RANGER COLLEGE SYLLABUS
Course: History 1301, History I
Credit Hours: 3
Instructor: Jonathan Roach
Office Location: Jameson
Office Hours: Monday: 9:30-10:30; 1:00-3:00
Tuesday: 8:30-10:00
Wednesday: 1:00-2:00
Thursday: 8:00-10:00
Email: jroach@rangercollege.edu
Office Phone: 325-668-9555
1.
Texas Core Curriculum Statement of Purpose
Students will gain a foundation of knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world,
develop principles of personal and social responsibility for living in a diverse world, and advance
intellectual and practical skills that are essential for all learning.
2.
Catalog Description
This is a course in United States history stressing the planning and development of the English
Colonies in America, the struggle for independence and the establishment of the Constitution,
national territorial expansion, the rise of Jacksonian Democracy, the slavery controversy, the Civil
War and Reconstruction.
3.
Required Background or Prerequisites
Successful completion of required placement testing.
4.
Textbooks Required
Berkin, Miller, Chaney, and Gormley Making America: A History of the United States, Houghton
Mifflin Company Publishers, 2012, 6th edition. 13-978-0-495-90979-8
5.
Methods of Instruction
Discussion, audio-visual materials, Blackboard, and research databases.
6.
Core Objectives
This course directly meets the following of the six Core Objectives:
☒
Critical Thinking Skills - to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis,
evaluation and synthesis of information
☒
Communication Skills - to include effective development, interpretation and expression of
ideas through written, oral and visual communication
☒
Empirical and Quantitative Skills - to include the manipulation and analysis of numerical
data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions
☒
Teamwork - to include the ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively
with others to support a shared purpose or goal
☒
Personal Responsibility - to include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences
to ethical decision-making
☒
Social Responsibility: to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility,
and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities
7.
IMPORTANT DATES: These dates are subject to change per the judgment of the instructor.
Date
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Assignment
Introduction/Pretest/enrollment
Quiz #1 (Chapters 1& 2)
Participation #1 (Chapters 1-4)
Quiz #2 (Chapters 5 & 6)
Participation #2 (Chapters 5-8)
Outline and Bibliography Due On Friday.
Quiz #3 (Chapter 9-10) & Participation #3
(Chapter 9-12)
Review for Midterm Exam (Chapters 1-8)
Midterms
Quiz #4 (Chapter 13-14)
Participation #4 (Chapters 13 & 14)
Quiz #5 & (Chapter 15)
Participation #5 (Chapter 15)
Essay Due
Review for Final Exam
Final Exams
COURSE/CLASSROOM POLICIES
A. Attendance/Tardiness
Class attendance is a requirement, if you anticipate more than three unexcused
absences during the course you should wait for a later date to take this course.
Regular and punctual attendance in all class is considered essential to the success of this course. If
the student has three absences in a course in which he/she is currently enrolled; the instructor may
drop the student with a grade of “F”.
Absences are counted from the first day of class June 1 as listed in the College Calendar,
regardless of the date of the student’s registration. All work and/or assignments missed must be
completed within one week of the absence.
B. Class Participation
You will be expected to keep up with assigned textbook readings, which will appear on tests and
quizzes.
C. Missed Major Exams/Assignment Makeup
 Make-up work must be turned in with n one week of returning to class. The student may
take make-up exams only by appointment.
 Make-up exams and quizzes will only be administered by appointment.
 A grade of zero will be given for any missed exam that is not excused. A maximum grade
of seventy will be given on all makeup work not completed
within one week after the student returns to class.
Note: Instructor is not responsible for technical problems. You will still be held to this policy in
the event of a computer malfunction, internet problems, or use of incorrect email addresses.
D. Academic Dishonesty
Any student caught cheating on an exam, report, or project, whether in the classroom or elsewhere,
will earn a grade of “F”, in the course. It is strongly recommended that the student caught cheating
immediately drop the class in order to avoid a grade of “F”.
