LCC - Preview for Spring Term HST195 Vietnam War History Class by Joe Escobar - Monday, March 23, 2015, 11:34 AM Hello students, My name is Joe Escobar and I am your instructor for HST195 History of the Vietnam War at Lane Community College. The class will begin exactly one week from today. You are receiving this email because you are enrolled in the course and you have wisely included your email address in your MyLane account information. I wanted to contact you in advance of the start of the term with some information relevant to this particular course. HST195 is a fully online class, and as such, it will require a significant amount of writing. Besides the objective-format examinations, how else can you assure the instructor that you are learning the material? While there is no official writing course prerequisite, if you have not successfully passed WR121, WR122, and WR123, or if your writing skills are not already at a college level, I would highly recommend against your taking this class. As a fully online class, you must be able to access and print course materials from the internet. I strongly suggest that you complete the following tasks BEFORE the term begins next Monday. #1 - watch a short video clip #2 - download/read a pdf file #3 - look over student evaluations of the class from previous terms All of these tasks can be accomplished at the class website at: http://classes.lanecc.edu By providing this information, I'm hoping that you can avoid any technical issues over the next 11 weeks. READ THE COURSE SYLLABUS I've posted the course syllabus online in Moodle and you can read it right now. If any of this information causes you concern, please drop this class promptly, as I have a wait list and many other students are still in need of classes. Pay particular attention to the parts about no late work, getting the DVDs in the LCC library or watching them on YouTube, and the fact that you will have to physically come to campus (or an approved testing center) to take your two exams. If you think this class might be a good fit for you, I'll “see” you “online” next week. READ PAST INSTRUCTOR AND CLASS EVALUATIONS Think about this. You are spending approximately $400 in tuition to take this course, and many of you know nothing about this "Instructor Joe Escobar" listed on the schedule of classes. To help you decide if you are spending your money wisely, I have posted all of my evaluations, completed by my former students over the last several years. All comments, good and bad, have been included. Nothing has been censored. I would strongly advise that you take a look and see if you like what you discover about your instructor. You will see the link in the class website on Moodle. THE TEXTBOOKS I wanted to let you know about the course textbook options. The LCC Bookstore has the Herring textbook but a used 4th edition can be purchased used (and shipped) for about $9 from Amazon.com. The LCC Bookstore has the Appy textbook for $20 new and $15 used. It can be purchased used (and shipped) for about $9 from Amazon.com. You may also be able to find them locally at Smith Family Bookstore in Eugene. Some of you may choose to start reading the assigned chapters in the textbooks (Herring - Preface and Chapter 1, Appy - PART 1) and watching Episode 1 of the DVD before the term begins next Monday. That would be a very good idea. Well, that's all of the news I have for you now. Feel free to Moodle message me anytime with any questions you may have about the class. (See the help video if you've never used Moodle messaging before.) I look forward to working with you during the term. Joe Escobar History Instructor Lane Community College http://media.lanecc.edu/users/escobarj/lcc/HST_195.html HST195 - The Term Begins Today by Joe Escobar - Monday, March 30, 2015, 11:53 AM Hello all, Just a brief reminder to make sure you login to Moodle, watch/listen to the Class Orientation, read the Syllabus, etc....... ...... all of the things you are supposed to do on the first day of class. We workload in the class (reading) begins immediately, so don't fall behind the very first week of class. You have until Friday at 5pm to decide whether to remain in class or to drop it and receive a tuition refund. I do my very best to provide students will all of the information they need in order to make informed decisions, not only about whether to remain in class, but also the information they will need to be successful throughout the term. Glad to have you in class. Joe HST195 - End Week 1 Reminder by Joe Escobar - Friday, April 3, 2015, 11:56 AM Hello students, This is my first "reminder" message to you. When I post it in the Announcements forum, the post is automatically emailed to each of you who have entered and enabled your email address in Moodle. (See the HOW TO Edit your Moodle profile video if you need to make any changes.) Even if you didn't get the email, which could be due to a number of things, such as your own spam blocker stopping messages from "lanecc.edu", you can still see and read all of these announcements by clicking on the Announcements forum at the top of the Moodle class homepage and clicking each individual message. Still, it would be much more beneficial to receive them automatically. And for those of you with cool smartphones or who are savvy texting types, I'm sure there is some way you can have these emails automatically forwarded to you as texts or Facebook alerts. TONIGHT'S DEADLINE Thank you to *almost* all of you for putting a profile picture into Moodle before tonight’s 11:55pm deadline. Remember, since no late work is accepted in this course, be sure to complete all assignments before the deadlines. For many of you, you had already completed this task in an earlier term or for another class. You get only one Moodle profile picture at a time in the Moodle system. This "introductory assignment" will be the easiest points you will earn this term. I’ve used this past week to give all students the opportunity to get used to the usual reading load for the week. Did you finish BOTH of your textbook readings and Episode 1 DVD viewing work for the week? WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS In an online course, or at least in my online course, it