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NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE
COURSE SYLLABUS
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Course Title:
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United States History II
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Course Prefix & Number:
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HIST1302
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Section Number:
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0816
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Semester/Year:
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Sp21
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Semester Credit Hours:
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3
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Lecture Hours:
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3
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Lab Hours:
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0
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Course Description (NCTC Catalog):
A survey of the social, political, economic, cultural, and intellectual history of the United States from the Civil War/Reconstruction era to the present. United States History II examines industrialization, immigration, world wars, the Great Depression, Cold War and post-Cold War eras. Themes that may be addressed in United States History II include: American culture, religion, civil and human rights, technological change, economic change, immigration and migration, urbanization and suburbanization, the expansion of the federal government, and the study of U.S. foreign Policy.
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Course Prerequisite(s): None
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Required Course Materials:
Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. 9th edition.
McGraw-Hill. 2019 ISBN 978-1264031924
The Web-based material is unique to NCTC. You must purchase it from the NCTC bookstore or directly through Canvas, to the McGraw-Hill publishing Connect website.
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INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
OFFICE HOURS
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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5:30-7:00 pm
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5:30-7:00pm
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*office hours by appt
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STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (From Academic Course Guide Manual/Workforce Education Course Manual/NCTC Catalog)
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At the successful completion of this course the student will be able to:
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Create an argument through the use of historical evidence.
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Analyze and interpret primary and secondary sources.
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Analyze the effects of historical, social, political, economic, cultural, and global forces on this period of the United States History.
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GRADING CRITERIA
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# of Graded Course Elements
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Graded Course Elements
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Percentage or Point Values
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4
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Discussion Boards
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20
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1
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Cumulative Essay
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30
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4
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Exams
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30
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2
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Current Events
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20
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COURSE SUBJECT OUTLINE
Assignment Breakdown-
If you are confused about directions, please be sure to email about any requirement questions before you start your assignment!
Course Readings, Lectures, and Presentations
Each student is expected to read the assigned material as detailed in the course calendar. In addition, there is material to help supplement, which is posted online. Students will be held accountable for assigned materials via the course assignments, discussion forums and unit exams. Supplemental material like videos and flashcards are not required but they are helpful and suggested. The textbook readings create the core of the online course experience. The supplemental materials are there to reinforce key points and help you succeed. Making appropriate use of the materials will have a significant impact on your grades.
It is vital that you manage your time and maintain a high degree of self-discipline to ensure your success in any college course. The course schedule has been designed to spread apart the major course topics so that you are able to comprehend the material. If you fall behind, it is difficult to adequately address the topics and this often creates a snowball effect leading to failure. Again, I implore you to keep pace with the class and not fall behind. The pace of the course is about 1 chapter per week during the full length term (or a chapter per day in a mini-term). You are able to work ahead and finish the course ahead of schedule, but LATE WORK IS NOT PERMITTED!!!
Orientation Activity:
Used for attendance verification purposes and as extra credit to replace a low current event or discussion board grade provided your grade for the Activity is higher than one of the aforementioned assignment grades.
The first thing you will do in the course is to prepare your Orientation Activity. This activity is based on the syllabus and is meant to ensure that you have a clear understanding of the course and its requirements and are prepared to succeed in the course.
Your orientation assignment is to submit a Personal Course Plan. A Personal Course Plan is a simple but important way of organizing yourself and planning out your success in a course.
Please answer the following questions in a clear and concise way, be detailed in your answers and take time to think about how your plan can help you succeed in this course.
1. Create a weekly calendar for you to follow. When will you read the Unit's chapters? When will you work on Unit activities? When will you take Unit quizzes? What are your "course work hours"?
2. How will you take notes for your chapters? How do you plan to utilize the supplemental material? How will you keep your notes organized?
3. Last, let me know, after reading the syllabus, what you anticipate being the best and also the most challenging aspects of the course. Provide me with any other details about yourself that you would like.
Chapter Quizzes
(16 total; 1 dropped)
There are chapter level quizzes in this course, not cumulative exams. The design is to assess your reading comprehension one chapter at a time, rather than assessing your ability to recall information across multiple chapters. The window to complete the quizzes will be the beginning of the course to the end date of a given unit (see the course calendar for details). Again, each quiz must be completed within the unit it was assigned. While you may always work ahead, NO late work will be accepted.
The format for each quiz is “open book” and there are 15 randomly generated multiple-choice questions per quiz. These questions come from a question bank so each attempt will not have the same questions. You will have 20 minutes to complete each quiz attempt. The quizzes are automated, and are randomly generated. Quizzes will be Multiple Choice. The grade will post immediately after submission. Each quiz covers detailed material from the assigned chapter. You may have two attempts per quiz and the higher grade will be recorded. Once a quiz has started, you will not be able to leave, back out, or close the quiz screen. If you do not finish an attempt, because of a technological glitch (and technological glitch only), please email me within 24 hours of the attempt and I will reset your quiz for you. Please note that I am able to see your attempt to verify the email.
