This syllabus is subject to revision as necessary at any time during the term

GENERAL INFORMATION

GGR 346 - Geography of the United States (3 Units)
Department of Geography, Planning & Recreation
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Dr. Alan A. Lew (Alan.Lew@nau.edu)
Office Location: SBS West (Bldg 70), Room 230
Office Hours: by appointment only during Winter session
Mailing Address: Dept. of Geography Planning & Recreation, NAU Box 15016, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5016
Tel: 928-523-6567 (office); 928-523-2650 (dept.); Fax: 928-523-2275 (attn: Dr Lew); Skype: alanalew

• Off-Campus Students: If you want to talk by phone, send an e-mail and the Professor will call you from Flagstaff. You can also arrange to meet in the Blackboard-Vista CHAT ROOM to address your questions.

COURSE FORMAT: 100% online using Blackboard-VISTA - The Class Homepage is http://vista.nau.edu
You must log in using your NAU Dana or Jan account. You should bookmark this website.

• Registered students will not be able to access the VISTA version of this class (or any other class) until the First Day of Classes of the Term
  
  
• If you Register for the class AFTER the FIRST ASSIGNMENT is Due - Click Here

ACCELERATED CLASS

• This is an 4 Week accelerated class. The same material that is normally covered in 16 weeks is presented in 4 weeks. Overall, you should, therefore, expect more than twice the workload that you would normally encounter in this class each week. Please pace yourself accordingly -- Do not fall behind on your assignments as you may never catch up!

AUDIO PODCASTS (via Wimba and iTune U)

Audio Communications by the Instructor will be available in Blackboard-Vista using Wimba Audio Board and Apple iTunesU. Links will be availble in the Learning Module of the class to these two audio players. You will need to have Apple iTunes installed on your computer to use iTunesU. You do not need to install anything to listen to using Wimba Audio Board.

All Audio Communications from your instructor are REQUIRED -- You must listen to these for information that might not be available in other places. (If you have hearing difficulties, please contact your instructor as soon as possible to arrange and alternative form of delivery of this information.)

Bb-Vista Who's Online Chat

If you have a question and would like a more instance response, then click on the "Who's Online" link in Bb-Vista. If I show up on the list, then click on me to invite me to a chat session.

LEARNING MODULES - Assignment Instructions are in the Learning Modules

1. Click on "Course Content" (on the sidebar menu) OR on "Learning Modules"
2. Then on "First Half of the Class"
3. Then on "Module Instructions" for the first module, to get started.

You will mostly be working on your own in the class and you will be entirely responsible for your own work. This class requires an enormous amount of SELF DISCIPLINE. To consider whether or not you should continue with the class, it is recommended that you read: Taking Planning Education to the World: Online Teaching at NAU

All Assignments have specified due dates and times. Please note that these are all Arizona Standard Time. If you live in a different time zone, you must compensate for the difference.

EMAIL POLICY:

Prior to the first day of classes, and after the last day of classes, correspondence should be sent to the class Professor (see above) . You can also email the class Instructor at these times, but you will not be guaranteed a timely response.

All Correspondence starting the First Day of Classes must take place through the BB-VISTA website (http://vista.nau.edu).

• If you cannot use BB-VISTA for some reason, please use your DANA or JAN account to send email message. These are the official and only acceptable email servers for all NAU email correspondence. Use of non-Dana/Jan email accounts will not be responded to.
  
  
• To Send an Email from VISTA: Click On MAIL on the left sidebar menu; Click on CREATE MESSAGE; Click on BROWSE FOR RECIPIENTS and then click on either your Instructor's or Professor's name, or on All Instructors. click on SAVE; Compose your message; then SEND it.
  

All Written Assignments must be submitted through Bb-Vista. Any assignment emailed outside of Bb-Vista will be ignored. Contact the NAU Help Desk (see below) if you cannot send an email or an assignment within Vista.

VISTA HELP: If you are having PROBLEMS WITH Blackboard-VISTA ...

