History 101-102-103 is designed to be a yearlong survey course of Western civilization history. The nature of a survey course is such that we can only study the major events which influenced the development of Western society as we know it today. The purpose is to offer you a broad exposure to the historical experience of Western civilization and to encourage critical thinking and analysis of facts. This will allow you both to identify key periods of Western civilization history and the patterns of change from one period to the next, and to test general theories about historical cause and effect.
The fall term looks at Western society from prehistoric times through the breakdown of the Roman Empire into the High Middle Ages. The winter term begins with the Late Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the voyages of discovery and the new ideas of the 18th century, including political revolution in North America. The spring term concentrates on the 19th and 20th centuries, from the Industrial Revolution through the post-World War II refashioning of Western society. Each of these terms is designed to be a separate class; i.e., it is not necessary to take the fall term in order to enroll in, and to understand, either of the other 2 terms. However, I expect that the student would take it upon him/herself to acquire the necessary background information and terminology to successfully complete the work.
The textbook for the course is The West and the World [updated 2nd edition] written by Sherman and Salisbury. It is one of the better textbooks on the subject because it includes a fair amount of 'social' history - how normal people actually lived, worked and played. The course website is linked to the college website via Blackboard. The link is: http://bb.cocc.edu.
The course is structured so that each week we will cover approximately one chapter of the textbook. Although one chapter does not seem like a heavy reading load, the textbook is full of dates, names of unfamiliar people and countless events which take time to absorb. I try to highlight the main points of the chapter in the discussion posting choices and multiple choice quiz questions.
After assessing the success ratio of the students in previous history classes, it is apparent that those students who finish the course work and reading assignments in a timely fashion, consistently get good grades. If you have a problem that will prevent you from actively participating in the course, feel free to email me or call my office.
Class participation is an integral part of your learning experience at COCC. I encourage active discussion and participation in the course, but it is also important that each student be afforded the most conducive environment in which to learn; one of the strengths of any successful class is respect for, and tolerance of, other people's opinions. Since this is an online course, please observe standard 'netiquette' procedure [eg., no 'flaming' others in discussion.
A critical part of your final grade is your ability to demonstrate your own mastery of the course outcomes. The way that is determined in in this course is through discussion postings, tests, examinations and response papers. It is very disheartening to other students if someone is cheating on a test or an exam or turning in a plagiarized paper while they have done the expected preparation work and requirements for the class. If either of these should occur, the student will be given a failing grade for the assignments in question, and if this happens a second time, it will result in failure for the entire course. Please refer to the COCC Student Code of Rights and Responsibilities http://studentlife.cocc.edu/Resources/Policies/Rights/default.aspx by which all students are expected to abide.
You will need to buy the textbook for this course; this is especially important when we have no face-to-face lectures and discussions. It is critical that you have regular access to a computer with a reliable browser and Internet connection, and a valid Internet email account as well as a standard word processing program such as Word.
*** A note of caution ***
This is not an independent study or 'self paced' course. You will need to complete tests, discussion postings, response papers and exams electronically by specified due dates. You will need to be a self-motivated student who learns well from independently reading course material since you will not be exposed to an on-site lecture portion of the course. You will also need to have the requisite technical skills to successfully access the course materials because the course does not include instruction in these skills.
Grading Procedures:
Grades will be based on scores from your effective participation in weekly online discussions [see Discussion Grading Criteria on left hand side link], completion of weekly online tests, a response paper, a peer review of another person's response paper, a midterm and a final exam [see Written Grading Criteria on left hand side link].
The test format may include multiple choice, matching, true/false and/or fill-in questions. The midterm and final exams will be short essays, drawn from the text, and online discussions. The midterm exam will focus on main ideas from the first two weeks of the term. The final exam will focus on the second two weeks of the term, building on regions and events from the first two weeks of the term.
You will take your weekly tests and complete your Discussion Board posting online through Blackboard. You may take as long as you want for each test; however, you can only take each one of them once. This means when you open the test, you have only that one time to take it. In addition, there is a restriction about the day/time they must be completed. After this, each test will 'time out' and you will no longer be able to access sit. LATE MAKE UP TESTS AND EXAMS WILL NOT BE OFFERED.
The response paper, midterm and final exam will ask you to demonstrate your ability to do formal, extended written assignments, which include writing in historical context, and focusing on topics relevant to that section of the course material.
The response paper, peer review of another person's response paper, midterm and final exam all must be submitted via Turn It In [http://www.turnitin.com], a set of online tools which checks the originality of the written work you submit, marks submitted papers and exam with helpful comments and corrections, and allows you to complete a peer review of another person's response paper. You will be given a password protected user id for Turn It In when you enroll in the COCC course, and I will send you more information about that as the term begins. [see Turn It In information on left hand side link].
Again, you can do the response paper, peer review, midterm and final exam any time up until it each one is due, at which point the assignment and access to the links will disappear.
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Scoring Guide for Course Assignments
Student Introduction 1 @ 5 points = 5 points
= 1% of final grade
Weekly Tests 10 @ 30 points = 300 points
= 15% combined
each = 1.5 % of final grade
Weekly Discussions 10 @ 25 points = 250 points
= 18% combined
each = 1.8 % of final grade
Midterm Exam 1 @ 100 points = 100 points
= 20% of final grade
Final Exam 1 @ 100 points = 100 points
= 20% of final grade
Response Paper 1 @ 100 points = 100 points
= 15% of final grade
Peer Review 1 @ 100 points = 100 points
= 11% of final grade
Total possible points: 955
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Grading Policy:
The percentage distribution is as follows:
A+ = 98 - 100 % B = 84 - 86% C- = 70 -73%
A = 94 - 97% B- = 80 - 83% D = 60 - 69%
A- = 90 - 93% C+ = 77 - 79% F = 59% or lower
B+ = 87 - 89% C = 74 - 76%
Office Hours Telephone Number
Mon and Wed: Office:
9:30-11:00 a.m. 383-7235
on line only
Tues and Thurs: 10:00-11:00 a.m. on-site
Office Location: COCC Main Campus Modoc 225
E-mail: poneill@cocc.edu
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Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychological, vision, hearing) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must inform the College and the instructor as soon as possible. If you require any assistance related to a disability, contact the Disability Services Office located in Boyle Education Center (BEC): call (541) 383-7580.
It is the policy of the Central Oregon Community College Board of Directors that there will be no discrimination or harassment on the basis of age, disability, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status in any educational programs, activities or employment. Persons having questions about equal opportunity and non-discrimination, contact Sharla Andresen, 383-7208, sandresen@cocc.edu ; Eric Buckles, 383-7219, ebuckles@cocc.edu, and/or Alicia Vik Moore, 383-7244, avikmoore@cocc.edu.