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Heiniger 3010-010 Syllabus rev5.pdf
English 3010-010 Discovering Disciplines and Discourse Communities
Course Syllabus
Fall 2012 MWF 10:40-11:35pm 219 State Hall
29 August 2012 – 10 December 2012
Instructor: Abigail Heiniger
Office: Maccabees Building 10304.04 (5750 Woodward)
Office Hours: Monday-Wednesday 12:00-12:30pm or by appointment
Contact information:
e-mail: ed1911@wayne.edu
phone: (586) 489-0987 (for emergencies only)
The outer door to the 10304 suit is locked and I may not hear you if you knock. Please e-mail ahead to schedule meetings, even during office hours. The office does not have a phone.
Course Wiki: http://wsueng3010010.pbworks.com
I. BC Prerequisite for ENG 3010
To enroll in ENG 3010, students must have completed their WSU Basic Composition (BC) requirement (ENG 1020 or equiv.) with a grade of C or better. Students who have not completed this requirement will be asked to drop the course.
II. General Education IC Requirement and Prerequisite for WI
With a grade of C or better, ENG 3010 fulfills the General Education IC (Intermediate Composition) graduation requirement. Successful completion of an IC course with a grade of C or better is a prerequisite to enrolling in courses that fulfill the General Education WI graduation requirement (Writing Intensive Course in the Major).
Last day to WITHDRAW with tuition cancellation: 12 September 2012
Last day to WITHDRAW: 10 November 2012
III. Class Size/English Department Attendance Policy/Adding ENG 3010
Enrollment in ENG 3010 is capped at 24 students.
IV. English Department Course Description
Building on students’ diverse skills, ENG 3010 prepares students for reading, research, and writing in upper-level college courses. ENG 3010 also prepares students for Writing Intensive courses in the majors by asking students to consider how research and writing take place across the university in the broad disciplinary and interdisciplinary patterns of the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions. The main goals of the course are (1) to have students read materials from different disciplines across the university; (2) to introduce students to the ways writing constructs knowledge in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions; and (3) to develop a sustained research project that analyzes or undertakes writing in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions.
To achieve these goals, the course places considerable emphasis on analytical and critical reading and writing; the development of research skills; the genres of research proposal, literature review, research presentation, and researched argument; and the use of multiple technologies for research and writing.
V. Section Description
In this section of English 3010 offers students an opportunity to investigate and discover how their major field of study (disciplinary orprofessional) creates and employs its unique standards for writing. Our five major projects (which include a writing portfolio and reflective essay) form a series of inquires that allow students to become active participants in their chosen discourse communities. The larger goal of this course is to foster in students an awareness of the relationships between writer, reader, genre, and epistemology within and across disciplinary boundaries.
VI. Learning Objectives
A passing grade in ENG 3010 indicates that students are able to:
- Produce writing that demonstrates their ability to identify, describe, and analyze various occasions for writing, genres, conventions, and audiences in their discipline or profession from a rhetorical perspective.
- Produce an extended writing project that uses research methods and research genres to explore a topic applicable to the course and that draws substantively on concepts from primary AND/OR secondary sources
- Produce writing that shows use of a flexible writing process (generating ideas, drafting, substantive revision, and editing) and shows their ability to adapt this process for different writing situations and tasks.
- Produce writing that shows how they used reflection to make choices and changes in their writing and that explains how they would use reflection and the other skills taught in this course to approach a completely new writing task.
Students will be required to evaluate and discuss their ability to satisfy these learning outcomes in the final reflective letter for their course portfolio.
VII. Texts and Supplies
ü Required: Miller-Cochran, Susan and Rochelle Rodrigo. The Wadsworth Guide to Research. Wayne State University Edition. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage, 2009. Print.
ü Required: individual readings posted on the class wiki weekly.
ü Required: WSU email account. All correspondence for this course will utilize WSU email.
ü Required: course wiki account http://wsueng3010010.pbworks.com
ü Recommended: Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.
Textbooks are available at the campus bookstore (B&N) and Marwil’s.
In addition our major projects (listed below), you will also be evaluated based on your completion of short responses and drafting exercises that will be assigned in class throughout the semester. Due dates for assignments can be found below (as well as on the Assignments page on the course wiki).
Credit breakdown for assignments is as follows:
Total Points Possible in Course: 1000
- Project One : Interview (3-4 pages) 100 pts
- Project Two :Annotated Bibliography (4-5 pages) 100 pts.
- Project Three : Field Presentation (3-4 pages) 200 pts.
- Project Four : Research Question and Proposal (10-15 pages) 400 pts.
- Reflection Essay : (3-5 pages) 100 pts.
- Attendance and Participation 100 pts.
* Papers will follow the formatting and citation guidelines utilized by individual student’s declared majors and/or disciplines (MLA, APA, etc.).
Portfolio and Reflective Argument Assignment
To pass this course, students must complete the final portfolio and reflective argument assignment required by the WSU Composition Program. This assignment is designed to prepare students to transfer knowledge and skills from Intermediate Writing to subsequent courses and other writing contexts.
Research in psychology and writing studies has shown that metacognition, or analysis of one’s own thinking processes, is key to helping people transfer knowledge and skills from the context where they were initially learned to future contexts. Therefore, the WSU Composition Program requires that Intermediate Writing courses include reflective assignments designed to promote metacognition.
IX. Grading
Although individual projects in this course have specific grading guidelines and specific rubrics posted to the class wiki, the general rubric for grades in our course is as follows:
The "A" Paper
ü The "A" paper has an excellent sense of the rhetorical situation. Its aim is clear and consistent throughout the paper. It attends to the needs of its audience and the topic itself is effectively narrowed and clearly defined.
ü The content is appropriately developed for the assignment and rhetorical situation. The supporting details or evidence are convincingly presented. The reasoning is valid and shows an awareness of the complexities of the subject. If secondary sources are used, they are appropriately selected and cited.
ü The organization demonstrates a clear and effective strategy. The introduction establishes the writer's credibility and the conclusion effectively completes the essay: paragraphs are coherent, developed, and show effective structural principles.
ü The expression is very clear, accessible, concrete. It displays ease with idiom and a broad range of diction. It shows facility with a great variety of sentence options and the punctuation and subordinate structures that these require. It has few errors, none of which seriously undermines the effectiveness of the paper for educated readers.
The "B" Paper
ü The "B" paper has a good sense of the rhetorical situation. It shows awareness of purpose and focuses on a clearly defined topic.
ü The content is well developed and the reasoning usually valid and convincing. Evidence and supporting details are adequate.
ü The organization is clear and easy to follow: the introduction and conclusion are effective, and transitions within and between paragraphs are finessed reasonably well.
ü The paper has few errors, especially serious sentence errors. Sentences show some variety in length, structure, and complexity. Punctuation, grammar, and spelling conform to the conventions of edited Standard American English.
The "C" Paper
ü The "C" paper has an adequate sense of the rhetorical situation. Its purpose is clear and it is focused on an appropriate central idea. The topic may be unoriginal, but the assignment has been followed, if not fulfilled.
ü The content is adequately developed. The major points are supported, and paragraphs are appropriately divided, with enough specific details to make the ideas clear. The reasoning is valid.
ü The organization is clear and fairly easy to follow. The introduction and conclusion are adequate; transitions are mechanical but appropriate.
ü The expression is generally correct, although it shows little competence with sentence variety (in length and structure) and emphasis. The paper is generally free of major sentence and grammar errors and indicates mastery of most conventions of edited Standard American English.
The "D" Paper
ü The "D" paper has a limited sense of the rhetorical situation. Its purpose may not be clear, its topic may not be interesting to or appropriate for its audience.
ü The content is inadequately developed. The evidence is insufficient, and supporting details or examples are absent or irrelevant.
ü Organization is deficient. Introductions or conclusions are not clearly marked or functional. Paragraphs are not coherently developed or linked to each other. The arrangement of material within paragraphs may be confusing.
ü Expression demonstrates an awareness of a very limited range of stylistic options. It is marred by numerous errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation that detract from a reader’s comprehension of the text.
The "F" Paper
ü There is no sense of the rhetorical situation or of the objectives of the assignment as described in the syllabus.
ü The content is insufficiently developed and does not go beyond the obvious. The reasoning is deeply flawed.
ü The organization is very difficult to follow. Sentences may not be appropriately grouped into paragraphs, or paragraphs may not be arranged logically. Transitions are not present or are inappropriate.
ü The number and seriousness of errors—in grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.—significantly obstruct comprehension.
X. Late Work
I do not accept late work - for your writing to receive credit it must be posted in the appropriate space by the deadline, otherwise I will comment on it, but it will not receive credit.
XI. Attendance
As this is a discussion and workshop-driven class, attendance of all participants is particularly important. In accordance with English department attendance policies, enrolled students in this class must attend one of the first two class sessions; otherwise, they may be required to drop the class. Afterwards, you are allowed two unexcused absences; subsequent absences will result in a reduction of your final grade by 5% for each unexcused absence. You are also encouraged to make use of office hours either by appearing in my office in person.