FIRST: Contact the NAU Help Desk as soon as you encounter a problem that, if not resolved, will result in a loss of points.

• Write Down the NAME of the person you are speaking with, the TIME that you are talking to them, WHAT THEY SAID to try and resolve the problem, or not.

SECOND: If your assignment will still be late, then contact your instructor as soon as you have finished talking to the Help Desk and let them know what is going on, and so they have a record of when you attempted to submit the assignment.

• Clearly describe what the problem was, when it took place, and what you did to try and fix it.
• Include the NAME of the Help Desk person you spoke with, the TIME and DAY that you called the Help Desk, and What the Help Desk person said.
  

Contact the NAU STUDENT TECHNOLOGY CENTER Help Desk at:
Flagstaff: 928-523-9294
Toll free: 1-888-520-7215
On the web: https://www4.nau.edu/stc/
Via e-mail:StudentComputing@nau.edu

For a comprehensive list of resources available to web students please visit: http://www.distance.nau.edu/guide/student_resources.aspx

COURSE DESCRIPTION:  Analysis of the relationships between physical (geology, climate, vegetation) and cultural (historical, cultural, economic) aspects of the United States, with an emphasis on contemporary geographic patterns and trends. The class readings and quizzes cover all of the topics above.

Prerequisites: None, other than the ability to use a Web-browser and E-mail.

COURSE GOAL: Students taking this course will study the U.S. from a geographic perspective and will learn how to understand and interpret the diverse and complex physical and human factors that shape landscapes of this country.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: By the end of the term, students will know ...
    1- How the geologic history of different regions of the U.S. shape the landscape
    2- How climatic differences shape the character of different regions
    3- How the cultures of different regions in the U.S. have formed over time
    4- How contemporary social processes are affecting regions and the country overall

ASSUMPTIONS/PREREQUISITES:There are No Prerequisite Courses for this class. Access to and use of the Internet are required, as is a computer that is Blackboard-Vista compatible. Students are expected to have:

1. Good familiarity with personal computers, the Internet and World Wide Web.
2. Ability to use a word processor, such as Microsoft Word, which can be found in all of the NAU computer labs.
3. Access to the WWW from a computer that meets the Blackboard-Vista System Requirements.
• On the Blackboard-Vista login page is a link to Check Your Browser. Click on that link. All Checks Must Be GREEN. If any are Red, you must fix them. If you do not know how, call the NAU Student Help Desk.
4. Your computer must be able to play MP3 audio files, which includes speakers or headphones of some kind.
5. Ability to devote an average of 36 hours a week to this class for the Winter Session -- this is based on the fact that a full-time load of 15 credit hours is roughly equivalent to 40 to 45 hours of work a week during a regular semester.

Click Here for special requirements for students who Registered AFTER the First Assignment is Due.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK:

Geography USA: A Virtual Textbook by Alan A. Lew – the class textbook - this is available for free through the Blackboard-Vista class website.

COURSE SCHEDULE & WORKLOAD

Click Here to view a Draft Class Schedule.

The Official Course Schedule is kept in the CALENDAR link within BB-VISTA. Note that you can also add your own, private, entries into the VISTA Calendar. You should check the Calendar daily (as well as your VISTA email) to make sure that you are getting your assignments done.

• If you Register for the class AFTER the FIRST ASSIGNMENT is Due - Click Here

You will mostly be working on your own in the class and you will be entirely responsible for your own work. This class requires an enormous amount of SELF DISCIPLINE.

All Assignments have specified due dates and times. Please note that these are all Arizona Standard Time. If you live in a different time zone, you must compensate for the difference.

CLASS WORKLOAD

The Arizona Board of Regents Contact Hour Policy (ABOR Handbook, 2-206, Academic Credit) states: "an hour of work is the equivalent of 50 minutes of class time . . . at least 15 contact hours or recitation, lecture, testing or evaluation, seminar, or colloquium as well as a minimum of 30 hours of student homework is required for each unit of credit."

