English : Writing in the Disciplines (3 credit hours), Fall 2013

Transcription

1 English , Fall 2013, p. 1 English : Writing in the Disciplines (3 credit hours), Fall 2013 Instructor: Dr. Christopher Ervin Class Time/Location: Mondays 5:30-8:15 pm, CH christopher.ervin@wku.edu Office Location: Cherry Hall 100 Phone: (270) Office Hours: by appointment face-to-face & in Blackboard (chat) Your continued enrollment in this course constitutes your acceptance of this syllabus as a learning contract. By remaining enrolled in this course, you agree to abide by the policies outlined above. Course Theme: This writing course is built around the course theme of environmental sustainability. Reading, writing, analyses, arguments, and discussion will center on this broad theme, with most of our attention focusing on the following specific topics: global climate change, ecotourism, organic agriculture, marketing of organic products, sustainability in business (including greenwashing ), green construction/architecture, sustainable city planning, recycling, sustainability education, conservation, green technology, sustainability in health services, etc. While my own philosophy and personal interests have led me to build this interdisciplinary writing course around the theme of sustainability, my personal beliefs will not drive our discussions. I will have to support my own positions on course topics, as will you, and I welcome (even insist on) open, honest, and well-supported debate about our course theme. Students who do not wish to study environmental sustainability in an interdisciplinary way should not register for this section of English 300. Required Texts 1. Behrens, Laurence, and Leonard J. Rosen. A Sequence for Academic Writing. Fifth Edition. New York: Longman, Use ISBN when ordering online to ensure you purchase the correct edition. (Available used for $37.85 or more from Barnes and Noble online: ; available used from Amazon.com for $39.74 or more at ) 2. One of the following: Bullock, Richard, and Francine Weinberg. The Little Seagull Handbook. New York: Norton, Print. Use ISBN when ordering online to ensure you purchase the correct edition. (Available used from Amazon.com for $15 or more at ; from Barnes and Noble online for $15 or more at Bullock/e/ ?itm=1&usri= ) 2b. OR the digital version of The Little Seagull Handbook. Order online at Use ISBN to order the digital version. 2c. OR use the alternative online handbook (FREE!) at (linked from Blackboard) 3. Kolbert, Elizabeth. Field Notes from a Catastrophe. New York: Bloomsbury, Use ISBN when ordering the book online. (Available used from Amazon.com for around $5.00 at Climate/dp/ /ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid= &sr=8-1&keywords=kolbert+elizabeth ; from Barnes and Noble online beginning at $2.00 at ).

2 English , Fall 2013, p Palmquist, Mike. The Bedford Researcher. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin s, Use ISBN when ordering online. (Available used from Amazon.com for around $25.00 or more at Researcher-Mike-Palmquist/dp/ /ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid= &sr=8-1&keywords=mike+palmquist ; or from Barnes and Noble online for around $29.00 at ). 5. Additional, via Blackboard: Various journal, newspaper, and magazine articles and video/audio. Prerequisite: ENG 200 or equivalent. Catalog Description & General Education Goals Met by this Course Interdisciplinary writing course to be taken in the junior year. Students will read and write about challenging texts from a number of fields. Each student will produce a substantial research project appropriate to his or her chosen field. English 300 helps to fulfill the A.1. (Organization and Communication of Ideas) general education requirement at WKU. The course will help you attain these general education goals and objectives: 1. The capacity for critical and logical thinking and 2. Proficiency in reading, writing, speaking. Important Dates Last day to add or drop the course: Tuesday, September 3, 2013 Fall Break: October 3-4, 2013 Last day to withdraw from the course: Wednesday, October 16, % point of the semester ( FN date): Monday, October 28, 2013 Goals and Objectives This course stresses writing and reading within the disciplines and the conventions of using textual evidence to support an argument or an analysis of an issue relevant to the student s major discipline. Reading assignments come from a variety of disciplines and stress how and why authors make rhetorical choices that are appropriate to writing in particular disciplines. Reading assignments are designed both to immerse students in the written conventions of disciplinary writing and to develop the ability to read critically. Because English 300 is a course about writing and reading in the disciplines, students receive instruction on how to read disciplinary research. Close reading, active reading strategies, the ability to navigate scholarly research articles, and summarizing and critique of scholarly texts are the cornerstone of reading instruction in English 300. English 300 emphasizes the use of textual evidence and the process of research in the student s major discipline, including finding, reading, evaluating, and integrating sources into students original writing. English 300 gives students adequate instruction in finding, evaluating, collecting, citing, and synthesizing appropriate scholarly sources and includes instruction in the appropriate use of sources as support for original arguments. By the end of English 300, students should be able to: Write longer formal essays--including one essay that advances an academic argument--that include significant support from appropriate scholarly sources. Use a citation style appropriate to their discipline; Make choices of voice, tone, format, structure and usage based on an analysis of disciplinary and academic conventions. Employ their own writing processes to produce academic and disciplinary texts that include significant and properly formatted sources. Work in a collaborative setting both with their own texts and with those of other students. Be able to read disciplinary essays and to comment critically on their meaning and structure. Major Assignments Tentatively, you will write three summaries ( words each) of scholarly sources; an Issue Dialogue essay of at least words, a project proposal (500+ words) plus an annotated bibliography with summaries ( words each) of scholarly or comparable sources; a critical review of scholarship essay focusing on an issue related to environmentally sustainability in your discipline/future career (2000+ words); and a final presentation related to your critical review.

