Course Syllabus

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Syllabus

GOVT 2305 – Federal Government

Fall 2024

 

Instructor: Professor Amanda Morrison           

Office:  Online Virtual office Hours via email and Zoom               

Phone:  972-841-8941 (cell)               

Instructor Email: amanda.morrison@tccd.edu OR Use the Canvas Inbox (Look to the left for the Inbox icon).

Office Hours:   Virtual Office Hours- emails are answered every business day, emails received on weekend days will be returned Monday

  • I will be available MW- 8:00-9:30 & TTH- 12:30-3:00 (if you would like to Zoom with me, let me know and I will make it happen!!)

Course Description and Delivery Mode

Origin and development of the U.S. Constitution, structure and powers of the national government including the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, federalism, political participation, the national election process, public policy, civil liberties, and civil rights. This course covers the development of the American political system of political science terminology, the teaching of the structures of the American political system, the impact of media, campaigns, elections, interest groups, and political parties on the political system, and some discussion of public policies and how they made the American political system. Topics include the foundations of American government and its political system, political socialization and public opinion, congress, the presidency, the judiciary, and bureaucracy.

Prerequisites: TSI met in Reading and Writing
Course Type:  Academic Core
Credits:  3
Method of Instruction:  Online Asynchronous Course

Course Site

•        Go to Canvas

•        Enter your login credentials.

•        Click the link to this course found in your Dashboard list. 

Communication Plan

Students are required to check their Canvas course AND my.tccd.edu email address daily, as course information, updates, and notifications will be delivered through this outlet.  All information will also be posted in the Announcements section of the course.  Students are responsible for interacting with their peers through the posted discussion boards. The instructor will respond to emails from students within 24 hours, Monday-Friday. 

Course Goals and Learning Outcomes

Course goals and learning outcomes support the Foundational Component Areas defined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Course goals are linked to the respective Core Curriculum Competencies: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Social Responsibility, and Personal Responsibility. Specific competencies are identified in designated course goals and learning outcomes.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

  • Explain the origin and development of constitutional democracy in the United States.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the federal system.
  • Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and practice.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government.
  • Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in the political system.
  • Analyze the election process.
  • Describe the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
  • Analyze issues and policies in U.S. politics.
  • Communication Skills: Develop communication skills by a. developing, interpreting, and expressing ideas through written, oral, and/or visual communication; b. communicating effectively the results of political science investigation in written, oral, and/or visual form.
  • Critical Thinking Skills: Utilize and develop critical thinking skills by a. understanding politics and government through creative thinking, inquiry, analysis of data, and synthesis of political information; b. employing reason using inference to respond to an inquiry; c. examining the salient elements of an issue; d. discerning the validity, value, and strengths and weaknesses of information, assessments, statements, or evidence provided, and providing a solid, evidence-based explanation of such a critique; e. applying given information or an understanding of academic material to a new product or point of view that is of the student’s creation.
  • Social Responsibility: Demonstrate social responsibility by understanding and exercising civic responsibility; engaging effectively in regional, national, and global communities.
  • Personal Responsibility: Demonstrate personal responsibility byconnecting choices, actions, and consequences to ethical decision making.

Materials

Textbook(s):  The text for this course is a free open source textbook.

Title: American Government 3e

Author: OpenStax American Government

Publisher:   OpenStax American Goverenment

 

Web Link: OpenStax American Government

The readings will be provided by the instructor on our Canvas class page within each of the Modules. All readings are Open Educational Resources (OER) and FREE. You do not need to purchase a textbook for this course. This is a FREE ONLINE resource. There is no hard copy of the materials for purchase available. 

 

Graded Course Assignments

This course is graded using percentages. The following assignments are graded and required for the course: 

  • Midterm & Final Exams- 15% total

There will be a Midterm and Final Exam given at the halfway mark and at the end of the course.  The exams may consist of multiple-choice, identify, and short answer questions. Exams will cover the readings, lectures, and assignments. Exams are open note and timed at 60 minutes. They must be completed on your own. 

  • Chapter Assignments– 35% total

Each chapter will contain a few assignments.  These may include:

·         Reading Quizzes - These questions will relate to the textbook reading assignments.

·         Video Lesson Quizzes – You will watch a video in Canvas and answer questions to demonstrate your understanding of the material.