The interpretation of this policy is that for every credit hour, a student should expect, on average, to do a minimum of three hours of work per week. A three credit hour class should average nine hours of work per week over the semester.

Note that some questions in the Syllabus Quiz assumes you are taking a Semester Class, so answer the questions accordingly.

ASSIGNMENTS

POLICIES:

1. ALL ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS ARE ACCESSED through the LEARNING MODULE titled All Assignments in Bb-Vista.
   
   
2. ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION VERIFICATION: You are responsible for verifying that your assignment was properly submitted.
   • For assignments that are posted in Bb-VISTA, you must Reload/Refresh your screen to check that the assignment is indeed posted for others to see. (Click on the Refresh or Reload button on your browser.)
   • For assignments that are e-mailed to your Professor, you are required to check your Mail OUTBOX to verify that it was sent to the correct person.
   • If there is a problem in the posting of a grade, you must notify your Professor in a timely manner (within 5 days of when the points should be posted). If you wait beyond 10 days, you will receive fewer points. If you wait until the end of the class term, you may receive 0 points.
     • Note that most points will be posted within 1 week after the assignment was due.
       
       
3. WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
   • ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE CONSIDERED LATE IF RECEIVED AFTER 11:59 P.M. ON THEIR DATE DUE.
     • Written Assignments generally include Region Assignments, Issue Assignments, and Blog and Discussion Forum Assignments.
     • Due Dates and Times are all Arizona Standard Time. If you live in a different time zone, you must compensate for the difference.
       
       
   • LATE WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT POLICY: 35 points will be deducted for each day that an assignment is late. Late assignments will not be accepted after the points reach 0 (you can submit a 100 point assignment 2 days late and still get some points, after that you will get 0 points).
     • You must inform your instructor if you submit an assignment after its due date, but before its "0" point date. OItherwise your submission may not ever get graded.
     • When points are shared between two parts of an assignment, they will be deducted in proportion to the points for each part of the assignment.
     • You are also less likely to receive an immediate response to your assignment if it is late, since the class needs to move on and not as much time can be devoted to late assignments.
       
       
   • Submissions outside of Bb-VISTA will be ignored.
   • This late assignment policy does not apply to Quizzes. Quiz availability expires on a specific time and date -- they may not be taken after their due date and time, except as a Re-Take or Make-Up (see below).
     
     
4. QUIZZES
• QUIZZES ARE ALL DUE AT 11:59 p.m. ON THE DATE DUE. You will NOT be able to take the quiz after that time.
• You MUST get 30 Points (100%) on the Syllabus Quiz before you will be able to See and Take the First Chapter Quiz. You can retake the Syllabus Quiz as often as you like until you get 100% on it.
• Except for the Syllabus Quiz, all of the other Quizzes cover material in the online textbook.
• Most chapters of the online textbook begin with a feed of current news stories related to that chapter. Those news stories are Not Included in the quiz. They are there for your information only -- though they may be incorporated into the Written Assignments.
  
  
• FOR WINTER SESSION - Quiz Due Dates are grouped together on three Mondays. You can do the quizzes anytime that you want to prior to 11:59pm on their due date.
  • You should not try to do these all in one day, though it is possible to do two quizzes in one day. PLEASE SCHEDULE YOUR TIME APPROPRIATELY.
  • There is one Quiz Re-Take Day in the last week of the session. You may re-take any one of the previous quizzes on that day. You must inform the instructor prior to that day as to which quiz you will re-take. Full Instructions can be found by clicking on the Bb-Vista Calendar Entry on the Quiz Re-Take Day.
  • The MIDTERM and FINAL EXAMS for Winter Session are Both Due on the Last Day of Winter Session. You can do these exams at any time prior to that date.
    
