual Examples:
· http://www.cjbibus.com/Course_Orientation_Whats_on_the_Course_Menu.pdf
I make
every effort to return messages (course email, phone, discussion postings)
within 36 hours (weekends and holidays excepted). Tip: I usually check course email again
before I leave for the day, but not after I leave for the day.
During Online Office Hours (listed on
the first page of this syllabus), I respond to course 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.
Examples:
David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen, and Mel Piehl,
The Brief American Pageant: A History of the Republic,
9th edition. The
ISBN for the 1 volume edition (41 chapters covering both History 1301 and
History 1302 is 9781337124645. This ISBN is a “bundle” and includes 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, and you must cite a specific
page from the textbook or a primary for your facts. (For details, see Evidence Quizzes & Part 1, Part 2,
& Part 3 Writing In the course.)
You will need a computer, an external webcam and microphone, a reliable internet connection, and access to the WCJC Blackboard site. Following the method recommended by the Distance Education Department, this course requires an external (clip-able) webcam.
Caution: You must use an external (clip-able)
webcam. Clip-able means that you:
1. Unclip
the external webcam from your laptop or from the monitor on a desktop computer.
2. Point
the external webcam at your laptop
or desktop computer showing all of
the areas left and right in the checklist.
3. When
you are done, clip the external webcam back on the laptop or monitor of your
desktop computer.
4. Then
you look again at Respondus Monitor’s screen to be sure the external webcam continues to point at your face and
shoulders and you stay in that position during the test.
Caution: Respondus Monitor alerts
instructors to problems with “facial recognition” so your staying so your face is consistently visible is
essential.
Tips
for buying the external webcam efficiently and cheaply. After Spring Break, I did check with Distance Education to
confirm that it is still true that WCJC bookstores have cheap but adequate
external webcams. I also learned that “students can also use their financial
aid to purchase them if need be.”
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. You will also find resources at Blackboard’s Help &
Resources (a link on Blackboard’s Login page).
This
course tries to help students with varied backgrounds so everyone can succeed.
You test your own knowledge of basic concepts and map locations and of the
basics of evidence for history (and jobs). If you already know the content, you
earn full points. If you do not, you use quizzes to teach yourself—and you then
earn full points. Each unit provides online lessons and a discussion where you
ask or answer questions. The History Department requires that 25 percent of
graded work consists of writing and that you use primaries (documents written
during the period covered by the question). The Blackboard course provides
everything you need to do the writing—except the textbook.
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
Visual Example of What’s on Every Unit (All have the same type of content and
tools such as quizzes, discussions, and an exam):
·
http://www.cjbibus.com/Course_Orientation_WhatInUnit_1302.pdf
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
helps you focus your work so you save time—and make a good grade on your Unit Exam.
The only
safe way to know when your work is due is the List of Due Dates. It is
available at the end of this syllabus and is also on the course menu
(Blackboard’s term for the menu that you can display on the left of the
screen).
·
Visual Example of List of Due Dates at the top
of Learning Modules: http://www.cjbibus.com/Course_Orientation_What_s_on_Learning_Modules_1302.pdf
This course
provides 2 methods available on what Blackboard calls the course menu:
·
Shortcut to All Graded Work (No Content or
Instructions)–Only provides
Blackboard tools to submit work
·
Learning Modules (All Content/All Graded
Work)—Provides everything you need:
study guides, instructions, lessons, primaries and all of the Blackboard tools
you use from assignments to quizzes to discussions to exams.
Visual Examples:
· http://www.cjbibus.com/Course_Orientation_Whats_on_the_Course_Menu.pdf
·
http://www.cjbibus.com/Course_Orientation_What_s_on_Learning_Modules_1302.pdf
Whether Learning Quizzes on concepts or map locations (200 points) or the Evidence Quizzes for history (40 points), 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 to save time and to correct or
complete what you do not know. Caution: With
Evidence Quizzes, this is particularly important because, if you miss many
questions, you must follow instructions carefully because writing about history is different from your prior
experiences.
