COURSE SYLLABUS (Online/Hybrid/Blackboard Course)

Department: Humanities & Social Sciences

Course: American National Government
Political Science
Political Science 101 (three credits)
Semester:
Santa Ana College, Fall 2016 Instructor: Dr. Tim Murphy
Office Hours/ Monday & Wednesday 12:45-2:45 p.m., Tuesday 12:45-1:45 p.m. (D-414).
Contact Info. E-mail: murphy_tim@sac.edu. Telephone: (714) 564-6533.
Required Text: AM GOV Losco & Baker (2015-2016 edition preferred).
Course
Description:

This course is an overview of the processes and institutions of the American

national government and political system.

Meeting
Schedule:

There will be four MANDATORY meetings for the course. The first meeting is
Wednesday, August 24th. General information about the course will be discussed at this
meeting. The second meeting is Wednesday, September 28th. A review of material for
the first exam will take place at his meeting. The third meeting is Wednesday, November
2nd. A review of material for the second exam will take place at this meeting. The final
mandatory meeting will be Wednesday, November 30th, which will be a review of
material for the third exam. There will also be a non-mandatory meeting on Wednesday,
December 7th. At this meeting I will be handing back exam materials and youll have a
final opportunity to take the optional comprehensive exam. All class meetings will be
held in D-106 (Dunlap Hall) from 5:30-6:55 p.m.

Regular
Exams:

All students will be required to take three regular examinations, which will account for a
total of 300 points (75 percent of your total course grade). Each exam is worth 100 points
(25 percent each of your total course grade). These regular examinations will be
objective and non-comprehensive. The instructor will only accept the machine count
on right/wrong answers (corrections will not be made because of erasures). Remember
to bring a number two pencil and a DataLink 1200 answer form when taking each
exam. Students must write put on the answer form their class (Hybrid POLT
101), the examination number (#1, #2 or #3) and color of the exam they are
taking on the answer form (there will be a red, a white and a blue version of each
exam). Failure to do so will result in loss of points or no grade for the exam at the
instructors option. Students are prohibited from using study materials or aids
during the exams. THESE EXAMS WILL BE ADMINISTERED AT THE
TESTING CENTER (L-223). The testing taking window for each exam is listed
under the Exam Dates & Materials segment of this syllabus.

Comp
Exam:

In a special, non-mandatory session of the class (Wednesday, December 7th at 5:30

p.m. in D-106), the instructor will offer an optional comprehensive examination.
This exam will cover material discussed during the entire semester. Students may take
this exam to replace the zero score they received if they missed one of the regular
exams. If a student takes all three regular and the comprehensive exam, I will only
count the three highest exam scores (dropping the lowest score).

Exam Dates Exam One (Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5 & 3) Thursday, September 29th through Wednesday,
& Material:
October 5th.
Exam Two (Chapters 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16) Thursday, November 3rd through
Wednesday, November 9th.
Exam Three (Chapters 6, 9, 8 & 7) Thursday, December 1st through Wednesday,
December 7th.
Comp Exam (All 16 chapters) Wednesday, December 7th (5:30 p.m. in D-106).
Participation, There will also be a series of on-line discussion, essay and questionnaire projects,
Survey &
which will account for an additional 100 points (25 percent of your total course grade).
Essay Projects: There will be three essay assignments (point total TBD). The essay projects must
be both e-mailed to the instructor and submitted to the class blackboard site before the
end of the testing window. There will also be a series of questionnaire assignments
dealing with topics like political knowledge, political socialization and political
ideology (point total TBD). These completed questionnaires must be either emailed or
submitted to the instructor before the established deadlines (TBA). No late essay or
questionnaire assignments will be accepted. Also, each week there will be a
question placed on the discussion board for this course that students must answer/
comment on (point total TBD). The comment period will normally begin each
Thursday during the semester and will end on the following Wednesday at midnight.
No late answers/comments to the discussion forums will be allowed, and all
responses to the questions must be posted only in the appropriate forum.
Grading:

This course will be graded on the following ten percentage point scale (there
will be no grade curving in this course):
* 90.0-100.0% (360-400 points) equals an A
* 80.0-89.9% (320-359 points) equals a B
* 70.0-79.9% (280-319 points) equals a C
* 60.0-69.9% (240-279 points) equals a D
* 0.0-59.9% (0-239 points) equals an F

Withdrawal
Policy/
Incomplete
Grades/
Academic
Dishonesty:

Students who fail to formally withdraw from the course will receive a grade (likely
an F). The last day to drop the course with a W grade is Sunday, November 13th.
The students responsibility is to complete coursework before the end of the semester,
therefore no incomplete or I grades will be issued. Any student caught cheating on an
examination for this class will automatically receive a zero score for that exam. The same
applies for violations of academic honesty related to the essay or questionnaire projects.

Disable d

If you have a disability that may impact on your ability to do well in this
course, I encourage you to speak with me ASAP. Also, please contact
Disabled Student Programs & Services so that we can all
collaborate on
your classroom accommodations. DSP&S is located in U103, and their
phone number is 714-564-6264. The DSP&S office
requires
documentation of your disability in order to receive
reasonable
accommodation. If you do not have documentation
they will work with
you to acquire it.
Students: