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History 1301-American History
Prehistory to Reconstruction
Fall 2008
Instructor: Linda
Griffith
Office: Ft. Bend Tech Center, 140G
Phone: 281-239-1560
Yahoo IM: linda77469 (home only)
E-mail:
lindagr@wcjc.edu
Website:
www.griffithhistory.com
Prerequisite
THEA Reading and Writing Level
There are no course requirements for American History 1301, but a
student must
make a THEA reading and writing score sufficient for enrollment in
English 1301
Course Description
Survey beginning with the arrival of man to North America and
continuing to the period of
Reconstruction following the Civil War. Social, economic,
cultural, military, political and
diplomatic developments are emphasized. The diversity of the
American culture is stressed
and the wide varieties of contributions from all Americans are
included. Some topics explored
include the colonization of America by the English and the
subsequent revolution, the Federalist
period, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy and the events of the
19th century that
culminated with the Civil War.
The Text
Ayers, Edward L., Lewis L. Gould, David M. Oshinsky and Jean R.
Soderlund. American
Passages: A History of the United States, (compact
third or fourth edition recommended).
Thompson Wadsworth, Fort Worth.
Course Objectives
1. To develop in the student critical thinking skills which would
include a knowledge of,
comprehension of, analysis of, synthesis of and an evaluation of the
events of American
history.
2. To enable the student to identify the basic elements of the
cultural heritage of the United
States of America and to understand and appreciate its diversity
3. To develop in the student an understanding of the uses of
historical knowledge, to show
how the past helps to explain the present and to assist the student
in developing and historical
perspective
4. To provide students with an adequate base of historical knowledge
for the furtherance
of their studies and in other disciplines and as transfer students
to other colleges.
LAST DAY FOR DROPPING
COURSES WITH A GRADE OF W: NOVEMBER 14, 2008
Classroom Requirements
Attendance Policy
Attendance will be taken daily. If a student should acquire
absences in excess of two weeks
(6 absences for MWF classes, 4 absences for TT classes) in a course
or when a student's
attendance record, in the judgment of the instructor, makes the
attainment of minimum course
requirements improbable, that student may be dropped from the course
with a designation of
"W" (Withdrawn).
Those absences caused by participation in COLLEGE-sponsored
activities, by the student's
illness, or by certain emergencies, may be excused by the instructor
at her discretion.
Good attendance is considered favorably when grades are computed.
Academic Integrity
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Plagiarism on
papers and cheating on exams will
result in a failing grade for the assignment and in the case of my
dual credit students, referral
to your high school administrators. It may result in a failing
grade for the course. Such conduct
may result in the student being placed on disciplinary probation or
suspension.
Cell Phones
Please turn all cell phones to SILENT MODE upon entering the
classroom. If this rule is not
complied with, all cell phones will be barred from the classroom
except in special circumstances
that must be personally approved by the instructor. NO TEXTING
in my classroom.
Make-Up Policy
Students who fail to take an exam (for any reason) at the scheduled time will lose
the right to drop their
lowest grade the end of the semester (you will receive a 0 for the
missed test). No exceptions to this
rule. If a student should miss
a second exam, a makeup exam will be allowed in
some instances at
the discretion of the instructor. My Tech Center students will
make up tests on the day of the final. My
dual credit
students will take makeup tests
at the discretion of their classroom facilitator or school
counselor.
Preparation
I strongly suggest you fulfill your reading assignments before you
come to class so that you know
what I am lecturing about and can ask and answer questions as they
may arise. Please note that
I will be lecturing selectively on the most important topics
presented in each chapter, but test
questions may sometimes come from material in the book that I do not
specifically mention; thus
reading is imperative for the best grade. Use the
lecture/reading schedule as a guide to know what
chapters to read and the chapter guides (links to both at
www.griffithhistory.com
) to know which
topics I will be focusing on the most.
Notes/Key Terms
You are expected to take notes during class. You have a much
better chance of success in this
class if you take notes and ask questions as I cover the material.
In each chapter guide I provide a list of
key terms and questions that you should know for lecture and test
purposes. I suggest you watch for
these during your reading and define them in your notes.
Grades
Your grade in this class will be determined by test scores, a
written component, and a comprehensive
final. I will give four chapter tests and the lowest score of the
four will be dropped. If you
are absent for
one of the exams you will receive a 0 and that will automatically
count as your dropped
score. The
unit tests will be any combination of multiple choice, short answer,
and short essay; the final is all
multiple choice.
Grading
The three highest scores of the four chapter tests comprise 60% of your
grade. The written component
makes up 20%, the post test is 5% and the comprehensive final counts
15%.
4 exams, lowest grade dropped (3x20%) 60%
Writing component
20%
Post-test
5%
Comprehensive Final
15%
100%
Test Materials
Tech Center students bring a Scantron card and a #2 pencil and some
notebook paper to class on
test days. Dual credit students will have Scantrons provided
for them when necessary.
Final Grade
You must take the final exam and post-test and complete the writing assignments to
the satisfaction
of the instructor
to receive a grade. The final exam has two parts, part one
written by instructor (15%)
and the departmental post-test (5%). Failure to take final exam
results in an automatic grade of F.
College Grading Scale
A= 90-100
B= 80-89
C= 70-79
D= 60-69
F= 0-59
Writing Component
The written portion of your grade this semester is a research paper
with the topic chosen from the list
provided by the instructor. The paper is to be a minimum of
five typed pages not counting the bibliography.
Paper guidelines will be provided on a separate handout.
You must turn in an original paper to get
credit for this class.
Missed Lectures
Because high schools have varying schedules, my lectures are made
available on streaming video
so that dual credit students who cannot watch the original ITV
broadcast will not miss anything. It is
YOUR responsibility to make up this work. For those of you who
do not have high speed internet at
home, please make arrangements to watch it at school.
Bandwidth issues sometimes make it
impossible to see the video, but the audio is always available.
The broadcasts are available at
http://208.190.91.200 . I
encourage my face-to-face classes to utilize this tool, too.
Questions
Any questions regarding make-up policy, late papers, course demands
or disputes over test
questions or grades will be resolved by a personal conference
between instructor and STUDENT
(not parent), either in person or on the phone.
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