GOVT-2306-73 - Texas Government
Lamar State College - Port Arthur
House Bill 2504
Spring 2015 Course Syllabus
Faculty Information | |||||||||||||
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Semester | Spring 2015 | ||||||||||||
Instructor | Lindley, Neil Everett | ||||||||||||
Phone | (409) 656-1160 | ||||||||||||
lindlene@lamarpa.edu | |||||||||||||
Department |
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Office |
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MyLamarPA | Be sure to check your campus E-mail and Course Homepage using MyLamarPA campus web portal (My.LamarPA.edu). When you’ve logged in, click the email icon in the upper right-hand corner to check email, or click on the “My Courses” tab to get to your Course Homepage. Click the link to your course and review the information presented. It is important that you check your email and Course Homepage regularly. You can also access your grades, transcripts, and determine who your academic advisor is by using MyLamarPA. | ||||||||||||
Course Information | |||||||||||||
Course Number | 10914 | ||||||||||||
Course Description | Origin and development of the Texas 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 Texas. | ||||||||||||
Course Prerequisites | Reading and writing competency equivalent to TASP. Adequate computer skills to navigate course, including MS WORD, taking quizzes and submitting assignments | ||||||||||||
Required Textbooks | Textbooks Government and Politics in the Lone Star State: Theory and Practice,8th edition, Pearson Publishing, 2014. | ||||||||||||
Attendance Policy | Research has shown a cause and effect relationship between attendance and college success. A student with three absences may be dropped from class. Since this is an online class attendance can be assessed by number of times students signs on and the number of hours and minutes spent online in the course during a given week. | ||||||||||||
Course Grading Scale | 90 - 100 = A 80 - 89 = B 70 - 79 = C 60 - 69 = D Below 59 = F | ||||||||||||
Determination of Final Grade |
Assignments - 25% Quizzes - 25% Discussion - 25% Tests - 25% |
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Final Exam Date | May 7, 2015 - 8:00 AM | ||||||||||||
Major Assignments |
Calendar of Lecture Topics and Major Assignment Due Dates 1. Week 1: Course Introduction; Syllabus review; Pretest 2. Week 2: The Social and Economic Milieu of Texas Politics 3. Week 3: The Texas Constitution 4. Week 4: Intergovernmental Relationships 5. Week 5: Interest Groups and Political Power in Texas 6. Week 6: The Mass Media in Texas Politics 7. Week 7: The Party System in Texas 8. Week 8: Elections, Campaigns, and Political Behavior 9. Week 9: The Texas Legislature 10. Week 10: The Texas Executive 11. Week 11: The Bureaucracy and Political Implementation 12. Week 12: The Judicial System in Texas 13. Week 13: Local Government in Texas: Cities, Towns, Counties, and Special District 14. Week 14: Contemporary Public Policy Issues in Texas |
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Calendar of Lecture Topics and Major Assignment Due Dates |
Calendar of Lecture Topics and Major Assignment Due Dates 1. Week 1: Course Introduction; Syllabus review; Pretest 2. Week 2: The Social and Economic Milieu of Texas Politics 3. Week 3: The Texas Constitution 4. Week 4: Intergovernmental Relationships 5. Week 5: Interest Groups and Political Power in Texas 6. Week 6: The Mass Media in Texas Politics 7. Week 7: The Party System in Texas 8. Week 8: Elections, Campaigns, and Political Behavior 9. Week 9: The Texas Legislature 10. Week 10: The Texas Executive 11. Week 11: The Bureaucracy and Political Implementation 12. Week 12: The Judicial System in Texas 13. Week 13: Local Government in Texas: Cities, Towns, Counties, and Special District 14. Week 14: Contemporary Public Policy Issues in Texas |
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General Education/Core Curriculum Student Learning Outcomes |
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Program Student Learning Outcomes |
General Education/Core Curriculum Student Learning Outcomes Reading: Demonstrates the ability to analyze and interpret a variety of printed materials. •Writing: Produces clear, correct, and coherent prose adapted to purpose, occasion, and audience. •Speaking: Communicates orally in clear, coherent, and persuasive language appropriate to purpose, occasion, and audience. •Listening: Demonstrates the ability to analyze and interpret various forms of spoken language. •Critical Thinking 1: Applies qualitative and/or quantitative skills analytically and creatively to subject matter. •Critical Thinking 2: Demonstrates the ability to evaluate arguments and construct alternative strategies. •Computer Literacy 1: Uses computer-based technology to communicate, solve problems, and acquire information. •Computer Literacy 2: Demonstrates an understanding of the limits, problems, and possibilities associated with the use of technology. •Intercultural Competence 1: Demonstrates awareness of similarities and differences