Course Syllabus
The
Spring 2009
Instructor:
Terrence Monroe
808.941-7140
Experienced as an instructor of in-class courses
(since 1974) and online courses (since 2000) in various disciplines of world
history and contemporary Asian civilizations for colleges and universities
throughout the
Course Overview:
Although the Vietnam War ended long ago, questions about
it continue to haunt the American people. This course addresses these questions
and considers the parallels they present to the present-day
Learning Outcomes:
·
Gain
an understanding of the Vietnam War and how its lessons apply to the
·
Refine
writing and cognitive skills through weekly essays and class discussion.
·
Become
proficient in functioning in an online learning environment and in the use of
online resources related to our subjects.
Text:
Hess,
ISBN 0-8057-1676-9
Course Requirements:
Successful completion of this course depends upon:
· Completion of one essay each week (except where noted in the Assignment Schedule below) having to do with the lessons that you have learned from your study of the Vietnam War. Participation in the weekly discussion forums.
· Completion of a midterm and final exam as described in the Orientation; the midterm exam will be written on your own and emailed to me, while the final exam will be proctored.
***Be sure to
read the Orientation for full particulars on how to do these assignments.
Schedule and Grade Policy:
Your weekly essay and discussion forum postings are due by the Sunday that ends each week of instruction. I do accept late essays (not discussion postings), but I will assess a 2 percentage-point penalty for every day that your weekly essay is late. So, if your essay is four days late, and your grade is otherwise a 90, your adjusted grade (including the penalty) would be an 82. Discussion postings should be posted throughout the week and must be posted before the week closes each Sunday night. Discussion postings may not be made up once the weekly discussions close; if you miss a particular week’s discussion, you may not go back in after the Sunday night deadline for that week and post.
Still, you are expected to complete all assignments on time. Please bear in mind that an Incomplete is generally not an option, since there is no way to make up the group discussion element of your grade once the course is finished (after all, the group will have moved on, and there wouldn’t be anyone to discuss anything with). Please bear in mind also that participation in the discussion forums is what makes an online course work.
Your essay, discussion, and exam grades will be posted in
the Gradebook within 10 days of their due dates. Each
essay grade will have a maximum value of 100 points (for a total of 800
points), each week’s discussion forum participation will have a maximum value
of 100 points (for a total of 800 points), and your midterm and final exams will
each have a maximum value of 200 points (for a total of 400 points). Total
points for this course: 2000.
Grading
Scale:
A: 90 - 100 (1620 - 1800 points)
B: 80 - 89 (1440 - 1619 points)
C: 70 - 79 (1260 - 1439 points)
D: 60 - 69 (1080 - 1259 points)
F: less than 60 (less
than 1080 points)
Assignment Schedule:
Week 1 (Apr. 6 – Apr. 12):
Submit Week 1 essay
Participate in Week
1 discussion forum
Week 2 (Apr. 13 – Apr.
19):
Submit Week 2 essay
Participate in Week 2
discussion forum
Week 3 (Apr. 20 – Apr. 26):
Submit Week 3 essay
Participate in Week 3 discussion forum
Week 4 (Apr. 27 – May 3):
Submit Week 4 essay
Participate in Week
4 discussion forum
Week 5 (May 4 – May 10): No text reading or essay/discussion
assignments
Midterm
exam (not proctored) due May 4
Week 6 (May 11 – May 17):
Submit Week 6 essay
Participate in Week 6 discussion forum
Week 7 (May 18 – May 24):
Submit Week 7 essay
Participate in Week
7 discussion forum
Week 8 (May 25 – May 31):
No essay or discussion forum
assignment
Week 9 (Jun. 1 – Jun. 7):
Submit Week 9 essay
Participate in Week 9
discussion forum
Week 10 (Jun. 8 – Jun. 14): No text reading or
essay/discussion assignments
Final exam (proctored); date and
locations to be announced
Military Students and DOD Employees:
The proctored final exam can be taken on campus. In an
effort to service our students on the
***If you are a civilian and have a MWR student pass you
can take your exam at the main campus or at Schofield Barracks. You must
already have your pass; the Army will not make civilian passes for exam
purposes only. Civilians are not able to take exams at
To reserve a seat at one of the military installations, you
must have access to the military base you will be attending. This reservation must be made no earlier than
the 7th week of the course.
We do have a maximum seating, so reservations are first come, first
serve. You must email the following
information to one site only (
·
name,
social security number (last 4 digits)
·
contact
phone number and valid email address
·
type
of access (active duty, military family member, DOD)
·
time
slot (one per class) – 13:00 or 15:00
·
course
number, course title, and instructor’s name
You will receive an email confirmation for the site
requested, if you do not receive a confirmation email within 2 days, please contact
the office you emailed or re-send the reservation request. You must print out
your confirmation and bring it with you to the exam (along with a valid picture
ID). If you do not pre-register for a seat, no exam will be available for you
at either of the sites.
Participation Policy:
One of the reasons
why people take an online course is that other obligations make it difficult or
impossible to attend traditional classes. When you work on your assignment is
entirely up to you, but you should plan to spend at least ten hours a week on
this course--in reading, researching websites, thinking, writing, and
discussion. You should log into the course to attend the classroom at least
several times a week, and when you do so and from where, of course, is up to
you. It is best to log into the course once a day, if just to check for
announcements and to read through the discussions. If you procrastinate and
fail to log in for more than a few days, you will begin to get lost. What’s
more, if most students wait until the end of the week to make their discussion
postings, then there won’t be much until then for others to respond to;
therefore, a good discussion grade depends on the student making consistent
postings from the beginning of each week on through the end of the week;
students who wait until the end of the week to make their discussion postings
will be penalized for their procrastination. Many people who drop out or fail
online courses do so because they have not developed the habit of logging in
regularly to stay in touch with things.
Academic Integrity (DO NOT FAIL TO READ THIS):
It is important for you to keep
in mind that all of your work for this course must be in your words, however
humble. Your essays and exams are not evaluated on compositional excellence,
but on quality of insight. Please understand that after some 35 years of
reading student writing—and of reading and researching the corpus of
professionally produced writing on our subject--it is often instantly
recognizable to me when a submission is not a student’s own work.
My policy is to submit anything that arouses suspicion to Turnitin.com, an academic service to which I subscribe that utilizes an algorithm-based methodology to compare the suspect sample to all published material on the Internet. Keep in mind that the Internet these days includes many web-based counterparts of conventionally-published materials (meaning that, if it’s been published anywhere in print—whether in an old encyclopedia, a magazine or newspaper, or in a brand-new bestseller—it’s probably on the Internet somewhere). If Turnitin indicates that there is a significant match between your work and a previously published source, pointed questions will be asked and disciplinary measures enacted if need be.
Consultation:
I’m always available via email, or you may call and leave
a message at any time, day or night. My phone ringer is turned off, so don’t
worry about calling in the middle of the night—it’s okay! I will try to return
your call within 12-24 hours. For those of you who are outside Hawaii, calling
Hawaii these days is cheap—free on most cell phone plans, several cents a
minute with a prepaid phone card, 10-25 cents/minute with phone company long
distance plans. If you just leave a quick message, you shouldn’t suffer much
financially, and I’ll pay for the return call, of course. As far as email is
concerned, I will try to respond to your message within 24-36 hours; however,
please do not expect me to respond on weekends or holidays.
Now, don’t forget to read the Orientation!