is imperative that you take the time to CAREFULLY read ALL of the written instructions that I give you. I always try to be clear and thorough in my written instructions to students. (After all, I expect clear and thorough writing from all students in this online class, whether they be forum posts or longer written papers.) If anything is ever unclear to you this term, be sure to Moodle message me… and do it well before any deadline. On this topic, I assume everyone has read the syllabus. I have not received any Moodle messages from any students about the syllabus or audio/video orientation. I’m going to assume that everything has been clear up to this point. TECHNOLOGY CHECK I’m happy to report that no students have contacted me about technical problems viewing the online videos (sample and Jo Collins) or downloading and reading pdf documents. That’s great. A few of you have contacted me about the DVDs, and I certainly hope at this time that all students have checked out the entire set from the LCC Library, or have chosen to watch them online. WATCHING & READING Finally, I encourage you to keep to the schedule of assigned readings and videos. The pages of required reading will average 90 per week, sometimes more, sometimes less. Falling behind a single week will more than double that number. Since all future classwork requires you to incorporate these readings into your assignments and forum posts, your scores may suffer if you do not stay on schedule. ASSIGNMENT 1 I usually make the future week’s block available in Moodle on Wednesdays of the previous week. I’ve already made the Week 2 reading and viewing assignments visible so as not to confuse with this week's work. The assignments or forums themselves are usually NOT available until Sunday evening, but the week 2 written assignment is available now. PLEASE read the instructions, requirements, and restrictions carefully. I've provided very specific information on how your written assignments will be graded, and what my expectations are. So be sure to ask (Moodle message) if you have any questions. Unlike forums, written assignments are "private" endeavors. I will be the only one reading and commenting on your paper. Besides the usual textbook reading and DVD/web video viewing assignments, it will be the only thing you will be required to turn in, and you will have the whole 7-day week, until next Sunday evening, to complete it. You can certainly turn in your paper early, but remember that no late work is accepted. That's all for now. Feel free to Moodle message me if you have any questions and have a productive week. Welcome to class. HST195 - Week 2 by Joe Escobar - Tuesday, April 7, 2015, 9:50 AM Hello students, Spring Term always seems to go by more quickly than other terms, even though they are all the same 11 weeks. That said, 10% of our term is already over. Last week all you had to "turn in" was to change/add your profile picture. (Of course, you had a large reading and viewing assignment.) This week you are working on MUCH more important and heavily weighted written paper. Be sure you've carefully read AND followed the instructions for Assignment 1, in addition to reading How assignments are graded. Unfortunately, using past terms as my examples, it becomes very clear to me which students have read all of the syllabus, announcements, and instructions, and which have not. Good luck to you this week. HST195 - Assignment 1 due & Forum 1 begins by Joe Escobar - Sunday, April 12, 2015, 9:51 AM Hello students, ASSIGNMENT 1 So, how are those papers coming along? You have just over 12 hours from now to finish. Be sure you've carefully read AND followed the instructions for Assignment 1, in addition to reading How assignments are graded . Unfortunately, after just a brief look, I can see that a few papers that have been submitted already do not meet the minimum length requirements and/or have not thoughtfully analyzed and answered the numerous questions posed. (There were no less than 5 questions to address in part 1, and 2 more in part two. Reaching minimum paper length should definitely NOT be a problem for anyone.) It is imperative that students demonstrate a full week’s worth of effort in each assignment and forum. A couple of sentences of narrative about a storyteller, which I could easily read myself, does not rise to the level of thoughtful introspection and analysis that is required for this assignment. Also, students frequently fail to include relevant knowledge or information provided by the Herring textbook and DVD and web videos that you’ve seen up to this point. I certainly appreciate students who support their opinions and positions with historical evidence. FORUM 1 Also starting today, Sunday, and continuing throughout next week, you will participate in your first forum. The directions are available in Forum 1, along with the important How forums are graded instructions. The forum itself is now "open" for student posts and replies. (You should receive an email of my first post.) Good luck with your classwork and studies this week. HST195 - End of Week 3 Update by Joe Escobar - Friday, April 17, 2015, 5:52 PM Hello students, I have just finished scoring your initial comments in Forum 1 (those that were posted before the Wednesday evening deadline). Overall, I am VERY pleased with the quality of your posts. They are some of the best “first forum” posts I’ve read in the past several YEARS, due to the careful analysis that many of you are illustrating. My only concern is that a number of students missed posting anything by the Wednesday evening deadline. While you will be penalized for missing the initial deadline, take the remaining 3 days of this week's forum to earn as many of the 9 points you need. Earning some points is much better than earning a zero. Also, recall that you are supposed to participate “throughout the week”. To a number of online students, they only see the Wednesday and Sunday deadlines and only post on those days. You cannot carry on an informed discussion with your classmates, on a topic as widespread and controversial as this one, by posting on one day and replying on a second day. Since there is NO LIMIT to the number of posts or replies you can make, all forums in this