What Your Prof Would Show You If We Were Together in Class

To see what your prof would show you if we were together in class, scan down the syllabus looking for light green boxes, usually with links.

If you are looking for opportunities in the Syllabus to earn extra points by acting in ways that usually result in higher grades, look for the pink. These incentives are covered specifically in the Course Plan you submit.

If you are looking for how to tell what to do when and for course policies about look for the red in the syllabus. These issues are covered specifically in the Course Schedule at the end of the syllabus and in a separate link on the Course Menu.

Course Information

Prerequisites:

TSI satisfied in Reading and Writing

Communication Policy:

Your Responsibilities to Communicate

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.

Your Instructor’s Timeframe for Responding

I make every effort to return messages (course email, phone, discussion postings) within 36 hours (weekends and holidays excepted).

Online Office Hours, Hours On-Campus, or Help by Phone

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.

General Education Core Objectives:

·         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

History Department Student Learner Outcomes:

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 Discussion provides a link on why these matter to you. Use that link.

Your professor follows History Department policy that all courses require students use primaries and “historical evidence” and they create an “argument” (not just repeat). Click here for details about those terms. (URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_HistDept_Student_Learner_Outcomes.htm) (See Student Learner Outcomes.)

 

Required Course Materials:

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 Evidence Requirements in History & All Assignments.)

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.

Offer that might help some of you: If you have a laptop with an internal webcam and microphone, I am willing to let you try to do to use to do what Respondus calls an Environmental Check with the Sample Respondus Exam. My guess is that a person who is very careful might be able to do it correctly. If you want to try this with the Sample Respondus Exam, email 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.

Just so there is no misunderstanding: I will be the only judge of whether your Environmental Check video is clear enough. My reason is that I am the one who has to give my word that you could not have cheated.

The Respondus & Success Discussion provides information on online monitoring. Use it.

Required Preparation to Use Blackboard:

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.

Method of Instruction:

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, if that is your goal, for further academic study or for the world of work. You can:

·         Master basic concepts and content that help you figure out what is happening in the world you live in

What’s a concept? Click here for a definition and 2 examples.
(URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_What_Is_a_Concept.htm ) 

 

·         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.

In Spring 2011, I became increasing concerned about students and why they were not succeeding. I began doing surveys each term to ask students:

  • what changes in the course that I could make to try to help them (and there are changes this term based on what students wrote in the survey of 5 classes in May 2017)
  • what they did not know before this course when they had a paper that I graded on evidence

 

The results showed—until they were graded on evidence--50% to 60% of students from 2011 to 2017 did not have basic experiences such as having to be factually accurate when writing about reality. Click here to see what past students said they did not know before grading of their papers on evidence in this course.
(URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/STCT_Am_Exp_quantitiesNOTrealizingPriorToFeedback_Samples.htm)

Because of long term professional work in varied industries and because my Master’s degree and my doctorate degree were earned at different universities, my experience said this lack of 5 basic experiences by a large portion of students was not fair to them. They would have unnecessary difficulties:

  1. in jobs that pay well
  2. in problem-solving and in making safe decisions for their work and family
  3. in—if needed for a career they want—taking upper level courses

 

If you follow the 5 Good Habits for Evidence, you can practice at a freshman level the skills you need to succeed in your future. Click here if you think there is a job that does not require the 5 Good Habits for Evidence.
(URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_for_Evidence_Would_anyone_pay_you_for_this_skill.htm)

 

Organization of the Course:

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 helps you focus your work so you save time—and make a good grade on your Unit Exam.

Method to Locate Work in the Course:

The safest approach is to click on History & All Assignments. It provides everything you need in one place. Each Unit is the same: its content, its Blackboard discussion, its quizzes, and its Unit exam.

Course Requirements and Graded Assignments

Getting Started Activities:

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

Quizzes, whether about concepts or evidence, always consist of:

·         A self-test so you can find out what you know and do not know—with no points lost for find that out!

·         Once you submit the self-test, Blackboard automatically displays additional content (if needed) and a full-test that you may repeat. The highest score counts.

If you take the Self-Test by the recommended date in the Course Schedule, you earn 1 extra credit point. (You must also attempt the Full-Test, which is located in the same folder. Tip: Why not repeat until you have the highest score?)

