United States Government Syllabus for 2024-2025
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Instructor Information

Course Information

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Collusion is defined as “the unauthorized collaboration with another person or by any other means, including artificial intelligence (AI) and computer translators, in preparing work for fulfillment of course requirements.” Using AI like (ChatGPT or Google Gemini) to create a document is considered colluding. <strong>The use of Generative Artificial Intelligence on specific assignments is at the discretion of the instructor. </strong>

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Amarillo College Tutoring for Success Policy:

Tutoring for Success applies to any student whose overall performance in the course falls below 75%. The instructor will create the task in the Student Engagement Portal (Watermark) to direct the student to the appropriate tutoring service, which may be faculty- or SI-led, discipline-specific, and/or general. The tutoring service assigned, the due date for when the tutoring must be completed, and the amount of tutoring required are at the discretion of the instructor. Additionally, the task will alert the student’s success team. Students who do not fulfill the assigned tutoring task may be subject to program- and course-specific penalties that could result in a grade reduction and/or in not being allowed to progress in the course until the tutoring requirement has been satisfied.

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

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Course

GOVT-2305-015 United States Government

Prerequisites

Course Description

Origin and development of the U.S. Constitution, structure and powers of the national government including the legislative, executive and judicial branches, federalism, political participation, the national election process, public policy, civil liberties and civil rights.

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

Online Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

American Government, 3e

Glen Krutz, Oklahoma State University and Sylvie Waskiewicz, PhD

Digital: ISBN-13: 978-1-951693-38-1

OpenStax
Rice University
6100 Main Street MS-375
Houston, Texas 77005

This textbook is free to you. You will be able to access to link to the textbook inside Blackboard once you log in to the course. You do not need to purchase any other text for this course.
 

Supplies

ebook Text listed above under "Textbooks" 

Various articles assigned throughout the course of the semester. I will always post these in Blackboard and they will be free for you to access.

Reliable internet service 

Student Performance

Students are expected to comply with Amarillo College policies and procedures listed in the student handbook on your Amarillo College website.  You may contact the instructor prior to the beginning of any class for questions regarding a deviation from these policies.

This course will follow the definition given by the Amarillo College Department of English:  Plagiarism is defined as the following:  the use of someone else’s exact words that are neither quoted nor cited; paraphrasing someone else’s words without citing them; or using someone else’s research without citing it.  

Any plagiarized work submitted as your own without following the criteria listed above will not be accepted and the submitting student will receive a zero for that particular assignment.  

Any work copied and pasted from another student will likewise not be accepted.  In this case, both students will receive a zero for that particular assignment and will be referred to the Department Chair for possible academic discipline. 

In addition, the use of AI sources such a ChatGpt or Grammarly (or any others not named here) are NOT allowed to be used in this course and will constitute plagiarism. I am interested in what you the student think, not what you can coerce out of a computer or copy/paste from the internet. 

 

Course Policies:

• This is an online class. This is not a self-paced class. We will have due dates every single week. It is imperative that you log in each week and complete all assignments by the given due date. I have provided a course outline with due dates for you. They are also listed in Blackboard with each weekly folder and in the syllabus.
• There will be a quiz covering the material that we learn every week. Students are responsible for completing the quiz each week by the due date. I do not accept late work so it is the student's responsibility to keep up with due dates so that your grade is not negatively effected. I will drop your lowest quiz grade. The quiz will be taken from the textbook reading, provided powerpoint slides, and any other assigned reading for that week such as newspaper articles or other legimate source assigned by the professor.
• We will have four (4) discussion posts. Students are responsible for completing all 4 posts by the required due date. I do not drop any of these grades. Again, I do not accept late work so it is the student's responsibility to keep up with all due dates and turn work in on time. Student are expected to follow all requirements for discussion posts.
  • Discussion posts requirements:
    • All students are required to post an initial forum post of at least 300 words responding to the prompt for that week. You must also constructively respond to at least ONE classmate’s post. Your initial response should clearly address the topic and question at hand. Your classmate response post should be at least 200 words and it should further the discussion.
    • Points will be deducted from any post that does not take a clear position on the topic or for posts that do not adequately demonstrate an understanding of the material, for posts that are not adequate length, posts that are poorly written or poorly organized, posts that have clearly been written by AI or other like sources, for posts that have just been copy/pasted from the internet or other source, and for students who do not respond to at least one classmates with meaningful discussion that furthers the discussion (i.e. you should refrain from just “I agree with you” type statements).
    • For discussion posts, if you use a source you must cite the source. Do not use someone else’s words or thoughts as your own. However, the main source for these posts in this course will be your textbook and any outside reading I give you. Therefore, the use of other sources should be VERY limited. The point of the discussion posts is to take a concept we have learned and apply it to get YOUR thoughts on the subject, therefore, the use of multiple outside sources becomes problematic at times. These are not research papers. Discussion posts that have a plethora of outside sources used tend to read as an essay and that is what we are seeking to avoid with these posts.
    • The use of AI writing on these posts will not be allowed. I am interested in what you the learner, thinker and student actually think about the topic, not what you were able to coerce out of ChatGPT or other AI sources. See the statement above regarding the use of AI. The use of AI and other plagiarizing will result in a grade of 0.
• We will have three Civic Engagement Activities to complete over the next 8 weeks. The Civic Engagement Activities are designed to help students participate in the work of democracy. Students will be required to select two of the CEA assignments in Blackboard to complete BEFORE/BY the required due date. Late submissions will not be accepted. Each of these activities are worth 25 points each and you must complete two of them. Information on what the activity choices are, how to submit proof for each of these, and more information on how to complete them will be available in Blackboard (as each submission will be different as to what proof is required that the activity was completed). Each activity must be completed during the 8 week semester in order to count as credit.
• There will be a common assessment paper assigned about halfway through the course.  10% of overall grade
• I do not offer extra credit or round up any grades.

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

Students are expected to comply with the Amarillo College Student Handbook regarding student behavior.

 

Grading Criteria

Weekly Chapter Quizzes: 40% of grade (I will drop your lowest quiz grade)

Civic Engagement Activities: 10% of grade

Discussion Posts (4 total): 40% of grade (I do not drop any of these. You must complete them all. Any discussion post that is plagiarized or copy/pasted from the internet will receive a grade of 0). 

Common Assessment Paper:  10% of semester grade

**I do not accept any late work. Students are responsible for completing and turning in all required coursework by the due date provided. Failure to turn work in by the required due date will result in a grade of 0. I do not offer any exceptions to this.**

90  – 100 = A

80   – 89  = B

70   -  79 = C

60  -   69 = D

Below 60 = F

I do not round up any grades. The grade you earn is the grade you receive. 

Attendance

This is an online course. Students are expected to log in every week and complete all assignments by the given due date. I do not accept late work. No exceptions. Regular attendance by logging into this class on a very regular basis is a necessity for success. Being organized, logging in to the class and completing work, and being responsible for all due dates is imperative for student success in this class.

Calendar

Additional Information

Instructor reserves the right to amend this Syllabus at any time BUT will notify students ASAP of any changes.