Student Syllabus Cover Sheet

Revised June, 2006

 
                                               

Semester and Year - Fall 2012               .

CRN (Course Reference Number), Course Prefix, Number and Title – CRN 10879 - HIST 1301-404

 

Course Meeting Days, Times and Location (Campus, Building, and Room number) MWF, 12:00 pm - 12:50 pm  FBTC 202

Instructor’s Name - C.J. Bibus, Ed.D.

Instructor’s Telephone number(s) – 281.239.1577 (This phone is located in my office at Fort Bend Tech Center, not Sugarland) Checked once a day as early as possible.

Instructor’s email addressbibusc@wcjc.edu - Checked once a day as early as possible.

Instructor’s webpage for 1302http://facultyweb.wcjc.edu/cbibus/i_1301_main.htm - Provides handouts you may view online or copy to your computer or flash drive.

 

Instructor’s Office Hours and Office Location Office Hours at FBTC: 9:30-11:00 (MWF), 12:50-1:50 (M), 12:50-2:50 (W). Office Hours at SUGUH: 8:55-9:25 (TTR); 12:05-1:05 (T); 12:05-12:35 (TR) - Or by appointment.

Course Catalog Description – Survey beginning with the European background for the discovery of America and continuing to the close of Reconstruction in 1877. Social, economic, cultural, military, political, and diplomatic developments are emphasized. The diversity of the American culture is stressed and the wide varieties of contributions from all Americans are included.

 

Instructor’s Grading System – Student grade will be determined by reading quizzes (to help you determine what you need to read), participation, a short essay on content essential to understanding how history changes, and objective exams ending each of the three major time periods, or Units, covered in the course. Students also write the essay exams ending Unit 1, Unit 2, and Unit 3. Alternatively, for their third written assignment, students may choose to write a more challenging writing assignment, a comparison. All written assignments are graded using the Evidence Rubric/Checklist for the course. See syllabus for course policies, exam dates, grading policies, and points for each type of assignment.

 

Instructor’s Attendance Policy  Attendance will be taken daily at the beginning of the class.

Last day to “Drop” course with grade of “W”  11/16/2012

 

 

* Any student with a disability or other special circumstance requiring academic accommodations or other consideration in order to successfully complete the requirements of this course should identify himself or herself individually to the instructor to discuss the matter in a private and confidential manner.

** Misconduct for which discipline may be administered at WCJC includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the college (plagiarism and cheating refer to the use of unauthorized books, notes, or otherwise securing help in a test, copying tests, assignments, reports, or term papers).

 


American History 1301

Syllabus – Fall 2012

Instructor: C.J. Bibus, Ed.D.

U.S. History to 1877

Wharton County Junior College

Course Website: http://facultyweb.wcjc.edu/cbibus/i_1301_main.htm

Office Phone: 281.239.1577–Checked once a day as early as possible.

Email: bibusc@wcjc.eduChecked once a day as early as possible.

Office: Fort Bend Tech Center 240-G (MWF)

Location at Sugar Land: SUGUH 234, faculty area (TTR)

Office Hours at FBTC: 9:30-11:00 (MWF), 12:50-1:50 (M), 12:50-2:50 (W).

Office Hours at SUGUH: 8:55-9:25 (TTR); 12:05-1:05 (T); 12:05-12:35 (TR) - Or by appointment.

 

Course Overview and Goals

Prerequisite: THEA reading and writing requirements met.

 

Course Description: Survey beginning with the European background for the discovery of America and continuing to the close of Reconstruction in 1877. Social, economic, cultural, military, political, and diplomatic developments are emphasized. The diversity of the American culture is stressed and the wide varieties of contributions from all Americans are included.

 

Course Objectives:

1)       to develop critical thinking skills which would include the knowledge, comprehension, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of the significant events of United States history

2)       to enable the student to understand the primary elements of cultural heritage and the cultural diversity of the United States

3)       to foster in the student an understanding of the uses of historical knowledge, to show how the past helps to explain the present, and to assist the student in developing an historical perspective in and for one’s personal life

4)       to provide students with a base of historical knowledge and the tools to further their studies in other disciplines and as transfer students to other colleges

 

Academic and Personal Integrity: Consequences of plagiarism and cheating during examinations include referral to administrators without any opportunity for making redress, a failing grade for the course, disciplinary probation, or suspension (dismissal). Plagiarism and cheating include use of unauthorized books or notes, securing help in a test, or copying tests or assignments; they will result in a failing grade for the assignment. If any portion of a writing assignment is copied from the Internet or another source, the result will be an F (0) on the assignment.

