History 2 Online: World History Since 1500

Spring 2020 CRN 15152

Instructor: David Okonyan                                        

Students can reach instructor through canvas inbox messages or through email: david.okonyan@chaffey.edu

Virtual Student Hours Tuesday:10:30-11:00AM through Canvas Messages or Conferzoom tab

Course Description

Social, political, economic, and cultural changes during the modern period from a global and comparative perspective.

Course Student Learning Outcomes

Upon the successful completion of HIST 2 (grade C or higher) student will analyze competing historical interpretations of modern world history by finding and using sources.


Upon the successful completion of HIST 2 (grade C or higher), students will appraise the factors that shape history by explaining cause and effect (significance) of historical events in modern world history.

Upon the successful completion of HIST 2 (grade C or higher), students demonstrate the connections between events in modern world history and how events influence the course of history by explaining the chronology and context of historical events in modern world history.

 

Required Reading  (available at the college bookstore)

Tigner, Adelman, Aron, Kotkin, Marchand et al. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the World, The Mongol Empire to the Present. Third Edition. Newer editions are also acceptable. Find whatever version is cheapest. There are only small differences between the third, fourth, and fifth editions. You can find used editions for around $30 through the Chaffey campus bookstore or through retailers such as Amazon, Chegg, etc.

ISBN: 978-0393123807

All other readings will be provided by the professor.

 

Citing Sources

Plagiarism is a serious offense and may result in a student failing the course. All quotes, no matter how short, as well as any thought, idea, or phrasing derived from another source must be documented. No Exceptions. For guidelines regarding citations, please see the Chicago Manual of Style.

 DPS

Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this course are encouraged to contact the Disability Programs and Services (DPS) at 909-652-6379 as soon as possible to ensure approved accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. As well, please contact me privately to discuss your specific needs.

What I expect from you:

An Online Course requires you, the student, to be in control of your learning. In a face-to-face (F2F) course, I could play a much bigger role in actively directing your learning, since I would see you multiple times a week. In an online course, I have to do a lot more work in designing an appropriate and dynamic learning environment, so that you can learn at your own pace, at your convenience. Since you are in control, you need to be disciplined enough to stay up to date with the course. The following tips will help you succeed in the course:

• Canvas Login: Log in to Canvas every day to view announcements, discussion posts and replies to your posts. You may need to log in multiple times a day during weeks when there is a lot to read and write.
• Manage your Time: This is a spring course where you are expected to internalize a broad variety of concepts in 18 weeks. Doing this online adds another level of complexity. This requires good planning. Good planning allows you to plan for the unexpected sickness, travel requirements, Internet outages, etc. Allow for at least 15 hours per week on this course, which would mean about 3-5 hours per day for 4 to 5 days of the week. This is no different than a F2F course, where we meet for about 4 hours and you do at least 8 hours of work outside the classroom.
• Keep track of due dates: You should keep some kind of calendar so you can grasp the visual of your various schedules and responsibilities against the responsibilities and due dates (major and weekly) for this course. Canvas also has a nice notification/to-do page as well as a Calendar that marks due dates. I recommend viewing this calendar and coordinating it with your own. There are many choices for calendars (your smartphone, iCloud, Google Calendar, Outlook, planner) that you may pick from; go with one that you will have direct access to so you can be checking it on a regular basis throughout your day or when someone wants to schedule something with you.
• E-attendance: Your attendance will be directly linked to your participation in the Discussion Boards. You must participate in the discussion board, just like you would be present and participate in a F2F class, in order to be marked “present” for class that week. If you do not participate in any particular week’s discussion board but still complete that week’s assignments, you will still be marked “absent.” This is the equivalent of sending your homework to be turned in (via my mailbox or classmate) and not show up to class in a regular F2F class.   If you do not fully participate in the Discussion Boards for two weeks (no participation for a full week counts as two absences), you will be dropped from this course. If you participate partially in the discussion boards (ie. initial post but no replies OR replies only and no initial post), that will count as 1 absence. So, essentially you will be dropped when you hit your fourth absence. This will be noted in the comments section of your grade for that week’s discussion board.

 

What your peers expect from you:

 

Netiquette: In any social interaction, certain rules of etiquette are expected and contribute to more enjoyable and productive communication.

• Remember that the person receiving your message is someone like you, someone who deserves and appreciates courtesy and respect.
• Be respectful. Succinct, thoughtful messages have the greatest impact.
• Your messages reflect on you. Take time to make sure that you are proud of their form and content.
• Use descriptive subject headings in e-mail messages.
• Think about your audience and the relevance of your messages.
• Be careful with humor and sarcasm; without the voice inflections and body language of face-to-face communication, Internet messages can be easily misinterpreted.
• When making follow-up comments, summarize the parts of the message to which you are responding.
• Avoid repeating what has already been said. Needless repetition is ineffective communication.

 

How should I interact with my classmates in an online environment?

 

Because of the design and motives of an online class, you will be giving and receiving feedback on thoughts (in Discussion Boards). Here are some tips on how to approach feedback:

• Giving Feedback: This course is designed along the principles of synergy and collaborative learning. Therefore, it is important that all students understand how to provide quality feedback to their peers. Here are a few tips for providing positive, constructive, and useful feedback to peers:
• Be empathetic and remember that this environment is a safe place for making mistakes.
• Use nonjudgmental language and phrases that do not attack an individual. One way of doing this is to ask the individual to discuss his/her process in his/her reasoning or analysis.
• Use specific questions, examples, and references to research as a way of making your point.
• Make your feedback useful by providing suggestions that the individual can understand and use to improve her/his work.

 

What you can expect from me

 

As your instructor, I am committed to providing a quality learning experience through thoughtful planning, implementation, and assessment and evaluation of course activities and assignments.

• by replying to questions in the forum/email within 24-48 hours
• and to return graded course work with feedback within 5 days of each assignment's due date, excluding major essays. Out-of-class essays and higher-stakes assignments may take up 2-2 ½ weeks to grade from the date of submission.

Within our Discussion Board, it is the instructor's job to initiate thoughtful, on-topic discussions, encourage student-to-student communication, and mediate when necessary. Therefore, it is not the instructor's responsibility to respond to every post throughout the semester, but encourage students to take ownership of the learning process by responding to each other.

How will this course be delivered?

The course is structured into one module per week. The module starts on Monday morning (Tuesday morning if Monday is a holiday) and ends at 11:59 p.m. on a Friday  11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Each week there will be readings, podcasts, and/or articles you must read. I will provide a powerpoint on that week’s reading going over the concepts for that reading.

There  will be discussions based on the readings in the Discussion Boards. The discussions are a critical part of the course, as you will learn as much, if not more, from other perspectives on an issue or topic, as from your own interpretations. These discussions are open to the entire class and you will be required to post and reply to a certain number of your classmates throughout the week.

 

What does the typical workload/week look like when I’m taking History 2 online?

 

Again, you must keep in mind that you will spend a minimum of 15 hours per week doing work for this class. This time will be spent reading, researching, reading discussion board posts, producing and writing your own discussion board posts (initial and replies), writing a draft of your research paper, and corresponding (via email, office hours, scheduled chats) with your professor and/or classmates. If you read this, send me an email with the word candy in the subject.

Assignments

The reading assignments for each week and class session are listed by date. You are expected to have completed your readings prior to those dates and be prepared to discuss or address specific issues raised in the readings. In addition to the three scheduled exams, each student will be required to prepare a 6-page research paper addressing a decolonization movement from the 20th century. The research paper will require academic resources and citations in Chicago Manual of Style format.

 

 

Grading Scale

 

Your Progress:	Semester Grade:
90%+	A
80-89%	B
70-79%	C
60-69%	D
< 60%	F

 

Grading

 

1. Class participation: 20%

Participation will be determined by short discussion assignments and activities. These elements are essential for successful completion of the course. The exams in the course require knowledge from the powerpoints, readings, and discussions.

 

1. Two online midterm exams: 20% each (40% total)

These exams will consist of an essay writing assignment.

 

1. Colonial Movements Paper: 20%

For this assignment, students will choose an anti-colonial movement and write a college level research paper. There will be workshops throughout the semester to prepare students for this assignment.

 

1. Final exam: 20%

For this exam, you will write two essays based off the readings and assignments since the second exam. It is not cumulative.

 

Course Outline

Week One

Course Introduction. 

Week Two

Reading Ch 12 Worlds Together

Week Three

Reading: Ch 13 Worlds Together 

Week Four

Reading: Various articles

Week Five

Study Guide                                                                                      

Week Six

First Exam

Week Seven

Reading: Ch 14 Worlds Together 

Week Eight

Reading: Ch 15 Worlds Together

Week Nine

Reading: Ch 16 Worlds Together

Week Ten

Spring Break

Week Eleven

Reading: Ch 17 Worlds Together

 

Week Twelve

Study Guide for Exam 2

 

Week Thirteen

Second Exam

 

Week Fourteen

 Reading: Ch 18 Worlds Together

 

Week Fifteen

Reading: Ch 19 Worlds Together

 

Week Sixteen

 Reading: Ch 20 Worlds Together

 

Week Seventeen

 Reading: 21 Worlds Together

Week Eighteen

Research Papers due. 

Week Nineteen

Final Exam