Dear POLI 1 students, and esp my online students who are not in class with me this week!
You have signed up for or are waitlisted for one of my POLI 1 classes. This is a long letter with a lot of explanation. It may seem overwhelming in its detail at first, but you’ll find that the class actually is very straight-forward and easy to understand once you spend the time to learn the basics of the class. I strongly encourage you to get to a tutorial help-session with one of our Class TAs in the first week of the term to touch base and understand the class. And, I’ll give you extra credit for doing so too!
In the meanwhile, please read on!
Warmly,
Nicky Gonzalez Yuen, Ph.D., JD
Instructor, DeAnza College Political Science Department
p.s. GOOD LUCK THIS TERM, and remember, you all are really smart!
Participation is Key to Your Learning: Right off, you should know that this is a hands-on and participatory version of POLI 1 (even the online version of this class.)If you are looking for a class where you only read material and take tests anonymously, you should opt to take someone else’s class.I require a lot of publicinteraction both on-line and also in your community. You will be able to flexibly schedule a lot of this work into your own schedulebut public and hands-on learning and engagement will be a core part of your learning experience.
How to Understand the Structure of the Class:
First off: Watch these orientation videos we made last year. I am in the process of revising anew Parts 2 and 3 because I have recently made a number of revisions for the class assignments. ALSO read the rest of this letter for specific details.
- Orientation Video Part 1-From fall 2014 class. Especially for online students but also helpful for on campus students.
- Orientation Videos 2 and 3- TBA
- Orientation Video Part 4-- how to navigate the main class website--
- Orientation Video Part 5- Using Assignment Templates
All of the details of this class are explained on the class website on my personal teaching webpage at
If you go directly to this URL you will see that there are several tabs at the top of the page for different classes I teach. If you are an online student, you should focus your attention on the Online Poli 1 (Dist Lrning) tab.
If you are in the on-campus version of the class, look for POLI 1 (on campus).
Once you have clicked on this tab you will then notice three major sub-tabs for
I) Syllabus
II) How to Succeed
III) Class Calendar
We’ll examine each of these below.
I) SYLLABUS:
If you hover over the Syllabus link itself you will see the following drop down menus:
□Overview and Learning Goals
□Required Texts
□Grading & Assignments
□Turning In Work
□Hands-on Learning
□Extra Credit
Let's focus on each of these in turn.
- Overview and Learning Goals. This page describes the six class learning goals. You can also find a chart that provides an overall summary of the class topics and work due for the quarter. You should understand these learning goals because ALL other assignments in the class are aimed at accomplishing these learning goals.
- Required Texts:This explains what books and articles you should acquire. Most of these are on-line and free, but will need one magazine subscription for The Nation (cost= about $10.00); and there is one book you will have to buy, The Politics of Power, 7th Edition.
- Grading and Assignments: This sub-tab explains how you earn points in the class and what you need to do to earn a given grade. You will see that we offer a variety of modes of learning and ways of demonstrating your learning. For the class there are 1000 possible points and to earn an "A" grade you need just 934. If you are taking the class on a pass/fail basis,you need just 700 points. There are also 150 points of possible extra credit.
- Each week you have two+ things to turn in:
1) A Weekly Quiz taken online by Wednesday at 10 PM for online students or Wed an hour before class time for on-campus students.
2) A participation chat dialogue you will carry out with a class partner, due Fridays at 10 PM for online students and at class time for on campus students.
3) And a number of additional homework assignments throughout the quarter.
Note: during week #1, you will have a variety of different assignments due by Saturday that are orientation/set-up assignments. If you do not complete these, you may be dropped from the class for non-participation.
- On the Grading and Assignments sub-tab, you can also click on various links for directions for each of these assignments. We include: a weekly multiple choice quiz and chat dialogue; 3 civic engagement field reports; a midterm paper; and a final term project due at week 12.
- Please come up with a plan for yourself at the beginning of the term to get in all your work,being careful to note that online classes take more discipline, self-motivation and organization. Best practices for college-level classes call for from 2-3 hours of homework for each hour/unit of class credit, in addition to class time.If you are taking the online version of this class, add in the 4 hours for class time.You should therefore plan to spend between 12 and 16 hours.
- Turning in Work: This sub-tab explains how and where to turn in your assignments. All of your work will be turned in and graded on-line using two methods:
- Catalystis De Anza's on-line learning tool.You will use Catalyst primarily to take your weekly quiz. If you are new to Catalyst, go to the"First Time Users Guide"at the bottom of the splash page for help.You can also use Catalyst to check your grade progress using the “Grades” link under Course administration tab on the left side of your menu bar in Catalyst.
- Turnitin.com is a service that allows us to evaluate and provide feedback for your work quickly and efficiently.You will use turnitin.com to submit all of your assignments except your online weekly quiz.
- Photos and Cover Sheets: all written assignments will include a cover sheet/template that should include a photo of you with a close-up that clearly shows your face. You will find the coversheet/template on the weekly calendar on nypolisci.org. Please follow directions for these templates/coversheets.Incomplete templates or templates without your photo may not be accepted or may receive reduced credit.
- Due Dates: You can find when each assignment is due on the weekly class calendar, explained below.
- Hands-On Learning:this sub-tab describes the class’s Civic Engagement Field Work assignments. Over the quarter you will carry out 12 hours of volunteer civic engagement work and turn in 3 Field Work reports.
- Extra Credit Options:The contents of this tab are pretty self-explanatory. You may earn up to 150 points of extra credit total. Due weekly on Fridays and ending at week 11. Again, be sure to include a close-up photo showing your face with your submission.
II) CLASS CALENDAR & ASSIGNMENTS:
The second main tab I would like to focus on is the Class Calendar.
If you hover over the calendar you will see a drop-down list showing Week #1, Week #2, etc. up to Week #12. Click on any of these to see the reading and homework assignments due for that week.
Week #1:The assignments for the first week mostly have to do with setting up the logistics of the class, setting up your Catalyst and Turnitin.com accounts, Facebook page, taking two surveys and the syllabus quiz, posting on the introductory forum and finding a participation partner from your group, etc… Please complete these assignments, fill out the appropriate template form and submit them on turnitin.com. There is also some reading you should do for Week 1 on the class website, especially reading the syllabus itself, but your substantive class reading and regular assignments will start in Week 2.
Week #2 and on:At the top of each Week’s webpage page you will see a list of Assigned Readings and Online Video Resources. Do these. You can also click on the audio links next to most assignments to listen to the assignments rather than reading them, if this is a more convenient mode of engaging the assigned readings.You can also click on the optional reading linkfor deeper learning but this is totally optional and no class credit is offered for these assignments.
You will have 2 regular assignments to turn in for each week: Weekly Quizzes and Class Participation. From time to time you will have an additional writing assignment depending on the week.
□WeeklyQuizzes: Quizzes are taken on Catalyst.EachWeekly Quiz will have 10 questions and you will be given 15 minutes. For the Week 1 & 2 quiz you will have multiple attempts at the quiz. For Week #3 and onward you will have increasingly fewer attempts. I will count your high score so keep taking the quiz until you get the score you want or you run out of attempts. Quizzesshould be completed by 10:00PM on Wednesday. Weekly Quizzes are worth 30 points each. Over the quarter you will have 11 quizzes. I will drop the low score among these quizzes. So there are a total of 300 quiz points.
□Hands-On Learning/Civic Engagement Field Work: For this part of the class you work for a political group/campaign/organization for 12 hours over the quarter. You will choose from our pre-screened list being sure to find a placement that matches your availability and interestes. You will then turn in 3 Civic Engagement Field Reports with at least 2 hours and not more than 8 hours of work reported each time. These are worth 250 points total over the quarter and are uploaded to at weeks 5, 8, and 11. You must decide at week 2 which placement option you will choose.
□Note: Your Field Work will dove-tail with your term project (worth an additional 150 points), making that assignment much easier to accomplish.
□Class Participation: Online studentswill also engage in classparticipation by finding a partner within your assigned group and carrying out a weekly interview/dialogue in a chat session using a series of prescribed questions as well as two questions of your own. This is your opportunity both to reflect on your substantive learning of the class material and also your process as a student. This will be your best opportunity to give and receive peer-based support for your learning in this class. Our on-campus students participate in class, and then also do a short chat each week with a classroom partner.
You will choose the forum for your chat sessions. You may use the Chat Room provided each week on Catalyst (but make sure you coordinate with the rest of your group members so you do not conflict with other group members trying to use the chat room at the same time). You may also: set up a free account on or use any other method of chatting you choose PROVIDED it has a time/date stamp.
Submitting your assignment:After you carry out your chat room dialogue/interview, be sure you copy it and paste it into the assignment template we provide and then submit it to the participation assignment on As usual, make sure you also provide a close-up photo of yourself showing your face.This is worth up to 10 points per week and should be uploaded to on Fridays at 10 PM for online students and Wednesdays at class time for on-campus students.
WEEK 1 & 12: There are a also few mandatory week 1 and week 12 miscellaneous participation assignments with over 30 points:
□Introductory Class Survey
□Political Science Department Civic Attitude Survey
□Finding Your Chat Partner
□Setting up your Catalyst Account with a Photo
□Setting up your Turnitin.com account
□Setting up your class Facebook account and making an initial post
□Taking the Week 1 Syllabus Quiz
□Filling out your Class Exit Survey (Unit 12)
□Completing the Political Science Department Civic Attitude Survey part 2
FACEBOOK PAGE: There is a class Facebook page where you will interact with other students in the class, ask and answer questions, comment on class material, post related articles, videos, etc. We use of the class Facebook page not only because it is a useful source of information and interaction about the class, but also because it, along with many other forms of social media, is an indispensible means of political communication in contemporary society. If peer-to-peer participation is the lifeblood of a democracy, then Facebook and other means of communication using social media are essential tools to master. So, go ahead and play with this and see how it works. If you are not comfortable using your real name on Facebook, you may set up an alias account using your real first name and a pseudonym for your last name. Just be sure to let ME know who you are on Facebook and keep reminding me!
HOW TO SUCCEED:
This is the final major tab you should look at. It describes resources available to you to help you out, including a list of Teaching Assistants and a schedule of help sessions (for which you can earn extra credit!!)
I hope this overview has been helpful to you. Please post questions you have on the class Facebook page the Catalyst Forum or write back to me directly via email at .
GOOD LUCK THIS TERM, and remember, you all are really smart!
Nicky Gonzalez Yuen, Ph.D, JD
Chair, DeAnza College Political Science Dept