1 Eastfield College Social Science, Human Services & Business Division Spring 2012 Course Number: GOVT 2301 (4460) and GOVT 2301 (4661) Course Title: American Government I Instructor’s Information: Instructor’s Name: Robert C. Chalwell Office Number: C-201 Office Hours: Via e-mail, responses will be giving anytime between 9am- 12am daily. Contact Information: Phone: 972.391.1047 Email: [email protected] (This is the best way to get and stay in touch with me. I try to check email on a daily basis during the week, so you can usually expect a response within 24 hours Monday- Friday. Weekend emails (including those from Friday afternoons will usually be responded to on Mondays.) Class Information: Class Meeting Times: This is a hybrid Classroom Lecture/Internet (online) class that meets from January 17th-May 10th, 2012. Class Meeting Location: Mixed: First Class will meet Thursday January 19th at EFC as scheduled. (see e-campus for specific details) Course Description: This course is an introduction to the study of political science. Topics include the origin and development of constitutional democracy (United States and Texas), federalism and intergovernmental relations, local government relations, local government, parties, politics, public policy and political behavior. (To ensure transferability, students should plan to take both Government 2301 and 2302 within the DCCCD.) (3 Lec.) Coordinating Board Academic Approval Number 4510025125 Prerequisite: Developmental Reading 0093 or English as a Second Language (ESOL) 0044 or have met the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) standard in Reading. Course Delivery Method: Via ecampus and Classroom Lectures. Textbook: The following text is required for the course: Patterson, Thomas E and Gary Halter. 2010. The American Democracy. New York: McGraw-Hill Tenth Edition. ISBN: 978-0-07-733906-7 Textbook website: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0077339061/student_view0/2 This is a free website that accompanies the AMDEM book. It has a chapter overview, flashcards, a multiple-choice quiz and Internet exercises. It also has a link to PoliCentral, a more extensive website with many features. Since approximately half of each exam will be based on the assigned readings, this free website provided by the textbook publisher makes an excellent study aide. I strongly encourage you make use of it! Supplies: Students enrolled in this class are required to have reliable computer and Internet access. - You must be able to READ MSOffice 2007 files. Assignments may be submitted in MSOffice 2003 but you MUST have the capability to read MSOffice 2007 files. You can find links to MS Office and Adobe Reader applications on the web by Googling them. - You must be able to hear through your computer: some presentations are oral so you must be able to hear files, not just read files. It is HIGHLY recommended that you buy a set of headphones with a microphone attached – although this is NOT required. General Description: This course is divided into four segments and will cover the following topics in each Segment. Segment 1: Foundations of American Government U.S. Democracy The U.S. Constitution Federalism Government Institutions Segment 2: Linkage Institutions Public Opinion Political Socialization Interest Groups The News Media Segment 3: Campaigns & Elections Political Participation Political Parties Campaigns & Elections Public Policy Segment 4: Foundations of Texas Government Texas and the Texans The Texas Constitution Political Participation in Texas Local Governments in Texas Major Course Requirements: Exams: There will be four (4) Segment exams. Each segment exam will consist of 20 short answer questions. Each exam will count 100 points toward your course grade. The material for the exams will come from assigned readings in the textbook, the posted PowerPoints and the UC Open Access AP American Government website for each topic. The exams are to be completed individually, but are open book and open notes. Exams will be e-mailed to you through ecampus via the Mail button on the Course Menu. Make sure your Internet connection is dependable (for example, I don’t recommend trying to submit an exam during a thunderstorm!). Students will have 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete each segment exam. For the segment exams, each question will be worth 5 points. You will receive your score via e-campus Mail within 48 hours of submitting the segment exam. Each exam will be e-mailed to you 5 minutes prior to regular Thursday class time, and must be submitted by the end of class. You are responsible for having dependable access to the Internet and ecampus. Technical difficulties may not be used as a justification for why you couldn’t take or complete an exam!3 Segment Writing Assignments: Each student will complete four (4) writing assignments; one for each segment of the course. Please see the Tentative Course Calendar for the due date for each segment. Late writing assignments will be accepted for half-credit (50 points instead of 100) until 11:59 p.m. December 15, 2011; after that, a grade of “0” will be recorded for any writing assignment that has not been submitted. The guidelines and options for the writing assignments can be found by clicking on Content and then the Assignments Folder in ecampus. There will be options for each segment’s writing assignment, so please read over them and choose wisely. Please strictly follow the guidelines or points will be deducted. Discussion Posts: You will access our blog-style discussion board through ecampus. During the semester, I will post five (5) discussion topics. Each topic will be open for one week. You should prepare a 150-250 word, thoughtful, well written response to the topic. The topic should have an introductory sentence and concluding sentence that ties your post together. While you may respond to other students, I will only grade the posts that respond to the topic I post. Discussion posts are worth 40 points each and evidence of the textbook readings, current events, your own critical thinking, grammar, spelling and punctuation all count. Turn around for graded work: Exam grades will be available 24 hours after the exam. Writing assignment grades will usually be posted within a week of the due date. Discussion post grades will usually be posted