    
• QUIZ RETAKE DAY
  • You will be allowed to make-up or retake one quiz during the Quiz Retake Day. You may retake the quiz to try to bring up a low score or to make up a quiz or written assignment that you missed.
    • You must request one quiz to retake by the due date on the class Calendar in Bb-Vista.
    • You must redo the quiz on the one day that is set aside for this on the class Calendar in Bb-Vista.
    • If you are retaking the quiz, you will only be allowed to take the quiz only one time because I will keep your highest score quiz from your first attempt.
    • If you are making up a missed quiz, then you will be allowed to take the quiz two times.
  • The Quiz Retake Day is near the end of the term and is indicated in the Bb-Vista Calendar.
  • IMPORTANT: To participate, you must inform the instructor of which quiz that you want to take or blog that you want to redo by the day indicated in the CALENDAR.
    
    
5. MAKE UP LATE ASSIGNMENTS - Both Written Assignments & Quizzes
   • Requests for make up assignments, both written assignments and quizzes, will only be allowed for reasons beyond the control of the student. In addition, you must provide:
   1. A clear and complete explanation of the reason the assignment is late, including why the assignment could not have been submitted before the problem arose;
   • Waiting until the last few hours before a quiz or an assignment is due and then running into a personal problem will not be considered an acceptable reason for why the assignment is late.
     • Note that NAU Computer Server problems are not your personal problems, and are therefore acceptable reasons for a late assignment. Your personal computer problems, however, are not acceptable.
       • PLEASE BACK UP YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER'S HARD DRIVE ON A REGULAR BASIS.
   2. Written proof, such as a letter from a doctor, minister or funeral home, or a letter from the NAU Dean of Students (or the Associate Dean of Students), supporting your justification
   • The Instructor Mailing address and Fax number are at the top of this syllabus.
   • You will receive less credit if you could have done the assignment before the problem arose.
   • See the section on Extra Credit (below) if late assignments become a problem for you.
     

COMMON ASSIGNMENT TYPES:

• All of the assignments are listed in the order they are to be done under the Learning Module titled "All Assignments". This link can be found either by clicking on the Course Contents link or the Learning Modules link, both of which are on the sidebar menu in Blackboard-Vista. Assignment Due Dates are listed on the Calendar link on the Blackboard-Vista sidebar menu.
  
  
• CLASS INTRO QUIZ (1 at 30 points): This quiz basically covers the syllabus. You are allowed to take this quiz as many times as you wish. You must score 100% on this quiz before you can take (or even see the link for) the Quizzes for Chapters 1 and 2.
  
  
• INTRODUCTION and REGION READING ASSIGNMENTS and QUIZZES (12 at 100 points each): You will work your way through the reading assignments. For each reading you will also be required to do a Quiz. You may take each quiz twice, though many of the questions will vary on the second attempt. The highest of your two attempts will be recorded. The quizzes are due by 11:59pm (midnight); you can still continue taking the quiz after that time, but the answers submitted after 11:59pm will not count towards your points. The Region Quizzes are worth 100 points each.
  
  
  • ALL CHAPTER QUIZZES ARE AVAILABLE STARTING ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS UNTIL THEIR DUE DATE. You must, however, get 30 points on Quiz 1 before you will be able to see Quizzes 2 & 3.
    
    
• MIDTERM and FINAL REVIEW EXAMS (2 at 100 points each): These are the same as the Chapter Quiz Assignments, except that the purpose is to review material presented previously in the class. There will be one in the middle of the class (after we finish the Eastern US) and one at the end (which will cover everything since the Midterm Exam, and possibly some comprehensive questions).
  .
  
• ISSUE ASSIGNMENTS - SPECIAL TOPICS (4 at 100 points each, total 370 points) - These assignments in form of online discussions papers that are posted on the class discussion site at Ning.com. Before the start of the term, you will receive an invitation to the Ning.com website. Please register for the site as soon as you can. The first assignment will be worth 70 points. The remaining three assignments will be worth 100 points each.
  

GRADING

The total points possible are:

• 1200 points - Reading Assignments Quizzes (12 x 100 points)
• 200 points - Midterm & Final Review Quizzes (2 x 100 points)
• 30 points - Syllabus Quiz (1 x 30 points)
• 400 points - Issue Assignments (4 x 100 points)
• = 1830 TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE
  

Grading is based on your percentage of the total points

The Grading Breakdown on 1830* points will be:

• To Receive an 'A' = 90% (minimum 1655* points)
• To Receive a 'B' = 80% (minimum 1464* points)
• To Receive a 'C' = 70% (minimum 1281* points)
• To Receive a 'D' = 60% (minimum 1098* points)
• Below 60% = ‘F’ (below 1098* points)
  

* The Total Points are subject to change as the semester progresses. The final grade is based on the % received of the final points in the class.

The 'A' grade is intended for students who consistently submit work that is both on time and superior to the majority of the rest of the class in a consistent manner throughout the term.

WARNING: Keep all of the work that you receive points for in this (and all of your classes)! If there is ever a discrepancy between what I have recorded and what you think you received, I will only change my record if you have your original work.

Grade Points will be posted in Blackboard-Vista.

EXTRA CREDIT

Your assignments are expected to be well written and checked for spelling and grammatical errors.

The web pages for this course should be the same -- though human error can occur. To help me maintain the class web pages as best as I can, you will receive 1 point for each typo or spelling error that you find in the text or assignment instructions and 2 points for each error that you find in the Quizzes. Only the First Person to find the error and inform the Instructor (Dr. Lew) of it will receive these points (yes, you should email Dr. Lew directly if you find something). You need to be clear as to where the problem is and what it is. And the error needs to be an obvious one, and not subject to semantic debate.

• These points will be placed in an Extra Credit column in the Grade book.
  
• The following words will often be tagged as typos in a spell checker. For this class, these are considered correct spellings: Checkin, Webpage, Website, Gradebook.
• Some international cities and countries have more than one correct spelling, both of which may be encountered in this class. Similarly, many scientific terms, commonly used in the physical and social sciences, will not be in most spell checkers. Before submitting these as potential typos, please do a more general search of the WWW to see if they are commonly used in academic publication.
• Some of the pages on the class website are developed by either VISTA or NAU, and not by Dr. Lew. These pages also have typos on them, but cannot be fix by Dr. Lew. In addition, Bb-Vista Announcement, Email messages, and Discussion Forum items cannot be corrected once they are posted. With all of these you will not receive extra credit for pointing out typos. Extra Credit is only available for pages that can be fixed.
  
  
• If you find a Typo in a quiz, please provide:
  1. The Quiz Number - because this class moves so fast, I cannot tell which quiz the problem is in unless you tell me.
  2. The attempt (first or second) that the typo was in. "Question 15" on the first attempt is not the same as "Question 15" on the second attempt.
  3. Give me more than just one word. A whole sentence is best.
• For Typos in the Chapter Reading and Issue Instructions:
  • Provide more than just one word. A whole sentence is best. I have to search the quiz to find the typo, and more words are helpful.

US GEOGRAPHY EVENTS

You can earn extra credit in this class by attending up to 2 events or activities (mostly public meetings and lectures) that are related to the class and writing a short report on the event and what you learned from it. Each report is worth up to 15 points and you may do no more than one report in one week. The Instructor will read and edit what you have written, and then post it on the class discussion list for other students to read.

Events and Activities Must Be Approved in Advance. Events must be approved by the instructor prior to its taking place. The Instructor may post announcements on the class announcement or email list of campus and community events that qualify - those that are posted will be automatically approved. However, you may also propose events, especially for events that are not in the Flagstaff area. The event or activity must take place during the time that you are taking this class. If you have any ideas for events (or other activities) that you would like to do, just get my approval -- preferably at least a week in advance.

The following examples from the Arizona Daily Sun website and the NAU events calendar website would all work, as would other events like them. The paper would need to emphasize tourism issues related to this class, which are given (in parentheses).