3 English , Fall 2013, p. 3 Grading Scale and Minimum Requirements for Passing This Course Students who wish to pass this course must first (1) complete and submit all major assignments (annotated bibliography, issue dialogue, and argument essay); and (2) submit only writing that has been produced this semester for this section of English 300 (see Recycled Writing policy below). Course grades will then be determined based on the following scale: Assignments Points (%) Summaries (3) 150 (15%) Issue Dialogue Essay 100 (10%) Proposal w/annotated Bibliography 200 (20%) Critical Review of Scholarship/Research 300 (30%) Presentation 50 (5%) Participation (20%) Total 1000 Final Grading Scale = A = B = C = D Below 600 = F A Note on Length of Writing Writing assignment prompts will specify word ranges or minimum length requirements, such as words or minimum of 2000 words. Grades on assignments that do not meet these length requirements will be reduced by up to 25% (see 25% rule below). This applies to assignments that exceed the maximum word count when a word-range has been specified. Recycled Writing: All writing submitted for English 300 must be produced this semester. Students who submit writing completed during previous attempts at English 300 or writing submitted for other courses must rewrite the assignment, and a mandatory 25% penalty will be applied to the new submission. Students who continue to submit recycled writing will fail the course. Submission of Work All work will be submitted in Blackboard as uploaded documents (not copied->pasted into the text box on the submission page). Microsoft Word (.doc or.docx), OpenOffice (.odt), or Rich Text Format (.rtf) are the only acceptable file formats for document submission for this course. When submitting an assignment in Blackboard, students must click the Submit button to finish uploading the file, not the Save button at the bottom of the submission screen. Clicking Save will allow the document to be retrieved by the student, but the instructor will NOT receive the document. Assignments that are late because the student clicks Save instead of Submit will not receive credit. This is the most common reason an assignment fails to submit correctly. The Six Rules for Submitting Assignments in Blackboard Rule 1. The first rule begins before you even get to Blackboard. To assist your instructor in keeping your work organized, always begin your assignments with the proper title page or heading with your name, instructor's name, date, etc. according to the documentation style you've chosen to use in this course. AND when you save the file, name it according to this template: yourfirstname_yourlastname_assignment-title.docx Example: christopher_ervin_summary2.docx or 1 Participation includes Blackboard discussion, research journal, various short writing assignments, reflective s, quizzes, drafts of longer writing assignments, and other miscellaneous homework activities.

4 English , Fall 2013, p. 4 albert_dumbledore_synthesisessay.odt or cosmo_kramer_researchessaydraft2.rtf Rule 2. Submit assignments by uploading them (using the Attach File tool) as MS Word (.doc or.docx), Rich Text Format (.rtf), or OpenOffice (.odt) files. If you don't get it, see the course FAQ. If you use a word processor other than Word or OpenOffice, you must know now to use the "Save As" function and save as one of these approved file formats. No exceptions to this rule. Rule 3. Never write anything in the Submission or Comments box on the assignment submission page. Don't write "Hey Dr. Ervin, here's my paper. Peace out! -JakeZ" in the comments box. I don t read those comments, so don t write anything. Rule 4. When you've finished browsing for your file and have selected it to upload, DO click the "Submit" button; DO NOT click the "Save as Draft" button. Rule 5. Always back up your work, especially if you're working in a public lab. your assignments to yourself, upload them to your Z-drive, X-drive, X-men drive, or whatever. Or them to english300.backup.assignment@gmail.com. See the course FAQ or syllabus for more about this option. Rule 6. Submit your writing to SafeAssign prior to final submission to check for accidental plagiarism, inadequate paraphrase, and quoting errors. Late Work & Make-Up Policy Grades on major assignments that are submitted late will be reduced according to the 25% rule, explained below. No other coursework will be accepted late. It is the student s responsibility to keep up with coursework. The class schedule has a clear due date for each homework activity and assignment. Students who know they will be unavailable for any reason may arrange in advance to submit work according to an appropriate alternative schedule that is agreed upon by the instructor and student. Otherwise, no make-up for assignments, quizzes, etc., will be accepted.

