Arizona Constitution Online

Transcription

1 Instructor: Oriol Vidal-Aparicio Arizona Constitution Online POS 220 (#25484) & POS 221 (#17046) Glendale Community College Fall 2011 (Aug. 20 Sep. 30) There are no regular office hours for this online class. We should be able to resolve all issues via you should expect to have your s responded to in about 24 hours during work days, but generally I will not be on duty during the weekends or official holidays. If you me, please include POS 220 or POS 221 in the subject line and sign with your full name so that I can clearly identify you as a student in this course. If you need to talk to me in person, e- mail me in advance and we will arrange a time to meet on campus. Course description and competencies Throughout six weeks, this 1-credit online course (or approximately the first third of the course for the POS 220 students) examines the government of Arizona using the state constitution as a focus. It reviews the main features of the Arizona Constitution, with special emphasis on the design and functioning of the three branches of the state government (legislative, executive, and judicial). This course meets Arizona Constitution requirements for teacher certification. (Official course description by the MCCCD: As Toni McClory stated in previous syllabi of this course, there are many reasons to learn about Arizona government: 1. It matters. Most people don t realize that state government not national has the primary responsibility for education, public safety, public health, the environment, and other important issues. 2. Arizona is a direct democracy state and demands a lot of participation from voters (think of all those ballot propositions!). This course will help you make more informed choices. 3. Arizona government is quirky and unique. Learning how it differs from the U.S. government will deepen your understanding of politics in general. 4. Future public employees (teachers, firefighters, etc.) have added reason to understand a government with major impact on their career. POS 221 is intended for citizens, scholars, and public employees. Online courses and their particularities You have registered for an online course, which means that there will be no regular meetings on campus tests and assignments will also be managed online. Online courses are suggested for self-motivated students with strong time-management skills and good study habits. I assume that students in this course have a good enough handle on how to survive in an online environment e.g. using a web browser, following links, downloading documents from the Internet, logging on and off of web sites that require identification I will not be providing technical support, so make sure that you know everything necessary to follow the course without disruptions due to technological deficiencies on your end. This course will mainly use Blackboard for the dissemination of materials. Make sure that the address tied to your Blackboard profile works properly. For information on how to get started, go to click on the links on the top right menu ( Before Registering, etc.). You should definitely take into account the recommendations you will find on these pages: Expect to spend 6 or more hours weekly on each 3 credit ecourse, log in regularly and be prepared to read, view and listen to a great deal of information. 1

2 Materials for the course Required: Toni McClory, Understanding the Arizona Constitution Second Edition. University of Arizona Press: Tucson, Book available at the GCC bookstore and through online vendors. It is important that you acquire the second edition, as considerable changes have taken place in Arizona government since the first edition was published in Arizona Constitution, 108-page pdf file downloadable from the Arizona Legislature s website: At the GCC bookstore you will also find hard copies of the Arizona and the U.S. Constitutions combined in one document, put together by Arizona s Secretary of State. Toni McClory, Arizona Constitution Fact Sheets (nine 2-page pdf files plus 2 handouts, Legislative Process Flowchart and Ballot Propositions Stats (1912 to present). All downloadable from McClory s website: Toni McClory, Online Lectures. Available in the course s Blackboard page (Course Materials content area, Online Lectures folder). These lectures are around 10 minutes long each. Click on the corresponding link and allow the lecture to load (this should just take a few seconds unless you have a dial-up connection). Vidal-Aparicio, PowerPoint Slides. Available weekly in the course s Blackboard page (Course Materials content area, PowerPoint Slides folder). Optional if if you want to know more: Facts and figures about the State of Arizona: Arizona State Legislature: Arizona Legislative Manual (1998 Edition), by the Arizona Legislative Council: Arizona Revised Statutes: Initiative, referendum, and recall applications for the 2010 election in Arizona: Actual propositions that made it to the ballot, with a summary of arguments for and against each one: (click on each numbered proposition to see it) Official results of the 2010 election (including retention elections for judges and ballot propositions): Every week there will be assigned readings from McClory s book and McClory s Arizona Constitution Fact Sheets, and you will have to view the corresponding Online Lectures (also prepared by McClory), which provide you with additional explanation and context to help you better understand certain aspects of Arizona government. My PowerPoint Slides are meant to be reviewed after you have done the reading/viewing assigned for that week; they summarize, reinforce, and/or complement the other sources and serve as a study guide; you cannot expect to fully understand the content of the slides without having reviewed the other sources first. Test questions may come from any of these required sources. All the sources refer constantly to the Arizona Constitution, which will be a helpful reference text to consult throughout the course. Please note: With only six weeks, this course moves very fast, so it is a must for you to keep up with the assigned readings, lectures and slides weekly if you want to succeed. Keep in mind that the first test comes fairly soon. 2