 

Attendance Policy: Attendance will be taken daily at the beginning of the class. I will consider active attendance throughout the course favorably when computing final grades that are borderline. Active attendance means 1) using online quizzes to determine what you need to read, 2) reading carefully and determining what you need help on before class, and 3) using that preparation before class to participate positively in problem solving in class.

 

Classroom Civility: Disruptive behavior that is a consistent problem will result in the student’s dismissal from this course. The term “classroom disruption” means behavior a reasonable person would view as substantially or repeatedly interfering with the conduct, instruction, and education of a class. Examples include resorting to physical threats or personal insults, coming to class under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance other than prescriptions, or abusing students or instructors with offensive remarks. They also include repeatedly leaving and entering the classroom without authorization, making loud or distracting noises, persisting in speaking without being recognized, using cellular phones and/or similar devices during class. (If needed, an empty desk near the door will be available for them.)

 

Due Dates and Your Responsibilities: It is your responsibility to talk to me if you do not know what to do or need help. The earlier we talk, the better your chances. With due dates for Unit Exams (essay or objective parts) and the History Changes Essay, there are no extensions unless it is appropriate to make an extension available to all of you. You have these responsibilities:

1.       If your planning at the beginning of the term shows you cannot do these assignments on time, such as having previously scheduled a trip, tell me immediately and suggest an earlier date for you do the assignment.

2.       If something happens that you cannot plan for, such as suddenly becoming very ill (doctor’s note required) or having a death in the family, call and email me immediately and provide a valid, written excuse. With a valid, written excuse, these rules apply.
- If you miss any objective exam, your make-up exam is all essay and is taken on the date of the Final Exam.
- If you miss the History Changes Essay or an essay exam, you receive an extension, set by me, with no penalty.

 

 

Course Website and This Course

This course provides online resources from my faculty website. These resources can save you time and match how you prefer to learn. You can view, print, or save these resources to your computer or a flash drive. If you need help in learning how to do this, please ask, including if you want the benefit of online resources even though you have limited Internet access or limited computer access. If you have neither, see me for alternatives for assignment instructions and for the one resource you cannot get from class. Tip: I do not recommend printing anything except resources that can help you take notes efficiently in class.

3.            

 

Basic Organization of the Course and How You Can Know All Possible Questions Before Exams

The course consists of three Units or major time periods that reveal shifts in our history:

§         Unit 1: From New World to New Empires - the 16th Century to 1763

§         Unit 2: From Making a Revolution to Making a Nation -1763 to 1830s

§         Unit 3: Transforming the Nation - 1830s to 1877

 

Your Course Website provides content for the three Units.  Each Unit is organized in the same way:

1.       Each Unit begins with a list of all possible essay questions you might be asked in the essay part of the exam that ends the Unit.

2.       Each Unit has three subdivisions, about one-third of the content, to make learning more manageable.

Each of the subdivisions within a Unit is organized in the same way. Each has:

§         A link listing all of the approximately 40 questions in a Reading Quiz

§         Aids, including for self-testing, to help you save time and to make it easier to take notes in class

When we complete the content, you take a paper quiz of 10 questions chosen from the 40. Practical realities of paper quizzes in class mean that quizzes happen one time only with no make-up permitted.

3.       Each ends with a section, Bringing It All Together, to help you bring together content from the beginning to the end of the Unit so you can see where the major shifts are occurring. To help your understanding, use these aids as you work through the Unit.

 

There are no surprises in the two parts of the exams:

§         For the essay part of the exam, you know all possible essay questions from the list that began the Unit (# 1 above).

§         For the objective part of the exam, you know all possible objective questions (about 120) from the combination of the three Reading Quizzes (# 2 above).

