Federal Government, POLS 1113 Mrs. Rebekkah Morrow Office: 580-477-7753; On Campus: HLC 105; Technology Office: 580-477-7907 Please use email instructor here icon inside the course. *Remember the best way to reach me is using the E-mail Instructor icon within the course or Office number: 580-477-7753. I will not be in my office during this class. My Western Email is rebekkah.morrow@wosc.edu. If you are asking me to check something in the course it is preferred that you use the course email, EMAIL INSTRUCTOR Here, which is within the course. Thanks. Requirement: This is an Online Intersession Course. There is an expectation that students understand how to use the internet and are comfortable using a computer and have access to both. Please communicate using email when possible. Don't get frustrated. It should be obvious a requirement for this class is a working computer with internet availability. Have a backup plan in case the computer and internet you depend upon does not work. If you cannot acquire access to a computer/internet, please seek a plan for it to be available or reconsider taking this course in this format. Please upload written work according to uploading instructions. Word Perfect is not an acceptable format for written work. If your saved document ends in WPS, then I cannot open or grade it. If I cannot open it, you cannot get a grade. Please work with me on this. If your written work cannot be read because you do not follow these instructions of saving it correctly then it cannot be graded. I said that twice, it must happen in every single course online that I teach! Uploading Assignments: Pay particular attention to uploading your written assignments--i will tell you if I cannot open it and then you are responsible to resubmit using a format I can read it in. Rich Text Format always works. RTF is by the save button, below, you might have to click on the arrow. Communication: It is understood that students have individual perspectives and so do teachers. If you have a question, a problem, computers crash, an emergency, DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL OR EMAIL. I will get your email before I get your call, more than likely. My cell phone number is 405-481-4182 and you may consider it your PANIC BUTTON. Do not call me during lunch or dinner or early in the morning when I am spending time with my family. You can leave a message and I will get back to you. Do not call me after 10:30 pm in the evening or before 8:00 am. Please communicate any concern you have. Email works. I cannot read your mind. Introduction Welcome to the Intercession Federal Government, POLS 1113. Online Intercession courses offer a flexible approach to taking courses. It takes a tremendous amount of self-motivation and self-discipline to complete the work outside of the classroom. Pace yourself and do not wait until a few hours before the deadline to begin working on the Assessments. I am sure we will run into unexpected things since this requires technology and humans. We will work through the surprises! We have a great technology
staff. Please refer your hardware questions to them. I promise you I will not be able to make your computer work. Assessment consists of exams and written work. Exams: Exams close at 5:00 CST or at 17:00 CST. Turn off pop up blocker or you lose your attempt; do not wait until the last 5 minutes to submit your exam--you get timed out and the computer zeros out your work--you lose it. Save your work even if you are not submitting at that moment. I can't give you another chance without giving everyone else one more or waiting until the course is closed. We have been asked to close the course when it is over and submit grades. The assignments for this course are 4 Exams representing the four units and written assignments. When you complete your exams online and are ready to submit, save and submit. Each exam is worth 100 points, for a total possible of 400 points. Reading the textbook is helpful in completing the exams. Students have 2 hours and 1 attempt to complete each exam. What is my grade: Tests + written work and divided by 500 or 400 + 50 +50 = 500/500=100. Written Assignments: Due May 23rd by 11:55 pm CST. Choose 2-TWO of the following 3 options and submit a written document reflecting your research. Double space and cite references and resources used within the paper in parenthesis. Length: No less than 1 page, no more than 2 pages per option. Be Concise. I will not read past page 2. I want your response to be concise and specific. Do not copy/paste and expect a grade. Your honesty and ethical behavior is an expectation in this course and at this college. Written assignments are due by day 4 of the course. Read the directions on the assignment and use reasonably good grammar and writing skills. No you do not get extra points for doing 3 assignments. Please site your resources. Remember if you choose an option you can find anything on, move on and complete the assignment on something that you can do. Option 1: Using the website: http://www.senate.gov http://www.house.gov or http://www.thomas.loc.gov Find a bill currently being debated. Discuss the author(s) of the legislation and what impact this bill will make if it becomes a law. Discuss the legislation or at least most of it. Keep in mind some (bills) legislation can be thousands of pages, i.e. the Health Bill was 1017 pages. I do not require you to read entire bills, but enough that you can discuss some of the bill, (enough to write a page on the bill you choose). Copying and pasting a page does not give you a grade. Option 2: Using the website: http://www.whitehouse.gov Look under programs and policy, you will find them under various headings, budget, education, national security, etc. Cash for clunkers is and old program and not in existence, cannot give credit for those programs.
