GOVT 2305 Syllabus Spring 2025 PDF

LONE STAR COLLEGE DISTRICT-TOMBALL COLLEGE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GOVT 2305-SPRING 2025 Instructor: Dr. Virginia Haysley E-mail: 1) [email protected], OR 2) MyLonestar course website, go to Collaboration: Email Office: Tomball C...

LONE STAR COLLEGE DISTRICT-TOMBALL COLLEGE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GOVT 2305-SPRING 2025 Instructor: Dr. Virginia Haysley E-mail: 1) [email protected], OR 2) MyLonestar course website, go to Collaboration: Email Office: Tomball Campus, S153 Office hours: To be announced COURSE SECTION MEETING TIMES CLASSROOM 2305-3T01 TTH 8-9:20AM S269 INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Virginia Marie Haysley E-MAIL: On D2L, go to Collaboration: Email. Alternate email is [email protected] TEXTBOOK: We the People: An Introduction to American Politics, 14th Essentials edition, Ginsberg et. al, Norton Publishing. The textbook IS REQUIRED. ISBN numbers will vary. Be certain it is the 14th Essentials edition. SYLLABUS: If you, the student, elect to take this course and stay in this course, the syllabus serves as our contract. In other words, you are agreeing to adhere to what is described in the syllabus. COURSE WEBSITE: Students must be able to access LSC Online and use their course website throughout the semester. All important announcements, calendars, documents, practice quizzes, interactive exercises, grades and email are located here. COURSE DESCRIPTION: 3 Credits can be earned. The course describes the origin and development of the American constitution, structure and powers of state and local government, federalism and inter-governmental relations, political participation, the election process, public policy, and the political culture of American government. Prerequisites: ENGL 0305 or ENGL 0370 AND ENGL 0307 or ENGL 0370 OR higher level course (ENGL 1301) OR placement by testing. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES : Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to: 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. Explain the origin and development of the American constitution. Describe state and local political systems and their relationship with the federal government. Describe separation of powers and checks and balances in both theory and practice in American. Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of American Government. Evaluate the role of public opinion, interest groups, and political parties in American. Analyze the state and local election process. Identify the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Analyze issues, policies and political culture of American. PRE-REQUISITES AND/OR CO-REQUISITES College level readiness in reading and writing. CORE OBJECTIVES: Critical Thinking Communication Social Responsibility Personal Responsibility COURSE DESIGN: 1, Lectures: Lectures are scheduled for every class meeting except for those set aside for media presentations, guest lectures or exams. Lectures are designed to complement the text material and not simply repeat it. Relevant discussions and questions are encouraged in class. Fifty percent (half) of the questions on any exam will be lecture material. Further, your in-class essay requires that essentially half of your answer be based on lecture material. Hence, regular attendance and paying attention are important. Equally important, asking questions at the time material is presented to clarify/understand the lecture is essential. 2. Exams: Three (3) exams will be given. A maximum of sixty (60) points will be awarded to your final grade for exams. Exams are worth twenty (20) points. Exams may consist of multiple choice questions, true/false, short answers and/or essays. All exams will cover text and lecture material. Make-up exams are essay exams and you must provide me with written documentation in order to be eligible (see course policies below). All make-up exams must be taken by finals week. You may make-up one exam. The make-up exam is during finals week. You may elect to take this exam if you would like to replace one, and only one, of your exam grades. Exam reviews: Exam reviews take place during the class period prior to the exam date. It is up to you to make the best of exam review days. There are no study guides or hand-outs of any kind that are distributed by me, however. Exam reviews consist of students asking questions that will enable them to better study for the exam. Exam reviews are NOT make-up days. It is not a time for a student to ask that past material be reviewed again. The reviews are intended to help the student narrow down what to study for the exam. Administering exams: Exams are administered at the beginning of class, and you have until the end of the period to complete and submit it. However, you must be present at the beginning of class if you wish to take the exam. I reserve the right to refuse administering an exam to any student who is not on time. Additionally, once the last person completes and submits the exam, I leave and class time is officially over. 3. Participation/behavior: A maximum of forty (40) points will be awarded to your final grade for class participation and class behavior. Participation points can be accrued by the following: 1. In-class quizzes and writing assignments: In-class quizzes and writing assignments will be given throughout the course. There are usually between 10-12of these assignments given throughout the semester. These items are not announced in advance. If you miss an opportunity, you wait for the next. So, regular attendance is important. Assignments/quizzes are graded and points are allotted toward your total participation grade. 