Tips for Success

If you’re new to online courses, or if you just need a quick refresher, be sure to take a look at these video tutorials!

Prerequisite

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Course Learning Outcomes

The goal of this course is to help you become a better informed, more effective participant in the American political system. This course will help you acquire the necessary knowledge and understanding of America’s political foundations and structures to be an effective citizen. You will read and learn about America’s fundamental political, economic, and social values and principles. By the end of the course, you will understand the major philosophical foundations and privileges of American civics. You will also gain an understanding of the governmental structures, processes, and principles within which United States citizens participate and shape their government.

As students complete the course assignments, they will increase their knowledge, improve a 21st-century skill, and develop an attribute.

Knowledge: US Government & Civics

In this course, knowledge refers to the subject matter and content students will learn while completing the readings, practices, quizzes, and assignments.

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to do the following:

  • Explain the fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy.

  • Evaluate, take, and defend positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations of democratic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they are secured.

  • Evaluate, take, and defend positions on what the fundamental values and principles of civil society are (that is, the autonomous sphere of voluntary personal, social, and economic relations that are not part of government), if and how they are interdependent, and the meaning and importance of those values and principles for a free society.

  • Explain and analyze the unique roles and responsibilities of the three branches of government as established by the U.S. Constitution.

  • Summarize landmark U.S. Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution and its amendments.

  • Evaluate issues regarding campaigns for national, state, and local elective offices.

  • Analyze and compare the powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments.

  • Evaluate, take, and defend positions on the influence of the media on American political life.

  • Evaluate, take, and defend positions regarding the United States' role in the world, and U.S. foreign policy structures and objectives.

21st-Century Skill: Communications—Engaging in Conversation and Discussion

As students complete this course's assignments, they will gain skills in Engaging in Conversation and Discussion. This skill is part of Communications. 

Attribute: Responsibility

This course focuses on developing the attribute of Responsibility in the context of US Government and Civics.

Course Materials

All the materials you need are included in the course. You do not have to buy any additional textbooks.

Back to Top

Assignments

The due dates in the course are only suggestions to help the students pace themselves. You do not need to complete assignments, quizzes, and exams by the due date set in the course.

Assignments and Content Guides

You will have the following teacher-graded assignments. Take the opportunity to apply what you have learned, and demonstrate your understanding of the lessons by analyzing and making comparisons. A rubric is included on each assignment page to help you review the requirements so that you include all the details in your assignment.

  • Module 3: Independent Regulatory Commissions Assignment

  • Module 4: Voting Record Assignment

  • Module 6: First Amendment Assignment

  • Module 13: Successfully Navigate Media Assignment

In each module introduction page students will find the download the content guides. Students will need to download each module's document at the beginning of the module and work on the document throughout each lesson until the student reaches the end of the module. The following is the submission schedule for your content guides.

Module Quizzes

At the end of each module, you will submit a computer-graded quiz that will test your knowledge of the content for that module. These are open-note quizzes.  You may use Content Guides to help on these quizzes throughout the course.

Midcourse Quiz

This computer-graded quiz will cover the material up to the midcourse quiz. The questions on the midcourse quiz will be similar in format to the questions on the final exam. Content Guides are submitted periodically roughly every 4 modules. Please refer to the course for more detailed information on how and when to submit content guides.

Essays

There is a research project and an argumentative essay for this course. These are part of your teacher graded assignments. 

  • Module 5: Judicial Branch Research Assignment

  • Module 15: Argumentative Essay

Final Exam

Students must pass the final exam to earn credit for the course; they may retake it once, for a fee, upon request.

The final exam consists of around 37 questions and is comprehensive, meaning it will include content from the entire course. In Module 16, you will have the opportunity to take a practice exam in preparation for the final. The final exam is found in Module 16. 

Grading

Your grade in this course will be based on these assignments and exams:

Assignments and Exams
Assignment or Exam Grading Percent of Total Grade
Content Guides Teacher-Graded 15%
Assignments Teacher-Graded 35%
Module Quizzes Computer-Graded 30%
1 Midcourse Quiz, 1 Final Exam* Computer-Graded 20%

* You must pass the final exam with at least a 60% to earn credit for the course.

Grade Scale

Your letter grade is calculated according to these percentages.

A 93% - 100%
A- 90% - 92%
B+ 87% – 89%
B 83% - 86%
B- 80% - 82%
C+ 77% - 79%
C 73% - 76%
C- 70% - 72%
D+ 67% - 69%
D 63% - 66%
D- 60% - 62%
F (fail) 0% - 59%

Getting Help

Please use the help menu in this course to contact Academy of America or your instructor. You can find information about tutoring available to Academy of America students on the Tutoring website.

The Resources page offers a wide variety of services to support you:

  • Academic success skills coaching such as time management, study skills, test preparation, motivation, and more.

  • Course-specific support that includes live tutoring and on-demand resources.

Come find out how we can help you achieve your goals.

Course Policies

For information about how long you have to complete the course, resubmitting assignments, retaking exams, and other questions, please see Academy of America’s Policies.

Back to Top