Evidence Quizzes as a Key to Understanding Historical Writing and Basics That You Must Apply When You Write

These quizzes occur in Unit 1 and Unit 2. The content of the Evidence Quizzes comes primarily from a tutorial on the 5 Good Habits for Evidence, with some additional content provided with it. The grading of writing assignments is on how you apply these basics of evidence. (See Evidence Requirements in History & All Assignments.

Learning Quizzes, Concepts, and the Goal of Exam Questions (Questions are easier—and more useful.)

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 (over 30%) of the 25 questions on each Unit exam.

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 historical figures. Tip: The best way to learn these is in the instructor’s Lessons in each Unit, not the textbook.

The Syllabus & Success Discussion provides a link with examples. Use that link.

Because I see students memorizing random facts, I am trying to get you to focus on useful, usable facts for your life time because history is about how life works. History provides the content and learning it usefully requires the tools:

·         to make a decision safely

·         to answer a boss

·         to understand the news enough

o   either to understand what is going on

o   or to know that you do not trust the speaker or writer and better go look up reality

In this class, questions do not require that you show you know everything, but that 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 historical figures. (See Learning Quizzes, Concepts, and the Goal of Exam Questions)

Click here for an example of a question that lets you show that you know something that is worthwhile.

(URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_What_Is_a_Question_Where_You_Show_You_Know_Something.htm )

 

Learning Discussions for Each Unit

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

The questions in the Unit Exam are pulled from Learning Quizzes (8 of the 25 questions), the instructor’s Lesson links, with these requirements reinforced in the study guide. There are 25 questions in sets (so questions vary from person to person).

Departmental Final Exam—F for the Course If Not Taken

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.

Course Exams and Requirement for Monitoring of Your Exams

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.

Written Assignments:

How Writing Assignments Work in This Course

Writing assignments are freshman level, brief, and uses 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. It is not about style or opinion. It requires you practice skills essential to get and keep a good job. Your instructor enters points only after you respond to feedback—whether that feedback was from your instructor or a student who peer reviewed your paper.

Your writing assignments are located in Required Writing in History & All Assignments. Instructions and any materials you need are there. You post your writing in a type of Discussion that requires that you post before you can see other students’ writings. Your instructor uses Blackboard Messages to email feedback, and you reply to that email to get the points entered. Caution: You must complete all 4 Evidence Quizzes to see the writing assignment. If you have completed all 4 and do not see the writing assignment, email me immediately.

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. Your instructor also grades your peer reviews with a rubric in the Discussion tool.

The Syllabus & Success Discussion provides a link explaining peer review and citation. Use that link.

What’s a peer review? Click here for peer review and where to find more on the word citation. (URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_for_Evidence_What_Is_Peer_Review_and_What_Is_Citation.htm

 

A 3-Part Writing Assignment – Paper, 2 Peer Reviews of Other Students’ Papers, and Your Responses to Feedback

For your paper, you follow the instructions and answer one of the questions provided. You use primaries. You write a brief paper and a reflection. Since a word count can be hard to think about, the paper—if printed—is to be under 1 page double-spaced; the reflection, under ½ page. For both, you provide citation as specified.

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. For this, you are specific. If you refer to something in the textbook, you provide citation.

The Syllabus & Success Discussion provides links explaining primaries, peer reviews, and citation. Use those links.

What’s a primary? A secondary?  Students in history are required to use primaries. You have an assignment to help you practice that. Click here for details about those terms. (URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_HistDept_Student_Learner_Outcomes.htm) (See Student Learner Outcomes.)

Grading Scale:

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)

Grading Formula:

The 1000-point course consists of these points, with the last 2 being written work:

 

Your Course Plan and Extra Credit for How You Work and Opportunities to Improve a Weak Grade:

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. Because these offers require that you do things at a specific time or way, what you do is covered in the Course Plan that you do in Getting Started.

 

Caution about the History Department’s Course Objectives and Its 25% Writing Requirement

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 Discussion provides a link to explain those objectives and the meaning of the terms primary and secondary. Use that link.

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 Discussion provides a link to show you math examples so you can see how that 25% writing requirements makes success in writing essential. Use that link.

Your professor follows History Department policy that all courses consist of a minimum of 25% written assignments. The math of 25% means that—if you want at least a C—you must do written work. Click on these examples of the math. (URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_HistDept_25_Percent_Min_So_You_MUST_Write.htm)

(See Caution about the History Department’s Course Objectives and Its 25% Writing Requirement.)

 

How This Course Tries to Help Different Types of Students Succeed with Writing about History:

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 Discussion provides a link to show you how dividing written grades in those two parts can help your grade—and your skills. Use that link.

Your instructor, however, splits grades with 1/2 on writing content and ½ on following the 5 Good Habits for Evidence. Click here for an example of how a C can become a B. Click here for required Course Objectives, the separate Good Habits for Evidence grade, and how it can help you.(URL: http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_for_Evidence_As_Separate_Grade_Example_of_the_Math.htm

 

What’s a rubric? Click here for the definition and examples of rubrics in this class. (UIL: weeek

http://www.cjbibus.com/GS_Good_Habits_for_Evidence_What_Is_a_Rubric.htm )

In this course rubrics are used to grade every stage of a writing assignment and to grade Learning Discussions.

 

For written assignments, your professor requires that your only sources are the textbook and resources that the professor provides in the course, including primaries. To be clear: No Google. (See Required Course Materials.)

For written assignments, you also must cite a specific page from the required textbook for your fact. (See Required Course Materials.)

What do these requirements mean? Your prof can quickly tell if you made things up, misread, plagiarized, “half-copy” plagiarized, changed a person’s words to match what you wished he or she said. What is more useful is that your prof can prove it. Now you may be thinking that is impossible, but Evidence Quiz 2 provides examples of students’ work (unnamed of course) and their sources so you can see for yourself.

 

How This Course Tries to Help Different Types of Students Persist: About Incentives

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, 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 take both of a quiz's parts:

·         Its Self-Test so you can find out what you know and do not know (a key to success)

·         Its Full-Test so you can teach yourself any missed concepts by taking the test as many times as you want, with the highest score counting
Tip: If you made 100% on a Self-Test (and especially on many Self-Tests), I have an alternative way of grading that means you do not have to take a Full-Test when you already know the content. Email if you are in this situation and I will explain the details.

·         If you complete both 2 days before the Unit Exam starts

The Syllabus & Success Discussion provides an example of research on persistence.

I protect grades by encouraging behaviors that help people succeed. That is why there is an extra credit (1 point) that lets me measure and reward a bit those who are keeping up. Guys, it is persistence that saves you most of the time. Never give up when you just start to sweat. (See Your Course Plan and Extra Credit for How You Work and Opportunities to Improve a Weak Grade)

Tip: This is one of my favorite advocates for students and for how to help them.  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)

Over the last 2 years, I have been increasing worried that students were having trouble with history because they had limited background worse because they did not know concepts, such as the meaning of words, the location and traits of places, and parts of essential documents. That is the reason for creating the Learning Quizzes, and the Self-Tests and the Full-Tests. Also 8 out of 25 question each Unit Exam will come from the Learning Quizzes for that Unit.

In the surveys of students in Spring 2017, they responded that they would this opportunity to teach themselves some basics using quizzes. They can also help you prepare for over 30% of the Exam questions. (See Learning Quizzes, Concepts, and the Goal of Exam Questions.)

I am not the only one worried about students:

 

Grading Response Timeframe:

I make every effort to provide feedback for written assignments by one week after the DUE date. If I cannot, I post an announcement. I generally:

Cautions: I do not enter points for writing assignments until you respond to feedback. If you do not respond after the first week after I provide feedback, I change the grade to 1.11 until you do respond. If you want to do the next part of the assignment, you must respond to feedback. Until then, you are classified as a Reader in the discussion and you can see posts, but not post yourself.

 

Overview and Policies for Monitored Online Exams (Information Also in Getting Started)

WCJC and Academic Honesty and Monitoring of Online Exams and Your Instructor’s View

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.

Why You Want to Do Monitored Exams Correctly – 2 Reasons

Reason 1: Avoiding Penalties

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 responsibilities of 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? 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 start doing online testing in that way that protects you.