between cultural groups. •Intercultural Competence 2: Demonstrates the ability to recognize global interconnectedness. •Intercultural Competence 3: Demonstrates a general knowledge of cultural evolution. Program Student Learning Outcomes •READING: Demonstrates the ability to analyze and interpret a variety of printed materials. •WRITING: Produces clear, correct, and coherent prose adapted to purpose, occasion, and audience. •CRITICAL THINKING 1: Applies qualitative and/or quantitative skills analytically and creatively to subject matter. •CRITICAL THINKING 2: Demonstrates the ability to evaluate arguments and construct alternative strategies. •COMPUTER LITERACY 1: Uses computer-based technology to communicate, solve problems, and acquire information. •COMPUTER LITERACY 2: Demonstrates an understanding of the limits, problems, and possibilities associated with the use of technology •INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE 1: Demonstrates awareness of similarities and differences between cultural groups. •INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE 2: Demonstrates the ability to recognize global interconnectedness. •INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE: Demonstrates a general knowwledge of cultural evolution. |
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Course Student Learning Outcomes |
Outcomes Reading: Demonstrates the ability to analyze and interpret a variety of printed materials. •Writing: Produces clear, correct, and coherent prose adapted to purpose, occasion, and audience. •Speaking: Communicates orally in clear, coherent, and persuasive language appropriate to purpose, occasion, and audience. •Listening: Demonstrates the ability to analyze and interpret various forms of spoken language. •Critical Thinking 1: Applies qualitative and/or quantitative skills analytically and creatively to subject matter. •Critical Thinking 2: Demonstrates the ability to evaluate arguments and construct alternative strategies. •Computer Literacy 1: Uses computer-based technology to communicate, solve problems, and acquire information. •Computer Literacy 2: Demonstrates an understanding of the limits, problems, and possibilities associated with the use of technology. •Intercultural Competence 1: Demonstrates awareness of similarities and differences between cultural groups. •Intercultural Competence 2: Demonstrates the ability to recognize global interconnectedness. •Intercultural Competence 3: Demonstrates a general knowledge of cultural evolution. Program Student Learning Outcomes •READING: Demonstrates the ability to analyze and interpret a variety of printed materials. •WRITING: Produces clear, correct, and coherent prose adapted to purpose, occasion, and audience. •CRITICAL THINKING 1: Applies qualitative and/or quantitative skills analytically and creatively to subject matter. •CRITICAL THINKING 2: Demonstrates the ability to evaluate arguments and construct alternative strategies. •COMPUTER LITERACY 1: Uses computer-based technology to communicate, solve problems, and acquire information. •COMPUTER LITERACY 2: Demonstrates an understanding of the limits, problems, and possibilities associated with the use of technology •INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE 1: Demonstrates awareness of similarities and differences between cultural groups. •INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE 2: Demonstrates the ability to recognize global interconnectedness. •INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE: Demonstrates a general knowwledge of cultural evolution. Course Student Learning Outcomes •PSLO ALPHA: Reading skills – o Demonstrates comprehension of content-area reading material. .... o Identifies all main ideas, supporting details, and vocabulary in reading material; o demonstrates a full understanding of the reading. •PSLO 1: Critical Thinking Skills - Uses creative thinking, innovation, inquiry and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information |
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Academic Honesty | Academic honesty is expected from all students, and dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated. Please consult the LSC-PA policies (Section IX, subsection A, in the Faculty Handbook) for consequences of academic dishonesty. | ||||||||||||
Facility Policies |
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Additional Information |
I will not discuss your grades over the phone or by email. If you want to discuss your grades, you must come to my office, in person. |
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Important Information | |||||||||||||
ADA Considerations | The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Special Populations Coordinator, Room 231, in the Madison Monroe Building. The phone number is (409) 984-6241. | ||||||||||||
Copyright Violations |
Some material in this course may be copyrighted. They may be used only for instructional purposes this semester,
by students enrolled in this course. These materials are being used fairly and legally.
