NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE COURSE SYLLABUS

 

Course Title:	American National Government
Course Prefix & Number:		GOVT2305	Section Number:	232	Semester/Year:	Dec 18
Semester Credit Hours:		3	Lecture Hours:	3	Lab Hours:	0
Course Description (NCTC Catalog):  Origin and development of the U.S. Constitution, structure and powers of the national government including the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, federalism, political participation, the national election process, public policy, civil liberties, and civil rights.
Course Prerequisite(s): None
Required or Recommended Course Materials: Thomas E Patterson.  We the People (ebook with Connect Plus Access) 12th edition McGraw Hill ISBN 1259439186

 

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Name of Instructor:	Charles Cooper - @Thrasymachus on twitter
Campus/Office Location:	Online - Corinth by appt.
Telephone Number:	214-621-5914
E-mail Address:	Please use the CANVAS email system

 

OFFICE HOURS

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
			7-9 PM

 

 

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (From Academic Course Guide Manual/Workforce Education Course Manual/NCTC Catalog

At the successful completion of this course the student will be able to:
	Explain the origin and development of constitutional democracy in the United States.
	Demonstrate an understanding of our federal system.
	Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and practice.
	Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government.
	Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in the political system.
	Analyze the election process.
	Describe the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
	Analyze issues and policies in U.S. Politics.
	Research and compose an essay assignment/argument using proper grammar/English and basic computer skills.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Regular and punctual attendance is expected of all students in all classes for which they have registered.  All absences are considered to be unauthorized unless the student is absent due to illness or emergencies as determined by the instructor.  It is the student responsibility to provide documentation as to the emergency for approval and judgement by the faculty member.  Approved college sponsored activities are the only absences for which a student should not be held liable and only when provided by a college official ahead of the absence.  Valid reasons for absence, however, do not relieve the student of the responsibility for making up required work.  Students will not be allowed to make up an examination missed due to absence unless they have reasons acceptable to the instructor.  A student who is compelled to be absent when a test is given should petition the instructor, in advance if possible, for permission to postpone the exam.  Student will be dropped from a class by the Registrar upon recommendation of the instructor who feels the student has been justifiably absent or tardy a sufficient number of times to preclude meeting the course’s objectives.    Persistent, unjustified absences from classes or laboratories will be considered sufficient cause for College officials to drop a student from the rolls of the College. From Board Policy FC (LOCAL)

Additional Instructor-specific Absence Policy:

Last day to withdraw from a course with a “W” is December 29th.

DISABILITY SERVICES (Office for Students with Disabilities)

The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) provides support services for students with disabilities, students enrolled in technical areas of study, and students who are classified as special populations (i.e. single parents). 

Support services for students with disabilities might include appropriate and reasonable accommodations, or they may be in the form of personal counseling, academic counseling, career counseling, etc.  Furthermore, OSD Counselors work with students to encourage self-advocacy and promote empowerment. The Counselors also provides resource information, disability-related information, and adaptive technology for students who qualify. 

For support, please contact the counselors at (940) 498-6207 or (940) 668-4321.  Alternatively, students may stop by Room 170 in Corinth or Room 110 in Gainesville.

CORE CURRICULUM FOUNDATIONAL COMPONENT AREA (For classes in the Core)_______ 

o Communication

o Mathematics  

o Life and Physical Science

o Language, Philosophy & Culture

o Creative Arts

 

X Government/Political Science

o Social and Behavioral Sciences

o Component Area Option

o American History

 

X  Critical Thinking

o  Communication 

o  Empirical and Quantitative

 

o  Teamwork 

X  Personal Responsibility 

o Academic General Education Course (from ACGM but not in NCTC Core)

X Academic NCTC Core Curriculum Course

o WECM Course

 

Students are expected to follow all rules and regulations found in the student handbook and published online.

