Welcome to American Federal Government on-line.

An on-line class requires much of the student.  In order to be successful you should have the following equipment and skills.

      Computer Equipment:

1.  The on-line student must have Microsoft Office (including Word and Power Point).  Microsoft  Works is not part of Microsoft Office. (    The U of A System requires the following:

                                      PC:
                                       Pentium II based PC
                                       32 MB RAM (memory)
                                       Windows 95 or higher
                                       56K Modem or higher speed network connection
                                       24X CD-ROM
                                       Sound card
                                       XGA Video adapter or higher

                                                or

                                                                   Mac:
                                                     G3 based Mac
                                                     32 MB RAM (memory)
                                                     OS 8.1 or higher
                                                     54K Modem or higher speed network connection
                                                     24X  CD-ROM
                                                     4 MB Video RAM

                                                  Software Requirement:  All software, plug-ins and players are Free and down-
                                                                                                                                     loadable :
                                                       Netscape Navigator 4.5 ( or higher) or Internet Explorer 5 ( or higher)
                                                       QuickTime 4.0 or higher
                                                       Macromedia Shockwave
                                                       Macromedia Flash
                                                       Adobe Acrobat Reader
                                                       Realplayer

            2.  You should have access to a back-up computer (e.g. library, computer lab) in case you have
                  problems with  your computer.  Your assignments are due at a specified time and exam periods are
                  fixed for certain  times.

3.  If you do not have Microsoft Office, you can create word documents in other programs but you must send the documents as Rich text file.

4.   If you do not have Power Point there is a free download at  http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/default.aspx?    Product=PowerPoint&Version=95|97\98\2002\2002&Type=Converter\Viewer  this will allow you to view power points
 

Computer skills:
  1.  Basic computer operating system (Windows (either 95 or 98) or Mac)

              2.  Email software operations (sending email, receiving email, saving messages, attaching files to
                    email, downloading attachments from email messages…)

              3. Using a web browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer (typing in web addresses, using a search engine, using
                    discussion lists, and chat rooms…)

              4.The on-line student should go to http://uaonline.uasys.edu/admissions.htm

              5.  The student should take the General Computer Operations Self-Assessment and the Communications
                      and  Internet Self-Assessment. .

              6.  If you score less than 70% on each self-assessment , you should reconsider taking a class on-line.       

             

How this class is organized/expectations for this class:

 Reading/note taking 

You have a great deal of material to read on-line. These materials are found on the various topic pages.  Be sure that you take notes as you read.  You must make the decision as to what is important and will be on the tests and what is interesting but probably will not be on the test. Perhaps you should err on the side of more notes rather than fewer notes.  Do not try to print out the materials that you read, you will have a large amount of paper.  Take notes from the materials, just as you would in a class hearing a lecture. Use the Response Questions to guide your note taking.

I am not interested in you learning many dates.  Dates are to help you place persons, events in the time frame, therefore the correct century and decade is what you should learn rather than 1509 or May 3 1863.  You should know the American Revolution was in the the 1770s and the Civil War in the 1860s. 

Be sure that you note the dates of the Presidents, court cases or important events of U.S. history.

Response Questions

After you have read the materials on the topic, you will then write Response questions about the readings. When you prepare your response questions, be sure that you have addressed the various questions within  a question. Be sure to use spell-check and then proofread your work.  Please send your two response questions as a single document using the Assignment link on WebCT (you can only submit work one time in the Assignment link).

Class Discussion

Be sure that you go to the Discussion page on WebCT at least  two times a week.  The discussion page is our class time together.  If you do not go to the discussion page you are not attending class and can with withdrawn from the class.  Because the discussion page is open all the time, you may go any convenient for you. I will post questions and comments.  YOU will post questions and comments as well. Students can help one another here with regard to the readings/materials

 Hello On the Discussion Board, I have two areas that you can participate in.  MAIN is for questions/comments about the subject matter. HELLO is for exchanging greetings with one another.

American Federal Government Homepage( accessed through WebCT)

On the Homepage you will find the following buttons:
                                             Syllabus--on that page you will find the grading scale, assignments, exam dates.

                                              Assignments/Parts 1-5--on those pages you will find the assignments buttons which will take
                                                                        you to the various topic pages with the readings for that topic, you
                                                                        will find the Response questions, the format for the questions and
                                                                        the grading scale for the questions.

                                              Announcements--exam dates

While you are on the American Federal Government assignments pages, be sure to look at the dates and the day of the week that the response questions  are due and the dates and days the exams are scheduled.  You should establish a calendar and record when your assignments are due and dates of the three exams.  If you go on vacation, you are still responsible for turning your work in on time and taking the exams during the scheduled period.  Be sure to make such arrangements before your vacation.