2. If
you already know the content in the Self-Test and prove that by being correct
on over 80 percent of the questions on that Self-Test, you earn the points for
its Full-Test without taking it.
Your 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 so that you can earn full points while teaching yourself the vocabulary and map locations that you do not know. You may repeat as many times as you wish, and your highest score counts.
Visual Examples:
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.
The exact words for questions from these quizzes are also 8 (about a third) of the 25 questions on each Unit exam.
You work together as a group to ask or answer questions. The
questions can come from Learning Quizzes, Evidence Quizzes, content in a
Lesson, items in the Study Guide, or any content or work covered during the
Unit. For discussions where students help each other learn, your instructor
uses what Blackboard calls a “moderated” discussion where your instructor must
approve your post before it is visible to the group. If you
made an error that might damage other students, your instructor gives you
feedback so you can correct and repost. Tip: Your
instructor’s 1st post in the discussion contains a) how to use Blackboard’s
“moderated” discussions, b) examples of posts, and c) the grading rubric.
3 Unit
Exams and the Goal of Exam Questions to Be Useful for Your Life –Bullets
and Strong Emphasis Added (If you use an online reader, it “shouts.”) and 1 Addition
There are 25 questions in sets (so
students in Blackboard see different questions).
How to Study (Heading
Addition):
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. Tips:
·
The
best way to recognize and learn these things is in your instructor’s Lessons in
each Unit, not in a textbook.
·
The
best way to use the Lessons efficiently is to use them with the Unit’s Study Guide (top of each Unit’s
folder).
·
The Lessons are like a textbook that has bullets
and that you can search.
Example: if you need more about something in the Study Guide
about Lesson 2, click on that Lesson, press Ctrl-F (for Find), and type a key
word in the Find box. Click through all uses of that word in that Lesson. If
you need help with searching for something, post a question: in the Learning
Discussion.
Examples:
Visual
Examples:
The Final Exam consists of 25 questions, at 4 points each. A
review is provided in Learning Modules. Cautions:
·
Departmental policy is an F for the course if
you do not take the Final. Example: if you have an A average for all the
prior work in the course and if you
do not take the Final Exam, your instructor is
required to enter an F for your final LETTER grade for
the course.
·
Do not ignore the requirement to do the Sample Respondus Exam correctly in
order to do the Final Exam. Meet that due date early in the 3 weeks that the
Sample Respondus Exam is available to be sure you are safe.
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, we use Respondus Lockdown
Browser only with the Final Exam. You have a 3-week period to take the Sample
Respondus Exam and have me watch it so you can be sure you know what to do when
you take the Final Exam.
All students must observe carefully Distance Education’s
excellent video. Online at How to Test with Respondus. Link
address: https://softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/8hkmXWAjVbt9S4/html. Respondus 1-page checklist of each action
shown in the video serves a reminder to
students and a way for your prof to grade
your video.
Click here for the Respondus 1-page Checklist or here if you prefer to see the checklist with more space between lines.
The one that
fits on 1-page is easier to use as a checklist that
you follow when you set up the test area and when you do the
Respondus Steps. I also use it
to grade by.
Tip: In this course,
you may use this 1-page checklist to help
yourself to do Respondus correctly in the Sample Respondus Exam. At the start
of your taking the Sample Respondus Exam, show the Checklist. Then
check it off as you work. Redo incorrect steps until you know you followed the
checklist.
Personal
Comment about why I take Respondus and cheating so seriously.
1. I believe that people who get away with cheating are not prepared for the world of work—unless they live with mom until they die. In my view of life, it’s not honorable for me to let you cheat because you will be damaged.
2. Also consider that a prof who let people cheat would get in trouble with WCJC and—with Respondus—if I let people cheat, WCJC could prove it with same videos that prove that you cheated.
Think about both of those for a bit.