 

Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, academic falsification, intellectual property dishonesty, academic dishonesty facilitation and collusion.  Faculty members may document and bring charges against a student who is engaged in or is suspected to be engaged in academic dishonesty.  See Student Handbook, “Student Rights & Responsibilities: Student Conduct ([FLB(LOCAL)]”.  

Cheating of any kind will not be tolerated.  Once a preponderance of evidence is obtained, the academically dishonest student will be dropped from the course and all necessary and pertinent paperwork will be filed.

QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, or COMPLAINTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GRADING CRITERIA

# of Graded Course Elements	Graded Course Elements	Percentage or Point Values
4	Exams *Any discussions, debates, or issues presented “in class” may be included in an exam.	40%
1	Graded Written Assignments– The assignment will be written and submitted into Canvas.  There will be at least one research paper.  Please take care to cite your sources.	25%
9	Learn Smart Assignments – One Learn Smart Assignment per chapter per week.  Questions are randomly chosen from large bank.	20%
9	Weekly Forum Discussions – Two posts due per chapter: one is your original reflection with citations from the textbook or a reputable online news source and the second is a response to another student’s reflection.	15%

 

 

Grading Policy & Procedures

Exams - All exams will be online through McGraw-Hill Connect via Canvas.  They will be multiple choice exams.  Your exam average will constitute 40% of your final course grade.  There will be no extra credit (on the exam or elsewhere) and no make-up test dates.   GWAs - Your graded written assignment (gwa) average will constitute 25% of your final course grade.  Any graded written assignment not completed (ie. Not submitted in the appropriate manner) will be calculated as a zero.  Whether the assignment (any assignment) has been completed on your side does not matter if it is not submitted before the due date.  No make-up grades or extra credit grades will be offered for any missed GWA’s.  Discussion Forums - Your discussion board participation grade average will constitute the remaining 15% of the final course grade. If you do not participate in the discussion boards a zero will be placed in the grade book for that particular “absence” for that particular assignment. No make-up grade or extra credit grades will be offered for these missed assignments.  To get full credit for discussion forums you will need to complete two tasks.  First,fully address the prompt at the top of the forum (this will be due by midnight each Wednesday).  You will need to either cite a page number in the textbook or add a link to a reputable online news site that supports your statement or comment.  Second, you will need to reply to another student’s initial post (this will be due by midnight each Sunday).  In your reply to another student (your second post), your reply will need to be as academically sound as your first post. In other words, you will need to build upon another students first post, not simply “agree” or “disagree” with them. Please email me with questions if this is unclear. I will also clarify further in my first video post to the class. Each of these tasks is worth 50% of the 100% possible points.  Posting only once will get you 50% of the total points.  All students are expected to participate in each discussion forum. Your first post will be due before midnight Wednesday of each week.   Your second post will be due before midnight Sunday of each week. (Connect) Learn Smart and (Connect) Assignments- These resources are here to help you in this course.  They will be graded and count as 20% of your final grade. If there are any of the following... Chapter Quizzes - These are available to take as calibration tools for the exam.  Chapter quizzes ARE NOTgraded.  They do not count in your overall grade, but can help you get ready for exams. Campus Connect Assignments- These ARE NOTgraded, but can help you better understand the content.

CANVAS/CONNECT ACCESS:  All students must have complete access to Canvas for the entire semester.  It is the student’s responsibility to have access to the internet at all times, as well as having all needed programs to complete an online course.  Students are not to give any other person access to his/her Canvas account.  Students can be removed from the online course immediately up violating this rule.  Once a student has given another person access to his/her canvas account, the credibility of any work completed becomes questionable.   

 Connect Access-  The textbook, Learn Smart, and Connect activities are all maintained within the McGraw Hill Connect System.  Students need to be enrolled immediately in Connect, which can be purchased at the bookstore, or online directly from McGraw Hill from Canvas.  Temporary access can be used directly from Connect McGraw Hill for 14 days from the first day of class.  Students must be enrolled by the end of day 1, as assignments are due immediately.

