Core Course Requirements
History 1133 Survey of American History to 1865
Proposed course: HIST 1133 Survey of American History to 1865
Credit Hours: 3
Proposed by: Dr. Ken Hendrickson, Regents’ Professor and Hardin Distinguished Professor of
American History, Emeritus with revisions by the History Department Faculty.
Date: 10/31/12
Content: This is a survey course designed to introduce students to the history of the U.S. from
the beginning of settlement to the Civil War.
The major contents include: Early Exploration; Early Colonial Establishments by British, Spanish
and other European settlers, Eighteenth- Century America; The American Revolution; the Creation
of the Republic; The Era of First Parties, The Jefferson Era, The Emergence of Nationalism; Slavery;
Seeking Perfection; The Age of Expansion; The Sectional Crisis; Secession, and the Civil War.
All the items mentioned above have contributed to the development of the United States and its
global role. They can be and are presented to the students in various ways, that is, using various
pedagogical techniques, but in general there are three goals: that the students learn and understand
the course material; that the students learn to present information by means of written
communication that is understandable and meaningful to others (and coincidentally that students
learn to follow instructions that assist them in improving their writing skills since people who
cannot write effectively cannot communicate effectively); and finally, and most importantly, that
the students begin to understand and use critical thinking which involves comprehensive
exploration of issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion or a
conclusion.
Skills:
Students in HIST 1133 acquire the following skills: to synthesize and evaluate
considerable amounts of factual information; to identify and understand the key historical
persons/events that shaped U.S. history; to use critical thinking in analyzing and evaluating
historical information; the ability to effectively communicate historical information.
Learning activities in which students will learn and develop these skills and meet the course
objectives may include: reading (the textbook, course content which may be created by the
instructor and non-textbook sources such as readers); hearing information presented orally which
the students synthesize and analyze; understanding information which may be presented visually,
such as maps; completing on-line or in-class quizzes and study guides/questions; videos covering
relevant materials; in-class discussions of relevant historical problems; and the preparing and
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writing of exam essay questions and/or a paper or papers which involves critical thinking in the
analysis and evaluation of material as well as clear and effective communication.
Assessment of Core Objectives
Critical Thinking Skills: The Faculty provides the students with the context, that is, the
historical, ethical, political, cultural, and environmental circumstances and/or conditions that may
have affected the outcome of a given event. This is done by various means: lecture, discussion and
reading of both the textbook and course content provided by the instructor. Students apply critical
reasoning skills by synthesizing, evaluating and analyzing the material that has been presented to
them, with a particular emphasis on cause and effect and/or comparison and contrast. Critical
Thinking Skills are demonstrated through essays that reflect an understanding of the course
content and an ability to analyze the historical relevance of important events, people, and trends.
Such essays are at times included in exams but may, however, be an independent assignment. A
learning activity that might develop this skill would be to have students realize that another
outcome was entirely possible and the future might have been entirely different. They are
encouraged to think—“What would I have done? Why?” This leaves the door open to other learning
activities and ways of demonstrating the critical thinking skills.
Assessment of Critical Thinking Skills, faculty will rely on the AACU Critical Thinking VALUE Rubric.
Communication Skills: History classes have an emphasis on written communication, both in
reading and writing. Even when information is presented orally or visually, students are expected
to analyze and synthesize this information in order to later successfully pass exams. Exams usually
include essays that require the students to write brief essays that reflect the use of critical thinking
as well as clear written communication skills; however, even if not part of an exam, all students
submit for a grade at least one such essay. These questions require both critical thinking and
written communication skill. For example: “Given the context in which he was forced to make
decisions in battle, should George Washington be judged as a great, mediocre, or poor field
commander?” Why?”
In assessing Communication Skills, faculty will rely on all but the third row (“Genre and Disciplinary
Conventions”) of the AACU Written Communication VALUE Rubric. The third row will be used if it is
relevant to the assignment.
Personal Responsibility: In the context of a history course, students learn how people of the
past made decisions based upon their ethical values and the context in which they lived.
Assessment of students’ awareness of these decisions, why they were made, and their results will
be made through questions specifically addressing them. For example, “How was slavery both
denounced and defended in the decades before the Civil War?” All students submit at least one
essay assignment, whether an examine element or stand alone assignment, that exhibits an
understanding of the social context of the human condition and the ethical issues associated with
such.
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Faculty assessment of student’s consideration of ethical decision-making in an historical context will
rely on the departmental Assessment for Personal Responsibility Rubric that measures a student’s
ability to assess “the social context of problems [and] recognize ethical issues in a variety of settings.”
Social Responsibility: This rubric defines course material contributing to social responsibility
as: intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in
regional, national, and global communities. There are many aspects of HIST 1133 which relate to
this, including but not limited to: encounters between Europeans, Native Americans and Africans,
the immigrant experience, regional differences, the experience of African-Americans and the issues
that led to the Civil War. Faculty will identify course material relevant to this rubric and assess
students on it (either through exams or other assignments.) All students submit at least one essay
assignment, whether an examine element or stand alone assignment, that exhibits an
understanding of the complexity of various cultures, their politics, economy, values, and beliefs.
Faculty will assess the students’ level of intercultural competence by using the second row
(“Knowledge”) of the AACU’s Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE Rubric.
Additional Information
In this survey course some of the faculty use tests that are in part multiple-choice and in part essay.
Others use tests that are made up entirely of essay questions. Others may rely primarily on
objective item exams, particularly in on-line courses, but in every section of this course, the student
completes at least one written essay. In either at least one essay is set up in such a way as it can be
assessed by one or more of five rubrics listed above. Each of the rubrics contains four levels of
achievement. The first level is known as Benchmark. It is the lowest level that can produce a
passing grade on the question at hand. Levels two and three are known as Milestones and their
contents, or parts thereof, represent good work. The fourth level is known as Capstone and
represents excellent achievement. The students are graded accordingly on these questions.
Students are reminded that because history deals with the past, some of the wording, indeed most
of it in some of the rubrics, must be converted to past tense in order is make sense. Most students
do not find this difficult to understand.
Attached:
1. Sample Syllabus
2. Critical Thinking Value Rubric
3. Written Communication Skills Rubric
4. Intercultural Knowledge and Competence Value Rubric
5. History Department Personal Responsibility Assessment Rubric
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