Discipline/Program:  History

Course Title:  History 1302:  U.S. History from 1877 to the Present 

Course Rubric and Number:  HIST 1302 

Semester with Course Reference Number (CRN):  Spring 2011 Semester, CRN #65400, #67230, #76485

Course Location/Times: East Early College High School  

Course Semester Credit Hours (SCH):  3 Hours, Lecture 

Course Contact Hours:  48 Contact Hours 

Course Continuing Education Units (CEU):  0 

Course Length (number of weeks):  16 week 

Type of Instruction:  Lecture 

Instructor Contact Information:

Name:  Gary K. Hiestand

Email Address: [email protected] (please allow 48 hours for response)

Office Hours:  7:30 – 8:00AM and 3:30 – 4:00 PM by Appointment 

Course Description:  The American nation from the close of the Civil War and Reconstruction to the Present.  Core Curriculum course 

Course Prerequisites:  Must be placed into college level reading and college level writing. 

Course Goal:  Students will evaluate historical developments in an essay. 

Course Student Learning Outcomes (SLO):

1. Students will evaluate historical developments in an essay.

2. Students will analyze historical evidence by writing an analytical essay.

3. Students will read primary source documents, using them to demonstrate how the past affects the present.

Learning objectives: The student will develop an understanding of:

1. 1.     how America reconstructed politically, economically, and physically after the Civil War. 
2. 2.     the causes and effects of urbanization and industrialization in America. 
3. 3.     the relationship between the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. 
4. 4.     the causes and effects of the two Great World Wars 
5. 5.     the cultural, social, and political changes that occurred in Post War America (Cold War, Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, Watergate, Reagan-Bush, Clinton and George W. Bush Administrations). 

Instructional Methods:  Lectures, Online Presentations, Multimedia, Discussions, Written Responses, Major Exams, Semester Writing Assignment

Student Assignments:  Read a variety of historical material, complete short written responses, submit a major paper

Student Assessments:  3 exams plus Final Exam,  2 Semester Writing Assignment

The Semester Writing Assignment will be submitted to TurnItIn.com which is a service HCCS subscribes to for identifying plagiarized material.

In this class, the standard penalty for academic dishonesty is a grade of zero on the assignment, and an F in the course. Depending on severity and frequency, academic dishonesty can lead to a recommendation for probation or dismissal from the College System.

If you ever have any question about what is cheating, what is plagiarism or what is unauthorized collusion, please contact your instructor before you do anything or submit anything. It is much better to ask first than to get caught later.

Student Attendance: 

You are expected to attend all lecture classes regularly. You are also responsible for materials covered during your absences.

Class attendance is checked daily. Although it is your responsibility to drop a course for nonattendance, the instructor has the authority to drop you for excessive absences. You will  be dropped from a course after accumulating absences in excess of 12.5 percent of the total hours of instruction (lecture and lab). For example:

• For a three credit-hour lecture class meeting three hours per week (48 hours of instruction), you can be dropped after six hours of absence.

• For a four credit-hour lecture/lab course meeting six hours per week (96 hours of instruction), you can be dropped after 12 hours of absence.

3-peaters: 

NOTICE: Students who take a course more than twice face significant tuition/fee increases at HCC and other Texas public colleges and universities. Please ask your instructor / counselor about opportunities for tutoring/other assistance prior to considering course withdrawal or if you are not receiving passing grades.

The Texas State Legislature has begun to impose penalties on students who drop courses excessively.  In 2007, the Legislature passed a law limiting students to no more than 6 total course withdrawals throughout their academic career in obtaining a baccalaureate degree. To help students avoid having to drop/withdraw from any class, HCC has instituted an Early Alert process by which your instructor will “alert” you and HCC student services of the chance you might fail a class because of excessive absences and/or poor academic performances.  You should visit with your instructor, a counselor, or HCC online Student Services to learn about your options. 

Students MUST visit with a faculty advisor, a counselor, or online student services prior to withdrawal from class.  If a withdrawal is to be given, this must be done prior to April 14 at 4:30pm.  After that date and time, students will no longer be allowed to drop and will receive the grade that they earned.  Any remaining assignments not submitted will receive a zero; thus, students will be subject to receiving an F for the class.   Faculty will NO longer be allowed to give Ws on the final grade sheet; any faculty who wishes to withdraw a student will be required to process the drop BEFORE April 15 at 4:30pm. 

Withdrawal Deadline: 

It is your responsibility to withdraw officially from a class and prevent an “F” from appearing on your transcript. When considering withdrawal

from a course, remember that:

• No grade is given and your transcript reflects no record of the course if you withdraw before the Official Date of Record.

• A “W” (indicating withdrawal) appears on your transcript if you drop a course after the Official Date of Record and before the final deadline.

• The final deadline to drop the course is April 21, 4:30PM.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: Receiving a W in a course may affect the status of your student Visa. Once a W is given for the course, it will not be changed to an F because of the visa consideration.  Since January 1, 2003, International Students are restricted in the number of distance education courses that they may take during each semester. ONLY ONE online/distance education class may be counted towards the enrollment requirement for International Students per semester.  Please contact the International Student Office at 713-718-8520 if you have any questions about your visa status and other transfer issues.

Student Course Reinstatement Policy:  Students have a responsibility to arrange payment for their classes when they register, either through cash, credit card, financial aid, or the installment plan.  Faculty members have a responsibility to check their class rolls regularly, especially during the early weeks of a term, and reconcile the official class roll to ensure that no one is attending class whose name does not appear on the rolls.  Students who are dropped from their courses for non-payment of tuition and fees, who request reinstatement after the official date of record (OE date), can be reinstated by making payment in full and paying an additional $75 per course reinstatement fee.  A student requesting reinstatement should present the registrar with a completed Enrollment Authorization Form with the signature of the instructor, the department chair, or the dean, who should verify that the student has been regularly attending class.  Students who are reinstated are responsible for all course policies and procedures, including attendance requirements.  A dean may waive the reinstatement fee upon determination that the student  was dropped because of a college error.  The dean should note the nature of the error in a memo to the registrar with the appropriate documentation.

Instructor Requirements:  Midterm Exam, Final Exam, Semester Writing Assignment. There will be multiple choice and essay exams

Program/Discipline Requirements:  A minimum of 50% of the student’s semester average must come from writing assignments.

 HCC Grading Scale:

A = 90 – 100

B = 80 – 89

C = 70 – 79

D = 60 – 69

F = 59 and below

Grades Rubric:

The grade of A (100-90) reflects excellence. The A work offers a well-focused and organized discussion appropriate to the instructor's assignment, reflects critical use of all relevant materials, and demonstrates effective and formal writing requirements. Work must demonstrate outstanding efforts to identify and use varied and pertinent evidence from all available sources, to employ those materials critically in the text of the papers, and to provide error-free citations of those resources. A work is handed in on time.

The grade of B (89-80) represents work  beyond satisfactory and indicates the work was completed in an appropriate and competent manner and, in general, demonstrates a strong attempt at original and critical analysis, writing, and research. Work must demonstrate beyond satisfactory efforts to identify varied and pertinent evidence from all available sources. The B paper may contain a number of minor errors of grammar or citation, and its thesis or its conclusions may be undeveloped or too weakly supported. B work is handed in on time.

The grade of C(79-70) indicates that the work was done in a satisfactory or appropriate fashion and represents the average work expected for university courses. In order to obtain a C grade, your work must adhere to all of the assignment’s minimum requirements to include but limited to page/word requirements, number of sources, types of sources, and proper citation method. The work is organized around a central idea with arguments supported by relevant examples from the available sources. The work is structured into correctly written paragraphs and sentences. Although fulfilling the assignment, the C work may exhibit one or more weaknesses including, but not limited to, errors of punctuation and grammar, imprecise or incorrect word use, inaccurate or uncritical use of materials, occasional inconsistency of organization or development, and lack of direct relevance of the selected research materials to the topic. C work is handed in on time.

The grade of D (69-60) indicates that the work may have a poorly defined topic or thesis, lacks clear focus or organization, and contains unsupported generalizations or conclusions. Research support (citations) is inadequate, not clearly relevant, or improperly documented. A less-than-minimal research effort is evident. D works fails to obtain the required page or word minimum requirement. The work may also suffer from numerous or major formal writing errors. D work fails to adhere to any of the assignment’s minimum requirements. D work is handed in on time.

The grade of F (59-1) indicates that the work is not clearly relevant to the assignment and that its topic and thesis are poorly focused or defined. The work may display inadequate organization or development, unsupported generalizations, and nonstandard formal features (including language usage, sentence structure, and paragraphing). Research support (citations) is absent, or irrelevant to the assignment. F work is handed in on time.

Instructor Grading Criteria : The semester grade will be calculated by: 4 exams [20 multiple choice questions worth 50pts, and a choice of 2 out of three essays worth the other 50 pts. (60%); 1 major semester writing assignment (30%); and the journal of 10 article reviews (10%).  There is no extra credit offered; the lowest grade is not dropped. Each assignment meets the Basic Intellectual Competencies required by the core curriculum: reading, writing, listening, speaking, critical thinking, and computer literacy.   

This syllabus is meant as a guide and is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.  If there are any changes made, the student will be notified in a timely manner.