2. Civic engagement events and/or campus activities: Lone Star College offers numerous civic engagement events and on-campus activities throughout the semester. You may attend up to three (3) events in order to make-up missed work in class. You will submit a short summary of your experience. The calendar for LSC Tomball’s semester will be distributed and handed out in class, shortly. Students interested in attending events outside of LSC may do so, but please check with me first. Academic standing: Your academic standing in the course is considered participation in the course as well. It is not possible to do poorly on exams and written assignments and still accrue enough participation/behavior points to compensate for it. In other words, if you do poorly on exams and/or miss in-class assignments, you cannot make up for it by attending every class and having exceptional in-class behavior. If you do not exert an effort and do well on the components of this course assessing academic performance, your participation score will reflect this. FINAL GRADE CALCULATED AS FOLLOWS: MAXIMUM PTS EXAMS 60 PARTICIPATION 40 TOTAL 100 GRADING SCALE: A 89.5 AND ABOVE D 59.5-69.4 B 79.5-89.4 F 59.4 AND BELOW C 69.5-79.4 IMPORTANT DATES: No GOVT class meeting-video lecture Thurs, Jan 30 Exam 1 Thurs, Feb 20 Covers lecture material & any media presentations, Exam 1 readings (see below) No GOVT class meeting-video lecture Thurs, Feb 27 Spring Break March 7-17 Exam 2 Thurs, April 3 Covers lecture material & any media presentations, Exam 2 readings (see below) No GOVT class meeting-video lecture Thurs, April 10 Exam 3 Thurs, May 1 Covers lecture material & any media presentations, Exam 3 readings (see below) Make-up exam: During finals week Week of May 6 READINGS: This is a tentative schedule only. Unless specifically assigned below, the following sections in each chapter are optional readings: photo captions, figures, tables, graphs, etc. EXAM 1 Constitution, Federalism, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights C. 2, 3, 4, 5 EXAM 2 Governmental Structure and Public Policy C. 10, 11,13,15 (we are skipping around) EXAM 3 Public Opinion, Elections, Parties and Participation C. 6, 7, 8, 9 (yes, we’re skipping around….) COURSE POLICIES: Visiting with instructor/conferences: I cannot encourage you enough to visit with me if you have questions or valid concerns about the course. It may be paramount to your success. I welcome conferences with students at any time during the semester. Conferences are confidential and private. Further, I will only confer with the student. No other parties may attend conferences. Federal privacy laws and LSCD policy prohibit instructors from discussing a student’s standing in a course with anyone other than the student. I will not respond to or discuss anything at all with a student’s parent, guardian, spouse, partner, friend, employer, etc. Attendance and tardies: Regular attendance is encouraged. However, do not attend class if you do not plan to pay attention and behave appropriately. As described above, points you will earn toward participation and behavior are accrued by attending class. Being on time is equally important, as most pop quizzes, exercises, etc. take place at the beginning of class. If you miss these opportunities because you are late, you cannot make it up. NOTE: Students do not need to inform me each time they miss class. However, if there is an issue where numerous absences will occur, please contact me. Important dates and deadlines: You are expected to meet all deadlines on time and be present for all exams and in-class essays. Unless you have documentation in writing that is legitimate and would be reasonably accepted under the District’s guidelines (medical examination, medical emergency, death/illness in the family), there are no exceptions. Withdrawal policy: Withdrawal from the course after the official day of record will result in a final grade of “W” on the student transcript and no credit will be awarded. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate and complete a request for withdrawal from any course. Please visit Schedule Changes and Withdrawals | (lonestar.edu) for more information concerning schedule changes, withdrawals, and refunds. Changes to syllabus: Changes are never planned and are unlikely. However, the instructor reserves the right to alter the schedule of topics, supplement readings with additional material and so on. The instructor will notify class accordingly to any changes, but it is ultimately the student’s responsibility to stay abreast of any happenings in the course. Inclement weather: As you know, the College informs students if classes are canceled due to weather. Assignments, exercises, exams, etc. due the day class is canceled will be due the following class period. Class cancellations: Please know that I also reserve the right to cancel class. Every effort is made to inform students of class cancellations as soon as possible. Most cancellations are known in advance and are announced IN CLASS prior to that day. Please check LSC Online regularly, as I will attempt to e-mail classes as well as notify the Division’s secretary. Ultimately, however, it is your responsibility to be informed as to any class cancellations. You cannot rely on the Division’s secretary or any other staff members to inform you of any changes. Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is taken very seriously by me and at LSCD. The District’s academic integrity policy is included below. It is required that students review and understand this policy. Questions should be asked by students, if necessary. A violation of the academic integrity policy in my course results in an automatic failure of the course. Period. Further action may also be taken if deemed appropriate. It is expected that all writing will be original writing. The academic integrity policy for this course has already been described. To repeat however, students must review and understand the District’s academic integrity statement below. A violation of the academic integrity policy in my course results in an automatic failure of the course. Further action may also be taken if deemed appropriate. LSC Policy on Academic Integrity: LSCD is committed to a high standard of academic integrity in the academic community. In becoming a part of the academic community, students are responsible for honesty and independent effort. Failure to uphold these standards includes, but is not limited to, the following: plagiarizing written work or projects, cheating on exams or assignments, collusion on an exam or project, and misrepresentation of credentials or prerequisites when registering for a course. Cheating includes looking at or copying from another student's exam, orally communicating or receiving answers during an exam, having another person take an exam or complete a project or assignment, using unauthorized notes, texts, or other materials for an exam, and obtaining or distributing an unauthorized copy of an exam or any part of an exam. Plagiarism means passing off as his/her own the ideas or writings of another (that is, without giving proper credit by documenting sources). Plagiarism includes submitting a paper, report or project that someone else has prepared, in whole or in part. Collusion is inappropriately collaborating on assignments designed to be completed independently. These definitions are not exhaustive. When there is clear evidence of cheating, plagiarism, collusion or misrepresentation, a faculty member will take disciplinary action including but not limited to: requiring the student to retake or resubmit an exam or assignment, assigning a grade of zero or "F" for an exam or assignment; or assigning a grade of "F" for the course. Additional sanctions including being withdrawn from the course, program or expelled from school may be imposed on a student who violates the standards of academic integrity. COURSE RESOURCES: LSC Online: LSC Online is the College’s online learning system. It provides students with a course website that is associated with this course. This is where I post class resources, check e-mails and MOST IMPORTANT post students’ grades for this course. You are able to check your progress at any time, using the course website. You also will use LSC Online to e- mail me. Students must be able to access LSC Online in this course. Instructions as to how to log in to LSC Online are available on the College’s home page, select “LSC Online.” If you find that you cannot log into LSC Online after you have followed the online instructions, do one of the following: 1) Call the LSC Technical Support Help Line at 1-866-614-5014, or 2) Select “Other Technical Support Options” on the login page for LSC Online. Extended Learning Center: The Extended Learning Center (ELC), located on the 2nd floor at the Tomball campus, and 1st floor at University Park, is an important resource. ELC is aware of the writing assignments required in this course, and I encourage all students to meet with a writing tutor. I also encourage students to take tutorials to improve research skills that will be relevant in this course. Online Chapter Resources: The publisher of your textbook, Cengage Publishing, provides chapter summaries, diagnostic quizzes, exercises, simulations, politics in the news, vocabulary flashcards, etc. This is pre-loaded onto your course website but an access code is required. See text information above. These resources are not required, but they may help you hone critical and analytical skills from the text, and perhaps assist in preparing for exams. However, this website is not necessarily used in designing my course exams, quizzes, exercises, assignments, etc. STUDENT COURSE EVALUATION: Lone Star College-Tomball/Creekside is committed to acting intentionally about student success. As part of our institutional effectiveness efforts, our instructors are assessed in several ways. For the continuous improvement of our instruction, you are encouraged to provide input for each course you take each semester using the Course Evaluations Questionnaire, which can be accessed through your myLoneStar account. This occurs approximately halfway through your course, and you will be notified when surveys are available for completion. Instructions on how to access and complete the Course Evaluations Questionnaire can be found by logging into your myLoneStar Account and clicking on the Quicklinks – “How To” Documents. The college deans review these evaluations each semester. Additionally, the deans and/or department chairs may visit each instructor’s class at some time during the semester to observe the instructional environment being provided and complete an assessment of the instructor. LSC SYLLABUS POLICIES PLEASE use the following links to find ALL LSC policies, procedures, and student success information. It is your personal, academic, and legal responsibility to know and adhere to the information provided. http://www.lonestar.edu/syllabus-policies INSTRUCTIONAL CONTACTS Vice President of Instruction Latoya Hardman [email protected] Ph. 281.655.6342 Dean Jared Cootz [email protected] Ph. 281-351-3342 Department Chair, Social Sciences Dr. Patrick Gilbert [email protected] Ph. 281-401-1857