Caution: 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

Reason 2: Being Able to See the Next Exam

Instructors have to do online monitoring and students have to do online testing following the rules that are covered in the Checklists. Because this is required, students will not be able to see the current exam:

·         If they have not successfully completed this monitoring part of Getting Started or if they did not successfully meet those requirements for the prior exam. (They will have to redo the Sample Respondus Exam and its video to confirm that they can meet those requirements.)

·         If they do not meet the monitoring requirements on an exam and do not respond to my email about that. If they never respond, they will not be able to see the next exam.

What You Need to Understand about Online Monitoring and Your Grade for Exams:

Notice these cautions about online monitoring in this class:

·         Caution: Your points for any exam may change after the instructor reviews the video of your taking your exam.

·         Caution: In this course, you cannot ignore your instructor’s concerns about the video of your taking your exam. Tip: See Getting Started and the instructions for how this works. If you need help, just ask.

Course Policies

Late Work Policy:

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 Open Date/Hour to all of you. You have these responsibilities:

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

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.

  1. 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, tell your instructor immediately and provide a valid, written excuse.

 

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.

Technology Outage Policy:

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.

Attendance Policy:

WCJC’s Student Handbook explains responsibilities for attendance and when a student should withdraw from the course. With distance learning, 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.

 You have signed up for an 8-week course. Your professor follows History Department policy that means the 8-week course consists of the same work that students must do for a 16-week course. (See Attendance Policy.)

Tip: At WCJC, distance learning classes are not like an old-fashioned correspondence course where you can do the work when you want as long as you submit something before the last day. Instructors are required—and they should be—to require of you that you do work equivalent to what a student does in an on-campus class.

Given the speed of an 8-week course covering 16 weeks’ of work, you are to log in at least 3 times each week to work online on quizzes, resources, and student discussions. (See Attendance Policy in the Syllabus.)

 

Online Classroom Behavior Policy/Classroom Civility:

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.)

Academic Honesty Policy:

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.

Dropping a Course with a Grade of “W”:

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 at the end. In making this decision, make sure you also understand the 6 Drop Rule from the Texas legislature.

Six Drop Rule:

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.

Course Schedule

The Course Schedule below (and in a separate link on the Course Menu) covers Getting Started, each of the 3 Units (or time period) in the course, the Final Exam, and every assignment you do to make the 1000 points possible in this course.

General 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” –  April 27, 2018

Holidays during the 1st 8-week class – UIL (March 23, 2018), Easter (March 29-Mar 30, 2018)

Due Dates

Assignments are due at the time in the column Due Date/Hour and automatically close then.

Due Dates for Incentives

There is a small incentive for completing all quizzes in a Unit 2 days before the start of each Unit Exam. Those Incentive Dates are listed below. (For details, click Ctrl-F in the Syllabus and type About Incentive.)

Prerequisites

This course sets up work so that you have the necessary preparation to succeed. Examples:

·         You must take a Self-Test before you see its Full-Test. This is automated.

·         You must take Evidence Quizzes 1-4 before you can do the 3-Part Writing Assignment. If you have completed all 4 quizzes, email me if you do not see the 3-Part Writing.

·         You must take Distance Education’s Sample Respondus Exam and follow its requirements before you can take Unit Exams or the Final in this course.

Tests and Passwords

For Self-Tests with Learning Quizzes and Evidence Quizzes, the passwords is:

selftest  < No capitals, no spaces, and no punctuation

For Exams (whether for a Unit or the Final), there are no passwords in this course, but you must first click on Respondus before you access an exam. Respondus handles the security.

The Course Schedule and Where You Do Your Work

All work is located on History & All Assignments. It includes all content and all assignments. The Course Schedule below has the same names as on History & All Assignments. For example, Getting Started below is the 1st item on History & All Assignments.

 

All work is either in the specific Unit or the Course Schedule identifies the location by underlining. For example, see the underlined words In Evidence Requirements on the 3rd row for Unit 1.

Getting Started (MAR 19-MAR 20 & to APR 2 for Respondus Tasks) & Staying Successful All 8 Weeks

Assignment

Open Date/Hour

Due Date/Hour

Complete tasks listed on the last page of the Course Orientation link. (Tips: The Syllabus Acknowledgement Quiz and the Course Plan Assignment are left open until 4/2. If you cannot do the Course Orientation tasks by 3/20, email me a proposed date immediately.)

3/19–8:00 AM

3/20–11:59 PM (Email me if you need later date.)

Complete Respondus & Success Discussion to understand requirements and ask and answer questions. Then take Distance Education’s Sample Respondus Exam without any penalties. Cautions: 

·         You cannot take exams without this.

·         If you get penalties on the next exam, you may have to redo the Sample Respondus Exam to show you understand before you do another exam.

·         Email your prof to review your video. (Respondus does no notification.)

·         In case of problems, watch for email from your prof about your video.

3/21-8:00 AM

4/2–11:59 PM Caution: Unit 1 begins 4/6 so take care of this quickly.

Unit 1: Creating a New America from 1860 to 1900 (MAR 20-APRIL 8)

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: 23 to 27)

Take all Learning Quizzes in Unit 1. (Tip: See instructions at the top.)

3/20–12:00 AM

4/8–-1:59 PM

In Evidence Requirements, take Evidence Quizzes 1-2. Tip: Quiz 1-4 are kept open to the end of term as a resource.

3/20–12:00 AM

4/8–11:59 PM

Post and reply in Unit 1 Learning Discussions. (Tip: See instructions in my 1st post and example posts of what you can do. It ends one day before the exam starts, but I reopen it the next morning where you can read any postings you need.)

3/21–12:00 AM

4/5–11:59 PM

Take Unit 1 Exam                      (Incentive Date for all quizzes: 4/4-12:00 AM) (Caution: To see the exam requires 3+ points in the grade Prof’s Video Review.)

4/6–12:00 AM

4/8–11:59 PM

Unit 2: Moving to the World Stage-America from 1900 to 1945 (APRIL 8-APRIL 22)

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: 28 to 34.)

Take all Learning Quizzes in Unit 2 (Tip: same instruction as Unit 1.)

4/8–12:00 AM

4/22–11:59 PM

In Evidence Requirements, take Evidence Quiz 3-4 Caution: You must take all 4 before you can submit the 3-Part Writing Assignment beginning 4/8.

4/8–12:00 AM

4/22–11:59 PM

Post and reply in Unit 2 Learning Discussions. (Tip: same instruction as Unit 1.)

4/8–12:00 AM

4/19–11:59 PM

In Required Writing, post your paper in the 3-Part Writing discussion. Caution: To see the discussion, you must do Evidence Quizzes 1, 2, 3, and 4. You must post your paper before the Due Date/Hour to do the remaining 2 parts of the 3-Part Writing Assignment. Late papers are not accepted.

4/8 –12:00 AM

4/17–11:59 PM
(
Tip: read papers you might peer review.)

Take Unit 2 Exam                             (Incentive Date for all quizzes: 2/15-12:00 AM) (Same Caution as Unit 1.

4/20–12:00 AM

4/22–11:59 PM

Unit 3: Transformations–America from 1945 to the Near Present (APRIL 22-MAY 8)

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: 35 to 41.)

Take all Learning Quizzes in Unit 3. (Tip: same instruction as Unit 1.)

4/22–12:00 AM

5/8–11:59 PM

Post and reply in Unit 3 Learning Discussions   (Tip: same instruction as Unit 1.)

4/22–12:00 AM

5/7–11:59 PM

In Required Writing, when the 3-Part Writing reopens, peer review 2 other students’ papers on evidence (not grammar). Caution: The sooner you reply to my feedback on your paper, the faster you can post your 2 peer reviews.

4/24–12:00 AM

5/1–11:59 PM (Tip: read peer reviews of your paper.)

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.

5/3-12:00 AM

5/7-12:01 PM (

Take Unit 3 Exam                          (Incentive Date for all quizzes: 5/2-12:00 AM) (Same Caution as Unit 1. Tip: Extra days are to help your varied schedules.)

5/4–12:00 AM

5/8–11:59 PM

Final Exam: 1860 to the Present (Early open APRIL 29-MAY 8)

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 me the specifics.

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4/30–11:59 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.

5/5–7:00 PM

5/6–11:59 PM

5/7–7:00 PM

5/8–11:59 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.

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5/10 12:00 PM

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