LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

American Indians in the United States: Online course syllabus

Syllabus for the online course American Indians in the United states which examines American Indian history in the United States from the earliest evidence of human habitation through first contact with Europeans, conflicts in the West, World War II and other key events in 20th century U.S. history, the American Indian rights movement, and into the present day.

Learn more

  • American Indians in the United States: Online course A professional development course for educators which examines American Indian history in the United States from the earliest evidence of human habitation through first contact with Europeans, conflicts in the West, World War II and other key events in 20th century U.S. history, the American Indian rights movement, and into the present day.

Related pages

Related topics

Legal

The text of this page is copyright ©2009. See terms of use. Images and other media may be licensed separately; see captions for more information and read the fine print.

Course description

Discover American Indian history in the United States from the earliest evidence of human habitation through first contact with Europeans, conflicts in the West, World War II and other key events in 20th century U.S. history, the American Indian rights movement, and into the present day.

Archaeological finds, traditional stories, the writings of early European explorers, government documents and treaties, oral histories, photographs, the arts, newspaper articles and more will enrich your exploration of key issues in Native American history nationwide.

The course will proceed chronologically. Within each topical module you will have the opportunity to choose from several different geographically grouped assignments, allowing you to customize your own learning experience based on your interests, the demands of the curriculum, and your own priorities for teaching American Indian history.

For example, in any given unit, you may choose to focus on the Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, the Great Plains, the Northeast or the Southeast. You may either follow one geographical track throughout the course or mix up their selections to allow for a broader view of American Indian history.

Prerequisites

None. Some teachers find that this course is a good companion course to American Indians in North Carolina and choose to take that course before, after, or at the same time as this course. But while the courses do complement one another, they are designed to stand alone and teachers should feel free to take just one or the other.

Course Goals

  • To expand teachers’ knowledge of American Indian history from pre-European contact to the present, with an emphasis on similarities and differences across regions.
  • To provide access to a wide variety of Internet-based primary and secondary sources on American Indian history that teachers can use for their own professional growth and/or in their classrooms.
  • To engage K-12 teachers as adult learners through creative, interesting assignments that will not only challenge teachers to expand their own understanding of course content, but also provide models for potentially useful assignments that could be adapted to the K-12 classroom.
  • To provide a forum for meaningful discussion of historical content and pedagogy related to the teaching of American Indian history and related subjects.
  • To allow teachers the time, resources, supportive community, and assistance that will help them develop an original, high quality lesson plan that they can use immediately in their classrooms and, if they choose, share with other teachers through the course discussion forum and by submitting their lesson plan for consideration for publication on LEARN North Carolina.

Required material

There are no required textbooks for this course, but teachers will be required to complete a series of online readings for each of the several topical course modules.

Special technical requirements

Your computer will need the ability to read PDF flies. Some optional readings and some assignment choices will involve listening to audio online or watching video online, so a high speed internet connection and RealPlayer or other audio/video software may be helpful. But the course can be successfully completed without those resources.

Course requirements

This course takes place over 8 weeks. Each week you will be required to complete a series of readings and select one assignment from among several options. You will note that each week includes assignments that focus on various regions of the country so that teachers can choose the topics that are of greatest interest to them. In the final week of the course, you will develop a lesson plan on American Indian history and provide feedback to your peers.

Modules for this course are organized as follows:

  • Module one: Introduction to American Indian History
  • Module two: Native America Before European Contact
  • Module three: Contact and Early Relationships with Europeans
  • Module four: American Indian History from the 1750s to the 1860s
  • Module five: Assimilation (1860s-1930)
  • Module six: The Indian New Deal (1930-1980)
  • Module seven: American Indians in the Present and Future

You are expected to:

  • Complete all assignments and participate in all class discussions.
  • Check into the online course at least three days a week to see new announcements, check messages and view discussion postings.
  • Complete a high quality lesson plan related to the course topics and tied to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

Readings

Each week you will be responsible for reading assigned online material or articles that may be provided.

Written assignments

In most weeks you will be required to complete a written assignment, usually consisting of a response paper or a creative writing exercise. You will have choices for each module and can select the assignment that best matches your interests, needs as a teacher, and learning style. Most assignments can be successfully completed in a page or two of thoughtful, but informal writing.

Discussions

There will be several discussion forums set up in the course. You will be expected to post to the Introductions discussion to introduce yourself to your classmates and to post at least once in the each of the weekly discussion forums.

Your module discussion contributions may be in the form of a reflection on the module readings, a reaction to the assignment that you chose for the module, your thoughts on a particular primary source or other document from the module, a question about the historical content or about teaching strategies related to a module topic, or a response to another teacher’s posting. Please make sure that you make a substantive and meaningful contribution to our discussion of each course module.

All students are expected to post in a responsible and courteous fashion.

Lesson plan

You will be required to develop a high quality, original lesson plan related to American Indian history and tied to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. Details will be provided in the course. This lesson plan is due on the final closing date of the course.

Evaluation

All assignments, including the final lesson plan, are graded on a Pass/Fail basis. Teachers who successfully complete all assignments and participate consistently and thoughtfully in our online discussions will receive full credit for the course and a certificate attesting to their participation.

Professional development offerings through LEARN NC do not carry graduate credit and do not issue grades. Participants are awarded Continuing Education Units (CEUs) based on successful completion of the course. The course instructor determines to what extent participants have completed all required course activities and have participated in the learning community.