 

Although there are no surprises to students in the two parts of the exam, each student sees a different essay and objective exam:

§         From that list of all essay questions (# 1 above), there are a minimum of four paper versions of the essay exam, each with a few choices for the two essays

§         From the 120 objective questions (# 2 above), there are four paper versions of the exam each with 40 questions

 

 

Points for the Final Letter Grade, Points for Course Assignments, and Planning for Your Success

The grading system adds points to determine your grade. You can—and should—determine your current total as you earn points and save any returned papers until the end of the course. If you need help in estimating your average during the course, just ask. Your Total at the end of the course determines your letter grade. An A is 900+ points; a B, 800+ points; a C, 700+ points; a D, 600+ points, and an F, 594 or fewer points. If your final average is .5 or higher, the grade is rounded up. For example, if you have:

§         An average of 89.5% (895 points earned ÷ 1000 points possible), you have an A

§         An average of 89.4% (894 points earned ÷ 1000 points possible), you have a B

 

Consider in your planning for success the small extra credits provided in the course to encourage habits that result your doing better work and therefore your earning a higher grade. You identify the extra credits that you plan to do at the beginning of the course.

 

The table shows the percentage of the total grade for types of assignments, their points, and a description.

Percent

Points

Description of Each Course Assignment

20%

200

  40 points: Preparation (reading before class, taking notes in class) - 16 points for Unit 1, 12 for Unit 2, 12 for Unit 3.

 10 points: History Changes Essay.

150 points, 2 essays at 25 points at the end of Units 1, 2, and 3 (each 50 points).

10%

100

10 objective Quizzes done in class at 10 points each– There are 9 quizzes (3 for each of 3 Units) to help you determine what you need to read and a 10th quiz to help you refresh your memory for the Final Exam.

20%

200

Unit 1’s Exam Objective (200 points, 40 questions at 5 points each)

20%

200

Unit 2’s Exam Objective (200 points, 40 questions at 5 points each)

20%

200

Unit 3’s Exam Objective (200 points, 40 questions at 5 points each)

10%

100

Final Exam, objective – The History Department’s exam covers the entire course. If not taken, an F for the Course.

100%

1000

Total Points for the Course – This means that I divide your Total by 1000 to determine your average.

 

 

Overview of Objective Assignments

Reading Quizzes Within Unit 1, 2, and 3: Use these quizzes before you read to identify key content to notice when you read. You can use the saved or printed link as a place to record such things as where you found the answer in the textbook.

 

Objective Part of the Exams That End Unit 1, 2, and 3: The content in this exam is in the Basic Organization of the Course.

 

Final Examination That Ends the Course: The Final Exam was written by the History Department. It is multiple choice and covers the entire course. Students who do not take the Final Exam receive an F for the course (not just the exam itself).

 

The course provides a paper quiz, Quiz J (for 10 points), to help you refresh your memory of approximately 100 questions from Quizzes A through I. You can see a link to all of the questions in Quiz J.

 

 

Overview of Types of Written Assignments and the Evidence Checklist/Rubric

History Changes Essay: A lab for a chemistry or biology class is equivalent to what writing about history is for history. Chemistry or biology instructors may do an introductory lab so students know what to do in a lab and how grading works. For this history course, the History Changes Essay is the introductory lab so everyone must do it. After the date in the Course Schedule, when you click on the History Changes Essay at the Course Website, you see all possible questions, a table comparing the content (also provided as a handout), the specific parts of the textbook for that content, and resources to help you.

 

You take the History Changes Essay in class, and you may use your textbook during the class. You each receive a half-sheet of paper with one question from the list of possible questions. You must answer the question that you receive. You write briefly (and not on the back) according to the Evidence Checklist/Rubric and the Goal for Written Assignments (both on the next page).

 

Essay Part of the Exams That End Unit 1, 2, and 3 (Each at 50 Points): The content in an essay exam is covered in the Basic Organization of the Course. Alternatively, for your third written assignment, you may choose to write a more challenging writing assignment, a comparison. If you want more information on this alternative, contact me.

 

Grading and the Evidence Checklist/Rubric: The word checklist means a list of things necessary for success (such as a pilot’s checklist for takeoff) and you either do them and succeed or you do not and failure occurs. The word rubric usually means a way to give feedback that is useful but quick for both instructors and students.

 

The term checklist/rubric indicates this is both a checklist for success with evidence and a way to give feedback. The items in the checklist, abbreviated as CL 1 through CL 5, are common standards in academics and for jobs that depend on evidence, but they are written very informally and specifically to what you need to do in this course.

 

CL 1

For your source of facts, you use only the textbook chosen by the History Department and the sources provided at our Course Website. Do not use Internet websites, another textbook, or any other source—including your own memory.

CL 2

You may write facts in your own words or you may use exact words from the textbook as long as you use quotation marks according to the specific rules in The Bedford Handbook. For example, you cannot copy an author’s phrases without quotation marks or just replace a few words in an author’s sentence. This is what The Bedford Handbook calls “half-copy” plagiarism (page 692).

CL 3

If you use another’s words, you must be sure either not to change them or—if you change them—to follow the specific rules in The Bedford Handbook to reveal any changes you made to those words.

CL 4

You must use the source to verify what you write. If you cannot verify the fact, do not write it and do not assume that the source agrees with you. If you are certain something is true and you cannot find it clearly in our sources, ask me for help.
You also must select facts to reveal the facts accurately. Examples:

- If a question is about something specific (such as a time, type of person, or region), verify that the source is about that specific thing.

- If the source covers facts about two or more sides or positions, do not include only one side as though the other did not occur.

CL 5

With most writing work, if asked, you must be able to state exactly where (a specific page) in the source that each fact came from—whether you wrote the words or the author did. With the alternative third assignment, you must cite according to the instructions.

 

Grading and the Goal of Written Assignments: One of the most powerful ways to learn something is to try to teach it. If you follow the standards in the Evidence Checklist/Rubric and you try to understand what happened so you can teach it as simply but as accurately as you can, you will have something worth writing. If you then write in a common sense way as though you were teaching your cousin history that he or she needed to understand, you will succeed in these assignments.

 

Purpose of Extra Credit and Extra Credits with Objective and Written Assignments

This course uses grading, including small extra credits, to encourage habits that increase your odds of learning history:

§         Keeping up increases odds for success. If you score 9 or 10 on the paper Reading Quiz given in class, you earn 2 extra credit points.

§         The History Changes Essay is the introductory lab for writing in history, and grading uses the Evidence Checklist/Rubric. The points are low (10 points), but you can earn 10 extra credit points (recorded in History Changes Essay_ec in your grade record) by following the instructions you receive with your graded History Changes Essay.

 

Required Textbook

Required Textbook:  Edward Ayers, Lewis Gould, David Oshinsky, and Jean Soderlund. American Passages: A History of the United States. 2nd or 3rd or 4th Edition, including those called a Compact Edition. If the book has 32 chapters, it will work.

 

Caution: You cannot use the BRIEF, 4th edition which has 2 fewer chapters than the other editions, including the other 4th editions. If you need details on how to recognize this book, just ask.

 

Course Schedule - Major Dates and Holidays, Where to Go at Your Course Website, and When Content Is Visible

The table shows the major dates and what you bring to class, what you do, the section of the Course Website to use, and when content is visible. Units end in a two-part exam—essays and objective. The Final Exam does not have an essay.

Date

What You Do on These Major Dates

Section of Course Website

Content Visible

8/27

Orientation – Syllabus, Course Website, and Your Course Plan

8/29S

Departmental Pre-test

 

Start Unit 1@  - In the first days, you only see Reading Quiz A and its content.

Click on Unit 1

8/29

9/01

No class (Labor Day Holiday)

9/17N

Write History Changes Essay – in ink, open book, last 30 minutes

Click on History Changes Essay

9/10

10/03S &N

Take Unit 1’s Exam Objective and Essays

 

Start Unit 2@

Click Unit 2

10/03

11/05 11/07S

Take Unit 2’s Exam Objective (11/07) and Essays (11/09-last ˝ hour)

11/09N

Start Unit 3@

Click Unit 3

11/02

11/16

Last day you can drop a course (Our Department does not drop students.)

11/22-23

No class (Thanksgiving Holiday)

12/07S &N

Take Unit 3’s Exam Objective and Essays

 

Start to refresh for the Departmental Final Exam with Quiz J.

Click Final Exam - Quiz J

12/07

12/10S

12:30-2:30- Take Quiz J and the Final Exam (1 Scan-tron for both.)

@ Lectures follow the order of visuals n the Unit. Reading Quizzes occur in class on the day we finish the content covered by that quiz.

S Bring 1 Scan-Tron and a #2 lead pencil    N Bring notebook paper and an ink pen.

 

Schedule for the 3 Units - Textbook Chapters, Resources, and Reading Quizzes

Unit

Content Visible

Chapters to Use

Part of the Unit to Use for the Resources and the Reading Quizzes

Reading Quiz

Unit Ends

Unit 1

8/29

1, 2

Foundations (Where We Began); Colonization: Spain, France, England, and the Netherlands

Quiz A

10/03

 

 

2, 3

Comparing the English Colonies: Examining Events in the 3 Sections

Quiz B

 

 

 

3, 4

Comparing the English Colonies: Traits; Examining Empire and the Colonies

Quiz C

 

 

Unit 2

10/03

51

Path to Revolution and War

Quiz D

11/05

 

 

62 , 7

A New Government of Small-r republicanism; The Federalist Republic

Quiz E

 

 

 

8, 9, 103

Essential Transformations: What Changed from 1800 to 1840

Quiz F

 

 

Unit 3

11/05

104, 11, 12

Reform and Change: Comparing the Sections

Quiz G

8/07

 

 

13, 14

Manifest Destiny and the Impending Crisis

Quiz H

 

 

 

15, 16

Civil War and Reconstruction

Quiz I

 

 

 

1 With 5, also read the Declaration of Independence.

 

3 For this issue, stop reading at the heading “The Expanding Role of Religion” (in the 4th edition “Reform and Religion”).

2 With 6, also read selections from the Constitution and all of the Bill of Rights.

 

4For this issue, start reading at the heading “The Expanding Role of Religion” (in the 4th edition “Reform and Religion”).

 

I reserve the right to modify the syllabus and the schedule during the semester.

 

This is the same table that you use to record your course plan. I suggest strongly that you copy your choices here so you know what you said you planned to do, and you can also record your grades as you earn them. That way you can keep track of your own grade. You can determine your own average by dividing your current total where you see each broad line.

 

Possible Assignment or Extra Credit Available to You in This Course

Possible Points for Assignment

Possible

Extra Credit

X If You Plan to Do This

Points You Actually Earned

Divide Total by

Reading Quiz A – quiz in class

10

0

 

 

 

    Made 9 or 10 on the quiz in class

0

2

 

 

 

History Changes Essay – in class

10

0

 

 

 

    History Changes Essay_ec

0

10

 

 

 

Reading Quiz B – quiz in class

10

0

 

 

 

    Made 9 or 10 on the quiz in class

0

2

 

 

 

Reading Quiz C – quiz in class

10

0

 

 

 

    Made 9 or 10 on the quiz in class

0

2

 

 

 

Unit 1’s Preparation for class%

16

0

 

 

 

Unit 1’s Objective Exam

200

0

 

 

 

Unit 1’s Essay Exam (2 essays, 25 each)

50

0

 

 

 

Your Current Total

-

-

-

 

306

Reading Quiz D – quiz in class

10

0

 

 

 

    Made 9 or 10 on the quiz in class

0

2

 

 

 

Reading Quiz E – quiz in class

10

0

 

 

 

    Made 9 or 10 on the quiz in class

0

2

 

 

 

Reading Quiz F – quiz in class

10

0

 

 

 

    Made 9 or 10 on the quiz in class

0

2

 

 

 

Unit 2’s Preparation for class%

12

0

 

 

 

Unit 2’s Objective Exam

200

0

 

 

 

Unit 2’s Essay Exam (2 essays, 25 each)

50

0

 

 

 

Your Current Total

-

-

-

 

598

Reading Quiz G – quiz in class

10

0

 

 

 

    Made 9 or 10 on the quiz in class

0

2

 

 

 

Reading Quiz H – quiz in class

10

0

 

 

 

    Made 9 or 10 on the quiz in class

0

2

 

 

 

Reading Quiz I – quiz in class

10

0

 

 

 

    Made 9 or 10 on the quiz in class

0

2

 

 

 

Unit 3’s Preparation for class%

12

0

 

 

 

Unit 3’s Objective Exam

200

0

 

 

 

Unit 3’s Essay Exam (2 essays, 25 each)

50

0

 

 

 

Your Current Total

-

-

-

 

890

Quiz J as a refresher for the Final Exam

10

0

 

 

 

Final Exam – If not taken, an F for the entire COURSE (not just the exam)

100

0

X

 

 

Your Current Total

-

-

-

 

1000

% How I measure Preparation: When I mark the seating chart (or change it if needed); when I give 10-minute short essay questions in class.

 


 

WCJC Department:

History – Dr. Bibus

Contact Information:

281.239.1577 or bibusc@wcjc.edu

Last Updated:

2012

WCJC Home:

http://www.wcjc.edu/