English Composition I with Workshop

Fall 2015

English Composition I with Workshop

ENGL 070-L18 and ENGL 111-L18, 8:30-9:50am

ENGL 070-L16 and ENGL 111-L16, 10-11:20am

Mon. (H-118), Tues. (S-350), Wed. (H-118), and Thurs. (S-350)

Instructor Name: Dr. Karen Gaffney

Office Location: S-337

Mailbox: Somerset, 3rd floor

Email Address: (Email is the best way to reach me.)

Office phone: 908-526-1200 ext. 8293

Office hours:Mon., Tues., Wed., and Thurs., 11:30-12:30, and by appointment

Catalog Description for English Composition I:

Prerequisites: Grade of A in ENGL 050 or ENGL 060, grade of B in ENGL 050 or ENGL 060 with corequisite of ENGL 070, or appropriate score on placement test. English Composition I is the first in a two-course composition sequence. The central purposes of English Composition I are to develop critical reading and thinking skills and to write thesis-driven, text-based essays. The course takes a process-oriented approach to writing that incorporates prewriting, drafting, reviewing, and revising. Students in English Composition I learn basic research skills and apply them to at least one text-based research essay.

Catalog Description for English Composition I Workshop:

Prerequisite: Grade of B in ENGL 050 or Minimum grade of C in ENGL 060 or appropriate score on placement test; Co-requisite: Each section of this course is linked to a single section of English 111. English Composition I Workshop is linked to English Composition I and is designed to enhance that course for students who need support in reading/writing. It takes place in a word processing lab where students are coached in structured ways to use the computer as a tool to improve reading and writing skills with an emphasis on process. The combined English Composition I and English Composition I Workshop sections allow students to work on English Composition I reading and writing assignments in a way that is paced, encourages full comprehension of the reading, and provides guidance during revision.

Additional Information:

This 6-credit course combines English Composition I and English Composition I Workshop. The English Composition I aspect of the course is fully integrated into the Workshop so that it will feel like one course. You have to enroll in both courses together, and if you withdraw, you must withdraw from both. If you get a D or higher in the course, you will get a letter grade for English Composition I and a Pass for EnglishComposition I Workshop. If you fail the course, you will get an F in both courses. The 6 credits for this combined course mean 3 credits of college level English plus 3 credits that apply to your status as part time or full time but not to graduation.

Required Texts:

There is one required book for this course, and it’s important you have it for the entire semester (either purchased, rented, or borrowed).
The book is in paperback and available at the college bookstore. If you are on Financial Aid, make sure you contact that office about a book voucher.
If you cannot get the book right away, then you are still responsible for doing the required reading, and for that purpose, the book is on reserve at the RVCC library (you can ask for it at the Circulation desk). However, the book cannot leave the library. You can check it out and read it inside the library and photocopy it there, too. (Please make sure you bring copies of the reading to class if you’re using this backup system.) Just keep in mind the library reserve book should only be used to get you started; it is not a semester-long solution. You need to have your RVCC ID with you in order to check out books on reserve at the library.
Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst, eds. They Say I Say with Readings. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 2015. Print. (Please make sure you get the 3rdedition and that it says “with readings.”)
Cost at the college bookstore (per the course schedule website):
Buy, new: $54.50
Rent, new: $32.70

Note about Required Books:

If you buy or rent your books from the college bookstore, make sure you are aware of the refund, buyback, and rental policy. Your English instructor will likely encourage if not require you to annotate, underline, and/or highlight your text. You are still able to do all of these activities, even if you rent the book or want to sell it through buyback. The store’s policy states that “Writing, highlighting andunderlining are acceptable” when it comes to buyback and rented books. You should check with the bookstore for more information, including problems that do impact the book’s value.

Other Learning Materials:

Multiple ways to back up your work on a computer because computer problems are not an appropriate excuse for handing a paper in late.
If possible, a flash drive would be very convenient. (Otherwise you’ll need to save your work by emailing it to yourself as an attachment.)
A notebook (any kind) for class notes.
A folder for each of the following (total of 3):
Syllabus, assignments, and other handouts
Submission of out-of-class essays
All of your returned work (including Critical Reading activities and summaries, in-class essays, and out-of-class essays)

Course Learning Outcomes:

Writing:

Students will be able to:

write clearly, grammatically and fluently with focus and continuity in standard American English in out-of-class and in-class writings.
exhibit the ability to organize information in order to develop and support a main idea in both in-class and out-of-class papers.

