United States History II Syllabus for 2019-2020
Return to Syllabus List

Instructor Information

Course Information

COVID-19 Protocols

Recording Policy

Disability Statement

If you have a disability (learning, mental, physical) that affects your ability to participate effectively and have access to any program or service at Amarillo College please contact Disability Services at (806) 345-5639 . Our offices are located in the Student Service Center office 112. More information may be found at www.actx.edu/disability.
Disability Services facilitates access to all programs and services according to the ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as well as other federal and state laws.

Amarillo College Web Accessibility Policy Statement

Amarillo College is committed to providing equal access to all programs and services, including all working, learning, and service environments that affect equal access for persons with disabilities. This commitment to provide equal access and opportunity for persons with disabilities is in compliance with federal and state law. Amarillo College also strives to provide Electronic and Information Resources (EIR) that are accessible to all authorized users.

If you find you are unable to access material in an accessible format please contact the Disability Services Office at (806) 345-5639 . This office will work in conjunction with other campus resources to address and accommodate your issue in a timely manner.

Statement for Mental Health and Advocacy & Resource Center:

As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce a student's ability to participate in daily activities. Amarillo College offers services to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. If you or someone you know are suffering from any of the aforementioned conditions, you can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus by calling the AC Counseling Center at 806-371-5900. The AC Counseling Center website is https://www.actx.edu/counseling/ . Also, if you are in need of social services (affordable housing, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, childcare, medical/dental/vision, legal), please call the AC Advocacy & Resource Center at 806-371-5439. The AC Advocacy & Resource Center website is https://www.actx.edu/arc

Amarillo College Tutoring for Success Policy:

The Tutoring for Success policy applies to any student whose grade or performance in the course falls below a departmentally determined minimum threshold. In either of those cases, the instructor will direct the student to the appropriate tutoring service, which may be faculty-led, discipline-specific, and/or general. Under this policy, the instructor will follow specific departmental guidelines governing the use, duration, and grade component of the tutoring need.

Administrative Drop Policy

Students who do not attend class on or prior to the census date will be administratively dropped. Effective Fall, 2016

Student Withdrawal Procedures

Students who wish to withdraw from a course must complete all steps indicated on the Academic Withdrawal Request form by the course withdrawal deadline.

NOTE: Students who are attending Texas institutions of higher education, for the first time fall 2007 and later, may not withdraw from more than six courses during their academic career. This withdrawal limitation does not include dual credit or developmental classes (Senate Bill 1231 Rule 4.10.) For more information on Drop and Withdrawal Policies, please visit the Registrar's Office Web site.

Privacy Statement

The Amarillo College Privacy Policy is found at https://www.actx.edu/-amarillo-college-privacy-notice , and applies to all Amarillo College students.  If you have questions about this privacy statement or you believe that your personal information has been released without your consent, send email to humanresources@actx.edu .

Course

HIST-1302-005 United States History II

Prerequisites

Course Description

A survey of the social, political, economic, cultural and intellectual history of the United States from the Civil War/Reconstruction era to the present. United States History II examines industrialization, immigration, world wars, the Great Depression, Cold War and post-Cold War eras. Themes that may be addressed in United States History II include: American culture, religion, civil and human rights, technological change, economic change, immigration and migration, urbanization and suburbanization, the expansion of the federal government and the study of U.S. foreign policy.

Student ResourcesStudent Resources Website

Department Expectations

Occupational License Disclaimer

Notice to Students enrolled in an educational program for preparation of issuance of certain occupational licenses:

Students enrolled in an educational program in preparation for obtaining certain occupational licenses are potentially ineligible for such license if the student has been convicted of an offense. For further information, please contact:

Melodie Graves
Justice Involved Advocate
Student Service Center 117
mgraves24@actx.edu
806-371-5995
Make appointment at https://melodiegraves.youcanbook.me

You can also contact the Legal Clinic, or the faculty member in charge of the educational program that you seek to enroll in. The further information you will receive will include notification to you of your right to request a criminal history evaluation letter from the licensing authority in order to clarify your particular situation.

Hours

(3 sem hrs; 3 lec)

Class Type

Dual Credit Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

The American YAWP, volume II, edited by Joseph Locke and Ben Wright. This is an OER (open educational resource) available for free online with a low-cost paper copy available at the bookstore.

Supplies

You are required to have regular access to a personal computer (not a chromebook or tablet) with reliable internet access. While much of the stuff you do for the class can be done on a tablet or chromebook, exams will be taken in an online environment using software only available on Macintosh computers and Windows PC's, so if you do not have a personal computer you will need to figure out where you can take your exams. IPads can sometimes work, but I do not recommend taking exams on them; you will need to obtain special permission from your instructor if you wish to do this.

Student Performance

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

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 in United States history.

Students Rights and Responsibilities

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Log in using the AC Connect Portal

In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .

If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".

