Common Course Syllabus Department: Social Sciences Discipline: History Course Number: HISTORY 1302 Course Title: American History Since 1877 Credit: 3 Lecture, 0 Lab Satisfies a core curriculum requirement? Yes, Social Science and ALL Undergraduate Degrees Prerequisites: TSI compliance in Reading Available Formats: Conventional, INET, ITV Campus: Levelland, Reese, ATC, Plainview Textbook: Varies according to instructor, but for ALL dual credit classes: The American Nation, Carnes and Garraty, Pearson & Longman, Thirteenth Edition. Volume One ISBN 0-205-56805-X, 2008. Course Description: This course is a survey of United States history from colonial foundations to 1877. Primary emphasis is placed on ideas and social concepts that constitute the American heritage. Course Purpose: To acquaint students with the diversity of American history and to promote critical thinking in interrelating the past to the present. Fundamentally, the course promotes general understanding of a body of knowledge any literate person should possess about the history of his own country. . Course Requirements: To maximize a student’s potential to complete this course, he/she should attend all class meetings, complete all homework assignments and examinations in a timely manner, and complete all other projects or papers as assigned in the instructor’s specific instructions. Course Evaluation: See the instructor's course information sheet for specific items used in evaluating student performance.Attendance Policy: Whenever absences become excessive and in the instructor's opinion, minimum course objectives cannot be met due to absences, the student will be withdrawn from the course. Each instructor will have additional information about attendance on his/her course information sheet. Student Learning Outcomes: Students who have completed this course will be expected to: . Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of major perspectives in American history. . Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of cause and effect of major events of the past. . Understand the nature of history as a fundamental subject in the study of humanity. . Evaluate the diversity of interpretations of the past and the quality of evidence for that interpretation. . Tolerate ambiguity in explanations of the past and realize that historical explanations will often be complex and tentative . Apply historical knowledge with caution to current events, seeing common threads of development of the past with the present. . Through course assignments, papers, activities, and assessments, students will: . Demonstrate the ability to read and write clearly and concisely, . Value diversity and differences in people, . Explore relationships of ideas and see their similarities and differences, . Gain a basic understanding of the career fields related in the major, . Assimilate and synthesize information, . Integrate ideas across the curricula, and . Interrelate the past to the present.Class Format: The teaching style will consist almost universally of lecture. PowerPoint slides will be used to provide a basic outline, but it is the student’s responsibility to flesh that out with notes from the lecture. Important concepts and terms will be on the PowerPoint so that the student will know the correct spelling as well as the relevant definition. Students should not hesitate to ask the instructor to define a term with which they are not familiar. Students are expected to take notes from the lecture to help them learn the material and study for exams. Laptops will only be used if the student has a medical condition that prevents traditional note taking. Students taking notes on laptop computers will sit in the front row. Participation: The instructor guarantees that every student in class at the end of the semester will have been asked at least one question in class. This is not done to humiliate the student, but to encourage them to voice coherent opinions about the subject matter. Students who consider the themes and work on articulating ideas regarding the material will be rewarded (and it will help their grade). Attendance: Attendance is expected and required. Roll will be taken at each class meeting. On the fifth absence, the student will be dropped from the course with an F. ten percent of the final grade will be based on attendance. Class Behavior: Behavior during the class period that interfered with the learning process of other students, such as talking, excessive tardiness, and reading non-class materials or sleeping will not be tolerated. Electronic Devices: Cell phones in any incarnation will not be tolerated. Cell phones may not be held or kept on the student’s desk during lecture. Any device such as a cell phone or beeper that disrupts class will cost its owner participation points from their final grade. These points may be redeemed if the guilty party provides quality snacks for the class within a week. Any student who utilizes an electronic device during an exam will receive a score of 0 on the exam. Examinations: There will be three exams during the semester including the final exam. Exams will primarily be composed of multiple choice, matching, and true/false questions. There may be identification or essay questions on as many as two exams. Additionally, there will be three written assignments that will constitute an exam equivalent grade. Students with disabilities: Students with disabilities, including but not limited to physical, psychiatric or learning disabilities, who wish to request accommodations in this class should notify the Special Services Office early in the semester so that appropriate arrangements may be made. In accordance with federal law, a student requesting accommodations must provide acceptable documentation of his/her disability to the Special Services Coordinator. For more information, call or visit the Special Services Office in the Student Services Building, 897-9611, ext. 2429, 2530.Student Absence for Observation of Religious Holy Days: A student who is absent from classes for the observation of a religious holy day shall be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment scheduled for that day within a reasonable time after the absence, if not later than the fifteenth day after the first day of the semester, the student had notified the instructor of each scheduled class that the student would be absent for a religious holy day. Grade Calculations: Examinations 12.5%