U.S. History I: ON-LINE COURSE
HIST 2211
Anoka-Ramsey Community College
Spring 2010

Course Description:
Survey of U.S. History to about 1876, including such topics as indigenous peoples, exploration, colonial times, the American Revolution and Constitution, the young republic, growth of democracy, territorial expansion, slavery, Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Course Goals:
To increase students’ knowledge of how historians and social scientists discover, describe, and explain the behaviors and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions, events, and ideas. Such knowledge will better equip students to understand themselves and the roles they play in addressing the issues facing humanity.

 After successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Employ the methods and data that historians use to investigate the human condition.
• Examine social institutions and processes during the early history of the United States.
• Demonstrate an understanding of Native American life and how it changed after European settlement on the North American continent
• Explain the causes and results of the American Revolution and the development of the Early Republic
• Understand American slavery and its role in the Civil War
• Explain changes in American social life and gender roles before the Civil War
• Demonstrate an understanding of the causes of the Civil War
• Develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues based on our early American history.

 In addition to these content-related objectives, students will also be expected to develop basic academic and critical-thinking skills in this course, including:

• Learn how to frame questions for discussion, as well as how to participate respectfully in discussions and debates with fellow classmates
• Organize your thoughts and communicate them clearly in written form
• Practice how to select and present information and arguments within a restricted environment, particularly the limitations of time in exams
• Learn how to answer questions by thinking critically about each issue -- not just memorize data
•  Develop an ability to compare and contrast different viewpoints, while understanding the merits of both points of view

Readings/Texts: (books available for purchase in the ARCC bookstore):
 

1.      America: A Concise History, Volume I, by Henretta/Brody

2.      Discovering the American Past, Volume I, by William Wheeler and Susan Becker

3.      Classic Slave Narratives, Henry Louis Gates, ed.

4.     Selected readings on e-reserve on the ARCC library's webpage.  Instructions for accessing these materials electronically will be linked from the class schedule webpage.  Don’t wait until the last minute to access these items electronically, in case you have computer problems.    Computer problems are not an excuse for incomplete work.

5.      Selected readings on the internet.  Follow links from the on-line course schedule.  I strongly recommend that you print out these readings -- you can take notes on the reading, and you will be able to consult the reading while making D2L posts.  Again, computer problems are not an excuse for incomplete work.

Assignments and Grading:

A= 90-100%, B= 80-89%, C= 70-79%, D=60-69%, and F=59% and below

As much as possible, I hope to generate discussions that are student-centered and student-led.  I will comment occasionally, especially to clarify questions of fact, but my hope is that your voices are the most prominent throughout the semester, not mine.  I will not be providing weekly feedback on your discussions but I will give you a non-binding midterm status report on your discussion grade at that point in the semester.  I am also happy to give more frequent evaluations upon individual request. Also, since I evaluate your discussion posts more thoroughly after the discussion has ended, I may miss something during the time that the discussion is actually occurring. Please alert me about any concerns or questions that arise during each week of discussion.

Some general tips -- in other words, be sure your post contains the following elements:

1.  A thoughtful and informed response to the question/topics.  Your opinion should be based on the knowledge you have gained from the readings.  Referring to the readings is a plus.  Posing your own questions for discussion is also a plus.

2.  A respectful dialogue with your classmates.  Feel free to agree or disagree with each other -- but if you are going to agree or disagree, take a few moments to justify your own position.  Posting a one-line response (i.e. "I agree with Amy") does not contribute substantively to the discussion, nor does it advance your own participation grade.

2. Two Exams: 15% (Midterm) and 20% (Final) of final grade:
The Midterm exam will cover the first half of the course,  and the Final exam will cover the second half, which means that the Final exam will NOT be cumulative.  See the course schedule for the dates of these exams.  The exams will consist of short answer questions and/or essays.  They will be open book.  You will have a 24-hour window of opportunity in which to take the exam.  Once you begin work on the exam, you will have a maximum of 90 minutes to complete the exam.  Having a 90 minute time constraint means that you must review your notes and readings beforehand.

You must be available to take these exams at the specified times.  Exams will be rescheduled only for excused absences (documented medical emergencies or military service.)  Family vacations or work obligations are not a valid reason for rescheduling an exam.  Plan your schedules accordingly.

I cannot stress this point enough: Copying ANY PORTION of your answers directly from internet sources, the course textbooks, AND/OR from classmates will result in failing the exam.  Again, copying ANYTHING, including short phrases, from other sources or a classmate will result in a grade of ZERO on the exam.  In other words, answers to the exam must be written ENTIRELY (100%) IN YOUR OWN WORDS, unless you are using a quotation that is properly cited.  


3. Reading quizzes, 45 % of final grade

Each Tuesday at noon I will "activate" a reading quiz at D2L, which will be available until the following Tuesday at noon.  Click on "Quizzes" at the main D2L menu screen.  You will find a set of short-answer questions about that week's assigned readings.  The reading material that is "fair game" for the quizzes is listed under the heading "Reading for Discussion and Quizzes" on the course schedule.  This means that textbook (America) and background reading will NOT be included in the quizzes.

You can access each quiz only once, and you will have a 45 minute time limit -- which means that you must do all the reading BEFORE attempting the quiz, since you won't be able to come back to the quiz, nor will you have time to flip through the readings in search of the answer.    (If there are weeks with a large amount of reading, it is possible I will extend the quiz limit to more than 45 minutes.  I will inform students of this through the News items on D2L).

There will be no make-up quizzes allowed, so you must complete the quizzes each week as scheduled.  If you miss a quiz, you will receive a zero for that particular quiz.  Computer problems are not an excuse for missing a quiz, so I suggest that you plan to take the quizzes ahead of time just in case you have computer problems at the last minute.  

There will be a total of 15 quizzes.  I will count only FOURTEEN (14) quiz grades, which means your lowest quiz grade will be dropped.  You can decide to take only 14 quizzes, or you can take all 15 quizzes and I will drop the lowest grade.  This means that each quiz will be worth a bit more than 3% of your grade.

I will grade the quizzes within the first several days after the availability period has closed and everyone has taken the quiz.  You can view your feedback and quiz grade at D2L.  Since these are short-answer questions, the computer cannot automatically grade your quiz for you.  I will need a few days to read the quizzes and post feedback.

Copying your responses (from class assignments or a classmate) will result in failing the ENTIRE QUIZ PORTION of your grade.  It's simple: do the quizzes by yourself, don't copy, and write your responses in your own words.

4.  Extra Credit Options.  There are two extra credit options in this course.  Be sure to familiarize yourself with the assignments and plan ahead to complete the readings on time.