Course Guide
History 1302 ONL
Section 13489 DIL 067
Section 15767 DIL 086
L. Patrick Hughes
223-4796. No Answer? Leave Message on Voice Mail
E-mail: lpatrick@austincc.edu
Web Site: http://www.austincc.edu/lpatrick
Office: NRG 2138A
Office Hours: W 7:00am-Noon
Text:
Instructor will provide appropriate study guide materials.
MANDATORY ORIENTATION SESSIONS
Students must complete Online Orientation at http://www.austincc.edu/lpatrick/his1302PCM/orientation.htm during the first week of classes.
Keys to Success
This is a demanding academic course made more difficult by the Distance Learning format. Over the last academic year, student performance in this particular course has resulted in the following grade distribution: A (6.71%), B (12.68%), C (21.64%), D (4.47%), F (23.13%), W (30.59%), I (0%).
These figures reflect both the rigors of a collegiate-level survey course in History and the fact that the Distance Learning format is not for all students. Students who have succeeded in this particular course share certain characteristics: visual rather than auditory learners, college-level reading and study skills, the ability and willingness to commit a minimum of fifteen (15) hours reading and study time per week to this course, thorough preparation of the reading and lecture objectives upon which the exams are based, good test-taking skills, and regular communication with the instructor to review subject matter and exams.
The best advice I can pass along at this point is to BEGIN NOW, invest the necessary time and best effort in the course that it requires for mastery, and contact me immediately with questions over course content or problems that you may have.
Students With Disabilities
Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities. Students with disabilities must request reasonable accomodations through the Office for Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes. Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester.
Student Privacy
The federal government requires that student privacy be preserved. Thus the
posting of grades, even by the last four digits of the social security number,
is forbidden. All communication will remain between the instructor and student,
and the instructor will not be able to share details of the student's
performance with parents, spouses, etc.
Course Materials
This course is divided into four units of instruction. The Study Guide packet identifies specific items you must learn and upon which you will be tested. You will note that one section of each unit study guide (READING OBJECTIVES) deals with textbook material while the other (LECTURE OBJECTIVES) deals with printed copies of the lectures I usually give in class. These objectives must be prepared fully and in detail if you hope to do well on the exams.
Copies of the lecture material can be accessed in several different ways. First, this material is posted on my web site and may be accessed at http://www.austincc.edu/lpatrick using either your own personal computer or those at LRC locations.
Second, electronic copies of all lectures are available on-line through the
ACC Learning Resource Center's web site under "reserved materials,"
"L. Patrick Hughes," "His1302," and the exact title of the
lecture. You may use the computer terminals and printers at each of the LRC
locations to access the material in this fashion if you do not have your own
personal computer.
Grading System
Your grade in this course will be determined by your performance on four unit exams.Additionally, if you so desire, you can submit a critical book analysis described elsewhere in this document for a maximum of ten (10) additional points on your final course average.
Each exam is composed of forty multiple-choice questions (worth 2.5 points each) based on the reading and lecture objectives printed in the appropriate unit study guide.
NO RETESTING OF THESE EXAMINATIONS IS ALLOWED.
Optional essay exams are available upon request. If you desire to demonstrate your mastery of course materials in this fashion, speak with me immediately.
Exams must be taken by the deadlines listed below. If you fail to comply with a deadline, a grade of zero will be assigned for that particular unit. If you cannot meet one of these deadlines for a legitimate reason, contact the instructor immediately.
The exams can be taken at any of the following Testing Center locations: Northridge, Rio Grande, Riverside, Pinnacle, Cypress Creek, South Austin Campus, Eastview, San Marcos Center (SMC) and Round Rock. In order to take the exams, you must present the Testing Center personnel with a valid ACC identification card (or paid fee receipt) and some other form of photo identification.
For Testing Center locations, hours, and rules, please consult http://www.austincc.edu/testctr.
Please make certain you are given the correct examination to take. There are many instructors teaching this course on an independent study basis. Make sure that my name appears on the first page of the test. After grading you exam, Testing Center personnel will give you a feedback sheet show you took the exam by the deadline and missed however many questions. BE SURE TO RETAIN THESE FEEDBACK SHEETS UNTIL YOU RECEIVE YOUR FINAL GRADE IN THE MAIL FOLLOWING THE SEMESTER. Tests have been known to disappear in the ACC mail system; you'll need your feedback sheet if this happens to one of your tests.
At the end of the semester, I will average the four exam scores equally and assign final grades on the following scale:
100 - 90 A
89 - 80 B
79 - 70 C
69 - 60 D
Below 60 F
Exam Deadlines
|
Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 |
Tuesday, September 18th Tuesday, October 9th Tuesday, November 6th Thursday, December 6th |
Optional Book Analysis
Students have the option of committing to and submitting a critical book analysis of one of the books listed below. The assignment is a major undertaking and carries a corresponding grade value, up to a maximum of ten (10) points added to your final course average.
Students should not undertake this assignment lightly. For students with numerous commitments and already crowded schedules, time spent on the project might be more wisely and profitably spent on the preparation of course materials for the mandatory examinations. Additionally, work committed to but not submitted will result in a five (5) point reduction in a student's final grade.
Students must commit to this optional assignment by Monday, September 10th. Work undertaken after that day will not be accepted. Notification to instructor should be in writing or email being sure to identify the work you have chosen.
Book analyses are due by Thursday, November 1st. Work submitted after this date will be accepted for no more than a maximum of five (5) points.
The works from which you may choose are:
David O. Stewart, Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy, Simon & Schuster, 2009, ISBN: 978-1-4165-4749-5.
S. C. Gwynne, Empire of the Summer Moon: Quannah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History, Scribners, 2010, ISBN-10: 14165591052; ISBN-13: 978-1416591054.
Lawrence Goldstone, Inherently Unequal: The Betrayal of Equal Rights by the Supreme Court, 1865-1903, Walker & Company, 2011, ISBN: 978-0-8027-1792-4
Patrick G. Williams, Beyond Redemption: Texas Democrats After Reconstruction, Texas A & M University Press, 2007, ISBN-10: 1585445738.
David W. Blight, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, Harvard University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-674-00819-7 (pbk.).
James Chance, 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft & Debs - The Election That Changed The Country, Simon & Schuster, 2004, ISBN: 0-7432-7355-9
Patricia Bernstein, The First Waco Horror: The Lynching of Jesse Washington and the Rise of the NAACP, Texas A & M University Press, ISBN: 1-58544-416-2.
Steve Neal, Happy Days Are Here Again: The 1932 Democratic Convention, the Emergence of FDR - and How America Was Changed Forever, William Morrow, 2004, ISBN: 0-06-001376-1.
Jeff Shesol, Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. The Supreme Court, W. W. Norton & Company, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-393-06474-2.
Charles L. Zelden, The Battle for the Black Ballot: Smith v. Allwright and the Defeat of the Texas All-White Primary, University Press of Kansas, 2004, ISBN: 0-7006-1340-4.
William E. Leuchtenburg, The White House Looks South: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Louisiana State University Press, 2005, ISBN: 0807130796.
Gary M. Lavergne, Before Brown: Heman Marion Sweatt, Thurgood Marshall, and the Long Road to Justice, University of Texas Press, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-292-72200-2.
Ricky F. Dobbs, Yellow Dogs and Republicans: Allan Shivers and Texas Two-Party Politics, Texas A & M University Press, 2005, ISBN: 1-58544-407-3.
Donna Gladstone, Integrating the 40 Acres: The Fifty-year Struggle for Racial Equality at the University of Texas, University of Georgia Press, 2006, ISBN-10: 0820328286.
Nick Kotz, Judgement Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Laws That Changed America, Houghton Mifflin, 2005, ISBN: 0618088253
Sean P. Cunningham, Cowboy Conservatism: Texas and the Rise of the Modern Right, University of Kentucky Press, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-8131-2576-3.
Kenneth Bridges, Twilight of the Texas Democrats: The 1978 Governor’s Race, Texas A & M University Press, 2008, ISBN-10: 1603440097.Withdrawal Policy
The responsibility for submitting a withdrawal form to the Admission & Records
Office (and thus protecting your academic record) is yours. I will withdraw a
student only for failure to attend an orientation session (as mandated by
college policy) or upon request. The withdrawal deadline is Monday, November 26th.
.
Policy on Incompletes
Grades of "Incomplete" (I) are for emergency situations only, i.e. where hospitalization or a family emergency at the end of a semester prevents completion of course requirements. I rarely submit a grade of Incomplete. The decision is solely at the discretion of the instructor.
Mandatory Contacts
While you certainly should contact the instructor as often as you need, you must contact the instructor at least twice during the semester. This will give you the chance to verify exam scores, check progress, or discuss course material. This is not only a course requirement, the Texas Education Agency mandates these contacts and your grade depends upon it. So stay in touch!
WARNING!
Scholastic Dishonesty is strictly prohibited. Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarism (using another author’s words or arguments without attribution), and collusion (the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing written work for fulfillment of any course requirement).
Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their own thought, research, and self-expression. Academic work is defined as, but not limited to, tests, quizzes, projects, classroom presentations, book reviews, and papers.
Under college regulations, a student found guilty of scholastic dishonesty
may be withdrawn, assigned a failing grade in the course, and/or expelled from
the college. BE FOREWARNED, I ABHOR SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY AND DEAL WITH IT
ACCORDINGLY!