3 Grading The final course grade will be based on two multiple-choice tests and one take-home exam. The take-home exam will be worth 110 points. The multiple-choice tests will be worth 50 and 40 points (for a total of 90 points). Therefore, the maximum total points for the course is 200, and the final letter grades will be assigned following this scale*: A = points B = points C = points D = points F = 119 points or less * This applies specifically to POS 221 students; POS 220 students, see final section. Tasks, tests, and assignments Syllabus After reading this syllabus and before you do anything else in this course, click on the Mark Reviewed button that you will see below the link to download the syllabus. This is to let me know that you have read and understood the syllabus. You need to complete this task by August 26 (first Friday of the course). Not completing this task amounts to not showing up for class the first week, which allows the instructor to drop the student from the course. Multiple-choice tests The two multiple-choice tests will be administered through the course s Blackboard page. You will have a window of 48 hours to take each test. They will be time-restricted, which means that once you start the test on Blackboard you will have a set amount of time to complete it. Be sure to have a stable Internet connection, as a loss of connection will freeze your test and Blackboard will not allow you to restart it. If your connection at home is unreliable, please to take the tests elsewhere (as a suggestion, the Internet connection at GCC s computing facilities is generally very reliable). For best results, avoid having other programs or applications running while you take tests on Blackboard (for instance, consider temporarily disabling self-launched anti-virus programs that slow down your computer s response, and logging off of Skype, online messengers, etc., during the test). Once you have taken a multiple-choice test, you will not be able to retake it. If your computer freezes while taking a test, Blackboard records the incident and I am able to see it. If this or any other justifiable problem prevents you from completing a test on Blackboard, I can set up a new one for you. Normally the best way to document a technical problem is to take a screen capture (or several) showing the type of error message that you got (if any), the time when it happened, and in general anything that might help to support your claim that something went wrong while taking the test (power outages that affect a whole area and other uncommon misfortunes should be properly documented as well). If any of this happens you should me as soon as possible explaining the situation and providing the required documentation if at all possible. A few days before you take the first multiple-choice test I will make available a document with the GCC Blackboard Team s recommendations on how to take tests on Blackboard. In general, a whole 48-hour period allows enough flexibility for you to plan ahead, but I understand that sometimes things come up. Therefore, make-up tests will be available if you can document that it was impossible for you to take a test during the stipulated 48-hour period. I reserve the right to decide what I consider an acceptable excuse to miss a test, but this mainly refers to circumstances that you could not have foreseen otherwise you should have told me in advance. A medical emergency would be a good example of an unforeseen occurrence. 3