Exam Conduct Requirement: |
Consequence for Violation of Exam Conduct: |
Valid photo ID
shown |
|
Correct placement
of webcam |
|
Complete
environment scan |
|
Microphone turned
on and recording |
Penalty up to
minus 30 percentage points |
Sufficient
lighting of the testing environment |
|
Student is in
seated position with computer on hard surface (desk, table, TV tray etc.) |
Penalty up to
minus 30 percentage points |
Student remains in
webcam view during exam |
Penalty up to 0
for the Exam |
No unauthorized
materials near desk area |
Penalty up to 0
for the Exam |
No talking with
others during the exam or playing of music or other audio recordings. |
Penalty up to 0
for the Exam |
You
must earn 5 for points for the grade
“Video Review“ to see the Final Exam. You may earn 10
or 15 or 20 points for this assignment if you act early and are correct the
1st time as measured by the Respondus 1-page checklist (above):
·
20 points - 1st
week Respondus is available and you meet Distance Education’s (DE’s)
requirements the 1st time.
·
15 points - 2nd week
Respondus is available and you meet DE’s requirements the 1st time.
·
10 points - 3rd week
Respondus is available and you meet DE’s requirements the 1st time
·
5 points - Any time in the three-week period but you had to try more than 1 time to meet DE’s
requirements
To
succeed the 1st time with
the sample exam and have no
Penalties with the Final Exam, do these practical things:
1.
Use the top of the Respondus 1-page checklist. Examine
where you will take the Sample Respondus Exam and later the Final Exam. Check
off each item
to be sure you have prepared the room as required. Caution: If
you were correct with the Sample Respondus Exam, you must also be
correct on the Final Exam. Do not trust your memory or you will lose points on
the Final Exam. Check off each item for the Final too.
2.
Use the bottom of the Respondus 1-page checklist as you look
carefully at the Distance Education video (above) to understand what you must do. Then use the 1-page checklist as
you do the Sample Respondus Exam--Just tell me in the video that you are using
it. As you work, slow down and look at yourself. Respondus Monitor
lets you see how you did and—if you look at yourself and realize you are
incorrect—it lets you try again. Get
it right.
3.
If you trouble making your name readable
and your picture clear enough in the external webcam so your
instructor can confirm your identity, you may make a clear picture of your
photo ID and email it to me using Course Messages (Email). When you take the
Sample Respondus Exam and the Final Exam, remind me a) orally
in the video and b) by an email just before the exam that I have a picture of
your Photo ID on file.
4.
When you are sure you meet the requirements and want me to check
the video, reply in the Respondus Sign up discussion. I check your last sample exam and reply in the discussion
saying to check your Course Messages.
5.
When I say I have checked, go to Course Messages. I either tell you that you did fine and enter the points or—if there is a
problem—I send you screen prints so you can see what I see and you can redo the Sample Respondus
Exam correctly. If you do not understand, just email me back or call during
office hours. I am
glad to help you succeed, not only with history but with meeting these
requirements all Distance Education
students must meet.
6.
Before you do the Final Exam, use the Respondus 1-page checklist
to remind yourself of the steps. Tip: If where you live has people who play loud music or
come into your room even with a sign on the door or if you do not want to buy
an external webcam, remember WCJC has Respondus testing facilities at its
campus locations.
The 3-Part Writing
lets you look at the same content (what you have to learn) and use the same
focus on evidence (what you have to do with evidence) in 3 assignments—a paper,
2 peer reviews, and a reply to those peer reviews. Instead of 3 sets of content
with your starting over with each assignment, you have 1 set of content and 3
experiences with the same content and you can start to understand how to work
with evidence. One student expressed this very well at the end of her class: “I
figured out how you were trying to help us.”
Writing assignments
are freshman level, brief, and use only the textbook and primaries 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 5 very basic rules for
evidence—rules essential not just for history but keeping a job. 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. The Searchable
Syllabus Assignment provides a link to the 5 Good Habits for Evidence and how
they are essential for jobs.