class are intentionally set up so that every student can earn the full 9 points, a 100% A+ for this online work. So get in there an be involved throughout each forum week. THE SCORES A word about your scores of 1, 2, or 3. You can return to the forum RIGHT NOW to see the scores that each of your posts (written before Wednesday’s deadline) earned. You can see only the scores of your own posts. It is the first number after the colon: Sum of ratings:1 (1), means you've earned a score of 1. Sum of ratings:2 (1), means you've earned a score of 2. Sum of ratings:3 (1), means you've earned a score of 3. (Ignore the number in parentheses.) ARE YOUR READING THE INSTRUCTIONS? I assume that you are aware that your posts/replies are scored on a scale, correct? It seems that some instructors in other online classes award an all-or-nothing score for students who participate by making any post in a forum. A former student of mine in a past HST195 class complained that they didn't get full credit for a post they made before the deadline. He or she thought I had wrongly penalized them. In fact, he or she has posted a weak "Hey Bob, good post" , a 0-point-type-of-reply and expected to earn a score of 3 points for an excellent post. The instructions clearly indicate: 3 - Excellent post or reply, containing analysis, depth, or credible support for any statement. Student clearly answers the question or illustrates comprehension and an understanding of the issue. Response is well-written, free of grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. HINTS FOR BETTER SCORES & MORE POINTS For future forums in this class, I can tell you that students who post earlier in the week, before the Wednesday 11:55pm deadline, usually do better in forums. Their ideas/comments are original and other students will read them first and reply to them, causing the initial poster to reply back, thus earning more points for the week. As the instructions stated, posts should be composed in a word processor, spell checked, grammar checked, and proofread before you copy and paste them into the forum. A number of you are rushing this step, which can only hurt the readability of your posts or replies. I usually don't score these more than 1 point. I'm sure other group members will find them difficult to read and easy to ignore. Finally, if you have read the forum guidelines and really cannot tell why your post or reply received the score that it did, instead of being discouraged, please Moodle message me and I'll let you know why. ASSIGNMENT 1 I am nearly done reading and scoring your first written assignments. I usually complete and return them to students in about a week and a half after the deadline. Good luck with your forum discussions and other reading and viewing work for the remainder of this week. HST195 - Week 4 Midweek Update by Joe Escobar - Tuesday, April 21, 2015, 5:41 PM Hello all, ASSIGNMENT 1 I have completed scoring your first written assignments. You should be able to return to Assignment 1 where you should find and download a scanned pdf file of your papers and the written comments I've made on your papers. I very much want to provide you with valuable feedback on your work. I consider this to be the biggest challenge students and instructors face in online classes. If my individual comments on your assignments are not clear, or you have more questions or follow-up comments, please feel free to speak with me, either via Moodle messaging, schedule an office hour appointment, or even a phone call. Some issues that some students faced were addressed in the How assignments are graded and original Assignment 1 instructions and questions. Re-read those instructions if necessary. The link called List of instructor feedback abbreviations is also available if you need to check what some of my written abbreviations such as RO, PT, No hypo ?, and AWK mean. FORUM 1 I’ve just finished scoring posts and replies for Forum 1, which concluded Sunday evening at 11:55pm. Overall, for our first forum, I am very pleased with the quality of many posts and replies, and a number of the discussions that took place. Since tomorrow (Wednesday) is the "first post" deadline for Forum 2, I have some overall feedback that should help students earn higher forum grades. ARE YOUR READING THE INSTRUCTIONS? With a maximum score of 3 points per post, and a total "points possible goal" of 9 for the week, all students should have made AT LEAST 3 posts or replies throughout the week. Unfortunately, HALF of the enrolled students in this course made only 2 posts (or less) throughout the week. It is mathematically impossible to earn a good score with that lack of effort for the week. Four students posted the BARE MINIMUM of 3 times. Did that work out for you, or did any one of your posts fail to earn the 3-point excellent score? Remember, there is NO LIMIT to the number of times you can post or reply. Quantity AND quality will allow all students to earn full credit, 100% A+ on the remaining forums. If you have read the forum guidelines and really can't tell why your post or reply received the score that it did, instead of being discouraged, please Moodle message me and I'll let you know why. PROBLEMS AND SUGGESTIONS In Forum 1, some students: -missed deadline or didn’t post at all -posted only on Wednesday and/or Sunday (this does not qualify as participation throughout the week) -wrote posts in which I cannot tell whether you actually watched the AIM video or not (cite specific examples/facts/quotes) Since the subject matter continues in Forum 2, the following applies: -Whether or not Ho Chi Minh was a communist or not is “off the table” (that specific point has already been discussed) -Instead, focus your discussions on other SPECIFIC claims made in Part 2 of the AIM video -Be sure to include comments/analysis on the New York Times article MOODLE GRADES and FORUM 1 The Moodle GRADES link reveals your ACTUAL grade in the class, which now includes Assignment 1 and Forum 1. If the term ended today, THAT would be your final grade in the class. The GRADES link shows the cumulative points you received, out of 9, for the first week. You were attempting to earn the maximum of 9 points. You will notice that I have reduced the maximum