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Required Texts

Goldfield, Abbott, Anderson, Argersinger, Argersinger, Barney, Weir, The American Journey, Concise Edition (Combined Volume)

Objective One:    


Objective Two

Objective Three    


Objective Four

Students will be able to identify and understand the major chronological and topical divisions in American History.

Students will be able to demonstrate substantive knowledge of the social, economic, and political history of America.  They will also be able to describe and analyze major historical themes and argument found in primary and secondary source materials.

Students will argue and write analytically, cogently, and comparatively about significant issues and problems in American history

Students will think critically as they evaluate and analyze the primary and secondary sources that make up the assigned reading for the course.  They will then apply their findings in order to answer questions, solve problems, support or critique arguments, and explain ideas

"An eminent mathematician once remarked that he was never satisfied with his knowledge of a mathematical theory until he could explain it to the next (person) he met in the street. This is hardly exaggerated; however, we must remember that a satisfactory explanation entails duties on both sides."

http://new.dixie.edu/reg/syllabus

Use the link to find the 1) the semester schedule, 2) information on student resources including the library, disability resource center, IT help, testing center etc., 3) policy statements including academic integrity,, disruptive behavior, absences for college functions and disability accommodation, and 4) D-Mail.

Missing class will involve costs.There will is no such thing as an excused absence for any reason.As a matter of policy, I will not to go over or in any other way make up lectures or other activities for students who miss class. I will make no adjustments nor will I allow exceptions to policies regarding missing papers, quizzes, tests, or exams when the reason is discretionary such as a vacation, the deer hunt, or a visit home. This said, consideration will be given for rescheduling class activities in the event 1) of school sponsored activities, illness, or accident and 2) if consultation if done privately [in Mr. Green’s office and not in front of the class] before the scheduled time of the activities.

You must commit to a fifteen week program of rigorous study. For the average C+ to B-) Dixie College student, this course will demand two hours out-of-class study for every hour we meet in class or 6 hours a week. This means careful reading: in order to perform well on exams and class assignments you will have to work with your textbook, as opposed to just reading it. It also means you will do college level writing. Finally, you must be willing to consider viewpoints different from your own and to express your opinion in class.

Judgment concerning how much of the content of the class each student has learned will be made using the following formula:

• Bluebook exam grade times 45% (Midterm x 40% + Final x 60%)
• Timed textbook test grade times 40% (average of three test grades)
• Quiz grade times 15% (grade based on percentage of commutative score)                          

Absolute Class Requirement
Each student must take both the midterm exam and the final exam to pass the class.

Grade Creation
All grades, except the journal, will be determined using one of the following two methods. First, the score on the will be divided by the high score in the class. If the score is within 95% of the high, the resulting grade will be an A. The breakdown will then descend by percentages of the high until the a score that is 60% of the high earns a D- (see the % of Grade conversion box). However, if the average grade for the class, calculated using the first method, is less than a C, at the instructor’s discretion a second method might be used in place the first. Under this second methodology, instead of dividing by the high score, the instructor will divide until the average grade for the class is set at or near C. Further adjustments will be made if there are several sections of the class and significantly differentiated denominators between the classes. If there are multiple sections of the class that use the same measuring instrument, as when all section take the same test, the average will calculated from all sections rather than each class individually.

The exam grade is based on two major written exams given during the semester which account for 45% of the grade; The midterm exam counts for 40% of the exam grade while the final exam makes up the remaining 60%

Exam Grade Options
Most students in the class will not have been exposed to a written exam.  Because of this, many will be disappointed by their performance on the midterm exam.  They will not really have understood what to expect.  To manage this weakness in the course structure, each student will be given an option as to how the exam grade is calculated.

Option One:  the midterm will count as 40% of the exam grade while the final exam will count as 60% of the exam grade. 

Option Two:The midterm grade will be thrown out and the final exam grade will be the exam grade.