You post your
writing in a type of Blackboard discussion that requires that you post before you can see other
students’ writings. Caution: 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 when each of 3 Parts stop and start 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 and emailed me that you have, 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 List of Due Dates, you must post your
peer reviews of 2 other students’ work in the same discussion and later, in
that same discussion, reply to the feedback from those who peer reviewed you.
In both cases, you focus on content and evidence using the Good Habits for
Evidence rubric, not grammar or
style.
·
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
following the instructions and using the specific citation for each required
source provided in the instructions.
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 reply to the 2
people who peer reviewed your paper, you write a brief, evidence-centered
reply. Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary defines
the word reply as “a thorough response to all issues, points,
or questions raised.”
Feedback: Your
instructor marks a brief rubric and emails it to you in Course Messages.
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 uses 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 being written work:
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 written work must be over 25 percent of
your final grade, a requirement for all history instructors.
Examples:
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 a rubric
that tells you which of the 5 Good Habits for Evidence could help you avoid
problems revealed by your paper. Third, with permission of the History Department
to do this experiment to try to help students, it divides written grades in
half:
Examples:
This course does not offer extra credit to help a few people make
a higher grade. It offers extra credit to all students
for actions that make them better students. 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 percent increase
·
If you post as its rubric explains and if you
earn over 14 points out of 20 on the Unit Discussion
·
If you make over 60 on the Unit 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 percent of the questions on that Self-Test (In other words, you earn the points for its Full-Test without taking the Full-Test. At the end of each Unit, your instructor enters both your points for the Full-Test and the 1-point incentive.)
·
Or complete—if you make less than
80 percent on the Self-Test—the Full-Test to 80 percent or higher on 1 day
before the Unit Exam starts. Why Do the Full-Tests in addition to the
1-point incentive? a) The Full-Tests let you teach yourself any missed concepts
by taking the test as many times as you want. b) You pre-learn about one-third
of the Unit Exam questions. c) That the highest score counts is also an
incentive to persist—what Duckworth calls “grit,” something
everyone needs for college and a job and life.
Examples: Thinkers who may
help you think about success with grit and with 5 abilities to think well:
·
What’s “grit”?: Click on this video of a Ted Talk by Angela Duckworth (URL: https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance)
·
"Teach
Students How to Learn: Metacognition is the
Key!" by Saundra McGuire. Click here for 5 abilities you need to think well, with the last being “know what you know
and know what you don’t know”.
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:
Examples
of the 1.11:
If there
is a problem with a grade or with anything incomplete about an assignment,
your instructor enters 1.11 as a
temporary placeholder for the grade and posts a comment with that grade
telling you what you need to do. You must check Blackboard for your grades.
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 List of Due Dates to determine if you have conflicts and immediately
propose an earlier date. Caution: Use the List of Due Dates (not the
Calendar, not My Grades). Ask; do not assume.
§ With a valid, written excuse for something that no one could plan
for, these rules apply.
o If you
miss an exam, your make-up exam is taken on the date of the Final Exam.
o 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 or 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 Blackboard’s Help &Resources page (upper right side of Blackboard’s 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.
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.
Caution: With how
I grade and how I require you to use and cite sources I provide in the course
or specific textbook page, I can not only catch cheating without trying and
also prove it.
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 in the Essential
Information section (below). 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.
Make sure you
click the links if you are not positive that you understand every issue.
·
“Estimate
2 -3 hours of study time outside of each classroom hour (more may be needed
for certain classes).” Example: if you are taking 12 credit hours each week, you need to spend 24 (12 X 2) hours in study.
That means 12 + 24 = 36 per week
on college. If you need 3 hours of study, 12 +36 =
48. For the source, click here. |
·
“The
more hours you work, the less classes you may want to take.” Example: if you
are taking 12 credit hours each week, the “Maximum Hours Outside
Employment” is “20-hours/week or less.” For the source, click here. |
·
“NOTE:
You must maintain 15 credit hours every semester (or attend in the summer) in
order to complete an Associate’s degree within two years.” For the source,
click here. |
·
“Do
not take more than you can be
successful in or you will risk lowering your GPA or losing financial aid.
