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Bill Mark, Ph. D
Political Science 150
Introduction to American Government
On-Line
College of the Canyons
Spring 2010
Textbooks required:
American Government and Politics Today: The
Essentials (15th) 2010 Edition by Bardes,
Shelley, and Schmidt, Korey ISBN – 10 1-111-02918-0
The textbook that is sold in the bookstore is a
special edition that contains the contents of a book by
John Korey attached at the end. If you want to try to
buy a copy of the Bardes, Shelley, Schmidt textbook and
the Korey textbook separately on line or thru some other
source you will need to get the 2010 edition of Bardes
and the 5th Edition of the Korey textbook.
POLISC 150 Section 73624
Welcome to Introduction to American Government.
This section of POLISC 150 is a 100% on-line class.
The course is a survey course of the institutions,
process, and problems of the American Government and the
California Government. A survey course means that
we will be covering a wide range of subjects in a short
amount of time. The emphasis is on the development
and principles of the American Constitution, the
mechanics of democratic politics and policy-making, and
the nation’s and the state’s contemporary challenges.
It is often easy to get caught up in the technical
aspects of this type of course but above all the idea is
for you to gain an understanding of how our national and
state governments work. Hopefully you will feel
prepared to participate in them by, at least, voting.
If you are new to distance learning, it is strongly
suggested that you consider enrolling in Counseling 070.
This can be done simultaneously with the course and will
help you understand how best to take a course using this
method. You can find information about this at
http://www.canyons.edu/offices/distance_learning/info/C.
At the least you should take the Blackboard tutorial
which you can get to at http://bb.canyons.edu/.
The tutorial will help you get to the course material
and should only take you about one hour to do.
In order to access Blackboard you will need a
username and a password. Your user name is the
initials of your first name and last name and the last
five digits of your student ID number (not your Social
Security number) for example wm12345. Your
password when the class begins is "student"
(without the quotation marks). Once you are in the
Blackboard system you can change your password to
anything you like. Also, don’t worry if you forget
what you changed your password to since if you e-mail me
I can reset it to "student".
For additional log on information follow this link:
http://www.canyons.edu/Offices/distance%20_learning/BBSupport/Bbtechsupport2.asp .
You will probably not be able to get to the course
material until just a few days before classes begin.
And, if you enroll within a few days of the class
beginning it takes a few days to add you to the course.
In the mean time you can begin to get a jump on the
material by reading the first chapter in the Bardes
textbook and the first chapter in the Korey textbook.
You can purchase the textbooks at either the bookstore
on the Valencia campus or at the Canyon Country campus.
Be sure to purchase the correct edition of the Bardes
textbook since my lecture notes reference specific page
numbers.
Once you have access to the course material on
Blackboard you will find the syllabus and the schedule.
The schedule tells you when the exams will be held.
You will also find the lecture notes and other handouts
such as the study guides. You should also become
familiar with the discussion boards and how to respond
to them. There is also a section where your grades
will appear. Additional information can be found
in the course information section.
A note about commitment:
On-line classes require a great deal of
self-discipline and commitment. And, this being a Go
class that runs for only 5 weeks, makes it that much
more challenging. It is easy to become
disconnected from the course since we do not meet
face-to-face. I will prod you from time to time
especially when exams are to begin but for the most part
it is up to you to grasp the material and respond in a
timely manner to the discussion board questions.
The following link takes you to an assessment that
helps you determine if on-line courses are for you.
http://www.canyons.edu/offices/distance_learning/info/Assessments.asp .
If you have any questions please feel free to call me
at (310) 947-2632 or e-mail me at
willymark1@aol.com. My aol e-mail is
the best way to reach me.
Sincerely,
Bill Mark, Ph. D |