Expected Student Behavior

You are expected to follow all Amarillo College policies and procedures, particularly those relating to academic integrity and personal conduct. The following are of particular importance:

• Be respectful: to provide an environment that encourages free expression we must treat each other with dignity and respect. Students who behave inappropriately will receive no participation credit for the day and in more extreme circumstances may face disciplinary action from the college.
• Don't commit plagiarism: you must properly cite sources used in your work. Failing to provide citations will result in significant grading penalties. If willful plagiarism is involved the assignment will receive a failing grade and at the instructor's discretion you may fail the course and/or face disciplinary action from the college.
• Do your own work: while it is perfectly acceptable and encouraged to study together, you may not collaborate with others on any work that receives a grade unless specifically authorized. It is never acceptable to pass off others' work as your own, including having others take exams for you, buying papers, etc. Cheating will result in harsh penalties imposed at the instructor's discretion including failure of the assessment, failure of the course, and disciplinary action from the college.

Course materials created by your professor, including assignments, handouts, lectures, exams, quizzes, and similar materials and derivative works such as course notes are protected by copyright and for personal educational use only, and may not be reproduced, distributed, sold, bartered, or publicly posted to the Internet without your professor’s express written permission. Your instructor will pursue any available legal avenues to protect his intellectual property such as takedown notices as permitted by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Students found to have violated the instructor's intellectual property rights will be referred to the college for disciplinary action.

You are responsible for taking the proper steps to solve technical problems with technology used in the class: a list of support resources has been provided for you under the “help” section of the course’s Blackboard site. It it particularly important to give yourself enough time to work through technical issues before due dates: because you will be given ample time to complete your work, technical problems will not be an acceptable excuse for failing to meet deadlines. Your professor is not a technical support person and will simply refer you to the “help” section if you come to him with technical problems, but you are encouraged to speak with him if you are unable to reach a resolution after consulting the appropriate resources.

The best way to get in touch with your professor is through email. Please email your professor using the "Send Email" tool in the Blackboard course menu. Please observe the proper etiquette for business emails when contacting your professor: provide a descriptive yet concise subject in addition to a professional salutation and closing; additionally, you should write in complete sentences and avoid net- or text-speak. Most workplaces use email, so this should be good practice for you.

You should check your school email each weekday: Dr. Fauss will occasionally send out reminders and other important information via email.

Email is not an instantaneous form of communication: Dr. Fauss checks his email at least once a day Monday through Friday, which means that usually, but not always, you will get a response within 24 hours. Emails received over the weekend may not be replied to until the following Monday.

Grading Criteria

Graded components

Exams

You will be taking four timed online exams. Each exam will consist of multiple-choice questions. The exams will count 60% of your course grade. The lowest exam score will be dropped.

Students must use Respondus LockDown browser to take their exams. Students will be provided an opportunity to test that the technology is working properly before the first exam.

You must complete the exam during the availability period. Rescheduling when an exam is taken is acceptable if and only if the student has a valid reason (typically, an emergency or other unavoidable commitment is the only acceptable excuse) and makes a request to do so no later than 24 hours after the exam closes; earlier is always better.

Module quizzes

Each module will have a timed online quiz with 20 multiple-choice questions. You will be allowed two attempts, with the highest counting. No late quizzes may be made up. The average of the chapter quizzes will be 10% of your course grade. The three lowest quiz scores will not factor into your grade: you will see this take effect after the fourth quiz.

Discussions

There will be 8 discussions: each module after Spring Break have an available discussion. Discussion posts may be handed in up to 24 hours after the deadline for a 5-point penalty, but posts submitted later than 24 hours will earn no credit. The average of the 3 best discussions will be 15% of your course grade.

Documents paper

You will be completing a short paper analyzing historical documents. The paper will be 15% of your course grade. The assignment will be found attached to the dropbox in Blackboard (this will be located in the "content" folder). You will be able to see the rubric used to grade the paper in "My Grades" in Blackboard.

Late papers will receive a 5-point penalty the first day and 2 points each day after that.

Extra credit

There will be no extra credit awarded in the class.

Display and calculation of grades by Blackboard

Your current grade will be available in Blackboard under "My Grades" in the course menu. Your grade is calculated as a running total, meaning that the grade is only based upon the material submitted as of the time you check. Your running total will be calculated based upon the weighting of the different categories of grades, so for example, exams will always calculate as 60% of the total, even if only one exam is in; as more grades come in within the category, the grade will change, but it will still be calculated with the category weighting.

Final grade calculation

Final grades will be calculated according to the following criteria:

90-100 = A

80-89 = B

70-79 = C

60-69 = D

Below 60 = F

Your final grade will be rounded to the next highest integer.

Attendance

This is an online class and has no synchronous components or in-person meetings.

Calendar

Additional Information

A common misconception students have about online classes is that they require less time than an in-person class: if you want to be successful, students will generally need to put in more time than a face-to-face class because of the self-directed nature of the work. Expect to spend at least 6 hours a week working on this class, if not more.

You will be assessed on your mastery of the information presented in the video lectures, your textbook, and other materials utilized in class. You will generally be given cutting-edge interpretations of American history researched by leading scholars. Because the quality of most information on American history on the Internet is so poor, turning to it for information is not acceptable unless specifically authorized.

Using the Internet to look up answers to questions in the module quizzes denies you a valuable tool for assessing your understanding of the material. Doing so will probably result in you being poorly prepared for the exams.

If a student scores below 70% on the first exam, he or she will be required to attend tutoring per the instructor’s directions before being allowed to complete the next exam.

The instructor reserves the right to change the syllabus and calendar if needed.