Manage your time wisely.” For source, click here. |
·
College
and high school are different in many ways, including who pays for it and who
manages your time. “High School is
mandatory and free.” “College
is voluntary and you pay for it.” In high school, “your time is structured by
others”; in college, you manage your
own time.” For the source, click here and look at the 1st table. |
·
College
and high school are different in many ways, including in how teaching works and office hours as times instructors want
students to come, and what passing is. For the source, click here. |
·
‘You
can graduate only if your final average for all classes is at least
a 2.0 or C. Next semester registration or transferring to a
university may be prevented if your grade point average (GPA) is
below a 2.0. Classes with a grade of D often won't transfer.” For
the source, click here and look at the bottom of the last table. |
·
Student
loans (FYI: Bankruptcy is not an easy solution.) For a Department of Education source, click here. |
·
Six
Drop Rule – a Texas requirement
about the maximum number of drops.
Syllabus Search Word:
Six |
URL for 1st 4 rows: http://www.cjbibus.com/College_orientation_hours_taken_of_study_of_outside_work.PNG)
URL for 5th -6th row: http://www.cjbibus.com/College_orientation_differences_high_school_and_college_4tables.htm
URL for 7th row: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/bankruptcy
|
Make sure you
click the links if you are not positive that you understand every row.
·
“Why Historical Thinking Matters”-Click on this
“interactive presentation where Professor Sam Wineburg discusses how
historians investigate what happened in the past.”
(URL: http://historicalthinkingmatters.org/why/)
Wineburg researches how thinking works. |
·
Figuring out things is the hard part of writing (and earning a
living). For example, over 60% of students since 2011 usually did not
know basics such as being factually accurate when writing about real
things until this course. Click here to see what past students said they did not know before. |
Section 1 on page 1 is full of the risks of college—but only if you do not make your work “intentional” and plan for it. But what are the rewards of college?
1. Some employers require specific courses or programs for specific jobs.
2.
Some employers want to know that you have been
able to teach yourself enough to pass college courses.
Think of it this way. If you were paying someone money for work, you would want
proof that person had all of these traits that you will be practicing if you do
the work in Section 2:
·
“Grit”
·
Good Habits
· Self-Management
3.
With a history course requiring primaries and
evidence, you can gain from mentored
practice in figuring something out. (See
the phrase with Wineburg in Section 3.)
Mentor: “a trusted counselor or guide https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mentor |
Practice in figuring something out matters for your success:
· To be able to figure something out is a survival skill now that you are the manager of your own life.
· To be able to figure something out is a skill employers will pay for—and employers will keep you in a job when they have to layoff others.
· To figure something out is to experience joy. If you have not had that feeling yet, it is time to try it.
4.
College provides the general knowledge to protect your future.
The required courses for a freshman program are based on the establishment of a curriculum called the liberal arts. Notice the meaning. You want to be a free person.
Meaning of liberal arts in "[1745-1755; trans. of
L artes liberals - works befitting
a free man]” [bold mine - in
other words, for a person who was not a slave or serf.] Note: in the late 1700s (think about that famous date of 1776)
3/4s of world population was in servitude (slavery or serfdom). Only 1/4 profited
from their own labor--and learning. Root word of liberal: "1325-75; ME <
L liberalis of freedom;
befitting the free, equiv. to liber free + alis A] “liberalis
of freedom, befitting the free” From Merriam Webster ‘s
Unabridged Dictionary. |
5. As part of your college experience, history can help you because it is the vocabulary of our nation. As Wineburg says, history is not “boring names, facts, dates.” Instead, history introduces you to the basics of:
· Demographics
· Economics
· Government
· Knowledge, including science, technology, culture, arts, and how we transfer knowledge to the next generation
· Religion
· Sociology
The more you learn, the more you can learn. Click here for vocabulary and the “Mathew effect” on learning.
FYI: When I say the word college, I
do not just mean a 4-year degree. In this economy and for you as an individual any of these paths could be fine: