Introduction to U.S. Government and Politics

Course Objectives:

1)      To encourage students to think about the world around them and recognize the pervasiveness of politics.

2)      To provide students with the necessary information to make informed decisions, both in the voting booth and elsewhere in life.

3)      To facilitate student participation in politics, hopefully with positive results.

4)      To show students the importance of questioning and critically analyzing information provided by our government, the media, and other sources.

Student Learning Objectives:

By the end of the semester, students should be able to:

1)      Describe the structure of the U.S. national government and evaluate the roles of major forces shaping the formation of public policy including public opinion, interest groups, and political parties.

2)      Describe the origins and evolution of the U.S. Constitution, especially with regard to citizens’ rights.

3)      Evaluate the dynamics of a federal system with particular attention to the relationships between California and the federal government.

Course Readings:

I will be using one main text for this class. That text is Harrison and Harris, American Democracy Now, Third Edition (Custom Version), published by McGraw-Hill. This custom version comes with a login code that is REQUIRED for the class. You need this specific custom edition in order to pass this class, and this book can only be purchased at the Grossmont College Bookstore or Ross Books off campus. Any other version of the book will not come with the required access code, so you will end up spending another $90 or more to buy the code anyway. Having the access code is NOT OPTIONAL, so if there is an issue with this, please let me know immediately. From now on, I will refer to this book as ADN in this syllabus.

Any other readings will be done via the internet and will be accessed through our course Blackboard page.

Graded Course Work: Two exams worth 100 points each Weekly homework worth 50 points total Participation in Weekly Discussions worth 50 points total Final exam worth 200 points There are a total of 500 possible points

There will be one 20-point extra credit option at the end of the semester. It will be an informal evaluation of the course, to be completed during the final exam availability window. There will be no other extra credit opportunities this semester. There will be no exceptions to this policy.

Course grade is based strictly on points, according to the following scale: A = 500-449 B = 448-399 C = 398-349 D = 348-299 F = 298 or less

This grade scale is a hard-point scale, meaning that I do not change people’s grades because you came close to the next higher grade. If you “missed it by one,” then you missed it by one, and will not get the next higher grade. No exceptions. Just as I do not knock people down because they “just made it by one,” I will not raise anyone’s grade either. You earn the grade you earn in this class, for better or worse. That’s life.

Classroom Requirements: As this is an online class, emphasis will be placed on participation in online discussion boards.  Each week, we will begin a new learning module. In each module, there is a corresponding reading assignment in the Harrison and Harris text. There will also be lecture materials in the learning module for you to read, and a discussion topic to which you will respond. Each student is expected to reply with an answer to my initial question in each discussion topic, and also to provide a substantive response to another student’s reply. For each topic (other than the self-introduction), you must post two comments, and your postings must be on separate days within each topic. Topics will be posted every Monday morning with a new Learning Module. For each topic, your first post, in response to my initial question, is due by 11:59pm on Thursday of each week, and is worth two points. Your second post, in reply to another student’s posting, is due by 11:59pm on Sunday evening, and is worth one point. Make sure you leave yourself enough time to get your posts in by the deadlines (do not start typing at 11:58pm on deadline day). Deadlines are strictly enforced in this class . Each topic is worth three points, plus five points for the Self-Introduction topic, for a total of 50 points (15x3 + 5 = 50).

To get the maximum points, you need to post two quality comments, on separate days within each topic with one post being before Thursday at midnight, plus read at least 10 postings from other classmates, for all 15 topics. This is not a buffet, where you pick and choose which topics you want to participate in. You must participate in ALL discussion boards to be eligible for full credit.

It is also vital that you keep up with the course readings.  You are responsible for all materials in the textbooks, for the chapters listed in the reading schedule below, as well as any additional readings on the web. 

Weekly Assignments:

The weekly assignments will necessitate the access code that comes with the course textbook. You can also purchase the access code separately at the beginning of the semester, and that access code entitles you to access to the e-version of the textbook. Either way, you need the access code to complete the weekly assignments. This is not optional, so if there is an issue, contact me IMMEDIATELY.

The assignments will be part of the weekly Learning Modules. They will include multiple choice questions, videos, charts, and other activities designed to help you gain a better understanding of the materials we are covering. For each chapter, there will be a LearnSmart flashcard assignment and a Connect assignment (the Connect assignment may be broken into separate auto-graded and manually graded sections); both are required elements. Weekly assignments are due each Sunday evening by 11:59pm, and late submissions will not be accepted. Each week, the assignments are assigned 50 points, and after the fifteen weeks are totaled together, I will divide the total by 15 to get an average score out of 50 , and this will be your adjusted homework score for the course. Again, to clarify, the assignments are worth only a TOTAL of 50 points for the semester.

Examinations:

The midterm exams and final exam will be held online.  They will be 50-question, multiple choice exams, with each question being worth two points.  The exams will each cover a third of the class.  The first midterm covers Harrison and Harris Chapters 1-5, plus associated other readings. The second midterm covers Chapters 6-10 and associated readings. The final exam will cover Harrison and Harris Chapters 11-15, and associated readings. The final exam will also contain a comprehensive element covering the entire course. 

The comprehensive part of the final exam will be based on the key terms at the end of each chapter in the Harrison and Harris book and will be part of a matching section of the final exam. The matching section on the final exam is the only comprehensive component on any exam, and will involve matching 20 of the terms with 25 possible “definitions.” Each matched term is worth five points.

I do not give study guides for the tests. However, the weekly assignments should be a resource to help you prepare for exams. LearnSmart offers the option of allowing you to create practice exams for each chapter. Instructions are on Blackboard.

Each exam must be taken on the dates scheduled in the Reading Schedule. Each midterm exam will open at 12:01 a.m. on the Saturday morning it is scheduled, and will close at 11:59 p.m. on that Sunday. The final exam will be available during the same times, but on Thursday and Friday of final exam week. For each exam, you should have plenty of time to complete each exam. You will be allowed 75 minutes to take each midterm and two hours for the final exam.

You may obviously use your books during the exams, but you have a very small time-window in which to find the answers, so I suggest you study hard and know the material without relying on the book, and you should do fine on the tests.

If you need testing accommodations, let me know immediately, within the first two days of the semester. Other than that, you must take the exams when they are scheduled, and I will not allow exceptions to that, even if someone bought you airplane tickets to Vegas on the days we are taking the final exam. Step away from the slots long enough to take the test, and if you win, share the wealth

Extra Credit:

The twenty points of extra credit in this class will come at the end of the semester, when you have the option of completing an informal class evaluation for this course. It is available on the same dates as the final examination. There are only a few open-ended questions about the course, and you should complete them in total honesty. I will not read them until after final grades have been submitted, but I will be able to tell if you have completed the evaluation. As long as you answer all four questions, you will receive the full twenty points.

However, the extra credit is only available for students who have completed the two exams, all of the homework assignments, and all of the discussion topics. Extra credit is EXTRA. If you do not do the required work, you do not get extra credit, because you did not do extra work.

Other:

This course adheres to the policies outlined in the Grossmont College catalogue. For further information, see Academic Policies stated in the catalog.

If you decide to drop the class, you must take the necessary steps yourself, including filing the required documents with the school.  It is the student’s responsibility to drop all classes in which he/she is no longer participating. Do NOT rely upon me to drop you, because I might not, and you do not want to get stuck with an "F".  Also, please let me know if you DO drop.  I will not yell at you, or try to talk you out of it.  It just makes the paperwork easier.  Thanks. It is the instructor’s discretion to withdraw a student after the add/drop deadline due to excessive absences. Students remaining enrolled in a class beyond the published withdrawal deadline, as stated in the class schedule, will receive an evaluative letter grade in this class.

You are expected to login and begin the coursework assigned to you on the first day of the course. This is a fully online course with no required on-campus meetings. Even though we will not be meeting each other face to face, you must login to Blackboard several times a week to stay informed and meet deadlines. You must show continuous progress throughout the course or you may be dropped. Continuous progress is measured by attending class, participating in the class discussions, and submitting assignments. Simply logging into Blackboard is NOT indicative of continuous progress. If you fail to post to consecutive topics on the discussion boards, I may assume that you no longer wish to participate in the class and I may drop you at my discretion without notice. If you plan on missing a significant portion of the class, but plan to finish the class, please let me know in advance so that this is not an issue.

Please note: You will have 24-hour access to Blackboard and the McGraw-Hill websites. However, you will not have 24-hour access to me. This is only one of many courses I am teaching this semester. I have scheduled office hours that you are welcome to use for questions. I also have my email account where you may send questions, but I do not check my email, or response to emails, after 5:00pm during the week or at all on weekends. Within those parameters, I will try to respond to any emails within 24 hours if at all possible.

There are consequences in life, and in this class, for making mistakes:

1)      For cheating or plagiarism, you will receive a zero (0) for the assignment and will be subject to school discipline. For the purpose of this class, cheating includes, but is not limited to, students cooperatively completing exams together or plagiarizing material for the homework assignments

2)      Students are expected and required to be tolerant of other people's opinions.  I will not tolerate anything less in this regard. You will likely disagree with some of the comments that appear in the discussion boards, but you must tolerate other students’ right to be wrong. Your postings should always be professional and academic, and never take the form of a personal attack against another class member. Failure to follow this policy may result in anything from zero credit for the discussion posting all the way up to removal from the course.

3)      Respectful behavior is expected of you in our online learning environment. Please read Cuyamaca’s Netiquette Guidelines at http://www.cuyamaca.edu/kathryn.valdivia/ethics/netiquette.asp

If you have complaints about the course, first address them to me so that we may work out a mutually acceptable solution.  This option is risk free (and likely to bring results) since I do not hold anyone in disregard that has a complaint.  If that fails, please address your complaint to Todd Myers (619-644-7848), the department chairman.  He will give your complaint a full and fair hearing.

Students with disabilities who may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to notify the instructor and contact Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSP&S) early in the semester so that reasonable accommodations may be implemented as soon as possible.  Students may contact DSP&S in person in Room 110 or by phone at (619) 644-7112 (voice) or (619) 644-7119 (TTY for deaf).

There are some academic support services available on campus.  The English Writing Center provides tutorial and instructional support, IBM compatible word processing, grammar tutorials, as well as a substantial library of writing resources.  The EWC is located in the LRC, Room 70-119. 

The last day to drop this class is April 25, 2014. This syllabus is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. If you need any assistance, please contact the instructor for clarification. It is your responsibility to understand the syllabus and what the expectations are for students in this course.

Course Readings: Please read the following chapters during the periods assigned.

I consider this syllabus to be a contract between myself and each of you. Your continued attendance in this class shall signify your acceptance of the terms of this syllabus. If you have any questions or need clarification, please use the email function within our Blackboard course to contact me.