Hide Assignment InformationInstructionsPLEASE READ THE DIRECTIONS FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT WHICH ARE LOCATED IN THE SYLLABUS UNDER THE TAB THAT READS START HERE. BE SURE THAT YOUR BOOK JOURNAL
HIST 1301: A History of the United States to 1877 Dr. Nathaniel Means Dallas College Fall 202 4 [email protected] CONTACTING YOUR INSTRUCTOR I typically respond to emails from students within 24 hours. However, over the weekend and holiday periods responses may be delayed. You may contact me at [email protected] . COURSE INFORMATION Course Number: HIST 1301 Credit Hours: 3 (3 Lecture) Drop Date: 14 November 202 4 Certification Date: 9 Se ptember 2024 Course Title: A History of the United States to 1877 OFFICE HOURS 2:00 to 3:00 Mondays and Wednesdays at the Mountain View Campus and 11 :00 and 12:00 Tuesdays and Thursdays in A – 257 at the N orth Lake Campus , and by appointment with the instructor. Please understand that I desire to me with you at your convenience if you are unable to visit during regular office hours. Also, feel free to e -mail me at nmeans@d allascollege .ed u COURSE DESCRIPTON This course is a chronological survey attentive to the political, economic, cultural, social, and constitutional developments by which America evolved through colonial settlement and building, achieved independence, developed a new political order, grapple d with the paradox of freedom and slavery, and emerged out of the contending forces of sectionalism and nationalism. Just as the men and women who settled and shaped America followed no rigid timetable, the professor will allow the course to develo p at a tempo commensurate with the topics and student reaction to them. You will 1) read both contemporary and past writings 2) take notes on both reading and lectures, 3) make reasoned interpretations about the causes and consequences of historic events 4) write and speak analytically and persuasively. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES Upon successful completion of this course, students will: HIST 1301 page 2 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 American history. TEXAS CORE OBJECTIVES Knowledge and Understanding —to diffuse knowledge of the subject at hand so as to refute error, combat ignorance, and understand concepts, relationships between situations, choices, results and consequences, reception or effect, and significance. Communication —to include effective written, oral, and visual communication Critical Thinking Skills - to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information Social Responsibility - to include intercultural competency, civic knowledge, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities Personal Responsibility - to include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision -making READING MATERIALS If your Dallas College course requires learning materials they will be provided as part of the IncludED program (see dcccd.edu/included ) or as free materials you can access in your online course shell. If you opt out of the IncludED program, you are responsible for obtaining all your required learning materials by the first day of the class (for more details: Institutional Policies ). To access your textbook American Promise, Volume I , go to the tab that reads LEARNING RESOURCES in the white box in Brightspace . Next you will see a link that reads Learning Materials — IncludeED E -Book . Click that link. The two books that you are required to read are as follows: James L. Roark and others, The American Promise: A History of the United States 9th. ed., Volu me 1, Bedford/St. Martin's, 20 23 . ISBN: 978 -1-319 -34332 -3 Solomon Northup, Twelve Years A Slave HIST 1301 page 3 COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADE CALCULATIONS Each test will consist of a short -answer section of identification, a multiple -choice section (40 questions), and one short essay question. The identification and multiple choice sections will ask you to identify accurately and inquisitively analyze major people, places, events, and social developments. For the identification terms, you will give a full paragraph of three to four complete sentences in which you provide an accurate, thorough definition and explanation of historical significance. *NOTE: The final exam will be composed of 50 or more multiple choice questions. History is not the rote memorization of a meaningless array of data. It is a lived experience of who human beings are. You will be expected to recall facts, events, people, and data; however, you must think in terms of importance, meaning, context, relevance, significance, and consequences. For examinations you must bring to class a #2 pencil, eraser, and a green #882 -E “Scantron” test sheet from the bookstore. Any make up exam the instructor gives will be all essay and very general in nature. Grading is severe. There will be three examinations over the term including the final. Each student will hand in one analytical book journal based on Solomon Northup’s, Twelve Years A Slave . Additionally, there will be three mid -unit quizzes that will consist of a series of twenty -five multiple choice questions. The purpose of these quizzes is to prepare for the major unit exams. Students will take the short, little twenty -five question mult iple choice quizzes outside of class by way of Brightspace . GRADE CALCULATIONS TABLE Your final grade will be calculated as