·         Discussion Boards –In each chapter, you must read and respond to the question posted in Canvas.  Your response must contain substantive information that demonstrate your understanding and critical thinking around the topic. You will be asked to participate in online discussion boards and forums that will be graded using a rubric and instructions for your post
and your responses. Be sure to carefully read the instructions for both the main post and responses. See the rubric info in the
instructions to know what I’ll be grading you on. No AI or Chat GPT may be used on Discussion Boards, and is considered cheating, since this is just asking you your thoughts on the subject based on what you learned in the materials. Personal participation is the largest part of the grade.  Please note that any posts containing rude statements, foul language, inappropriate or off topic material, or personal attacks will be deleted and NOT graded. Also, while you are entitled to your emotional reactions to any topic, please keep all comments on the discussion board substantive. Keep posts relevant to the material we are learning about and avoid just saying "that's stupid" or “the president is a moron.” Back up your argument or comment with information from the lessons to EXPLAIN your difference of opinion. Normally we have very few problems with this because TCC students are polite and open to discussion.


*If you notice any posts on the forum that seem inappropriate or contain personal attacks, please email me so I can take a look at it. I appreciate your assistance in making the forums a place where all students---even those just learning about this stuff for the first time-- -feel comfortable posting.

  • Major Government Writing Assignments – 40% total

There will be 3 major Government Assignments.  These are the biggest part of your grade.  These assignments are a combination of writing assignments and research/participation projects.  These 3 assignments will constitute 40% of the student’s total grade.Full details for these assignments are posted in Canvas. Absolutely no AI usage will be allowed on these assignments.  Any student found to be using AI will be given a 0.

  • Orientation Activities & Attendance- 10% total

The Syllabus Quiz, Introduction Discussion Board, etc. will be 10% of your grade and demonstrate that you plan to participate in the course.  Attendance will be taken every Tuesday via Qwickly.  Students must participate during the week (every week) prior in order to be counted as attending. 

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Course Schedule/Structure

The course is structured into two halves.  The first half of the course material will be covered followed by a Midterm Exam.  The second half of the course material will be presented and then followed by a Final Exam.

 

Course Calendar

Chapter

Graded Assignments

Due Date

Orientation Assignments

Syllabus Quiz, Intro Discussion Board, Predicting Your Success, and Plagiarism Quiz

 8/25/2024 @ 11:59 pm

Ch.1- American Government and Civic Engagement

Chapter Quiz & Video Quiz

 9/1/2024 @ 11:59 pm

Ch. 2- The Constitution and Its Origins

Chapter Quiz, Exploring the Constitution Quizzes, and Modern Constitutional Convention Assignment

9/15/2024 @ 11:59 pm

Ch. 3- American Federalism

Chapter Quiz and Federalism DB

9/22/2024 @ 11:59 pm

Ch. 4- Civil Liberties

Chapter Quiz

9/29/2024 @ 11:59 pm

Ch. 5- Civil Rights

Chapter Quiz & Civil Liberties & Civil Rights DB

10/6/2024 @ 11:59 pm

Ch. 6- The Politics of Public Opinion

Chapter Quiz

10/13/2024 @ 11:59 pm

Midterm Exam

 

Exam via Canvas

Open from 10/14/24 to 10/18/24 at 5:00 pm

 

Ch. 7- Voting and Elections

Chapter Quiz

10/27/2024 2 11:59 pm

 

Ch. 9- Political Parties

Chapter Quiz & Political Party Activity

11/3/2024 @ 11:59 pm

Ch. 10- Interest Groups and Lobbying

Chapter Quiz

11/10/2024 @ 11:59 pm

Ch. 11- Congress

Chapter Quiz, Structure of Congress Activities, & Congressional Committees Activity

11/17/2024 @ 11:59 pm

 

Community Engagement Activity

11/24/2024 @ 11:59 pm

Ch. 12- The Presidency

Chapter Quiz

12/1/2024 @ 11:59 pm

Ch. 13- The Courts

Chapter Quiz & Judicial Review Assignment

12/8/2024 @ 11:59 pm

Final Exam

Exam via Canvas

Open from 12/9/24 to 12/11/2024 @ 5:00 pm
   

 

Grade Calculation

Final Exam & Final Exam                15%

Major Government Assignments   40%

Chapter Assignments                      35%

Orientation & Attendance              10%

                            TOTAL                   100%

Grading criteria will be as follows: A=90-100%; B=80-89%; C=70-79%; D=60-69%; F= Below 60%.  


Feedback

Students should expect that Discussion Board assignment grades and rubrics will be posted no later than one week after the final due date for that assignment, hopefully within 5 days. Quiz grades post automatically. If you notice something has not been graded more than 10 days, please email me. Email anytime if you have any concerns about grades or need feedback.  If you notice an error in your grade, notify me immediately. I'll be more than happy to fix it!

Late Work Policy

All work is expected to be completed by the due date, but if students are late these are the policies for the individual kinds of assignments.

