Historical Investigations Syllabus
Historical Investigations
Morning Module 3, 2005-2006
Syllabus
Introduction
The job of the historian is to gather together information about an event, a person, or a period, and to organize and interpret that information in order to form a coherent, and hopefully accurate, vision. This can be a lot tougher than it sounds, given the kinds of evidence a historian works with ¨C archaic and illegible documents, hearsay and myth, biased testimony and accounts, opaque statistical data taken for entirely different purposes, and many other issues.
In this course we will take on the role of the historian as we investigate various issues and controversies of U.S. History. Along the way we will experience the difficulties and frustrations of historical inquiry, as well as the joys of historical discovery and understanding.
Focus Skills
Applying effective research methods, making connections
Essential Question
Each student in this course will develop their own research question and thesis for their journal article. As such, while there is no generic essential question for this class, each student is required to present a research question and answer it in their journal article and in their performance exhibition. It is critical that each student have a research question and answer that question.
Texts
For this class we will be utilizing two main textbooks: After the Fact (Davidson and Lytle) and The Cartoon Guide to U.S. History (Gonick). Students will have regular readings in both books. It is imperative that students keep up with these readings, as they are central to the curriculum of the class. Students research work, tests, and other activities will be based on their knowledge and understanding of the material in these books. Homework for this class will consist mostly of readings, along with outside research towards completion of journal articles.
Assignments
Journal (Content Exhibition)
The major portion of your exhibition grade for this class will come from your participation in the creation of a historical journal, which will appear online and in paper form. This historical journal will include articles from each student, graphics, side stores, and more. In particular, each student will contribute the following items:
Journal Article
Each student in this course will complete a fully researched, journal-style article on one of the topics introduced in the book After the Fact. Each chapter of the book is considered a ¡®topic¡¯, and students can look at various angles and aspects of that topic, not just those looked at in the book. In the process of completing this journal article, students will complete several benchmark assignments as well. Specifically, an annotated bibliography, a proposal, a list of research questions, an outline, and a rough draft. Your final draft should include footnotes or endnotes as well as diagrams, charts, photographs, and other visual aids.
Vignette Piece
In addition to your long journal article, you will complete one ¡®vignette¡¯ piece to help fill out our historical journal. Your vignette piece will be about two and half pages typed, double spaced (they will end up as boxed or columned entries in our journal). Vignette pieces can have as their source After the Fact or The Cartoon Guide to History. The goal of the vignette piece is to provide interesting and unusual sidelights into U.S. History. They should not be about the usual things - what are the causes of the Civil War or Was Franklin Roosevelt a great president are two examples of the usual things; instead they should come from unusual perspectives ¨C who was the smartest president, and did that make him the best one? Who designed the dollar bill? How is the Wizard of Oz a book about Populism? Your vignettes should be offbeat, interesting, but accurate and appropriately researched.
Info graphic
As your third contribution to the class journal, you will provide some kind of information graphic on a particular topic. Your objective is to provide useful data in a format that is easy to ready, informative, and thought provoking. You might show an increase in household income over a certain period, the number of deaths per year in
Quizes and Contests
During the course there will be various quizzes, pop quizzes, and contests for students to demonstrate their knowledge and comprehension of the readings. These activities will draw from material from both textbooks and from classroom lectures. Contests will include events such as Jeopardy, Trivial Pursuit, etc. built around the class material.
Formal Speech or Debate (Performance Exhibition)
For your performance exhibition in your course, you will present the research from your journal article in one of two formats ¨C either a formal speech or a debate. The formal speech will consist of a fifteen minute speech outlining the key arguments of your article. You may only use visuals that you have already incorporated into your journal article ¨C you should not require additional visual aids. If two students have both written articles on the same period, they may choose instead to present a debate. Doing a debate may require adjustment of your theses to make them match up more closely. Students wishing to do a debate may want to agree ahead of time on their journal theses in order to avoid this extra work. Debates will consist of ten minute speeches from each side, five minutes of rebuttal, and a longer question and answer period from the audience. Students should discuss their plans for their performance exhibition with me ahead of time.
Discussion and In-Class Activities
In addition to other assignments for the class, students are expected to participate and be involved in in-class activities. These will include interactive lectures, documentary videos, and other events.
Grading
% of grade Assignment
60% Journal ( Content Exhibition)
30% Journal Article
3% Annotated Bibliography
2% Thesis Proposal
3% Research Questions
3% Outline
8% Rough Draft
11% Final Draft
15% Vignette Piece
15% Info Graphic
20% Speech or Debate (Perf. Exhibition)
10% Quizzes, Pop Quizzes, Contests
15% Discussion, In-Class Activities
100%
Classroom Practice
Lateness
Students should not be late, and will be penalized for their latenesses. Each student receives two lateness at no penalty. Each lateness after that reduces your final grade by 1%. This is assessed after your final grade is determined. This penalty will NOT reduce your grade by a full value (from A to B or B to C, etc) , UNLESS you have more than seven latenesses.
Extra Credit
I do not give extra credit assignments on principal. My belief is that the work assigned for a class is the work that a student should be working on. There is enough flexibility and variation of assignments that alternatives should not be necessary. Students are encouraged to discuss with me alternative approaches to the assignments given if they feel that the format limits them or posses special difficulties.
Late Assignments
Due to the rather stringent timetable afforded by the quarterly system, assignments done late often destroy the educational purpose for which they were created. As such, I do enforce deadlines and I expect students to meet those deadlines without constant reminding. Students will be informed of deadlines, and those deadlines will be posted in the classroom.. Absence due to medical issues is a valid excuse for turning in assignment late, but I expect the assignments to be turned in at the earliest possible time (one day after the student returns to school in all cases short of debilitating illness). Any assignment received one day late (beginning from the moment of collection) will lose one letter grade off that assignment. It is important for students having difficulty with an assignment to speak with me well before the due date ¨C protestations that you ¡®didn¡¯t understand¡¯ given at the time of collection will not be respected.