• Public Event: Flagstaff Underground Tour (Historical perspective on the development of a community)
• Public Presentation: River, Canyon and Dam Slide Show (USGS) (Physical geography presentation)
• Public Workshop: Downtown Flagstaff Accessibility Audit (Perspectives on the urban America built landscape)
• County Supervisors Meeting (Politics and decision making process - representing the American values and shaping the US landscape -- this one is a bit of a stretch, as you never know what they may be talking about. A Planning Commission meeting would be better, but I will accept a County Commission or City Council meeting, as well.)
• Public Presentation:: Ain’t It Purty: Tourist Impressions of Grand Canyon (tourist demand/experiences of place)

Fortunately, geography is a broad and interdisciplinary subject matter, and many (not all) topics that relate to the formation/history, culture, earth sciences, and landscapes of the US would qualify. There are a lot of such events on the NAU campus (as well as other university and college campuses).

There are No Other Extra Credit Options for this class. All students are treated the same, so any extra credit options that are adopted are only those that would be available to ALL students. (Do not ask for a special extra credit assignment that applies to you alone.)

OTHER POLICIES

INCOMPLETES

Incompletes will not be given without written recommendation by the Dean of Students.

• Please note that the university policy for an incomplete is that it is only granted to students who have completed most of the work for the class and are only tardy on a couple of assignments that would enable them to pass the class. In addition, the reason for not completing the tardy assignments must be beyond the student's control. Finally, the policy states that "After a grade is submitted to the Registrar, the grade may not be changed as the result of the addition of extra credit work not available to all students in the course and/or work not outlined in the syllabus or an addendum which was distributed during the semester."
• You must have completed at least 75% of the class to be considered to qualify for an Incomplete in this class.
• Incompletes must be requested and approved by the class Professor. You will work with the class Professor to finish the Incomplete.
• Note that many faculty at NAU have found that only 20% of students who take an Incomplete actually finish their classes successfully.

Retaking the Class to Raise Your Grade

If you are not receiving the grade that you prefer toward the end of the term, then the recommended action is to retake the class in another term and apply for a Grade Replacement using this form MS Word, .PDF - the form must be submitted at the time that you register for the class the second time. Note that the assignments will probably be different the second time that you take the class.

• Tips for Success in this Class
  
  

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY is a form of misconduct that is subject to disciplinary action under the Student Code of Conduct and includes the following (please check the appropriate block).

• Plagiarism: any attempt to knowingly or deliberately pass off other's work as your own.
• Cheating: any attempt to gain an unfair advantage over one's fellow students.
• Fabrication: any attempt to present information that is not true when the author knows the information presented is false.
• Fraud: any attempt to deceive an instructor or administrative officer of the university.
• Facilitating Academic Dishonesty: any attempt to assist an act of academic dishonesty by another individual.

You are expected to do all of the work yourself, and to properly reference any material that you use from other sources using standard referencing systems used in the social and physical sciences. If you need help with this, click here.

DO NOT COPY ANOTHER STUDENT’S WORK, even in part. DO NOT GIVE YOUR PAPER TO ANOTHER STUDENT TO TURN IN AS THEIR WORK.

• If you do either of these, at a minimum you will receive zero (0) points for the assignment AND a number of points equal to that of the assignment will be further deducted from your total. For example, for a 100 point assignment, you will get 0 for the assignment, and 100 points will be further deducted from your total.
• In addition, and you may be dismissed entirely from this class.
  

DO NOT COPY SOMETHING FROM ANY OTHER SOURCE WITHOUT A COMPLETE REFERENCE TO ITS ORIGINAL AUTHOR (Author, Title, Year, Publisher, Page numbers, and Access date and URL for Web material). Points will be deducted from assignments if you do not properly reference your sources. Using quotations from other sources should be kept to a minimum and only used where relevant..

• The following WWW site on doing research and avoiding electronic plagiarism is recommended reading for anyone doing research on the WWW: http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/internet/research.htm