 

Course Calendar:

A note on due dates- All assignments will be open at the same time and closed at the same time.  All assignments will open on Mondays and close the following sunday at midnight.  This is for the sake of consistency because a December mini-nester is incredibly compact and plenty of content has to be processed.  The ONLYexception are discuss posts.  The first post is due by midnight wednesday and the second is due by midnight Sunday.  The other assignments (exams and Learn Smart activities are open all week and due by midnight Sunday. 

 December 17th to December 23rd:

• Read Chapters 1 and 2
  • Graded Written Assignment #1- House and Senate "personalities" research paper.
    • Assigned today and due January 2nd.
  • Chapter Discussion Posts
    • Each of the following needs to happen for each chapter (1 and 2)
      • You need to respond to the each of the prompts separately
      • You also need to respond to a student's reply
        • 4 total responses or replies per week.  
        • For full credit please read the requirements in the section above concerning discussion posts... I have very specific rules.
        • First posts are due by midnight Wednesday
        • Second posts are due by midnight Sunday
  • Learn Smart
    • Chapters 1-2 are due by midnight Friday
  • Unit Exam #1- Due by midnight December 23rd (please plan accordingly)
    • Please don't wait until the last second to take this exam!
  • Note: Any other online resources (quizzes, assignments, etc) are NOTfor a grade but can help you to better prepare for the exam.  

December 24th to December 30th:

• Read Chapters 3 and 4
  • Graded Written Assignment #1- House and Senate "personalities" research paper.
    • Assigned today and due January 2nd.
  • Chapter Discussion Posts 
    • Each of the following needs to happen for each chapter (3 and 4)
      • You need to respond to each of the prompts separately
      • You also need to respond to a student's reply for each chapter 
        • 4 total responses or replies per week. 
        • For full credit please read the requirements in the section above concerning discussion posts... I have very specific rules.
        • First posts are due by midnight Wednesday
        • Second posts are due by midnight Sunday
  • Learn Smart
    • Chapters 3-4 are due by midnight Friday
  • Unit Exam #2 - Due by midnight December 30th (please plan accordingly)
    • Please don't wait until the last second to take this exam!
  • Note: Any other online resources (quizzes, assignments, etc) are NOT for a grade but can help you to better prepare for the exam.  

December 31st to January 6th 

• Read Chapters 5, 6, and 7
  • Graded Written Assignment #1- House and Senate "personalities" research paper.
    • Assigned today and due January 2nd.
  • Chapter Discussion Posts 
    • Each of the following needs to happen for each chapter (5, 6, and 7)
      • You need to respond to each of the prompts separately
      • You also need to respond to a student's reply for each chapter 
        • 6 total responses or replies per week. 
        • For full credit please read the requirements in the section above concerning discussion posts... I have very specific rules.
        • First posts are due by midnight Wednesday
        • Second posts are due by midnight Sunday
  • Learn Smart
    • Chapters 5-7 are due by midnight Friday
  • Unit Exam #3 - Due by midnight January 6th (please plan accordingly)
    • Please don't wait until the last second to take this exam!
  • Note: Any other online resources (quizzes, assignments, etc) are NOT for a grade but can help you to better prepare for the exam.  

January 7th to January 10th 

• Read Chapters 8 and 9
  • Chapter Discussion Posts 
    • Each of the following needs to happen for each chapter (8 and 9)
      • You need to respond to each of the prompts separately
      • You also need to respond to a student's reply for each chapter 
        • 4 total responses or replies per week. 
        • For full credit please read the requirements in the section above concerning discussion posts... I have very specific rules.
        • First posts are due by midnight Wednesday
        • Second posts are due by midnight Sunday
  • Learn Smart
    • Chapters 8-9 are due by midnight Friday
  • Unit Exam #4 - Due by midnight January 10th (please plan accordingly)
    • Please don't wait until the last second to take this exam!
  • Note: Any other online resources (quizzes, assignments, etc) are NOT for a grade but can help you to better prepare for the exam.