The default grade will be option one.  To be eligible for option two, students must comply with all five of the following requirements:

1. take the midterm exam. Those who fail to take the midterm will automatically fail the class; choosing not to take the midterm makes option two meaningless.
2. retrieve the midterm exam within one week of when the exam is turned back. [Most will receive their exams during the class period when the exam is returned. Those not in attendance on that day will have one week to pick up their graded exams from the end of that class period.]
3. go over the midterm using the Written Exam Grading Codes (posted on the exams and quizzes page) to determine areas where improvement is needed.
4. by option one week (see the semester schedule) bring the midterm to Mr. Green’s office and go over the midterm exam with Mr. Green in his office during his office hours. At this time the procedures need to improve the exam score on the final exam will be revealed and assignments for the option two meeting agreed.
5. by option week two (see the semester schedule) bring the assignments made in the first meeting to Mr. Green in his office during his office hours for critique. 

Exam Questions
The midterm exam will be constructed using a 55 point and the final in a 75 point format. A list of all the possible short answer and essay questions will be posted on the Exams and Quizzes page of the American History the web site..  All questions on the midterm exam will be taken from the Midterm Exam lists, and all questions on the final exam will come from the Final Exam lists.

Exam Schedule
The date of each exam is listed in the schedule of semester activities in this syllabus (page 7). Each will be administered in the classroom. The midterm will cover lecture material for the first half of the semester.  The Final will cover lecture material for the second half of the semester only.

Sources of the Exam Questions
The Matching, ID, and essay questions for each exam will be drawn from the issues from the lectures and class discussions only. They will have nothing to do with the textbook, encyclopedias, websites, or any other source. Each question will be graded based only on class lectures and discussions outlined in the Power Point slides.

Blue Book
This is a written exam. Each student needs to bring a blue book to class along with a pen or pencil. Bluebooks are available at the bookstore.  Please use the small 7” x 8.5” version rather than the large 8.5” x 11” version.

Open Notes
In addition to the blue book and a pen or pencil, each student is permitted bring any and all notes, written or typed, hard copy or electronic to the exam.  The open note policy creates two pitfalls, however. First, the exam is not based on the textbook.  Only material presented in the lectures will earn points in the scoring. Attempting to formulate answers using the text will not help in passing the exam.  Second, use the notes too much during the exam creates a big disadvantage. Those who have prepared strategies for each of the possible questions on the exam spend their time writing and get ahead of those trying to formulate answers on the spot.  Be prepared to answer most of the questions without referring to the notes; use them only to check the details that might have been forgotten.

Because of the open notes policy, each exam will be timed – the midterm will last 55 minutes and the final will go 75 minutes.

Exam Grading           
Both the midterm and the final exams will be scored based on criteria that are posted on the exams and quizzes page of Mr. Green’s  website.  Basically, the best answers will receive the highest scores. Failure to show competence with the topic addressed in the question will result in no credit.  A sample midterm exam and a sample final exam, each displaying all instructions that appear on the actual exam, are also posted.  Because the final exam period is longer than that set aside for the Midterm exam, the essay question on the final will require a more fully developed and coherent response than that of the  midterm essay.  Therefore, while the midterm essay is worth 20 points, the final exam essay will be worth 40 points.

The midterm exam and the final exam scores will be converted to letter grades using the procedure outlined in the Grade Creation section above.                        

Missing the Midterm Exam
The date of the midterm exam is listed in the semester schedule.  Students who miss the exam will not be allowed to make it up. No excuses are acceptable. (See the attendance policy above.)  Sometimes school sponsored activities or real emergencies will arise.  These will be dealt with privately  by consultation with Mr. Green (in his office, not in the classroom) before the Midterm Exam begins

Missing the Final Exam
The date and time of the final exam are listed in the schedule bulletin (and on Mr. Green's Home Page). All students must take the final with their class on the correct day at the correct time. Student’s missing finals for any reason without written permission from Mr. Green and the Dean of the School of Arts and Letters will not be allowed to make up the exam. Students arriving late for the final exam will be subject to the same time constraints as the other students; no extra time will be allocated.

The average grade on three textbook (Goldfield, et. al.) tests will account for 40% of the grade.

Timed Test Rules
Three timed tests will be held during the semester to assess reading and comprehension of Goldfield, Abbott, Anderson, Argersinger, Argersinger, Barney, and Weir, The American Journey. See the semester schedule for the week each text will occur and for and chapters the test will cover.

Each test will be conducted on-line using Blackboard's "Assessments Tool." The link to each test will appear on the "Assessments Tool" page at 12:30 am on the Friday the test opens and disappear at 11:59 pm on the Monday that the test closes; those caught in the middle of the a question when the test ends will lose credit for that question.

Each of the three tests will have 60 multiple choice questions and will be timed for 60 minutes. All questions will be chosen at random by a computerized testing program furnished to Mr. Green by the text publisher. Each questions is from a text bank also provided by the publisher. The test questions are all written by the author and selected by the computer – not by Mr. Green. These tests, in other words,designed to insure that a thoroughly reading, studying, and understanding of the material in the textbook.

Timed Test Grade
Each test will be graded by dividing each score for each person taking the test by the highest score achieved by all those taking the test. The resulting percentage will be used to assign the grade. (See % To Grade Conversion box above.) The average of these three tests will be assigned at the final semester test grade.

Practice Tests
To help  prepare for each of the tests, practice tests have been posted for each of the chapters. There are two practice tests for each chapter, each has 20 sample questions, and none of has a time limit. They are available using the "Assessment Tool" in Blackboard. Look for the P_Test labeling. For example, to find the first practice test for Chapter 1, look for P_Test 01_A.

Each practice test question is worth 10 points. These scores are included because Blackboard requires them. They are not used or included anywhere as part of the grade. However, the questions are drawn from the same test banks that are used to create the timed tests, and it is likely that some of the questions that appear on the practice tests will appear on the timed tests as well.

In addition to the two 20 question, untimed practice tests per chapter, three timed practice tests are included in the "Assessment Tool -- one corresponding to each of the three timed tests. These practice timed tests are designed to mimic the real timed tests in every way. Each has 60 questions just like the timed test. Each is timed for 60 minutes just like the timed test. The only difference is that, like the chapter practice tests, the timed practice test score will not affect the grade.

No Late or Make-up Timed Tests
No make up of the three timed test is allowed.  Refer to the semester schedule and blackboard’s “Assessment Tool” and “Calendar Tool” often to make none of the timed tests is missed.   Excuses such as forgetting to check the schedule, getting stuck in Salt Lake or Las Vegas, or going on an upcoming family vacation will not count as acceptable excuses and will not be accepted. (See the attendance policy above.)  Sometimes school sponsored activities or real emergencies will arise.  These must be dealt with privately by consultation with Mr. Green (in his office, not in the classroom) before the test begins.

Quizzes will account for 15% of the grade. 

Passages Quiz Content
Eight passage quizzes will be held during the semester – using the passages embedded slide presentations for Part 1-4 and Pats 6-9. The passages in Parts 5 and 10 will be conducted in conjunction with the midterm and final exams. Each quiz will consist of five passages from the slide presentations which you will match with their author or source or organizing idea.

Quiz Schedule
The dates for all the quizzes are listed on the Semester Schedule which was passed out on the first day of class. 

Each quiz will be conducted during the first three minutes of the class period on which they are scheduled (see the semester schedule). After three minutes, the quiz ends and cannot be made up. (see the No Late or Make-up Quizzes section below.) On the other hand, the quiz will be handed out about three minutes before the class is scheduled to start; early arrivals have more time to complete it. Finally, students arriving late will not be able to make up the quiz, but they will be allowed to put their names on a quiz form and receive the those points allocated for the name (see the Quiz Grading section below).

Quiz Grading
Each passage quiz is worth eight possible points. The semester passage quizzes grade will be determined in three steps: First, all the quiz scores will be added creating the total document quiz score. Second, the total passage quizzes score will be divided by the highest score in the class to get the percent of that high. Finally, the computer will calculate each passages quiz grade based on the percentages.  (See % To Grade Conversion box above).  The pre test score, the post test score, and the syllabus quiz score will be added be added the passage quiz total when calculating the final quiz grade.
 
No Late or Make-up Quizzes
Quizzes cannot be made up.  No excuses are acceptable. (See the attendance policy above.)  Sometimes school sponsored activities or real emergencies will arise.  These will be dealt with privately  by consultation with Mr. Green (in his office, not in the classroom) before the Passages Quiz begins.