NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE COURSE SYLLABUS

 

Course Title:	Texas Government
Course Prefix & Number:		GOVT2306	Section Number:	234	Semester/Year:	DecMester
Semester Credit Hours:		3	Lecture Hours:	3	Lab Hours:	0
Course Description (NCTC Catalog): Origin and Development of the Texas constitution, structure and powers of state and local government, federalism and inter-governmental relations, political participation, the election process, public policy and the political culture of Texas.
Course Prerequisite(s): None
Required Course Materials: Champagne-Harpham. Governing Texas. 3rd edition. Norton. paperback w/ebook folder ISBN: 9780393283679   OR Champagne-Harpham. Governing Texas. 3rd edition. Norton. 2 hole punch w/ebook folder 9280393616477

 

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Name of Instructor:	Dr. Jennifer Danley-Scott
Campus/Office Location:	Corinth/DE
Telephone Number:
E-mail Address:	Jdanley-scott@nctc.edu

 

OFFICE HOURS

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Online via request. Please let me know with two or three hours’ notice so that we can set it up in Big Blue Button. If you prefer, email is fine. I normally respond to email within two hours, unless otherwise posted in Canvas. (Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, and New Year’s Eve are the times that I normally stay offline for a few hours.)

 

 

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 the Texas Constitution.
	Demonstrate an understanding of state and local political systems and their relationship with the federal government.
	Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and practice in Texas.
	Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of Texas government.
	Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.
	Analyze the state and local election process.
	Identify the rights and responsibilities of citizens
	Analyze issues, policies, and political culture of Texas.
	Research and compose an essay assignment/argument using proper grammar/English and basic computer skills.

 

GRADING CRITERIA

# of Graded Course Elements	Graded Course Elements	Percentage or Point Values
4	Unit Tests	100 points each
4	Posts	40 points each
20	Discussion post peer comments (comment on your peer’s posts)	5 points each
1	Research Project	150
1	Intro and Ending posts	5 each
varied	Varied small activities (reading quizzes, animation quizzes, and research activity posts)	180

 

COURSE SUBJECT OUTLINE (Major Assignments, Due Dates, and Grading Criteria)

 

CAO	Course Objective	Assessment
CT	Explain the origin and development of the Texas Constitution.	Activity: Match the constitution, its framers, and its content
CT, COM	Demonstrate an understanding of state and local political systems and their relationship with the federal government.	Activity: How would your team solve this problem?
PR, SR	Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and practice in Texas.	Activities: Current event reaction: Lt. Governor, Governor, and Speaker of the House
PR, SR	Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of Texas government.	Postings: What has your legislator done lately? Activities: The Texas Governor; Explore your city government
PR, SR	Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in Texas.	Activity: Where did the legislators' money come from?
PR. SR, CT, COM	Analyze the state and local election process.	Activities: Play the redistricting game; research campaign financing in your area Postings: Discuss methods of increasing voter turnout
PR, SR	Identify the rights and responsibilities of citizens	Activity: What emergencies or disasters is your state/city unprepared to deal with? Posting: What has your legislator done lately? Posting: Who funded the judges?
CT	Analyze issues, policies, and political culture of Texas.	Posting: Evaluate Elazar v. Lieske's theories on Texas Culture Activities: Research data on 2 of Texas' regions
COM, PR, SR, CT	Research and compose an essay assignment/argument using proper grammar/English and basic computer skills.	Research Assignment: Research your rep and see if they understand your district's needs.

 

 

 

Course Description & Overview: This course fulfills core curriculum requirements and is 100% online. It is designed as an introduction to the politics and government of Texas.  Included in the course will be a look at the institutions, people, and elections of Texas.  The course will examine how federalism, social culture, and social policies affect Texas’ relationships with the United States and the other states in the union. We will also look at how culture, gender, race, and socioeconomics affect politics and how the state and local governments have evolved with these societal shift.

Email and Class Etiquette

I will hold office hours each week. If I am unable to be in my office hours, a note will be posted online. If you need to email me about something personal or not appropriate for the discussion boards, please use my NCTC email (jdanley-scott@nctc.edu) to contact me. I attempt to answer emails within 8 hours, but do reserve a window of up to 48 hours. Please be sure to put your name and class in each email so that I can quickly establish which course you are contacting me about. Please write in a formal style, with proper grammar and spelling.  (I am terrible at interpreting text-message-speak, so please spell out all the words.) If you are contacting me about a grade or a discussion of your progress in the class, please use your NCTC email account. (Anyone can create a Yahoo or Gmail account and say that they are you.) For FERPA reasons, I cannot send personal information to any email account but your NCTC account. 

 

Politics is inherently controversial and sensitive. As such, emotions will probably run high at times. Please remember that this is a classroom, so we will be analyzing the branch and the people. We will examine governors, legislators, and judges. We will examine their actions, campaigns, and legacies.  We will discuss political philosophies and journeys.

