HISTORY 1302 (Hybrid)
U.S. HISTORY TO 1877
CRN# 51340
8-11am, Tuesdays, Room 220, The Learning Hub, Stafford
PROFESSOR: Dr. Michael McCormick
OFFICE: E121C, Scarcella Bldg., Stafford
OFFICE HOURS: 9:00-10:30am, Monday-Wednesday-Friday or by appointment
TELEPHONE: 713-718-6780
EMAIL: Mike.McCormick@hccs.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
History 1302 is a survey of American history from 1877 to the present era. It will focus on the
evolution of the economic, social/cultural and political institutions which define the development of the
modern United States and its people. Although this course is built around historical events and processes, it
is much more than a simple recitation of facts. Students will learn and apply critical thinking and problemsolving skills and will work with historical documents, maps and economic and demographic models.
History 1302 is an 8-week, 48 contact hour course which fulfills three hours of the state-mandated
six-hour history requirement. It is a hybrid class which will meet for three hours in-class each week and use
online resources for the other three hours.
Completion of this class will also improve performance in reading, writing, critical thinking,
communicating and computer skills.
Prerequisites: must be placed into college-level reading and college-level writing; computer literate.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. To provide a comprehensive introduction to the essential social/cultural, political, military and
diplomatic elements of United States history from 1877 to the present.
2. To provide students with a thorough grounding in problem-solving and analytical thinking,
particularly as they relate to American history.
3. To provide students with training in skills essential to success in a college/university and/or work
environment.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Students will be able to create an argument through the use of historical evidence.
2. Students will be able to analyze and interpret primary and secondary sources.
3. Students will be able to analyze the effects of historical, social, political, economic, and cultural force
on this period of U.S. history.
4. Students will be able to understand the importance of chronology and how earlier ideas and events
shaped later events.
BOOKS
Required Text: Ayers, American Passages, Compact 4th edition, Volume 2.
Monographs: Thomas Bell, Out of This Furnace, paperback edition.
Moody,Coming of Age in Mississippi, paperback edition.
Because of the fast pace of this course, it is essential that you buy the text and monographs as soon as
possible. Books should be available at the HCCS bookstore in the Learning Hub, Stafford. However, given
the poor performance of HCCS bookstores in providing books and the fact that they can be purchased at less
expense, you should seriously consider other sources. You can buy this text directly from the publisher at
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Cengage.com as either a regular text or as an eBook. Cheaper sources might be Half-Price Books,
Amazon.com or other online sources. I will also place some copies of Ayers on reserve in the library. If you
have trouble finding or obtaining books, let me know as soon as possible. Do not wait until late in the
semester to obtain these books.
ASSIGNMENTS/GRADING
The final course grade will be based on the following elements:
1. Midterm and Final Exams (60%)
2. Class quizzes (20%) = four quizzes.
3. Book review essays (20%)
Each student will read the two (2) monographs listed above and write an 4-5 page directed essay on
each. The first paper on Bell, Out of this Furnace is due November 8; the second paper on
Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi is due December 6. Papers turned in late will have a letter
grade deducted for each day late. Failure to complete and turn in both papers will result in automatic
failure of the course. (See detailed instructions on the Eagle Online site.
Grading will follow the usual college standards (A=100-90; B=89-80; C+79-70, etc.) Grades will not be
curved. There will be no extra credit assignments. Be sure to keep up with your grade average as the semester
proceeds. If you have any questions about your grade situation, don’t hesitate to ask me.
ATTENDANCE
My attendance policy is relatively simple: this is a college course, you are adults and therefore you
should make up your own mind regarding whether you attend class. However, you should bear in mind that
regular attendance is critical to success in this course and failure to attend regularly is one of the most
important reasons for lack of success. Regular attendance is critical for success in an 8-week hybrid class. If
you miss a class, you are responsible for all information and assignments given during that class.
If you miss the first class, HCC will automatically drop you with no chance of reinstatement.
I will not drop you for reasons of nonattendance. If you choose to stop attending class, it is your
responsibility to formally withdraw. You can do that at the Registrar’s Office at any Southwest
College campus. The last date for official withdrawal is November 28. Failure to officially withdraw
by that date will result in failure of the course.
International students, veterans, and those on financial aid should be fully aware of the grade and
minimum hours policies affecting your situation. In particular, pay attention to the rules regarding withdrawal
(“W”) from a course. Once a “W” is officially recorded it will not be changed to another grade regardless of
circumstances.
TARDINESS
Classes will start on time. Some of the most important information in any class is given during the
first 5 to 10 minutes. Frequent tardiness is one of the most significant indicators of poor performance in
college. If you have to be late, please enter the classroom as unobtrusively as possible and let me know after
class why you were late. Failure to respect this policy is usually the biggest reason for receiving a poor
Participation grade
ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY
Plagiarism, cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited by HCCS policy and the
rules of this class. Plagiarism is the use of the ideas or words of another person (either in whole or in part)
without crediting the source. Plagiarism amounts to the theft of another person’s work and its appropriation
as one’s own. If you aren’t clear as to what constitutes plagiarism, ask me about it. I’ll be happy to clarify it
for you. Cheating involves fraud and deception for the purpose of violating legitimate testing rules.
Cheating includes, but is not limited to: copying from another student’s test paper; using, during a test,
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materials not authorized by the instructor; collaborating with another student during a test; knowingly using,
buying, selling, etc. whole or part of an unadministered test. Any questions about academic dishonesty
should be referred to the Student Conduct section of the College System catalogue. Violations of this policy
will result in automatic failure of the course and/or expulsion from the college.
DISABILITY POLICY
Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs
to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Disability Support Service Counselor, Dr. Becky
Hauri (713 718-7909) at the beginning of the semester. Faculty members are authorized to provide only the
accommodations requested by the Office of Disability Support Services (DSS). Students who are requesting
special testing and other accommodations must first contact that office.
ONLINE ACCESS and RESOURCES
1. Because this is a hybrid class, the primary means of online access will be at Eagle Online. The course
syllabus, study guides and instructions will be available at this site. To access Eagle Online: go to the HCC
Homepage (hccs.edu); click on “Online Courses” on the right hand side; click on “Eagle Online login”; use
your student ID number and the password “distance”. You can change the password later.
2. Ayers, American Passages Student Resources: contains a variety of study aids keyed to the text. You
can reach this site at:
http://college.cengage.com/history/us/ayers/am_passages/4e/student_home.html
Follow instructions for registration and how to use student resources.
ONLINE TUTORING
HCC offers an excellent resource for tutoring and for writing papers – AskOnline. You can access it at
http://hccs.askonline.net. Turn-around time for receiving help on papers is usually 18-24 hours, so you
should plan on submitting papers for help well before they are due. Visit the AskOnline website for details
and further information.
CLASS ROUTINE
History 1302 (Hybrid) is a highly intensive, fast-paced course. What is normally presented in a sixteen week
format has been redesigned to be done in eight weeks. That means that it is critically important that you keep
up and do assignments on a timely basis. Falling behind will more than likely seriously compromise your
chance of success.
Because this is a hybrid class, it will meet in the classroom only one day a week for three hours. During that
period I will lecture on the most important course topics, lead discussions and answer questions. Class
quizzes and both the midterm and final exams will be given in class. A short multiple choice quiz covering
reading and discussion from the previous week will be given at the beginning of each class
Given the nature of hybrid courses, students are responsible for a large amount of work outside of class. In
fact, this class is to some extent an online class with the addition of class time to allow for discussion,
questions and some testing. The text – Ayers, American Passages, Volume 2 – will be the basis for much of the
factual information that is the foundation for this course. Therefore it is essential that students obtain the
book quickly and keep up with weekly reading assignments (see Calendar below). To assist you, I have
created a study guide for the text that outline important topics in each chapter and cites key terms, names and
the like. The multiple choice quizzes given each class period will be created from those key terms and names.
Additionally, the study guide will provide broad summary or focus questions. These will be the basis for inclass discussions. Some of these will be chosen for the midterm and final exams.
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HISTORY 1302 (Hybrid)
Calendar and Assignments
Week One (October 25)
Course Orientation and Introduction
Ayers, Chpts 17-18
Week Two (November 1)
Quiz: Chpts. 17-18
Ayers, Chpts. 19-21
Week Three (November 8)
Book Review due: Bell, Out of this Furnace
Quiz: Chpts. 19-21
Ayers, Chapts. 22-23
Week Four (November 15)
Midterm
Ayers, Chpts. 24-25
Week Five (November 22)
Paper Day (Review Chpts. 24-25 and prepare for Chpts. 26-27; work on Moody paper)
Week Six (November 29)
Ayers, Chpts. 26 – 27
Quiz: Chpts. 24-25
Week Seven (December 6)
Book Review due: Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi
Quiz: Chpts. 26-27
Ayers, Chpts. 28-30
Week Eight (December 13)
Final Exam
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