E. Student Behavior
When any activity of an individual in the class impedes the learning process of any other
individual in the class, the individual causing the disruption is subject to immediate dismissal from
class and may be dismissed from the course.
F. Available Support Services
ADA statement: Ranger College provides a variety of services for students with
learning and /or physical disabilities. The student is responsible for making the
initial contact with the counselor before or immediately after the semester begins.
8. ASSESMENT (Grade Procedures)
A. The course is divided into two major units of study. Each student will take two major exams, a
midterm and a final. A review of major points of study will be given prior to each exam.
B. The student may also be required to take quizzes, at random times during the semester.
C. The student will be required to complete a research project.
GRADING PROCEDURES
Final Exam = 20% of your semester grade
Midterm =20% of your semester grade
Outline = 10% of your semester grade
Essay = 20% of your semester grade
Quizzes = 20% of your semester grade
Discussion/Participation = 10% of your major grade
GRADING SCALE
90 or above = A
80-89 = B
70-79 = C
60-69 = D
59 or lower = F
D. Assignments
Participation
Discussion - You will be required to answer one question that is posted on the discussion board and
comment on an answer posted by two classmates (5) times throughout this course.
Questions #1 - Post an answer to a Question by Wednesday. (over chapters 1-4)
Questions #2 - Post an answer to a Question by Wednesday. (over chapters 5-8).
Questions #3 - Post an answer to a Question by Wednesday. (over chapters 9-12)
Questions #4 - Post an answer to a Question by Wednesday. (over chapters 13 & 14)
Questions #5 - Post an answer to a Question by Wednesday. (over chapters 15)
Note: In order to get full credit for Participation the answers and comments you give need to
contribute to the discussion. Answers such " I agree" or "good answer" will not count toward the
participation requirements. Neither will restating what another has already said.
Essay and Research Outline .
a. Essay-This course will also require an essay paper of a minimum of (3) double spaced
pages and a maximum of (5) double spaced pages in length. The essay will count as 15%
of your overall grade. The essay will be submitted on Safeassign through Blackboard. You
must use four sources to develop your essay, one source should be the textbook, (other
sources may include books, journals, Internet, etc). Please do not use Wikipedia as a
source. Doing so will result in the loss of a letter grade for your paper. You must submit a
works cited page listing all the sources from which you gather information to use in the
essays. A cover page must be submitted as well, it should include the title, date and your
name.
b. Outline-Outline will precede the essay and reflect on-going research for the essay. It will
need to show how you are organizing your thoughts, and progress made in terms of
research. It is worth 10% of overall grade.
You must choose one of the following topics:
1. Compare and Contrast Spanish, French, and English colonial experiences.
2. Describe what day to day life in the Puritan colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay
was like. You can do this as first person (as if you were living it), or in a narrative form.
3. Pick two groups of Native Americans mentioned in your text and compare their culture
and experience with European settlers (Examples of tribes are Cherokee, Iroquois, Ute,
Lakota, Hurons, etc).
4. Describe the growth and experiences that surrounded the “peculiar institution of slavery.”
You must also take this information to answer the question of what types of experiences
individual slaves encountered.
5. Compare both the arguments of Loyalists (Tories) and American Revolutionaries in
relation to the British Empire.
6. Using specifics and details, describe what you feel the greatest strengths of the United
States Constitution were, why they became part of this document, and how the past
shaped these aspects of our Constitution.
7. Answer the question of why Andrew Jackson was such a polarizing figure. What lasting
impact does his presidency have on the modern “two-party system?”
8. Pick two leaders of the American Civil War and compare them. Analyze their successes
and failures and answer why they are remembered. Examples would be: Grant and Lee;
Lincoln and Davis, Sheridan and Stuart, Sherman and Longstreet.
Exams
Exams will be computer based exams proctored by myself or a test center administrator
Quizzes
You will be expected to take 5 quizzes throughout the course. These are due on Fridays of the quiz
week.
9.
Admissions, employment, and program policies of Ranger College are Nondiscriminatory in regard to race, color, creed, sex, age, disability, and national origin.