But regardless of whether you love or hate particular politicians, please keep your comments based in fact and figures. For the next 3 weeks, we are all government scholars, and our opinions are based on facts. I will do the same. The golden rule is the best rule on the discussion boards: treat others as you wish to be treated. Remember that a person cannot see your face or hear your tone when they read your words, and it is easy to mis-interpret or read between the lines of a post.  When frustrated or when in doubt, don't hit post. Give it a day or two before responding, and make sure that your words are always polite. And last, although typing a word in all caps is sometimes used for emphasis, typing an entire post in caps is netiquette for shouting. Be polite and respect others. Also proofread, as words can take on different meanings when there are typos.

Use of Turnitin 

In an effort to ensure the integrity of the academic process, we will use a plagiarism checker in the class. It reports a percentage of similarity and provides links to those specific sources. The tool itself does not determine whether or not a paper has been plagiarized. That is left to the instructor. 

 

Technological Expectations

This course requires you to have working knowledge of a computer, email, the Internet, Canvas, a word processor, and a video player. In order to use Canvas, you will need a Pentium processor or better, Windows or MacOS, cable modem or high speed Internet connection, sound capability (sound card and speakers), and a compatible web browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Chrome, etc.). You will also need access to NCTC email for email correspondence. Students will have 2 days at the beginning of the course to make sure that their computer system is compatible with Canvas and the course material. The class uses YouTube to deliver short video lectures. Readings and supplemental materials are in PDF format, which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.  If you have problems, please contact me so that we can find solutions during the first week

 

 

Technical Problems
We will have very little time in this class. As well, the campus is closed over the holidays. If you run into a problem, immediately email the NCTC helpdesk.  ITS Helpdesk at 940-498-4284,

Activities, Assignments, and Grading Policy:  All material (reading, lecture, videos, activities, etc.) in each unit are required. Any optional activities will be marked accordingly.  All due dates are listed in the unit checklists and at the bottom of this syllabus. Posts and response posts cannot be completed late without documentation showing an extended emergency has occurred. Projects may be turned in late, but will lose 50% per day from the given grade. If you miss a test, please have documentation ready to show the emergency, otherwise you will lose 33% of the time allotted per test. You will not be able to test more than two days after the testing date. Grading rubrics are posted in Canvas.

 

Please keep all electronic documents and files until your final grade is posted at the end of the semester. If there are discrepancies between the recorded grade and the actual grade, it will be your responsibility to prove the recorded grade is in error. Extra credit assignments will not be given on a student-by-student basis, regardless of the situation. Retakes and resubmissions will not be allowed. If you feel you are doing poorly in the class, please speak with me to discuss how to improve your performance.  This syllabus may be amended at the discretion of the instructor.  If you feel overwhelmed, confused, or would just like more information on government, please stop by and see me!

 Breakdown of points and grades

The class is divided into 1000 points.

 

• Each unit test will be worth 100 points. There are 4 tests for a total of 400 points. (Several pop quizzes will also be available for self-testing.)
• Four discussion posts answering initial questions worth 40 points each, for a total of 160 points. 
• At least 20 thoughtful discussion follow ups - in which you respond to classmates' posts -will be worth 5 points each for a total of 100 points. You may respond to any thread you want, but you must pick at least 6 different threads. (To put it another way, you cannot respond to 20 posts in the same discussion thread. Pick different threads/topics. I will only count 4 maximum per thread.) I would suggest trying to respond to four classmates each time you do a post in a new topic to ensure you don't forget this requirement, and then respond to anyone that posted in your thread.
• The research project will be worth 150 points. This may be a group or individual project.
• An intro and concluding posts worth 5 points each.
• Several animation quizzes, and several research activities worth just over 180 points total. (There will be a few extra points in case you miss a quiz or two.)

 Because this class is online, there is a slightly larger amount of written work than if this were a standard class. The writing helps me to determine whether you're on the right track with the material. It isn't busy work...think of it as me asking questions during lecture or doing a 10 minute in-class writing. This class is based on an accumulation of points. There are around 1015 points to earn in the class. Below are the cut-offs for letter grades:

 

A    900-1000             

B    800-899               

C    700-799               

D  600-699                 

F  599 & below

 

Grading Policy  

Grades will be posted within 4 days, though most will be sooner. If grading will be later than 4 days, I will post to update. The first graded posts in Unit 1 will be graded within 48 hours of posting to let you know how you're doing. Be sure to look for comments if you did not get full credit. If you disagree with a grade, an arguments must be explained in writing; you must include the rubric for that assignment and the comments you received, and then explain where the error was made. (For example, if the comment says you didn't have a citation and there is a citation on a separate page, paste the comment and then explain where the citation is located.) The grievance must be e-mailed to me within 3 days of the grade posting. 

Tests

In each section, there will be a test. Each test will be objective, covering the material from the unit. Some questions will come from the book and some from lecture and activities. The tests will be open book, but will have a relatively short time limit. (The purpose of an open book test is to make the test fair for all, not to make the test easy. You will need to study, as you would for a closed book test.) The tests will have a window of time (for example, from  8 a.m. to midnight) for completion. Please plan ahead so that you can test in the time frame. If you have a work schedule that makes it impossible to test during that window, please submit paperwork (letter from manager, copy of schedule, etc.) and we will look to schedule you a day earlier.

