Welcome to U.S. History 2020,
U.S. History since 1877, brought to you by East Tennessee State University
and the OpenBUCS program. As already indicated to you in the introductory
video,
the instructors for this course are Dr. Tom Lee
and myself, Melanie Story. In this video, I would like to briefly cover
what this course will entail for you as the enrolled student. You should, however,
review the course syllabus posted on the course page.
This is an 8 week course, during which time we will cover the growth of
the United States as industrial and world power since Reconstruction.
The overall objective is to familiarize students
with the historical development of the United States from Reconstruction
to present times. We will look at
social, political, and economic changes that occurred
during this time frame, in order to better understand the emergence of the
United States as a world power
and also help us comprehend contemporary issues confronting
the United States. Basically, the course has three important
and interrelated goals. First,
the course is designed to acquaint students with the main events and themes
of the history of the United States from 1877
to the present. Secondly,
the structure of the course is organized to help cultivate analytical thought
and to help develop dialogue among students,
and third, the components of the course
strive to build the skills that are necessary for clear written
communication. There's not a required
text for this course. However, you might find it beneficial to use a basic U.S.
History
Survey text. You might think about borrowing or purchasing a physical
textbook
of your own choosing for your own use, or you might want to
access the online text, which are listed on the course page
and also in your syllabus. So, let's talk a little about
the course itself. A key component to the course is built around
the mastery tests. For each unit, of which there are 4,
students will complete a multiple-choice mastery test
and achieve a minimum score 80
before being allowed to advance to the discussion forum,
which we'll talk about a little more in a few minutes. These mastery tests are more than
merely assessments. They are helpful teaching mechanisms
used to develop and improve a student's historical vocabulary,
so that students are able to build and assess historical arguments.
facts, dates, events, people, and movements of history
make up what we call "the vocabulary history." They are the words that
historians assemble
in particular patterns, in order to convey ideas and to make arguments.
So, really, before you can communicate effectively historically,
you must be able to speak the language. That's where the mastery tests
come in.
Also, the mastery tests function as tools for comprehension,
study, and review. So to that end,
students can take the mastery test an unlimited number of times within the
allotted testing period
until you achieve the desired score.
Keep in mind that the test questions, 25 per test,
will be drawn from a question database, and they'll be randomized each time
you attempt the mastery test. Incorrect and correct answers will be noted so that
you attempt the mastery test. incorrect incorrect answers will be noted so that
but you should not expect to see the same 25 questions each time you take the
test.
Another essential objective
of this course focuses on building good critical thinking
and communication skills. To that end, students will participate in online
discussions
through discussion forums. There will be one discussion for each unit of the
course.
Since there are 4 units, there are 4 discussions.
Each discussion will consist of
2 elements. To complete the first element, students will post a
well-constructed,
thoughtful answer of no more than 500 words
to one of a selection of questions posed by the instructors.
To complete the second element, students will engage in a process of peer review
by offering follow-up posts to 2 answers posted by other students.
In these follow-up posts, students should expand on the arguments made in the
original post,
or you might respond to points or questions raised
in other follow-up posts. There are very specific directions at the beginning of
each discussion activity,
so you should pay close attention to what's being asked and when these posts are
due.
All posts to the discussion board should
consist of insightful, intelligent comments.
Both in the original, and in the follow-up post, students should
make every effort to support their statements with facts and evidence
drawing from examples and information that can be found in the course lectures,
additional websites, videos, and/or
online primary documents. Remember, primary documents are
those documents of the time period.
Be sure to familiarize yourself with the netiquette guidelines,
found in the syllabus, when you're posting to the discussion boards.
In order to do well in any course, students must participate in all aspects
of the course
and complete assignments in a timely manner. Yes, this is an online course
and we do not meet in a traditional classroom setting. Nevertheless,
the course still involves assignments and deadlines.
Students should expect to spend at least 8-10 hours a week working on
class related activities.
This includes reading, watching lectures,
and completing assignments. Be sure to also visit the course website at least
every other day in order to stay current with important information.
Also you might want to think about submitting your work ahead of deadlines
so that in the event of a problem, the work may still be received on time.
So, fundamentally, this is what the course is about and how it will be administered.
Dr. Lee and myself look forward to working with you and we hoped that
you'll find this course beneficial to your overall knowledge
have U.S. History