Identify a program of President Obamas. What is the program, what are the objectives, what is to be accomplished and what are the challenges to the program. How will his program address the problem he is trying to solve with it? Option 3: Using the website: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/ Choose one case currently before the Supreme Court and discuss the (legal) questions presented in the case you have chosen. List the Justices (9) and identify which is the Chief Justice. If you give an old case, not from 2010-2011 Court session it will not bring you any points. Withdrawal It is the responsibility of each student to withdraw from a class if the circumstances warrant such action. If you do not turn in your assignments and are still on the grade sheet at the time grades are due, a grade must be assigned. Don't forget to take care of this. Expectations My goals for students are that you will have a strong political science foundation and engage in the American Government process. Hopefully, students will learn and enjoy Political Science and receive credit for learning. I am not looking for your complaints about one party or the other. I am looking for an educated student about US Republic that we have and how the 3 branches work. Use terminology and knowledge in your written assignments, not opinion. STUDENT SERVICES According to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), each student with a disability is responsible for notifying the College of his/her disability and requesting accommodations. If you think you have a qualified disability and need classroom accommodations, contact the Counseling Office (C-1E). To receive services, you must submit appropriate documentation and complete an intake process during which the existence of a qualified disability is verified and reasonable accommodations are identified. Please call (580) 477-7710, or email april.dill@wosc.edu for more information. Please advise your instructor of your disability as soon as possible to ensure timely implementation of appropriate accommodations. Faculty have an obligation to respond when official notice of a disability from the Counseling Office is received, however there is no obligation to provide retroactive accommodations. Thoughts: It takes a tremendous amount of self-motivation and self-discipline to complete the work outside of the classroom. Pace yourself and do not wait until a few hours before the deadline to begin working on the Assessments. I am sure we will run into unexpected things since this requires technology and humans. We will work through the surprises! We have a great technology staff: 580-477-7907. Please refer your hardware questions to them. Every now and then students will email or call me and expect me to diagnose their computer problems. I can assure you, I am of NO help as a computer technician--you do
not want me to diagnose any problem your computer may be having. I promise you I will not be able to make your computer work. COURSE DESCRIPTION This is an introductory course to American Government and its institutions. The traditional political science questions of who governs and to what ends do they govern within the political framework of the US Constitution are the driving questions of this course. Textbook Textbook: "American Government and Politics, Deliberation, Democracy, and Citizenship," authors: Joseph Bessette and John Pitney, Jr. ISBN-13: 978-0-534-534-53687-9 or ISBN-10: 0-534-53687-5. Our bookstore (580-477-7744) can help you or you can purchase it directly from www.cengagebrain.com The e-book information depends on whether you want the text plus website or other resources. The following ISBN number reflects the e-book plus the website study materials provided by the publisher, ISBN 1-428-28201-7 ACADEMIC HONESTY AND INTEGRITY Students are expected to exhibit honesty and integrity in their work submitted, both in the testing format and the written, research and analysis assignments. Cheating and plagiarism or aiding another student in cheating can result in severe penalties. Assessment Assessment consists of exams and written work. Exams: Turn off pop up blocker or you lose your attempt; do not wait until the last 5 minutes to submit your exam--you get timed out and the computer zeros out your work--you lose it. Save and submit. Word of Caution: I have had a student or two open the quiz then they start using their computer at the same time to have multiple browsers open searching for the answers. Then, their computer locks up and they have a zero. I can't give you another chance without giving everyone else one more chance or waiting until the course is closed. The biggest surprise online students tend to have when taking an exam is that the exam is timed and that students have to KNOW things--imagine that! So be prepared to take a timed exam which moves the questions and answers around (security reasons) Do students make good grades? Yes. Do students fail? Yes. The number one reason for failure in online classes is the same as in on campus classes--students forget to show up for class. You have to invest in the class, power points, assignments, reading the chapters in order to receive the dividend or in this case, grade. There are 4 exams. When you complete your exams online and are ready to submit, save and submit. Each exam is worth 100 points, for a total possible of 400 points. Reading the textbook is helpful in completing the exams and using the other resources given you. I have provided study/reading guides which students have told me are helpful.
Federal Government Course Outline Unit 1-Foundations of American Government Chapter 1: Forms of Government/ Who governs and to what ends? Chapter 2: American Beginnings, Anti-Federalist, Federalist, Constitution Chapter 3: Federalism Chapter 4: American Political Culture-Citizenship Chapter 5: Civic Culture Chapter 18: Economic Policy Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 are stressed in Exam 1 Unit 2: Civil Rights, Liberties, and the Judiciary Process Chapter 6: Civil Liberties Chapter 7: Civil Rights Chapter 16: Judiciary Exam 2 Unit 3: Democratic Politics/Public Deliberation Chapter 8: Public Opinion/Political Participation Chapter 9: Interest Groups (Pigs-public interest groups) Chapter 10: Political Parties Chapter 11: Elections and Campaigns Chapter 12: Mass Media Exam 3 Unit 4: Governing Institutions Chapter 13: Congress Chapter 14: The Presidency
Chapter 15: Bureaucracy/Administrative State Reference Chapters: Chapter 17: Social Policy and the Welfare State-Domestic Policy (Congress) Chapter 19: National Security and Foreign Policy-Presidency-War Powers Resolution Chapter 13, 14 are stressed on Exam 4--FINAL, not comprehensive, last unit of study.