score from 9 down to 8 for this first class forum of the term. That is a one-time 11-12% grade-boosting "gift" for our first forum that I've given to all students as encouragement that they will improve in Forum 2 and all of our future forums. If you posted more than 3 times and did not earn 8 points, either your posts lacked analysis or citations OR you made all of your posts on the Sunday deadline day or missed the initial post Wednesday deadline. Remember, you have to participate throughout the week. Have a productive week. HST195 - Forum 2 & Midterm Exam by Joe Escobar - Sunday, May 3, 2015, 11:23 PM Hello students, ************************************** Long Announcement today. Read it all. ************************************** I have finished scoring your posts and replies for Forum 2, and the grade in the Moodle grade book now reflects your scores for ALL of the online work you've completed for the first half of this course. The grade you see in Moodle is your current grade in the class. Remember that this class uses weighted grades. Your current completed work represents 25% of your grade weight. The upcoming midterm exam is worth 25% of your grade all by itself. First, some words about the forum subject matter. SUBJECT MATTER I'm glad to see so many of you grapple with the problems that multiple sources, especially ones which contain conflicting historical claims, can bring to an already controversial subject, such as the Vietnam War. But a careful analysis of the sources, even biased sources, can reveal even more historical truth than relying on a single source. Before I began teaching this course in 2000, the PBS series and an accompanying PBS guide were the ONLY materials students had to work with. The course was only 3 credits, LCC did not have Moodle, and the students independently studied at home while watching the PBS episodes on cable TV. The class did not meet in a traditional classroom. Can you imagine that? More importantly, can you imagine what a disservice was done to those students and the historical "knowledge" they received for their tuition dollars? So I decided that a history class needed textbooks by historians, not journalists or film editors. George Herring http://www.uky.edu/PattersonSchool/faculty.htm Christian Appy http://www.umass.edu/history/faculty/appy.html As many of you have concluded, the Herring textbook is the best "factual" reference for the events that occurred during the war. It is footnoted, indexed, and has an extensive list of citations and suggestions for further reading, all of which have been read and analyzed by Herring. Some of you are enjoying the stories in the Appy book, but you must be careful and NOT make any grand conclusions about the war after reading just a single compelling or emotion-filled story. Everyone likes stories, but you must strive to keep them in their limited realm and avoid making sweeping claims. Personally, I know someone who served in Vietnam. Should I just take what he said he experienced as the "truth" for all soldiers who served? Of course not. In addition, my own uncle served in the war, but has not shared ANY information with me about his time in country. What about his experiences? Should they be ignored or remain "out" of the official record of the experiences of war? More importantly, if you read the preface (pages xxv-xxvii) in the Appy book, as I said in your Assignment 1 instructions, what about those people who refused to speak with him? And what about the other "silences" he experienced as a foreign writer who had to get permission from the communist government before conducting interviews with "approved" people? And let's not forget the fact that this book contains less than half of the interviews he collected. If you were editing the book, wouldn't you include the most compelling, eye-opening, jaw-dropping, disturbing, or exemplary stories, and leave the mundane, the rest, on the "cutting room floor"? Speaking of cutting room floor, by watching the AIM presentation, some of you discovered that the original 780 minute, 13 episode series by PBS has been cut down to 660 minutes in 11 episodes in its most recent 2004 edition. What happened? The answer involves a number of issues. Since 1983, when the series was first released, a worldwide event occurred with Communism's collapse and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Some of the claims in the last episode were dated (China and Vietnam were still at war with each other in 1983, but they are not now) and many historical details were not available to historians or the public within those 10 short years after the U.S evacuation in 1973. Other edits to the PBS series were made based on the shortcomings and problems revealed by the AIM program and its historians. (Some of the PBS information that was criticized by AIM has ALREADY been removed from the PBS videos you are watching, yet enough remains to make these comparisons I’ve asked you to do in the forums still valid.) Also, the presence of our modern ”political correctness" emerged when interviews were edited for content that may have been considered offensive. (In particular, I remember an interview where the soldier used the derogatory term "gook" to refer to a VietCong. You will not hear this part of the interview in your newer, shorter, DVD series. This is a shame actually. If we desire historical truth, then allowing viewers to hear the terminology, even if it is racist, is important.) Some students dislike the tone of the AIM program, but to compare this one hour program to an 11 hour documentary, and expect them to "feel the same" is not a sound analysis of the sources. Even though they are videos, they aren't the same thing. One is a documentary, the other a specific rebuttal to that documentary. The AIM "show" was not meant to stand on its own. After the 4 or 5 hours you've seen so far, the PBS series can feel more like a friend, like a valuable source of information. And it is. I would not waste your time by requiring you to watch 11 hours of it if it was nothing but fiction and historical inaccuracies. But being aware of its bias is key to learning the history of this war. The same holds true for the AIM program. In the PBS series, we mainly hear the voice of the narrator, who is telling us a story. The AIM video also had a narrator, but its main voices were historians, who have studied their history and have specific sources and facts to support their claims. It should not be easy to dismiss someone's claims if they have given you historical evidence. This is why I ask you to cite your sources, by using quotes from the textbook and videos, in your forum posts and written assignments. It makes for much more compelling, and historically accurate work when you do this. As some of you concluded, everyone "feels" entitled to their own opinions. In this class, those historical opinions MUST be "informed" opinions, based on evidence. If you are presented with data, and then make a claim contrary to that data, you had better be able to show support for it. New York Times Article Lastly, I hope you read the New York Times article carefully, because students often do not analyze it well enough (or miss the point of the criticism completely). Few students addressed the article specifically in Forum 2. Did you remember reading these parts of the article? "Nonetheless, during the … program - … in the rebuttal produced by AIM … intelligent criticisms are offered: The series makes Ho Chi Minh into a nationalist rather than a Communist; it ignores the role of the South Vietnamese Army; it minimizes the brutal treatment of American prisoners of war; it slights the actual conduct of military operations. At no point, however, do the producers of ‘’PBS Vietnam: A Television History'' give an inch. They confuse their series with Holy Writ." (NYTimes article, page 2) (Holy Writ, wow what a term to use !!! The PBS producers are the problem. They mistakenly believe their series is the Holy Bible of the Vietnam War. That is NOT a compliment. It goes on.) "In 1983, this critic called the Vietnam series 'a landmark in television journalism,' a judgment I still hold. Its great strength was that it offered room for many points of view. The paradox now is that the members of the public television community (PBS) who deplore the AIM rebuttal, rule out all points of view except their own. Or, as one of them says on the program tonight, the only reason to broadcast the AIM rebuttal is 'to show people what bad propaganda is like.' He misses the point; actually, he misses all the points. For one, the rebuttal is not bad propaganda. This becomes evident at the conclusion of the program. Vietnam experts and other interested parties, including Reed Irvine, the chairman of Accuracy in Media, debate the merits of the rebuttal. No one, in fact, can find much wrong with it." (NYTimes article) (No one found much wrong with what the historians in the AIM program had claimed !!! This means that the evidence they presented is historically accurate. You may not have liked the tone of AIM, but you were hearing actual evidence from those historians.) The final blow, AGAINST the PBS program and its producers is this point. "No new interpretation of history is allowed. The (PBS) opposition to broadcasting the AIM program suggests that the producers of the (PBS) Vietnam series and their supporters feel this way about history too. It cannot be reinterpreted unless the reinterpretation has their (PBS) approval." (That is definitely a problem. Conform to the PBS interpretation, or else. If you didn't carefully read this article, then you could have missed this point. If you did read and understand it, did you ignore it because it didn't support your own position or biases in favor or PBS? The New York Times is NOT a conservative leaning newspaper, so to print a story like this one was revealing. Two sources from opposite sides of the liberal-conservative spectrum, NYTimes and AIM, both criticizing the PBS series.) Additionally, only a couple of students noted that the AIM rebuttal dealt with the COMPLETE PBS series, which you, the students in this online class, have not yet seen in its entirety. This provided yet another complexity to deal with in your analysis of these sources. Finally, no one pointed out the “not one case” of torture, mentioned by John McCain. The only problem is if you consider every torture committed by a South Vietnamese serviceman to be the same as if it were committed by an American serviceman, just because we were allies. The tiger cage torture of the North Vietnamese/VietCong woman was committed by South Vietnamese forces. U.S. soldiers didn’t do that. The United States also did NOT use the prisoners of war in the same propagandistic way the North Vietnamese did. Of course we were allied with South Vietnam, but I hope that you can see that the “real story” here is incredibly complex and our search for the historical truth is very challenging. FORUM 2 THE BAD Some students continue to miss the Wednesday deadline for their first post, and some post only on Wednesdays and Sundays. Others fail to participate at all. Since there is no limit to the number of posts and replies you can make during the week, more frequent involvement with the materials and your group members almost assures that you can earn the maximum score and achieve a 100%, A+ on these forums. THE GOOD Forum 2 participation was MUCH BETTER than Forum 1. The level of detail and analysis was also more complete, so congratulations on that. I have turned on the visibility of both forums so you can “see” what the other group members were talking about during the week. Although you can no longer post or reply in either forum, you might be interested in finding out if others in class agreed with your points, or perhaps something was discussed in one group that was not discussed in another. We will have more forums in the second half of this class, so I would suggest that you take some time to look. Can you spot the excellent (3 point) posts or replies? WEEK 5 You had NO HOMEWORK (no assignments or forums) last week, in hopes that you would use the time to complete your last reading and viewing assignments and then focus your studies on the study list and prepare for your midterm exams. MIDTERM EXAM You will take your midterm exams starting tomorrow Monday, of week 6. See the appropriate dates and testing lab links and hours of operation in Moodle. Your midterm exam covers the materials assigned in weeks one through five. In short, that is chapters 1-5 of the Herring textbook, DVD episodes 1 through 5, and the web videos, forum materials, and maps. Be sure that you use the midterm exam review list and map, located in Moodle. The testing lab on LCC Main Campus is in CEN456, and there is a link to it in Moodle. You must bring a photo ID with you when you go to take the exam. You are not allowed to have any books or notes while you take the test. Saturday, May 9 is the very last day you can take your midterm exam, and it must be submitted by 1pm, the time the lab closes for the day. The lab staff will not let any student begin a test within one hour of closing time on any given day. Although there is no time limit to the test, and most students will complete the test within one hour, you must complete the test before the testing lab closes. Also, the testing center administers tests for almost all classes in the Social Science and Distance Learning Departments. It is the mid-way point in the term, and many students will be taking midterm exams. The message here is simple... do not wait until the last minute to take your exam. Have a successful midterm exam. P.S. Students are STRONGLY encouraged to complete their midterm exams EARLY in week 6, say by Wednesday. That will leave the remainder of the week for the new reading and viewing assignments. Students who procrastinate and wait until the end of the week will essentially give themselves a double reading and viewing assignment for weeks 6 & 7 AND there will also be a forum in Week 7. Also remember that the week 6 reading and viewing subject matter is NOT on the midterm exam, so it would be unwise to study or expose yourself to this material before completing your midterm exam. HST195 - Midterm Exam Ends Tomorrow, Saturday by Joe Escobar - Friday, May 8, 2015, 11:31 AM Hello all, Just a reminder that your midterm exams are due tomorrow, Saturday at 1pm. Over half of the class has not yet taken the test, so be sure to do so today, Friday before 5pm, or tomorrow at the very latest. See the link for the Testing Lab hours in Moodle. Be sure to bring your photo ID to the lab. I hope everyone is keeping up with this week's reading and viewing assignment. The Week 7 schedule has been up for a couple of days, and I will open our next forum on Saturday, giving you an "extra day" to earn your 9 points for the eight-day-long forum. That's all for now. HST195 - Midterm Exams Are Over by Joe Escobar - Monday, May 11, 2015, 9:45 AM Hello Students, MIDTERM EXAMS Midterm exams are over. Throughout my teaching career, I have always adjusted exam grades. (I do not curve them.) The adjustments are always upward, and never penalize students. If I throw a bad question out, and you had gotten it right, you still get the point. For all students, I remove one of the points possible, which helps everyone. I've taken a look at Midterm Exam scores, run an item analysis to look for mistakes and bad questions, and considered test difficulty rating and class average. After careful consideration, I have made a 7.5% upward adjustment to your midterm exam scores. This is a hefty increase, considering 10% is a full letter grade. Your current class grade is now reflected in the Moodle gradebook. Contact me individually if you have any questions about your scores or if you'd like to go over your exam. GRADE PROJECTIONS At this point in the term, many students would like to know what is the highest possible grade they could earn in the class if they do well for the rest of the term. I have calculated the highest grade you can earn by “acing out”, that is, earning full credit (100%) for every remaining assignment, forum, and final exam. Therefore, I've put a link in Moodle in the top block called Grade Projections. After clicking this link, and entering the last 4 digits of your student L#, you will see what the Moodle grade book shows, PLUS the very important HIGHEST GRADE you can earn line at the bottom. YOUR FINAL EXAM Your final exam will NOT be cumulative and will focus on material covered from week 6 onward. Of course, you will still have to know the basics from the first half of class, such as who Ho Chi Minh and LBJ are, where Hanoi and Saigon are located, the communism "thing", etc. EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY The only extra credit opportunity in class is now visible in Moodle. For those who choose to complete this assignment, the deadline is at the end of week 8, on Sunday at 11:55pm. You must plan ahead. You do not get until the very end of the term to decide whether or not to complete this work, which will be helpful for students with borderline grades. FORUM 3 IS OPEN Finally, your third forum has been open for your posts and replies since this past Saturday. Unfortunately, as of this announcement (Monday at 9:45am) no one has made a single post yet. I've included a Forum Expectations list in week 7 so that all students can see how they can achieve a 100% on the remaining class forums. The original How forums are graded guidelines are still in effect, but I just thought this bullet list would be helpful. Why don’t you make your first post now, instead of waiting until the initial Wednesday deadline? LCC WEEK 8 SCHEDULE CHANGE DEADLINE LCC has a very important campus-wide deadline at the very end of week 8, next week. Students can use the LCC Week 8 deadline to make any and all schedule changes. If you don't like your current class grade, aren't doing the class work (forum posting, assignment writing, textbooks readings, video viewing, extra credit, etc.), or won't be able to put the time in to score a high final exam grade, then please take this opportunity to change your course schedule for this HST195 History of the Vietnam War course (and/or for any LCC course you are enrolled in). Change the grade option to either an AUDIT or a Pass/No Pass. Neither will negatively affect your GPA. You can also drop a course so that your college transcript won't have any record of your attendance or performance in the class. Since I cannot possibly know what will be the best option for your specific situation, such as financial aid or GPA requirements for your desired program or transfer degree, please check with your counselor or advisor first, before making any changes. They will be able to let you know what options you can pursue given your academic program or educational goals. Regardless, be sure that you make a decision and actually login to ExpressLane to make those changes by this coming deadline. I can’t tell you how many students message me in weeks 9 or 10, or even during Finals Week to ask what they can do to make a change for this class. My answer to them has been simple. “Nothing.” The time to make those changes by the end of week 8 of the term (next week). To make changes, login to ExpressLane at http://www.lanecc.edu That is all for now. Good luck with your studies for the remaining 4 weeks of the term. HST195 - Forum 3 Update by Joe Escobar - Thursday, May 14, 2015, 12:39 PM Hello all, As week 7 comes to an end, and you are busy in Forum 3 (with initial posts due last night), I've just added a second page of information and questions which should keep the conversation active and lively until Sunday evening's deadline. Take a look. HST195 - Week 8 Reminder and MORE by Joe Escobar - Wednesday, May 20, 2015, 10:28 AM Hello students, Forum 3 & The Moodle Gradebook Your participation in Forum 3 has been scored. Overall, great job. It seems most students are truly participating in the spirit of the online forum discussions. Students thoughtfully agreed and disagreed with one another, posting and replying long before the last day deadline. Sources were cited, adding credibility to your arguments, some used relevant pictures to help illustrate their positions, and posts and replies were made THROUGHOUT the week, making this one of your best forums this term. A majority of participants ended up accumulating MORE than the maximum number of points for the week (posting MORE than the minimum number of times) and earned themselves an A+ on this forum. Congratulations. PLEASE NOTE: Since this is the first and ONLY score in the 25% weighted online category for the class, it currently has a massive affect on your overall class grade. As you complete the remaining online work for the last half of class, your overall class grade will definitely change. If you scored 100% on Forum 3, then the grade change will be downward, unless, of course, you score 100% on Assignment 2 (due at the end of this week) and 100% on Forums 4&5 (the weeks after). My hope is that it will provide encouragement as we complete the last 3 weeks of the term. Assignment 2 This coming Sunday, you will submit your second paper in this class, based on Parts 4 & 5 of the Appy textbook. See the assignment and instructions in Moodle. Be sure to take the lessons learned from your first written assignment and apply them to this one. LCC WEEK 8 SCHEDULE CHANGE DEADLINE This is a reminder for a very important LCC deadline. Please remember that the LCC Week 8 deadline to make any and all schedule changes is THIS coming Friday at 5pm. If you don't like your current class grade, aren't doing the class work (forum posting, assignment writing, textbooks readings, video viewing, etc.), or won't be able to put the time in to score a high final exam grade, then please take this opportunity to change your course schedule for this HST195 History of the Vietnam War course (and/or any LCC course you are enrolled in) by Friday. Change the grade option to either an AUDIT or a Pass/No Pass. Neither will negatively affect your GPA. You can also drop a course so that your college transcript won't have any record of your attendance or performance in the class. Since I cannot possibly know what will be the best option for your specific situation, such as financial aid or GPA requirements for your desired program or transfer degree, please check with your counselor or advisor first, before making any changes. They will be able to let you know what options you can pursue given your academic program or educational goals. Regardless, be sure that you make a decision and actually login to ExpressLane to make those changes by this coming Friday. I can’t tell you how many students message me in weeks 9 or 10, or even during Finals Week to ask what they can do to make a change for this class. My answer to them has been simple. “Nothing.” The time to make those changes ends at the end of week 8 of the term. To make changes, login to ExpressLane at http://www.lanecc.edu EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY The only extra credit opportunity in class has been visible since the midterm exam closed. For those who choose to complete this assignment, the deadline is at the end of week 8, THIS WEEK, on Sunday at 11:55pm, which happens to be the same deadline for Assignment 2. You do not get until the very end of the term to decide whether or not to complete this work, so plan ahead. That’s all for now. Good luck with your studies as we complete the last 3 weeks of the term. HST195 - Week 9 Reminder by Joe Escobar - Sunday, May 24, 2015, 1:05 PM Hello all, Just a brief reminder that Assignment 2 is due tonight by 11:55pm. If you have chosen to complete the extra credit assignment, it is also due at that same time. Forum 4 is now open. You will have until next Sunday evening to complete the online discussions. I urge you, once again, to participate continually throughout this week, and be sure to make AT LEAST one post before the Wednesday deadline. Good luck in these last two weeks of the term. HST195 - Week 10 by Joe Escobar - Tuesday, June 2, 2015, 11:41 AM Hello all, FINAL EXAM STUDY LIST As promised, you will find the final exam study list in Moodle. The list is alphabetized and also includes map locations you should know. EXTRA CREDIT You have a last minute extra credit opportunity now appearing in Week 11 Final Exam Week. See the anonymous survey called Student Evaluation of Instruction & Course. All is explained there. MINI LECTURE I'll make a couple of historical observations that I hope all of you keep in mind as we conclude the last week of class. Tet was indeed a turning point in the Vietnam War, but to conclude that the end of the war was "at hand" would be incorrect. The Commander-in-Chief changed that year, and so would U.S. foreign policy. Vietnamese casualties would increase after