Course Syllabus
for CRIJ 1306 Section 090
Court Systems and Practices
2010 Spring Standard Semester
Note to Students: This may not be the most recent syllabus for this course, and any dates shown may apply to a previous semester. Any assignments included in this syllabus may change in the syllabus distributed on the class start date. Textbook information in this syllabus may also change. For current textbook information, refer to the Course Details accessed by clicking the course title in the online Course Schedule.
COURT SYSTEMS AND PRACTICES (CRIJ 1306.090)
PALO ALTO COLLEGE
SPRING 2010
INTERNET COURSE
INSTRUCTOR:
STEVE MARDOCK
Phone: 210-486-3067
E-mail: smardock@alamo.edu
Fax:
Mailing Address: Department of Behavioral Sciences, 1400 W. Villaret, San Antonio, Texas 78224
Office Hours: call or email for appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course studies the judiciary in the criminal justice system. Included are the structure of the court system, right to counsel, pretrial release, grand juries, the adjudication process, types and rules of evidence, and sentencing. Prerequisite: NONE
TEXT: Americas Courts and the Criminal Justice System, 9th ed. Neubauer
In addition to the text, you may need to read the lecture notes and material in assigned web sites or other reading.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
A student who completes this course should be able to:
· Discuss the organization of the court system
· Describe the functions of each level of the judiciary
· Identify the major components of the criminal justice system
· Discuss the evidentiary process and admissibility
· Explain the role of the courts in society
· Explain the laws and rules of arrest, search, and seizure.
ATTENDANCE:
Since activities are presented online and discussions are asynchronous, students may attend class at their leisure that may be in your home, school, workplace, etc. However, even though there are no formal class sessions you should participate in discussions by way of the Discussion board. See Discussion Board below.
COURSE ORGANIZATION:
This course is arranged in a series of weekly assignments. Each weekly assignment will begin with instructions designating the required reading, web sites to access, quizzes to be taken for that week, etc. Click on Course Content and Assignments. You will notice that there is a table of contents with assignments arranged by week along with the quizzes. Each week we will begin a new chapter. Assignment Week One begins with chapter one on January 18. Assignment Week 2 begins on January 25 and so on. DO NOT begin "working" the assignments before the scheduled date unless I notify you otherwise because I will be updating these assignments during the week before. However, you may, for purposes of orienting yourself, view these files at will. After you enter a particular Assignment, you will find the initial instructions coded in red. Following these instructions are the Lecture Notes. These notes consist of the chapter outline for that particular week. They may include information that is not found in your text but you will be responsible for the information contained in them on subsequent tests. Also, the lecture notes are designed to help you to understand the material from the instructor's perspective. Between reading the material in the book and the lecture notes, you should have enough information to assist you in your understanding.
You will also be instructed on occasion to access a particular web site. By clicking on “Web Links” on the Navigation Links at top of the assignment page, you will open up a list of web site addresses and just click on the one that you have been instructed to read. Some of the weekly assignments will instruct you to take a Quiz that you will access by clicking on Assessments in the Navigation Links at the top of the page or under Course Tools. For more information on quizzes see below.
COMMUNICATION:
Discussion Board: The Discussion Board link can be found under Course Tools on the left hand side of the course. The Discussion board has three purposes. First, you must post a message on the Discussion board at least once during each week letting me know how you are doing. This takes the place of actual class attendance. Secondly, it is a place in which I will periodically post messages. These messages may advise of changes in the course or dates or other very important information. Therefore, it is imperative that you access this regularly. Historically, students who fail to maintain such communication do poorly in the course. Finally, The Discussion board will be used for purposes of discussion. Any student or myself may initiate a discussion. It may be about something you have read about in the text or about a current criminal justice related event. I expect that all interested students will take this opportunity to discuss the issues. This is an excellent way for you to learn new ideas. A word of caution: Please respect other student's opinion. You may disagree and that is okay but do so in a courteous, respectful and objective manner.
E-Mail: This is the best way to contact me. I check my e-mail regularly and I will get back with as soon as possible. In most cases, you will receive a response within the same day the message is received. You should use the email at the top of the page until the course starts. Once the course begins you should email me using “Mail” under Course Tools on the left hand side of the course page. If you receive an e-mail from me, please respond to it as soon as possible. PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAILS REGULARLY.
Phone: This is not a good method to contact me because I am not in my office most of the time. It does have voice mail in which you may leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can but it probably won't be as fast as email.
Unscheduled Absence of Instructor: In the event that I will not be available for at least a couple of days, I will post a message on the discussion board letting you know of my absence and when I will be back.
EVALUATION:
Your performance in this course will be evaluated through examinations and quizzes as follows:
QUIZZES:
There will be fifteen (15) quizzes, all multiple choice and all online. Each quiz is worth 20 points and will be given upon the completion of each Chapter or chapters as noted below. In other words, there will be a quiz every week. Questions will be taken from the material found in your text, lecture notes, and any other material as noted throughout the course.
You can take the quizzes by clicking Assessments found in the Navigation Links on the top of the page. You can also access the Quizzes through the Course Content and Assignments and in Assessments found under Course Tools on the left hand side of the page. You will have one hour to take each quiz. This means that you will not have enough time to search your text and the notes for answers to each question. Therefore, you should study for these quizzes as if you were taking a quiz in a traditional classroom setting. The quizzes will be available only for one week which begins on Monday at 8am and ends the following Monday at 8am. It is recommended that you not wait until the last minute to take the quizzes. At the same time, make sure that you are well prepared before you take it.
Once you have taken the quiz and clicked on Finish, you can find out how you did by clicking on View Attempt. You should try taking the Practice quiz to learn about how quizzes work during the first week. The Practice or Sample Quiz DOES NOT COUNT TOWARDS YOUR GRADE. It will be available for about a week beginning January 11.
After you have taken your first quiz you will be able to keep track of your grades by clicking on My Grades.
Review for quizzes: To prepare for the quizzes you should study the chapter and focus on the key words and phrases found at the end of each chapter.
Make-up exams: There will be no make-up quizzes. However, the two lowest scores on your quizzes will be dropped.
mepage is one way to monitor your progress as mentioned under Exams above. Another way is to click on My Progress on the homepage and you will be able to see what assignments you have accessed and how many minutes you are spending on each assignment or page, etc.
QUIZ CHAPTERS POINTS
Quiz 1: Chapter 1 & 2……… 20
Quiz 2: Chapter 3………… 20
Quiz 3: Chapter 4………… 20
Quiz 4: Chapter 5………… 20
Quiz 5: Chapter 6………… 20
Quiz 6: Chapter 7………… 20
Quiz 7: Chapter 8………… 20
Quiz 8: Chapter 9………… 20
Quiz 9: Chapter 10……… 20
Quiz 10: Chapter 11……… 20
Quiz 11: Chapter 12……… 20
Quiz 12: Chapter 13……… 20
Quiz 13: Chapter 14……… 20
Quiz 14: Chapter 15 & 16… 20
Quiz 15: Chapter 17 & 18… 20
Drop 2 lowest quizzes: Total 260
GRADES:
234-260 = A
208-233 = B
182-207 = C
156-181 = D
< 156 = F
Per section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, if a student needs an accommodation, contact Disability Support Services at 486-3020
The Alamo Community College District, including its affiliated colleges, does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability with respect to access, employment programs, or services. Inquiries or complaints concerning these matters should be brought to the attention of:
Director of Human Resources
Title IX Coordinator
210-208-8051
Human Resources Department
201 W. Sheridan, Building AA
San Antonio, TX 78204
For special accommodations or an alternate format, contact the Palo Alto Disability Support Services at 210-486-3020