Pop Quizzes and Animation Quizzes

In each section, there will be a few pop quizzes and animation quizzes that you can take to see how you're doing on the material and get a feel for the type of questions I might ask on the test. They are open book and open note. They will help you prepare for the unit tests or approach the material in a new, hopefully interesting way. 

Research Activities

There will be several research activities where you will look for information or complete and activity, and then write up the findings, post a screenshot, give a URL, or a similar requirement. These are not about writing, rather they are about teaching you to find information that political scientists use and citizens should be familiar with.

Discussion Post Grades
Posts will be graded on a scale as poor (~20 points), good (~25 points), strong (~40 points).  To be judged as strong, the post must completely answer the question in a thoughtful manner with evidence to back up the argument with an example from the reading or activity. Generally these posts are 10 to 15 sentences and they must include citations for the material used; course materials should be used (book, lectures, articles, research) as a part of each post. Ideally, you should complete them as you go through the unit, but the latest they can be completed is the night before the unit tests. Posts cannot be turned in late unless Student Life approves your absence; if you have an excused absence that covers the due date, you will have 3 days to complete the late post(s).  The discussion board lists threads for the entire semester. Only complete the threads for the current unit; the threads are listed in the unit checklist. Do not work ahead. As well, you must paste or type the posts into the discussion board; uploaded documents can lead to viruses and malware. They will receive a 0.

 

Response Posting Grades
Posts will be graded on a scale as poor (2 points) or strong (5 points). These may be shorter than your initial posting. They do not have to have an example, but should be 4 to 5 sentences of actual discussion. You must respond to other students’ posts and respond to students that have asked questions in your posts. You must respond to peers in each of the threads; I will only count the first 4 towards your grade, so do not post 20 responses all in the same thread and expect to get full credit.

Research Project
Please be sure to follow all instructions on the project. The project is turned in via the research pages. Projects can be turned in late, but will be docked 25% per 24 hours that they are late and cannot be turned in after the unit 4 test closes. These points will come from your earned score. If you have an excused absence with documentation (police report, hospital paperwork, doctor's note, funeral program, etc.) for the day or and/or week leading up to the assignment's due date, you will receive a 3 day extension.   I strongly suggest that you write all assignments in a word processing document (Word or Wordperfect). Work is sometimes lost during upload and Canvas can time out if you work in the submission browser. By working in a separate document and saving periodically, your work will be safe and you will have a back up file.  Do not upload the documents, however. Please paste your material into the discussion board. Also, Canvas will not read a MAC/pages file, so please post those documents.

Lecture Videos and Other Videos

 

The lecture videos are not meant to repeat information that is in the books. Instead, they follow up on concepts that might be important or to explain material that was missed or glossed over in the textbooks. They are as important as the text and will also be on the tests. 

The lecture videos are visible on YouTube. If you require transcripts or closed captions, please see the notes to the right or bottom of the embedded YouTube files. Some videos have CC and some have transcripts. Please try to watch at least one lecture video during the first day of class just to make sure there are no technical problems. The videos are embedded so that they can be watched in Canvas. They will not start until you click the play triangle on the screen and are generally 4 to 8 minutes in length. You are responsible for the video material; reading the transcripts may not give you all of the information, as some videos have charts or images that complete the information. (Yes, some of the videos were created 5 years ago and not updated recently, but they are videos for ideas/theories that have not changed in the last 30 years. The videos on Elazar, for example, have not been recently updated because he passed away in 1999 and his theory is considered classic. I update videos as laws or policies change, etc. which is why some videos are very new and others are a little older.)

 

Course Materials, Privacy and Accessibility Policies, and Supplies

The reading is required. The material is online or via download in Canvas.  PDFs can be accessed by a JAWS reader.  Any readings and documents (outside of your textbooks) will normally be posted as PDFs. These are universal formats. Please make sure you have Adobe Acrobat Reader; the free version is all that is required. 

 

Canvas: Privacy policy   https://www.instructure.com/policies/privacy/

YouTube: Privacy policy  https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2801895?hl=en

Norton: Accessibility policy  http://books.wwnorton.com/books/accessibility.aspx?id=4620

Canvas Accessibility policy https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/926195/pages/start-here-accessibility-statements-and-privacy-policies

YouTube accessibility policy

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/189278?hl=en

 

Deadlines

Please see the Unit Checklists at the beginning of each of the 4 units in Modules.

 

 

 

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 _______________.

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)_______           

         Communication

         Mathematics               

         Life and Physical Science

         Language, Philosophy & Culture

         Creative Arts

 

X         Government/Political Science

         Social and Behavioral Sciences

         Component Area Option

         American History

 

X         Critical Thinking

x             Communication

            Empirical and Quantitative

 

            Teamwork

X             Personal Responsibility

X             Social Responsibility

COURSE TYPE

STUDENT HANDBOOK

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY