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Mendocino College Home > Distance Education Home > Distance Education Course Schedule > POL 200 Orientation

Summer 2012   American Government & Politics (3 units)

Sections 8228   &  8230    Class Begins June 18, 2012

Course Description

Historical and contemporary development of U.S. political institutions at the national, state, and local level.  Meets the state requirement in American Institutions and Government for transfer students.

Recommended Prep: English 80 or placement into English 200 through assessment process

• Instructor:  Phillip S. Warf
• Email:   pwarf@mendocino.edu. After the class has started, please use Etudes Private Messages for communication.
• Textbook Information: There is one required textbook for the course. It is Thomas Patterson’s We The People: A Concise Introduction to American Politics, 9th edition, published by McGraw-Hill.  Approximate Cost $75.00 used.
• Estimated Time per Week: Students can expect to spend approximately 6 to 8 hours per week reading, writing, and taking quizzes and participating in online class discussions.
• Special Requirements: Log into Etudes the first day of class (6/18).  Read all announcements and follow the instructions in the syllabus. Students who do not participate in the first week will be dropped.
• Assignments & Tests: Each student must complete weekly assignments. These have two parts: (1) contributing to a discussion board on a specific topic and (2) completing either a quiz or essay homework assignment. There are also two tests in the course, a midterm exam and final exam. In addition, each student must complete a 6-8 page research paper. During the first week of the course, there is an ungraded assignment designed to introduce students to the online environment.
• Additional Comments: The entire course will be conducted online through the Etudes program. Students are required to have Internet access, an active email account, the ability to use word processing, conduct Internet searches, attach files, send emails, view PDF documents, and work independently.
• New to Etudes: Here is an Online Orientation (Flash presentation opens in a new window) that will show you the basics of how to use Etudes. Here is a flash tutorial (Flash presentation opens in a new window) that demonstrates the log in protocol. Be sure to check System Requirements before getting started with Etudes. You need to do this on each computer you use while taking a class through Etudes.
• Etudes Course: You will log into the Etudes classroom with the log-in information provided below.