By design, there is not enough time to look up an answer to each question. You must be highly prepared for each quiz by reading the assigned chapter. Do not procrastinate; give yourself time to complete each quiz in sequence as you progress through the unit. You may move at your own pace ahead of each deadline. I suggest completing the readings and quizzes well ahead of each deadline so you can focus on the primary unit activities (current events and discussions). There are a plethora of resources that have been provided to help you succeed in the course, ranging from the textbook to virtual PowerPoints. It is the unsecured nature of the distance education environment that mandates that you are highly prepared before each quiz. These restrictions provide a measure of integrity for the course assessments and help secure your identity.
On rare occasion, there may be an issue with the questions in the quiz pool. I will address those issues on a case-by-case basis. Also, unforeseen glitches during a quiz attempt can occur from time to time. There are several steps you can take to ensure you do not have a problem during an attempt. If your issue is technological and based with Canvas, you will need to contact Canvas support. If the issue is from an internet glitch, you may contact me.
Extra Credit Essay Option:
You may submit an extra credit essay to take the grade of a Current Event or Discussion Board. It will be used in whichever spot helps your grade the most. The extra credit essay must address a topic that is covered in the course (topics ranging from reconstruction to the present).
Please clearly identify the essay topic and that it is for extra credit on the cover page. The minimum expectations and research requirements are:
-3 pages (front of a page counts as 1 page; back of a page counts as 2 pages)
-12 pt font-Times New Roman or Arial-Double-spaced
-1 inch margins
-Submitted as .doc, .docx, or .pdf
There is a link in Canvas where you can submit your essay. It is located in the “Extra Credit Essay” Module. That is where you are to submit your work. The deadline is the end of Unit 3, April 25th.
Current Events:
Each Current Event is worth 10% or 100 pts of Total Course Grade [200 pts or 20% of Total Course Grade]. Your Current Event must contain 2 Sections: a summary of your news article and a clear tie to US History. The goal of the assignment is for you to choose a news story, and relate it to an event in US History. You can do this one of two ways. You can either find a similar event in US History such as tying the capitol riots to the events of Shay’s Rebellion as your assignment, or you can explore how your news event was caused by an event in US History, such as how the recent shootings in Atlanta could be the results of ideas tied to other hate crimes in the US’ past, such the horrific lynchings of the 1900’s.
A rubric for the requirements of your Current Event is provided in the “Getting Started” Section. You are only required to do 2 Current Events. A rubric for the Current Event is included in the “Introductions” Module. You will summarize a news event involving the US taken from a reputable source such as CNN, Fox, BBC, etc. You must use a reputable news source for your chosen article. Stories from sites such as Buzzfeed or Esquire will not be accepted. Assignments that do not directly involve the US will not be taken, unless you can effectively tie it to events in US History. If you are unsure if the news source is reputable, or if a story is directly related to the history of US, PLEASE EMAIL BEFORE YOU START YOUR ASSIGNMENT.
The first section of your Current Event should contain your summary of your news event and must be at least 100 words in length. This will be put through a word counter and a plagiarism checker, so do not just copy and paste parts of the article. Make sure to state the title of the article, and to include the url at the bottom of your assignment.
You then must clearly analyze the event’s tie to your chosen historical event of the US. Whether you choose to compare the news article to a similar event in US history, or you explore how your event was caused by precedents set in US History, you MUST USE YOUR TEXTBOOK in your analysis—including page ties in MLA citation format. This tie/analysis must be at text in at least 500 words (again it will be put through a word counter and plagiarism checker), and make a clear connection. Make sure that anytime you include material from the textbook, you cite in MLA. If this means that you are citing every time for 3 sentences in a row, this is ok. You must cite everytime!!!
Some credible news sources you may wish to consult include:
www.WashingtonPost.com
www.USAToday.com
www.CNN.com
www.NPR.org
www.DallasNews.com
www.TexasTribune.org
While these are recommended sources, you may choose from others if you like. Again, you may not use opinion pages or blogs to draw from or you will not receive credit. Your news source must be credible. If you have questions about a news source before posting, please ask.
Discussion Boards:
Each Discussion Board is worth 6% or 66 pts [200 pts of Total Course Grade]. A rubric for your Discussion Boards is provided in the “Introductions” Module. You may choose to complete 4 Discussion Boards, but the best 3 of the 4 will be taken. You will be expected to answer short answer questions based on textbook material and will be expected to respond to at least 1 other students’ post (due at the end of each unit). Individual responses should answer to each question for each chapter thoroughly. Make sure to cite where you got the information from the textbook in MLA format. It is expected that EACH question will be answered, and that EACH answer will have a citation connected to it. The Discussion Board is formatted by chapter with questions connected to each chapter. There will be 4-5 questions per chapter so budget your time accordingly. Make sure to not wait until the last minute because doing so will make the assignment VERY difficult to complete by the deadline.
Reply Posting Guidelines:
The second part of each discussion forum involves replying to an original post offered by at least one of your peers. You may choose to reply more often, but the minimum expectation is for each student to engage with at least one person in each forum. Responses to peers must expand upon the post’s material (ie. your response could expand upon your peers’ response by adding other relevant information, refuting their response, or confirming their response using evidence, etc.) Your reply does not involve the same level of rigor as the original post, but it must be of substantial academic and intellectual value. Be sure to directly address the main points made in the original post and even offer additional sources to consider. You must reply in the same unit you are taking part in.
Simply cheering on your peers with phrases like "Good posting" or "I agree" will not suffice for this assignment. This is an opportunity for real exchange of ideas, so make the most of the opportunity to teach and learn from your classmates. Any personal attacks are grounds for immediate removal from the course and possible referral to the dean for further discipline review.
Again, your grade will be based on the quality and originality of your feedback. The minimum writing requirement for a reply post is 100 words. Finally, provide a word count and if needed list any works cited at the end of the reply.
Extra Credit Discussion Option –
Additional Reply Posts (up to extra 5 per forum):In each discussion forum, one reply is required as part of the activity. As incentive to keep the conversation going, you can earn up to 2 extra credit points for making up to 5 additional reply comments to your peers (1 required + 5 optional = 6 total). There is a maximum of 10 extra credit points awarded per forum. This option only applies when you are a participant in the forum. If your work is late or incomplete, you will not earn extra credit. Once the deadline for a given forum has passed, so does the opportunity for extra credit on that discussion topic.
Unit Exams:
Each exam is worth 7.5 pts or 7.5% of your grade—30 pts or 30% total. The questions are generated randomly and are Multiple Choice. You will have 15 questions per chapter for each exam (60 total), and 75 minutes to complete the exam. You have the option of taking the final exam to take the place of your lowest exam grade so the final exam is optional but highly encouraged! The Final Exam itself will have 90 questions and 120 minutes for completion. If your Final Exam is lower than all 4 of your Unit Exam grades, then it will be dropped so it doesn’t hurt to try.
Cumulative Essay:
Each student will be responsible for turning in a 7-page essay analyzing the causes and effects of a chosen historical topic. This essay is worth 30% of your grade. A rubric for the guidelines on this essay is provided in the “Introductions” Module. This essay will address the importance of, and causes and effects of, your chosen historical event. This could include historical federal policy such as the Emancipation Proclamation, the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, or the New Deal. You could also explore civil rights events (either as a whole or a singular event like the March on Washington), female voting rights events, feminist movements, technological innovations, or other historically significant affairs. These are all just ideas of topics that you could cover in your essay. You could come up with your own that you are more passionate about, or maybe you might come across one as we go through the semester.
Please note that your essay topic is due at the end of Unit 1, and is 10% of your Essay grade. Your essay topic will be submitted via a Discussion forum. The topic thread must be titled, “Last Name-Topic”. This allows other students to see your topic. Only two students are allowed to choose the same topic, on a first-come, first-served basis. Once two students have chosen a topic, no other students are able to choose that topic and will be notified via email. A topic that cannot be approved due to this error will not receive credit so please take heed and make sure to pay attention to which topics have been taken.
Your essay sources are due at the end of Unit 2 and are 20% of your essay grade. This essay must use at least 5 different sources. These sources must come from a reputable resource. A reputable website is one whose url usually ends in .edu, .org, or .gov. Other ideas for reputable resources are the websites that were mentioned above for your Current Event, a literary source, or a primary source (such as a letter, diary entry, or first hand written account). You may use your textbook, but it cannot count as one of your 5 self-identified resources. For this assignment, you will create Annnotated Bibliography where you will list the source in proper Works Citation format, and then you will explain how you will use that source.
Example:
Brinkley, Allen, et al. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People, 9th Edition. New York, McGraw-Hill Education, 2019.
(Explanation of how you would use this source in your essay)
The essay itself must be written in Times New Roman, Double-Spaced, and 12 pt font. It must be 7 pages long (the front of one page is defined as one page for this assignment; the back would be page two). The final essay itself is worth 70% of the essay grade. Please note your essay is due at the end of Unit 3, and that it makes up 10 percent of your course grade.
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 April 26th.
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)_______