ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES
HISTORY AND CONSTITUTION SYLLABUS
COURSE DETAILS
Course Code: 337200AW
Subject: United States History and Constitution
Required Prerequisites: none; see recommendations below
Suggested Prerequisites: Advanced Placement U.S. History and Constitution requires students to complete
significant weekly reading in a college-level survey of U.S. History, as well as extensive supplemental reading from
both primary and secondary sources at a college level. Students will also write both free response and documentbased essays for which college-level writing skills are needed. Advanced reading and writing skills, prior
experience and excellent grades in AP or Honors social studies and English courses, and very strong timemanagement skills are strongly recommended for students taking AP U.S. History and Constitution.
Duration: Yearlong (two semesters)
Course Availability: A listing of when this course is offered in the current school year can be found on the
VirtualSC Current Course Offerings page (launches in a new window).
Class Times: There are no scheduled class meetings for this course. Instead, students are expected to work on
their own to meet the deadlines posted in the course pacing guide. Students should expect to spend at least 10
hours per week working on this course.
Course Materials: A list of websites and online textbooks used in this course can be found here: AP U.S. History
and Constitution Course Links List (launches in a new window). Students will need to be able to access all of these
links to access all course materials.
Final Exam: Students in this course take the SC End of Course Exam (EOCE) in U.S. History if they are using this
course to meet their graduation requirement for U.S. History. Students who have already completed US History
CP or Honors and taken the EOCE for U.S. History will need to arrange an alternate final with the instructor.
Students in this class also take the Advanced Placement (AP) exam. Details on scheduling and taking final exams
can be found on the Final Exam Page (launches in a new window) of the VirtualSC webpage.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The AP U.S. History and Constitution course focuses on developing students’ understanding of American history
from approximately 1491 to the present. The course has students investigate the content of U.S. history for
significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in nine historical periods, and develop and use the
same thinking skills and methods (analyzing primary and secondary sources, making historical comparisons,
chronological reasoning, and argumentation) employed by historians when they study the past. The course also
Last revised 8/26/15
provides seven themes (American and national identity; migration and settlement; politics and power; work,
exchange, and technology; America in the world; geography and the environment; and culture and society) that
students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different
times and places.
The curriculum used in this course is guided by the AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description (launches in a
new window).
SCOPE AND SEQUENCE
The course is divided into the following nine chronological periods (some units overlap chronologically due to the
different concepts covered in each unit). The course offers a thorough survey of United States history comparable
to two survey college courses in United States history (pre-Colonial to 1877 and 1877 to present).
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Unit 1: 1491-1607
Unit 2: 1607-1754
Unit 3: 1754-1800
Unit 4: 1800-1848
Unit 5: 1844-1877
Unit 6: 1865-1914
Unit 7: 1890-1945
Unit 8: 1945-1989
Unit 9: 1980-present
Students will be sent a full list of assignments and their due dates at the beginning of the course. A sample pacing
guide for this course can be found in the VirtualSC Course Catalog (launches in a new window).
VIRTUALSC DETAILS
TECHNOLOGY
VirtualSC strives to provide adequate technical support to all of our students. As on online program, VirtualSC
cannot provide support for any hardware (computers, tablets or mobile devices) that students use to access their
courses. A list of technical requirements for devices can be found on the Virtual SC Tech Help page (launches in a
new window).
A troubleshooting guide for students is provided on the Virtual SC Tech Help page (launches in a new window). A
list of video tutorials can be found on the Student Tutorials page (launches in a new window).
Students who need individual technical support during registration and before their courses start should contact
the VirtualSC Help Center (launches in a new window) or call Student Services directly at (803) 734-8039.
Students who are actively enrolled in courses should contact their teachers for course-specific technical support.
ACCESSIBILITY AND ACCOMMODATIONS
VirtualSC is committed to continually enhancing the accessibility of our courses. Our courses are regularly
monitored by internal staff to check for accessibility risks. We are working to ensure that all required videos in
our courses contain captions and/or transcripts. The program strives to ensure that all newly developed and
Last revised 8/26/15
revised courses include structural styling to indicate headings, lists, and tables to assist in page comprehension
for screen readers.
The program continues to strive to format our courses to be compliant with the recommendations on the Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 (launches in a new window).
To ensure that students with special needs are being adequately served by our program, students with IEPs and
504s are asked to comply with the VirtualSC IEP/504 Policy (launches in a new window).
GRADING POLICY
The final grade in this course results from the following:
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Coursework: 80%
End of Course Exam: 20%
Coursework grades will be based upon the quality of the student submissions, participation in discussions, and
the ability to maintain consistent communication with the instructor.
This course uses the South Carolina Uniform Grading Scale:
Letter Grade
A
B
C
D
F
Numerical Grade
93-100
85-92
77-84
70-76
69-0
COMMUNICATION AND LATE WORK
Participation and communication in an online class is critical to successful completion. Although students can
access at a time that is convenient for them, they are expected to login regularly to the Student Dashboard and
their course regularly. Students should meet all deadlines per the pacing guide and notify the instructor in
advance if extenuating circumstances arise that prohibit the student from participating in the class as expected.
Due dates for assignments are clearly posted and no work will be accepted beyond the due date unless a prior
extension has been arranged. Students can communicate with their instructor through various methods as posted
in the course.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY
VirtualSC (VSC) takes academic integrity very seriously and expects a full commitment to it from each VSC
student. All students taking courses with VirtualSC will be expected to adhere to our Academic Integrity Policy.
The full policy, including consequences for infractions can be found on our Academic Integrity Policy Page
(launches in a new window).
Last revised 8/26/15