Tet, American forces would not be withdrawn until 1973, nearly four years later. It would be another two years until Saigon fell to the NVA. So, we still have much to discover in our study of the last seven years of this war. While it is true that a just over 50% of Americans polled began to see U.S. involvement in Vietnam a mistake after 1968, "polled" Americans does NOT equal "all" Americans. The biggest mistake students studying the Vietnam War make is to take this poll data and conclude that a majority of Americans became active protesters against the war. That is just not historically correct. Take a look at the online video clip for week 10 paying particular attention to the group which came to be called "hard hats". Moreover, people automatically conclude that Richard Nixon could not have been a popular president, given his actions in Vietnam and later Watergate and his subsequent resignation from office. To counter that simplified view, I implore you to look at election results in Wikipedia, from Nixon's first election to his re-election. (Basically, take a look at the election result numbers, electoral vote, map of the USA). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1968 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1972 And in 1972, McGovern was the anti-war candidate ! AND, this election occurred AFTER student protesters of the war were shot and killed at Kent State University in 1970. !!! Given these historical facts, take care as you study the final years of the war. Be cautious and avoid arriving at conclusions that you cannot support with data from the historical record. I look forward to your discussions in Forum 5. HST195 - Final Exam Week Begins by Joe Escobar - Sunday, June 7, 2015, 11:13 PM Hello Students, FORUM 5 Your final posts and replies are due tonight by 11:55pm. This will be your final scored assignment other than the final exam. FINAL EXAM WEEK Tomorrow, Monday is the start of Final Exam Week. Final Exam Week concludes on THURSDAY. You will take your exam in the testing lab (where you took your midterm) on any of these days and times, whichever is most convenient for you. Monday through Wednesday 8:30 am - 7:00 pm Thursday 8:30 am - 5:00 pm CLOSED ON FRIDAY FINAL CLASS GRADES I WILL HIDE ALL MOODLE GRADES AT 5PM ON THURSDAY, when final exams have been completed. I will then do as I did for the midterm exam. I'll run an item analysis, check for poor questions, consider exam difficulty, make any upward grade adjustments, etc. ONCE I HAVE FINISHED WITH THIS PROCESS, sometime on the weekend, I will unhide all Moodle grades, send you a final announcement, and you will see your final grade in the course. Please, no emails or Moodle messages saying "I can't see my grade" between 5pm Thursday and whenever you get my email announcement. EXTRA CREDIT I want to thank those of you who have completed the Student Evaluation of Instruction and Course survey (in Moodle). If you have not yet completed it, please do so now. Check the Moodle gradebook and look for a “1” next to the survey. A "1" is automatically entered in the grade book when you submit the survey. This survey is due by 5pm on Thursday in order to receive the 1% extra credit. You will not be allowed to complete this survey in the testing lab, so be sure to do it at home. I appreciate your candid feedback for things that worked well and things that can be improved for future classes. Good luck with your final exam. HST195 - Final Exam Ends Tomorrow by Joe Escobar - Wednesday, June 10, 2015, 9:05 PM Hello Students, Just a short reminder that final exams end tomorrow, Thursday at 5pm. The testing lab won't allow any students to begin an exam after 4pm. Don't wait until the last minute as there are no make up exams. Only 9 out of 28 students have taken the exam so far. Also, tomorrow is the deadline for completing the anonymous class survey to receive the 1% extra credit point. I hope you take advantage of this opportunity to give me and my future students some helpful feedback about this class. HST195 - End of Term - Last Announcement by Joe Escobar - Friday, June 12, 2015, 12:48 PM Hello students, FINAL EXAMS The term has come to a conclusion, and final exams are over. The class final exam score average was higher than the midterm, as I expected it would be. After consulting the item analysis and the class average, your final exam scores were increased by just 2.5%. Congratulations everyone. Final course grades have been calculated and are now available on the class Moodle site. Look at the TOP line of the gradebook, which reads: FINAL Grade in Class - Percentage Grade - Letter Grade to see your final grade in this class. EXTRA CREDIT - READ CAREFULLY If you completed the Student Evaluation of Instruction & Course extra credit survey, you will see a line at the bottom of the Moodle gradebook that reads: Student Evaluation of Instruction & Course 1 100.0% A+ (if you did not complete it, then you will only see dashes “-“) IMPORTANT NOTE: If you completed the survey, then your final grade in class percentage is actually one percentage point higher than what you see in the gradebook. (Moodle cannot automatically add one extra credit point to a class that uses weighted grades as ours does.) You must manually add the extra credit 1% to your percentage on the top line. That is the grade you've earned and will see on your official transcript. If you had a 75% C, now you have a 76% C. If you had a 79% C+, you would now have an 80% B-. In some cases, this 1% will make a difference in the letter grade. In other cases, it will have little effect. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that you check your official LCC transcript grades, available next week. The Moodle and ExpressLane systems are not "connected" for grading, so it is possible that data entry mistakes could occur, although I believe I've been very careful. If you were one of the few students who completed the Extra Credit Movie Review, then you will add ANOTHER 1% to your final class grade. CLASS EVALUATIONS I thank those of you who took the time to complete the survey. I plan to read it over the summer and put your good ideas to work for students who take my courses in future terms. Enjoy your Summer.