N.B. Attendance and participation in class, conferences, and rough draft workshops comprises 10% of the final grade.
XII. Sharing Student Work
English 3010 is a collaborative course, as such we will be sharing our writing throughout the semester as a means to helping each other become better writers and thinkers. To better facilitate this process, I will be using selections of your work during class as examples. If you would prefer that I not use your work, please let me know.
XIII. Rough Draft Workshops AND Conferences
For each of our major projects, we will have a peer review workshop or conferences between the rough draft and final draft deadlines. Failure to participate in the rough draft workshop or attend conferences for a project (by absence OR by failing to complete your rough draft and/or participate in the peer critique of others' drafts) will result in a 10% deduction in the grade of final draft of that project.
XIV. Media Policy
I encourage you to use your laptops, computers and Internet connections to search out information relevant to class during class. However, browsing unrelated to the class (as well as other media use - texting, IMing, etc.) will be grounds for expulsion from the course.
Since this is a course that allows students to begin exploring their future academic disciplines and professions, I expect professional behavior in the classroom. Please do not allow cell phones or other electronic devices to interrupt class. Please refrain from texting. Repeated interruptions will be held accountable as one unexcused absence.
XV. Academic Dishonesty
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of ideas and information from sources without proper citation and documentation (e.g., copying from texts or pasting from websites without quoting, and not providing a complete list of Works Cited).
The English Department adheres to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences policy on plagiarism. Instructors are required to report all instances of plagiarism to the Department of English. According to the WSU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences policy on plagiarism, instructors may give a failing grade on the assignment or for the course.
In English 3010, the first instance of plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the entire assignment. Any subsequent infringements will result in a failure of the course.
To prevent and detect plagiarism in this course, all major assignments will be submitted to SafeAssign on Blackboard.
See the Policy on Academic Dishonesty (linked on the syllabus wiki page) for more information.
XVI. Incomplete Policy
As detailed in the WSU Undergraduate Bulletin (linked on the syllabus wiki page), the mark of “I” (Incomplete) is given to a student when he/she has not completed all of the course work as planned for the term and when there is, in the judgment of the instructor, a reasonable probability that the student can complete the course successfully without again attending regular class sessions. The student should be passing at the time the grade of ‘I’ is given. A written contract specifying the work to be completed should be signed by the student and instructor. Responsibility for completing all course work rests with the student.
I generally do not allow “Incompletes,” it is the responsibility of students to complete all work in a timely fashion; failure to do so will be reflected in the student’s grade unless that student withdraws from the course. Exceptions to this policy are rare and will be decided on a case-by-case basis. If you decide to leave the course, be sure to withdraw within the allotted time. Failure to do so will demand a failing grade at the semester’s end.
XVII. Resources:
The Writing Center
The Writing Center (2nd floor, UGL) provides tutoring consultations free of charge for students at Wayne State University. Undergraduate students in General Education courses, including composition courses, receive priority for tutoring appointments. The Writing Center serves as a resource for writers, providing tutoring sessions on the range of activities in the writing process – considering the audience, analyzing the assignment or genre, brainstorming, researching, writing drafts, revising, editing, and preparing documentation. The Writing Center is not an editing or proofreading service; rather students are guided as they engage collaboratively in the process of academic writing, from developing an idea to correctly citing sources. To make an appointment, consult the Writing Center website. To submit material for online tutoring, consult the Writing Center HOOT (Hypertext One-on-One Tutoring) website.
Technology Services
This course is heavily technology and web based. Much of the course content will be covered on this wiki and all of your work will be submitted through your wiki or via "Safe Assign" on Blackboard. As such, competency and comfort with these technologies is absolutely vital to success in this course. If you need help with this, ask for it. You can also utilize the Student Technology Studio located next to the Writing Center on the second floor of the Undergraduate Library.
The Office of Educational Accessibility Services
If you feel that you may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability, please feel free to contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. Additionally, the Office of Educational Accessibility Services (EAS) coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. The Office is located in 1600 David Adamany Undergraduate Library, phone: 313-577-1851/577-3335 (TTD).
After reading this syllabus, please go to the Syllabus Contract Page. If you agree to the terms and conditions of this syllabus, print out and sign the text from this page and bring it into Friday, 7 September 2012.
XIX. Disclaimer
The instructor reserves the right to revise the syllabus and assignments during the course of the semester.
Revised 24 August 2012
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