Government 2305 Regular - Miller - Fall 2009 CIS

Section(s):

E3

Office Hours:

M W F 8:00 AM - 12:00 Noon

Office Number:

A-228

 

 

Office Phone:

209-7330

 

 

E-mail:

 emiller@blinn.edu

Website:

 http://www.blinn.edu/brazos/socialscience/Govt/emiller/

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Government 2305 is a study of the organization, functions, and administration of the several branches and agencies of the national government, including a study of the federal constitution. The primary factors considered relate to the three branches of government -- judicial, executive, legislative -- major historical documents, the events that shaped the nation, and current events. Emphasis will be placed on the interaction of these subsystems. Three credit hours.

CORE CURRICULUM COURSE:

This is a Core Course in the 42-Hour Core of Blinn College. As such, students will develop proficiency in the appropriate Intellectual Competencies, Exemplary Educational Objectives, and Perspectives. The URL for the Blinn College Core Curriculum web site is: http://www.blinn.edu/corecurriculum.htm.

COURSE OBJECTIVES and STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

After successfully completing Government 2305, students should have a working knowledge of the following:

TEXTBOOKS, SUPPLIES, MATERIALS:

Information regarding procedures for documenting disabilities can be obtained from the Counseling Office. Reasonable accommodations will be made for documented disabilities. Students must present documentation as soon as possible for the instructor to arrange accommodation.

CIVILITY STATEMENT:

Members of the Blinn College community, which includes faculty, staff and students, are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all aspects of campus life. Blinn College holds all members accountable for their actions and words. Therefore, all members should commit themselves to behave in a manner that recognizes personal respect, and demonstrates concern for the personal dignity, rights, and freedoms of every member of the College community, including respect for College property and the physical and intellectual property of others. If a student is asked to leave the classroom because of uncivil behavior, the student may not return to that class until he or she arranges a conference with the instructor: it is the student's responsibility to arrange for this conference.

ATTENDANCE:

The College District believes that class attendance is essential for student success; therefore, students are required to promptly and regularly attend all their classes. Each class meeting builds the foundation for subsequent class meetings. Without full participation and regular class attendance, students shall find themselves at a severe disadvantage for achieving success in college. Class participation shall constitute at least ten percent of the final course grade. It is the responsibility of each faculty member, in consultation with the division chair, to determine how participation is achieved in his or her class. Faculty will require students to regularly attend class and will keep a record of attendance from the first day of class and/or the first day the student's name appears on the roster through final examinations. If a student has one week's worth of unexcused absences during the semester, he/she will be sent an e-mail by the College requiring the student to contact his/her instructor and schedule a conference immediately to discuss his/her attendance issues. Should the student accumulate two weeks worth of unexcused absences, he/she will be administratively withdrawn from class.

Absences in this class are counted as follows:

Each class missed without an excuse will count as 1/2 a week's absence. There will be some activity each and every class, if that is not done, you are considered absent. If you know in advance that you may miss a class, let me know. Missed class work is missed- there are no makeups. The only automatic excuses are those recognized by the college. All other absences are excused at my discretion- it is not automatic. Absences will be reported to Blinn after two absences (one full week) and again after four (two full weeks). You will be automatically withdrawn from class after four reported absences. These absences may occur at any time during the semester- they do not have to be concurrent.

You have a Blinn student e-mail account that will be used for absence notices. Information is at: http://www.blinn.edu/acadtech/studentemail/

This course utilizes the eCampus learning system to supplement the classroom. Logging in to eCampus is not a substitute for attending class. Absences will be recorded in eCampus so you may see your status at any time.

ELECTRONIC DEVICE POLICY:

All the functions of all personal electronic devices designed for communication and/or entertainment (cell phones, pagers, beepers, iPods, and similar devices) must be turned off and kept out of sight in all Blinn College classrooms and associated laboratories.  Any noncompliance with this policy will be addressed in accordance with the Blinn College civility policy (Administrative Policy).  Additionally, any communication understood by the instructor to be in the nature of cheating will have consequences in accordance with this Blinn College policy section regarding academic dishonesty [FLB (Local)]. Students exempted from this policy section include, active members of firefighting organizations, emergency medical services organizations, commissioned police officers, on-call employees of any political subdivision of the state of Texas, or agencies of the federal government.  Exempted students are expected to set the emergency-use devices on silent or vibrate mode only. 

OTHER POLICIES:

Students are expected to attend class. It is the student’s responsibility to see the instructor concerning absences. If a student chooses to drop the course, it is the student’s responsibility to do so at the Office of Admissions and Records. If done by the "W" date, the student will get a W. After that day, the student will get a grade of WF, unless the instructor specifies a WP in writing to the Office of Admissions and Records. Failure to drop may result in a grade of “F” for the course. See the Attendance section above for more information.

Procedures for dealing with these acts are outlined in the Scholastic Dishonesty Policy.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

These are the requirements of the course. Doing these will earn you points. The more points you earn, the higher your grade at the end of the semester.