No one may distribute or share these copyrighted materials in any medium or format with anyone outside this class,
including publishing essays with copyrighted material, uploading copyrighted material to Facebook or YouTube, or
painting or performing copyrighted material for public display.
Copyright violation is not the same thing as plagiarism. Plagiarism is intellectual dishonesty. Offenses of plagiarism result in lower grades or failing scores, and professors and the college strictly enforce plagiarism rules. There is never any acceptable use of plagiarism. Copyright violation is a legal offense, punishable by large fines and penalties. Copyrighted material can be used if permission from the material’s creator is obtained, or if its use meets the standards of fair use in an educational setting. For example, a student can quote a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet in a report without violating copyright but still be guilty of plagiarism if the quotation is not properly documented. If you are in doubt about what material can be freely used, ask your professor or contact the Dean of Library Services, at (409) 984-6216. |
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Assessment Statement |
Assessment is a process by which LSCPA can help you learn better and gauge the level of progress you have made to
attain knowledge, skills, beliefs, and values. It also helps your professors understand how to improve teaching
and testing methods in your classes, and it helps each department understand and improve degree and certificate
programs.
Periodically LSC-PA will collect assessment data for research and reporting purposes, including statistical data and sometimes copies of your work. Be assured that all material the college uses for assessment purposes will be kept confidential. To ensure anonymity, your name will be removed from any material we use for assessment purposes, including video-recorded performances, speeches, and projects. If you object to allowing LSC-PA to use your material for assessment purposes, submit a letter stating so to your professor by the 12th class day. You will still be required to participate in whatever assessments are being done; we just won’t use your data. What’s the difference between assessment and grades? The grades you get on papers, projects, speeches, and assignments are specific types of focused assessment. LSC-PA’s assessment efforts include class grades, surveys, standardized tests, and other tools. |
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Privacy Notice |
Federal privacy laws apply to college students. This means that college employees, including instructors, cannot
divulge information to third parties, including parents and legal guardians of students. Even if the students are
minors, information about their college work cannot be shared with anyone except in very limited circumstances.
Anyone requesting information about a student should be referred to the Registrar. Instructors will be notified in writing by that Office about what information may be released and to whom. Please remember that releasing private information about a student, however innocuous it may seem, can be a violation of federal law, with very serious consequences. Circumstances under which information may be released:
An adult student may submit, to the Registrar, a handwritten, signed note granting permission for release of
information. The note must specify what information may be divulged, and it must specify the name of the person
to whom the information may be given.
The Registrar’s office is located in the Student Center room 303B, and can be reached at (409) 984-6165. |
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College-Level Perspectives |
This course helps add to the students’ overall collegiate experience in the following ways:
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Degree Plan Evaluation |
A Degree Plan Evaluation will help you determine which classes you need to complete your program.
All of the classes that you have taken that apply to your declared major will be listed on the right. If you have a class that still needs to be completed, a “NO” will be listed on the right next to the required class. |
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HB 2504 | This syllabus is part of LSC-PA’s efforts to comply with Texas House Bill 2504. | ||||||||||||
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