Reading:

Students will be able to:

identify thematic connections among and between various texts.
explicate readings carefully in both written work and during class discussion and/or group work.

Information Literacy:

Students will be able to:

access, evaluate, and use information effectively and ethically at an introductory level.
compose and revise essays using responsible documentation and research.

IDEA Objectives:

Above you’ll see the specific learning outcomes unique to this course. Below, you’ll see more general objectives that are used when we ask students to report their progress in the course. Toward the end of the semester, you may be asked to fill out a survey in which you identify the level of progress you’ve made on these objectives. It’s important that you understand these objectives from the beginning of the semester so you can keep them in mind throughout the course.

Developing skill in expressing oneself orally or in writing
Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view
Learning how to find and use resources for answering questions or solving problems
Acquiring an interest in learning more by asking questions and seeking answers

Required Course Work:

Out of Class Essays: These four essays are completed on your own time, and you’ll be required to submit both a rough draft (for peer review and feedback from me) and a final draft that you revise based on that feedback. All of these deadlines are listed in the syllabus, and you’ll receive assignment instructions for each essay. Essays should follow the assignment guidelines.
Rough drafts and final drafts are due at the beginning of class.
When a rough draft is due for an out-of-class essay, three copies of the rough draft must be brought to class, one for me and the rest for the peer workshop. If you miss this class, arrive late, come to class without your draft, or do not participate in the peer workshop, then that essay’s grade will be dropped a full letter grade, and you will lose the opportunity to revise. An exception might be made due to an emergency; if that occurs, email me as soon as you can. An emergency does not include a computer problem; you need to back up your work in multiple places to avoid losing it.
When the final draft is due for an out-of-class essay assignment, if it is late, the essay’s grade will be dropped a full letter grade for every day (that’s every single day, not every class meeting) a final draft is late. An exception might be made due to an emergency; if that occurs, email me as soon as you can. Again, an emergency does not include a computer problem.
Revisions: You have the option of revising out-of-class Essays 1, 2 and 3. You can revise as few or as many of these essays as you would like. To take advantage of this option, you must meet all of the following criteria for that particular essay:

Come prepared to the peer workshop for that essay
Submit that essay on time
Submit your revision with your original essay

Revisions are due no later than the last day of class, but you may submit them earlier. Please let me know if you want help revising.

In-Class Essays: There are five in-class essays throughout the semester, including the final in-class essay, given on the last day we meet in the lab. Of the first four in-class essays, your best two will count toward your final grade, and the lowest two will be dropped. You’ll write them during class time on the computers when we meet in the lab. You’ll need to have your textbook with you for the first four in-class essays and the final reading packet for the last one, but you won’t be able to refer to the web or other materials. If you have an accommodation due to a disability and you would like to use the Testing Center and receive additional time, you must share the official RVCC accommodation letter with me before the in-class essay so that I can make arrangements for you. In addition, make-up in-class essays will only be given if you have a documented emergency.

In-Class participation: Your participation grade will be based on a rubric (in WebStudy) that emphasizes: being on time and present, using technology appropriately, coming to class prepared and referring to materials appropriately, respecting your peers and the classroom environment, participating in class activities, listening actively, and participating in whole class discussion. Come to class ready to share your ideas, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Use of technology unrelated to the course (via cell phones, tablets, laptops, etc.) can negatively impact your participation grade. Cell phones should be turned off for the duration of class (not just to vibrate but with the sound completely off). You should not use class time to talk to someone on your cell phone, listen to someone, check your voicemail, send a text, check your texts, etc. Doing so will negatively impact your participation grade in the course.
If you have a personal situation where you need to keep your phone on to receive an emergency call or text, let me know at the beginning of class, and your grade will not be affected.
You are strongly discouraged from using a laptop or other device to take notes, though there are situations where this is appropriate. In general, though, I discourage such use because research shows that students learn better when they take notes by hand rather than on a laptop, everyone has trouble resisting multi-tasking when on a device and multi-tasking impairs learning, and other students sitting near a student on a laptop are distracted by the computer use and their learning is impaired. (I’ve posted articles about this research in WebStudy if you want to see more information.)
Using a device (including the computers in our class lab) for non-class purposes like Facebook, surfing the web, online shopping, emailing, chatting, etc. is not allowed, and doing so will negatively impact your participation grade in the course.