-Tests:

There will be three (4) normal examinations, each covering approximately one-fifth (1/5) of the class material, each worth 100 points. The final exam will be a comprehensive exam covering the most recent one-fifth (1/5) of class material in addition to the previous 80%. It is worth 200 points. The exams themselves will be a combination of multiple choice and true-false questions and will be taken from the textbook and lecture. You are expected to read the assigned material, and may only "skip" the parts I tell you to skip. You have been told, and I don't want to hear any complaints later. Again, use of another version/edition of the textbook other than the approved version is done at your own risk! Furthermore,

These are considered cheating and will result in a non-replaceable grade of 0 (zero) for the test. Stiffer penalties are in order for repeated incidences. All tests will be done in class on the specified days. You will need a Scantron (long green kind) an appropriate marking materials for each test.

Each regular test will have 70 questions, each worth 1.5 points each. This makes the tests worth 105 points. The three highest tests will count, the lowest one will be dropped. The chapters covered on each test are available on the calendar section below and in eCampus.

Total value for the tests is 300 points.

-Quizzes:

Quizzing will be done in class. You must be in class when the quiz is given to get credit any credit for the quiz. There will be 20 points of quizzes given in between the tests. Some quizzes will be announced, others will not. Some quizzes may be worth more than others, some quizzes may be for extra credit.

There will be 100 points worth of quizzes total.

-Essays:

You will be assigned 5 (five) short essays to do. The assignments are in eCampus. There is a General Essay Instruction sheet in eCampus that has the exact directions for writing one of these essays, and is considered an extension of this document. Each essay is expected to be 2-3 pages and worth 30 points, and there will be an opportunity to earn some extra credit with each essay. The essays are due at 11:55 PM on days you have a test. These essays will be submitted (turned in) via eCampus. There are no late essays.

The highest 4 (four) essays will count for 120 points.

-Discussion Posts:

These discussion posts are due most weeks. Each posting will have its own discussion area in eCampus and you will be expected to make at least one post each week. You will need to follow the directions for making the post to be able to earn full credit- the directions will be available with each and every discussion area and may change from one discussion area to the next.

These posts are valued at 15 points each, and you may make your post any time during the week it is available. Please note that during the Fall and Spring semesters, some weeks will not have a News Post requirement- these are often the weeks your Essay Assignments are due.

There are two general types of discussion posts: 1) Those that are based on the features of the textbook and 2) Those that are based on a "news" story. You will be able to use regular (paper) or Internet news sites for these discussion posts.

In each case you can earn up to 73% (11 out of 15) for your original post. The additional four points are available based on your reply. Again, there are specific directions in each discussion area for what needs to be posted and what needs to be replied to.

There will be 8 discussions making the total worth 120 points.

-Term Project:

You will be divided into several groups after the 12th class day, and each group will be assigned a project to complete. The project will be divided into two parts, with the total value of the project at 160 points. The instructions for this are in eCampus, and it is considered an extension of this document.

CALENDAR FOR CLASS TOPICS, ASSIGNMENTS AND EXAMS:

Sept 1: Introduction & Start of Class
Sept 22: Test 1: Chapters 1-4, Essay #1 due @ 11:55 PM

Sept 24:

Assignment of Teams and Term Project
Oct 22: Test 2: Chapters 5-9, Essay #2 due @ 11:55 PM
Nov 10: Test 3: Chapters 10, 16, 17, Essay #3 due @ 11:55 PM

Nov 13:

Term Project Rough Draft due.

Nov 20:

Last day for "W".
Nov 24: Test 4: Chapters 11, 12, 18, Essay #4 due @ 11:55 PM

Nov 25-27:

Thanksgiving day holiday

Dec 4:

Term Project Final Copy due.

Dec 10:

Last day of class. Essay @ 5 due @ 11:55 PM
Tuesday Dec 15: FINAL EXAM 10:15-12:15 in A113

Reminder: There are NO extensions or exceptions for any of the work identified by this Course Information Sheet. Students with documented disabilities will be accommodated, but the deadlines will remain.

A much more detailed calendar is available in eCampus.

CRITERIA FOR GRADING:

Your grade will be calculated as follows: I will total the points earned on all the assignments and compare them to the table below- there is a maximum of 1000 points available (excluding bonuses):

900 points and over-

grade of "A" and four (4) grade points.

800-899 points-

grade of "B" and three (3) grade points

700-799 points-

grade of "C" and two (2) grade points.

600-699 points-

grade of "D" and one (1) grade point.

599 and below-

grade of "F" and zero (0) grade points.

If there are extenuating, documented circumstances, a grade of "I" may be assigned, following current Blinn policies. If a student withdraws (drops) from class a grade of "W", "WP", or "WF" will be given, depending on the date of the student's withdrawal and their current grade. Note: There may be occasions when points will be added to a student's grade to reward actions above expectations. Points will never be taken away.

OTHER ESSENTIAL INFORMATION:

If there are any revisions to the course, they will be announced in class and posted in eCampus as soon as possible. These revisions include, but are not limited to, moving test days or other assignment due dates.

Final note, your decisions have consequences. Make positive decisions that have positive results.

 


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