4 Take-home exam The take-home exam will consist of eleven questions, which I will make available well in advance, and in general I will be expecting short answers (of less than half a page). You will receive more specific guidelines when I make the exam available. I will return the exam to you via , with the corresponding score, my comments, and the rubric used to evaluate your answers. Unlike the multiple-choice tests, the take-home exam is open-book. You are encouraged to look for the answers in the different sources, and quote and paraphrase from them, as long as you give credit where credit is due (see section on plagiarism below). The take-home exam has a specific due date. Please note that I will deduct the equivalent of 10% from the total points on the take-home exam for each day that it is turned in past the due date I will not accept it after September 30, the last day of the course. I will only waive this penalty for acceptable excuses (see the Multiple-choice tests section above). Discussion board (Frequently Asked Questions forum) I have set up a discussion board on the course s Blackboard page where I will post questions asked to me by students via and whose answers might be of general interest. You will be able to use this forum to further clarify questions or ask new ones. I will be checking this forum often, but if you have an urgent question please me directly as I might not check the discussion board every day, and generally I will not be on duty during the weekends. Blackboard announcements Log in to Blackboard often and be sure to check the announcements section for important notices and other messages of interest. You are responsible for knowing about any changes that occur in the course. Incidentally, as the instructor of this course, Blackboard gives me the ability to see the last time that each student logged in. Whether you are logging in regularly to Blackboard or not will be an additional indicator for me to see if you are making adequate progress in the course. Course policies Please consult GCC s General Catalog & Student Handbook to learn about your rights and responsibilities as a student (pp ), with special attention to GCC s policies on academic misconduct (starting on p. 339), which includes cheating and plagiarism. The General Catalog & Student Handbook can be accessed online at (click on the cover to access the flipbook or download the PDF file in either case, use the updated version). On plagiarism: Check out How Students Can Avoid Plagiarism, prepared by GCC s English Department (includes links to several websites): Additionally, this ASU page provides valuable information on academic integrity as well: Withdrawal from the course: If you decide to withdraw from the course, you are responsible for doing so in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the aforementioned General Catalog & Student Handbook (pp ). Special needs that require accommodation: Please make appropriate arrangements, as soon as possible, with Disability Services and Resources (office phone: ; video phone for the deaf: ; website: 4

5 Course outline (Assigned readings, online lectures and slides should be completed within the corresponding week.) Week 1 (Aug 20-26) Review syllabus. Introduction to the Arizona Constitution. Arizona history. To read: McClory s book, ch. 1 ( The Arizona Constitution ) and ch. 2 ( Origins of the Arizona Constitution ); McClory s fact sheet Trust lands. To view: McClory s Online Lectures Why State Constitutional Rights Matter and Hunt Versus Taft. To review: PowerPoint Slides, Week 1. Syllabus: Mark Reviewed by Aug. 26. Week 2 (Aug 27-Sep 2) Week 3 (Sep 3-9) Week 4 (Sep 10-16) Week 5 (Sep 17-23) Week 6 (Sep 24-30) The State Legislature: Structure and lawmaking process. To read: McClory s book, ch. 3 ( The Legislative Branch ); McClory s fact sheets Redistricting and Legislature. To view: McClory s Online Lecture Arizona s Citizen Legislature. To review: PowerPoint Slides, Week 2. Direct democracy features of the Arizona Constitution: the initiative, the referendum, and the recall. To read: McClory s book, ch. 4 ( Direct Democracy ); McClory s fact sheets Direct Democracy and Impeachment of Evan Mecham. To view: McClory s Online Lectures Arizona s Ballot Propositions (parts I & II). To review: PowerPoint Slides, Week 3. Take multiple-choice test 1 (Sep. 9-10). The Executive Branch: organization and powers. To read: McClory s book, ch. 5 ( The Executive Branch ); McClory s fact sheets Executive Branch and Veto Power. To view: McClory s Online Lecture Arizona s Plural Executive Branch. To review: PowerPoint Slides, Week 4. The Judicial Branch: the Arizona court system. County and municipal governments. To read: McClory s book, ch. 6 ( The Judicial Branch ) and ch. 7 ( Local Government ); McClory s fact sheets Judicial Branch and Local Government. To view: McClory s Online Lecture Arizona s Merit Selection of Judges. To review: PowerPoint Slides, Week 5. Take multiple-choice test 2 (Sep ). Turn in take-home exam by Sep. 27. The course outline might vary slightly as the course develops. Please mark all important dates on your calendars. POS 220 students If you signed up for POS 220 (equivalent to POS POS 222), this Arizona Constitution syllabus covers the first third of your 3-credit course. You will be able to access the second part of your course (United States Constitution) by clicking on the POS 222 link that will be available on Blackboard shortly before that course is due to start (Oct. 1, 2011). Your final grade will be assigned based on the total points you obtain in the two parts of the course: a maximum of 200 points for Arizona Constitution and a maximum of 400 points for United States Constitution (i.e., a maximum of 600 points for POS 220, maintaining the same percentages as in the grading scale shown above: the top 10% will correspond to an A, the next 10% will correspond to a B, and so forth). Officially you will not receive separate grades for both parts of the course, but a final grade for POS 220 at the end of the semester. The information included in this syllabus is subject to change. The students will be notified by the instructor of any changes in course requirements or policies. 5