  • The Midterm Exam, Chapter Activities, Orientation Activities/Attendance and 4 Major Government Assignments may be submitted late at a reduced grade. 10% per day will be deducted. 
  • The Final Exam may not be taken late for any reason as the course ends and there is no time for it to be taken late. 

Late penalties will not be waived except in cases of the death of immediate family members, hospitalization of the student, illness of the student (only with a verifiable doctor's note), or school sponsored event and all require official documentation before the late penalties are removed.

Participation Policy

Regular and punctual class participation is expected at Tarrant County College. Student absences will be recorded from the first day the class meets. In case of absence, it is the student's responsibility to contact the instructor. Students absent on official school business are entitled to make up coursework missed. In all other cases, the instructor will judge whether the student will be permitted to do make up work and will decide on the time and nature of the makeup. However, the student is expressly responsible for any work missed regardless of the cause of the absence. The student must discuss such work with the instructor and should do so immediately on returning to school. Communication between the student and instructor is most important, and it is the student's responsibility to initiate such communication. If students do not appear at the prearranged time or meet the prescribed deadline for makeup work, they forfeit their rights for further makeup of that work.

Students who stop participating in the class for any reason should contact the instructor and the Registrar's Office to withdraw officially from the class. Failure to withdraw officially may result in a failing grade for the course.

Class attendance and participation are essential to student success. The following attendance guidelines apply:

    • A student in an online course is required to complete successfully the online course orientation and actively participate in the course as described in the Instructor's Course Requirements (ICR). A student not meeting these requirements may be dropped at the discretion of the instructor. 
    • This table includes the TCC District Attendance Policy. Students with more excessive absences may be dropped from the course by their instructor.

Class Attendance Statement

Students are required to participate in class and to keep up with course assignments. Since participation is essential for student success, the following guidelines apply:

Student attendance in online courses has two requirements:

    1. Successful completion of the online course orientation.
    2. Students in an online course not completing the orientation and those not actively participating in the course may be dropped at the discretion of their instructors.

I take attendance every Monday that the course is in session. I look at active participation (i.e., completing or working on assignments) from the previous 7 days of each Monday to determine attendance. If you have questions about this policy, please let me know immediately. 

Incompletes, Withdrawals and Drops Policies

Incompletes

Requests for Incompletes typically come in the last few weeks of a semester when a student experiences a sudden, unplanned event (family emergency, medical issue, or the like) that prevents them from successfully completing the remaining assignment(s) for a course. 

The conditional grade of Incomplete (“I”) may be given to a student prior to the end of the term, only with the approval of the Instructor, the Department Chair or Coordinator, the Division Dean, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The instructor will determine the due date for completion of the remaining work; this date should be as soon after the end of the semester as feasible. 

To be eligible for an Incomplete, a student must be in good standing in the course with a record of regular attendance and timely submission of assignments throughout the term. Normally a grade of “I” will not be approved more than two weeks prior to the final assessments. Emergency circumstances that will be considered for an Incomplete must be unforeseen and unavoidable such as (1) serious illness/injury, (2) a natural disaster, (3) a death in the immediate family, or (4) military deployment. Students must provide documentation of the circumstance with their request. 

It is the responsibility of the student to arrange with the instructor for completion of the course when an “I” is given. For the fall semester, students have until the end of the spring semester. For summer and spring semesters, students have until the end of the fall term. If a Change of Grade is not submitted by the last day of the next long semester, the “I” will automatically convert to an “F.”

Withdrawal From or Dropping the Course

  • If you decide to withdraw from the course, you must do so through Hello, TCC! or the Registrar's Office. SB 1231 states students beginning college on or after Fall of 2007 will not be allowed to drop more than six courses throughout their pursuit of higher education.
  • If you have excessive absences and are in jeopardy of failing, you may be dropped from the course.

Computer & Internet Policy

Students MUST have access to a computer and reliable Internet access for this course. All reading assignments, relevant links, and writing assignments can be accessed ONLY via Canvas. Students MUST use a word processing program that is compatible with Microsoft Word. For all TCC Connect classes, students are required to: have a computer/laptop to take online classes; take all online tests independently and without accessing other online resources (for example: Google, Bing or other search engines), unless expressly authorized by the class instructor. 

If you have trouble with computer access, remember that students can work on library computers at any of the five campuses. Otherwise, if you know that there are issues remaining online, power supply/battery issues, system issues, etc. - then it is highly recommended that you use a college computer instead of your own as quizzes are not reset.

The TCCD Library has a device loan program to check out should you need equipment, including a tablet with internet.

In the event of a personal catastrophic or natural disaster that results in a technology failure or outage, it is the student's responsibility to contact the instructor via phone or email to discuss possible solutions. 