Class Participation will be graded in WebStudy 7times (once every 2 weeks) throughout the semester.

Homework: A variety of homework assignments will be given. These include Critical Reading Questions, thesis statements, rough drafts, etc., which are assigned as listed in the syllabus. Your homework grade will be based on a rubric (in WebStudy) that emphasizes following the assignment directions carefully and thoroughly, submitting homework on time, and writing in standard academic English with few errors. While I will record your homework grades and return homework to you on an ongoing basis, your Homework will be graded in WebStudy 7 times (once every 2 weeks) throughout the semester.

WebStudy Forum on Making Connections: There will be three of these WebStudy assignments throughout the semester, one due at the end of each month (September, October, and November). Each monthly assignment will provide you with the same instructions, and you’ll be asked to pick something that you saw or observed that was not required reading or viewing for class but rather that you noticed on your own and that you think relates to the course. Please don’t disclose anything too personal. You’ll need to share it with the class via a Forum post and explain the connection. If it’s an article, youtube video, website, or something else online, you can post a link in your Forum post and then describe how you think it relates to our course and what made you decide to post it. If it’s a conversation you overheard or participated in or something you witnessed or noticed (where no link is available), then take a few sentences to summarize it. Then, either way, describe how what you chose relates to the course and what made you decide to post it. You should write, at minimum, one paragraph.
In addition to posting this original post by the end of each month (by 11:59pm on the last day of the month), you’ll also need to respond to a minimum of two peers by the end of the first week of the following month (by 11:59pm on the seventh day of the next month). In this response to a peer, you should write at least a few sentences where you give feedback about what the other person posted.
All posts should follow the conventions of academic English. Late posts will not be given any credit. In order to get full credit, you need to follow the directions and meet the deadlines. My goal is for this assignment to help build community within the class and also to help you make connections between the course and the “real world.”

Grading Policy:

English Composition I requires:

25 pages of text-based, graded writing
4 out-of-class essays of 4-8 pages
5 in-class timed essays (including the final in-class essay)
One out-of-class essay involving text-based research
A common departmental final in-class essay synthesizing 2 or more texts
Requirement that at least 80% of the student’s final grade be derived from graded essays: 50% of the final grade should be out-of-class essays, 30% should be in-class timed essays, and 20% a combination of participation and homework.
Class preparation and participation

The grades you receive towards the end of the course are weighed more heavily than the grades you receive at the beginning of the course:

Out-of-class essays: 50% (total)

Essay 1: 5%

Essay 2: 10%

Essay 3: 15%

Essay 4 (Research essay): 20%

In-class essays: 30% (total)

Your best 2 in-class essays out of 4: 7.5% each

Final in-class essay: 15%

In-Class participation (work done in class, aside from in-class essays): 8%
Homework (completed outside of class): 9%
WebStudy Forum on Making Connections: 3%

Note:

In order to pass the course, all four out-of-class essays must be submitted.
In addition to the 6 hours spent in the classroom and computer lab, you should anticipate that success in English Composition I with Workshop will require at least another 6 hours of work outside of class every week.

Grading Scale:

97-100: A+

93-96: A

90-92: A-

87-89: B+

83-86: B

80-82: B-

77-79: C+

73-76: C

70-72: C-

67-69: D+

63-66: D

60-62: D-

59 and below: F

Note: RVCC allows for the final course grades of: A (90-100), B+ (87-89), B (80-86), C+ (77-79), C (70-76), D (60-69), and F (59 and below). (A “D” or above is considered passing, but a C is generally needed to transfer.)

WebStudy:

WebStudy is the online platform that RVCC uses for online courses and to supplement in-person courses. This course will use WebStudy in several important ways. First, it will be the place where you can check your grades and get feedback about your work in the course. From the “Grades” feature, you’ll be able to see a grade, a rubric, and comments for out-of-class essay assignments, timed in-class essay assignments, in-class participation, homework, and Forum assignments. It will be your responsibility to check your grades and feedback on a regular basis. Second, WebStudy is a place you can go to get a backup copy of important documents from the course (like the syllabus and out-of-class essay assignments) as well as to find additional supporting materials. Third, you will post a few items to the WebStudy Forum on Making Connections.