Course Description

If you have a hectic schedule that prevents your coming to class at fixed times for lectures or tests, you may like this mode of learning. Although you will not see your professor in the flesh, you will almost certainly have more one to one interaction than in a regular class--but rather than spoken words to remember, you will have printed words in the form of e-mail that you can save in a folder file on your computer for future reference.

This WEB based American Government course is not for everyone. If you want to come to class at set times and physically see your professor giving lectures and take tests with other students in the same place at the same time, then you should take the class in a more traditional classroom mode.

Once you register for the course, here's how it will work.

1. You log onto the APLS 201 home page and click on "assignments."

2. An assignment page for each section/chapter of the course will be posted by the day the assignment period begins.

3. You do the readings (an introduction from the assignment page and your text) and perform the assignments posted on the page, and then you e-mail your completed assignments back to the professor by the deadline time. You will generally have a 5-7 day window of time in which to complete each assignment. Of course, if you are taking this class during the summer, you will only have a couple of days to do each assignment!

a. Mastery questions. Each reading assignment will have a series of short answer questions and two short essay questions that cover the most significant points in the reading. The questions are designed to ensure that you understand not only facts but relationships among the concepts of politics.

b. Web exercise. Each assignment page will have a short exercise based on information available on the Web. These exercises will utilize the most current information available from Web-based news and government sites.

c. Class discussion. Each assignment page will have a discussion page associated with it. As part of your assignment, you must participate in the discussion by making at least one contribution during the time period for that section/chapter.

4. Within a few days after each assignment period ends you will receive by e-mail your grade and the professor's comments on your work for that assignment. I will not provide individual responses to your discussion questions, but will make comments on the class list.

5. The test questions will be posted before midnight (eastern time) of the day that the test period begins. You must have the questions completed and returned by midnight of the day when the test period ends.

6. Test grades and comments cannot be returned by e-mail  You can request in writing that I send them by snail mail or if you are on campus, you may stop by my office to pick them up.

7. Your final grade will be sent to you in the usual manner.

That's it. As you can see, the course is structured so that you have to keep up, yet flexible so that you choose the specific time in which to complete your work. Its emphasis is on intelligent thoughtful discussion and problem solving rather than rote memorization.