follows: Assignments Percentage Book Journal 10% Class Participation 10% Mid Unit Quizzes, One, Two, and Three 10 % Unit One Test 20 % Unit Two Test 25% Unit Three Test 25% HIST 1301 page 4 Class participation grades will be based on raising and answering questions in class, and participation in discussion of the paperback book. If you say nothing all semester you will receive a 60% for your class participation grade, which basically mea ns you lose four points off your final grade. Your grade will rise in proportion to your liveliness and activity. In short, simply ask questions when you are confused about something or express curiosity about some aspect of the topic at hand. Doing so often can raise your grade. NOTE! A steady, active sense of enthusiasm and interest in learning can go far to boost a grade in this class! GRADE SCALE Percentages Letter Grade 90 -100% A (superior work) 80 -89% B (pretty good) 70 -79% C (average) 60 -69% D (unsatisfactory) 0-59% F ( total failure) EXPECTATIONS This is a college course. In written work, you will write in complete sentences. You will organize your ideas in paragraphs, and you will indent those paragraphs. I expect you to spell and adhere to the customary rules of grammar to the best of your abil ity. This especially applies to exams and to book journals mentioned below. READING JOURNAL On a word processor keep a journal by chapters of your reactions and responses to the specific incidents and/or interpretations in each chapter. Begin the journal with the Preface or Introduction if applicable; end the journal with the conclusion or epilog ue if applicable. Do not simply tell me that you “enjoyed” it or that it was “interesting.” Indeed, avoid those terms . The purpose of the journal is to assure that you comprehend the book, can grapple with the problems that it raises, and to enc ourage you to think analytically and critically about the author’s ideas. Ask yourself, as you write in the journal, such questions: What do I think about the dilemmas, problems, choices, and decisions that the author faced or that other people faced? Wh at would I have done under similar circumstances? How would I have reacted to this or that situation? What do I think about the different experiences of enslaved people that Northup captures? What do I think about the various slaveholders under which Nort hup was enslaved? How would I have responded to this or that situation? How do the different slaveholders’ attitudes help me to understand the different experiences that slaves could have? How does this or that HIST 1301 page 5 slaveholder explain how white southerners could have owned slaves? What do I think about Northup’s descriptions of slavery, people, and life in the Old South? How does this chapter enhance and/or alter my concept of a particular aspect of history?Does this event or development have any message for our times? What do I think about this or that event or practice? How does this book illustrate, clarify, or otherwise relate to specific topics covered in History 1301? These questions are for purposes of il lustration; you are not confined to them (I suggest you take them seriously). Be creative, descriptive, and use a lot of adjectives. As mentioned above, think analytically and critically . A mere summary of the author’s major points is unacceptable . Your journals should contain: reactions, responses, questions, thoughts, ideas, illustrations, analysis , criticism, interpretation, and expressions of relevance. You must react to a sufficient amount of each chapter so as to convince the instructor that you not only have read the book, but that you have thought about it. In your critique, it would not be advisable to claim fault with the author’s extensive vocabulary and the complexity of the topic at hand. Such claims would say more about the reader than the writer. NOTE: With Respect to Book Journals: 1) These are not collaborative projects. Each student’s work must be his or her own work. I enforce the college’s code against academic dishonesty to the letter. 2) You will type your name on the upper, right -hand corner. 3) The paper will be double -spaced. 4) You will break the journal down by chapters, starting with the introduction, taking each chapter in turn, and finishing with the epilogue. 5) Any kind of block style is unacceptable. You will indent each paragraph FIVE spaces. Failure to indent properly paragraphs will result in an automatic ten -point deduction in your grade. 6) You will submit your paper under Assignments in Brightspace in Microsoft Word, saved by your last name as a .docx file by the deadline. ASSIGNMNET DEADLINES Dates of the examinations and deadlines for the book journals will be announced in class. Absence from class is no excuse for missing a deadline. You are expected to hand in papers on time. No late paper can be accepted unless you discuss with your professor why the paper might be late prior to its due date. Such a paper will be penalized 10 points for each day in which it is late. HIST 1301 page 6 ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS What happens when somebody misses more than six full classes or decides to interrupt the class by showing up late? For each absence in excess of six un -excused absences, the course grade for the student will be reduced by 10 percentage points. A student should present all requests for an excused absence on the day the student returns to class. NOTE: After September 9th , late arrivals are not permitted, and you will not be put on the roll as present after the roll is called. ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: The fact that you are taking an on -line course does not at all exempt you from Dallas College's policies. This includes -among all other policies -North Lake's policy on Academic Dishonesty. The Student Code of Conduct prohibits academic dishonesty and prescribes penalties for violations. According to this code, which is printed in the co llege catalog, "academic dishonesty", includes (but is not limited to) cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty, plagiarism, and collusion". Academic dishonesty may result in the following sanctions, including, but not limited to: 1. A grade of zero or a lowered grade on the assignment or course. (In this course, your total course grade will be lowered to an F) 2. A reprimand. 3. Suspension from the College . More information is available at: http://www1.dcccd.edu/cat0406/ss/code.cfm WITHDRAWAL POLICY If you are unable to complete this course, it is your responsibility to withdraw formally. The withdrawal request must be received in the Registrar’s Office by the date provided at the very top of this document . Failure to do so will result in your receiving a performance grade, usually an "F." If you drop a class or withdraw from the college before the official drop/withdrawal deadline, you will receive a "W" (Withdraw) in each class dropped. INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES: Institutional policies regarding this course can be accessed from the following link: www.northlakecollege.edu/syllabipolicies HIST 1301 page 7 HOW DOES ONE “PASS” OR OTHERWISE EXCEL IN THIS CLASS? 1. Taking thorough notes in class is absolutely essential to gain knowledge and understanding of the readings. 2. Read the assigned chapters before the lectures. Reading assignments for America n Promise Volume One and a full array of study guides for each exam are under 1301 Lecture Outlines which are available under Start Here in the course’s Brightspace page. 3. I repeat: take complete, organized notes; ask questions for points of clarification. 4. What do I take notes on exactly? Focus on people, places, events that you see in the lecture outline as you follow along. Concentrate on those key terms in your study guides for each unit test. 5. Without delay, use your textbook to fill in gaps in your notes. Add from the text points missing in your lecture notes. 6. Practice answering the essay questions by using your notes and the textbook. 7. As you take notes, prepare for both the paragraph of identification and the multiple choice section of your exams, write a short paragraph on each term in the unit study guides. Capture the following information: 1. Who, What, Where and When 2. At least one or two specific things about the term that only apply to that term and are of major significance to the term 3. Why is the term important - What is the result of the Term? What were the consequences or ramifications of this or that event? Or that individual’s actions? What is the most important thing that happened at that particular place in time? These ingredients should be noted by you in your notes in three separate sentences or categories to make sure that you have covered all of the three essential ingredients to a proper understanding of a historical term. 8. If I were to tell my best friend something important about this person, place, or event, what would it be? HIST 1301 page 8 9. Replicate from memory these paragraphs and answers to essay questions by writing them repeatedly: take the test before you take it. NOTE: If you refuse to take thorough notes in this class, memorize a full paragraph for each term in the unit study guides (found in the course outlines on eCampus under START HERE), and inwardly digest both your notes and the inquisitive knowledge contained in the textbook chapters, you will fail this course. PLEASE FORGIVE MY IDIOSYNCRASIES AND REALIZE THAT I: Plan to enjoy this course and hope that you do also. Encourage/enjoy visits during office hours and by appointment. Desire to assist you as soon as you need help. Enjoy challenging questions from the class. Encourage you to offer conflicting interpretations. Expect you to ask for clarification of unclear points. Expect you to apply what you learn in English 1301 and write like a college student. Request that during lectures you keep only your notebooks open. Expect that you will not talk during lectures. Do not base a grade on "effort" but the finished product. “Trying hard” is usually necessary, but not sufficient to create good work. Punish cheating — including plagiarism -with an F in the course. Welcome suggestions on how I can improve this course. Repeat that I desire to assist you as soon as you need help. Hope that you learn to enjoy history as much as I do. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR ANY REASON , PLEASE CONTACT ME AT (972) 273 -3117 Or by e -mail at: nmeans@d allascollege .edu My office on North Lake’s main campus is A -257 Please feel free to stop by and talk whenever you wish. Study guides and this syllabus are both accessible on the course’s Brightspace page under START HERE. Anything in this syllabus is subject to alteration based on the decision of the instructor upon proper verbal or written notification of the students.