Procrastination Policy

***WHILE IT IS YOUR PREROGATIVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO SUBMIT YOUR ASSIGNMENTS, IT IS NOT ADVISED.  If you attempt to complete your work at the last minute and encounter technical difficulties, and there is not enough time to contact me to get help, you will be penalized for late work.  I advise leaving plenty of time for unforeseeable problems to occur.

Academic Integrity Policy

Students are expected to do their own work at all times. Cheating is a serious offense with serious consequences which may include any of the following: a grade of zero, course failure, or removal from a program.  Any student caught cheating or suspected of cheating on any work in the course is subject to get a 0 on the assignment or any other grade as decided by the instructor AND is subject to being mandated to take all remaining exams/assignments at a testing center to ensure academic integrity.  If a student is caught cheating a second time, the student will be given a F in the course.  If it is suspected that work is not 100% unique to the student's ability level, the instructor may require an in-person meeting (virtual or on campus, depending on the situation). At that time, the student will verify that the work is theirs by completing additional assignments or answering context-related questions with the instructor.

Any student caught cheating in any way forfeits any rights to potential curves or rounding up in the course at the end.  

Students are expected to give credit to those sources that have contributed to the development of his or her ideas. In particular, it is the responsibility of the student to learn the proper forms of citation.

Any of the following acts constitutes a crime of plagiarism:

  • Using a phrase, sentence, or passage from another person's work without quotation marks and attribution of the source.
  • Paraphrasing words or ideas from another's work without attribution.
  • Reporting as your own research or knowledge any data or facts gathered or reported by another person.
  • Submitting in your own name papers or reports completed by another.
  • Submitting your own original work toward requirements in more than one class without the prior permission of the instructors.

Other offenses against academic integrity include the following:

  • Collaborating with other students on assignments without the express permission of the instructor.
  • Giving your work to another student who then submits it as his or her own.
  • Sharing or copying answers from other students or any form of technology during examinations.
  • Using notes or other sources including websites such as quizlet and others to answer exam questions without  permission.
  • Submitting as your own work a paper or results of research that you have purchased/received from a commercial firm or another person/student.
  • Using any types of support (other people, technology, etc.) to help you during an exam.
  • The use of Grammerly or any other type of writing assistant tool is considered academic dishonesty.  You should create, write and edit your own papers.  Grammerly and other writing assistant websites are not allowed in this course.
  • Use of AI or ChatGPT (or other similar tools or software that generate suggested text) is not allowed in this class for any part of a graded assignment, including generation of ideas, writing of text, or rewriting your own work. 
  • Thesaurus tools are not permitted on any course work.  The written work in the course should be your own words and ideas.

Turnitin Policy

This course uses student authentication and validation for writing assignments. Students will submit essays to Turnitin.com. Students will need to use Google Chrome and submit .docx files. There is no additional download for Turnitin.com as it is built into our course.

If it is concluded that an online student did cheat on an assignment, the student will receive a grade of zero and will not be given an opportunity to retake the assignment. The incident of academic dishonesty will also be reported to the campus Coordinator of Student Support. Students with more than two reports of academic dishonesty during their academic career at Tarrant County College may be subjected to disciplinary action, including possible suspension from the college.

AI Policy

As part of our commitment to fostering a dynamic learning environment, this course’s instructor acknowledges the potential benefits and drawbacks of incorporating generative AI tools into course assignments. New developments in Generative AI are ever-changing, and while AI can learn, it cannot learn for us. As such, students are not permitted to use generative AI tools in this course. Any student use of AI to write, develop, create, or inspire work is considered a form of academic dishonesty and will be processed as such following the guidelines for Academic Dishonesty in the Student Handbook. Refer to your instructor’s Academic Integrity Statement, the TCCD 23-24 Student Handbook (Article III, sections 5, 12, 20, and 31), and TCCD Board Policy FLB(LOCAL) for course and institutional policies related to academic integrity.

Subject to Change:

The Course Syllabus and/or the Course Calendar may be changed as the term progresses at the discretion of the department and/or instructor.


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Student Accessibility Resources (SAR) Office

  • Student Accessibility Resources (SAR) Office
  • Any student with a documented disability needing academic accommodations is required to contact the Student Accessibility Resources (SAR) Office located on each campus to schedule an appointment with the Coordinator of SAR. All discussions are confidential. Because SAR accommodations may require early planning and are not provided retroactively, students are encouraged to contact SAR as early in the semester as possible. SAR is responsible for approving and coordinating all disability-related services. TCC professors will honor requests for accommodation when they are issued by SAR.

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Students can find other resources and student support services on the TCC Support Services page

Course Summary:

Date Details Due