5 English , Fall 2013, p. 5 The 25% Rule for Assignments that Do Not Meet Basic Requirements The grade on any assignment that does not meet the minimum requirements (marked with an * in the writing assignment prompts) will be reduced by up to 25% automatically. Examples of minimum requirements are length, submission deadline, minimum number of drafts, minimum number of sources, and so on. For example, if an assignment has a 1200-word minimum requirement, that means that 1200 words excluding works cited/references is the absolute minimum accepted and that, for example, an assignment that is 1170 words long, including the works cited/references, does not meet the basic requirements. Grades for such assignments will be automatically reduced by up to 25%. Another example: if the annotated bibliography assignment calls for twelve scholarly sources and only eight scholarly sources are submitted, the grade will be automatically reduced by up to 25%. NOTE: This rule applies only to major assignments, not participation homework activities, which are not accepted late for any reason. Failure of Technology Technological failure of any kind is no excuse for submitting assignments late or failing to submit assignments. Students who are not confident with their technology skills are encouraged to work ahead and submit work early. All students should back up their work on a flash drive or e- mail files to themselves or to english300.assignment.backup@gmail.com (see below). ing Backup Copies of Your Assignments Students must not submit their assignments via . Blackboard submission is the only acceptable method of submitting work to the instructor. That said, students who wish to their assignments as attachments solely for the purpose of backing up their work may do so by ing them to english300.assignment.backup@gmail.com. I have set up this account solely for this purpose. Remember, ing as an attachment to this address is not equivalent to submitting an assignment. In fact, as a rule I will not check this account at all. Blackboard is the required primary method of submission. Instructor I will usually respond to s within 24 hours or, if received over the weekend, by the end of the day Monday, and I expect my students to do the same. I typically do NOT check after 7:00 pm on weekdays. If you me over the weekend, I ll respond when I can, but do your best to avoid putting yourself in a situation in which you re in desperate need of an response over the weekend before an assignment is due on Monday. Student Etiquette When you me, appropriate etiquette for professional s is expected. Don t take offense if you receive a response to a poorly-written with a request for you to revise it and send it again. The Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) provides a useful set of guidelines for composing professional s at and in the course FAQ in Blackboard, I have provided an etiquette document. Please use it. Academic Integrity Plagiarism/Academic Fraud occurs when a student knowingly or unknowingly submits another person s published or unpublished (print or web) writing as his/her own, has another person dictate what should be written, has another person write an assignment and submits that work as his/her own, or copies/ borrows another person s ideas/progression of argument without acknowledgment or permission. Students must complete their own work in this class, and they should not ask for or receive inappropriate assistance on their work. Students who decide to violate this policy should understand that course failure is the most common penalty. On the other hand, students who decide to do their own work will challenge themselves intellectually; these students decide to abide by ethical principles that illustrate they value the educational opportunities presented to them and that they believe the quality of their contributions should be given a fair evaluation. In this course, we trust each other to adhere to the principles of academic integrity discussed in this section of the course syllabus. My assumption is that you will submit work that is your own because you wish to be evaluated on the quality of your own work rather than the quality of someone else s and that you understand that doing otherwise is unethical. However, if I begin to question the integrity of your work, I will submit your work to SafeAssign, which will generate a report that will help me determine whether your work is original or not. Plagiarism or academic dishonesty on any single assignment, including quizzes, exams, reflective assignments, outlines, proposals, Discussion Board posts, other short papers, or early drafts of longer papers will result in a course penalty up to course failure. The severity of the penalty will be at the discretion of the instructor, depending on the

6 English , Fall 2013, p. 6 nature of the violation. Length or nature of the assignment are not factors affecting the course penalty. In other words, plagiarism on a one- page paper could result in course failure just like plagiarism in a six- page paper might; or cheating on a daily quiz could result in course failure just like cheating on a final exam might. SafeAssign Final drafts of all papers must be submitted through SafeAssign in Blackboard. Students will have the option of submitting drafts of papers to SafeAssign in advance in order to check for inadequate paraphrase or errors in quoting. Research Requirements Typically, all sources used in this course must be current, relevant, scholarly research accessed from print sources or WKU s full-text scholarly journal databases like JSTOR and the Ebsco collection of databases. Other sources, like credible websites, newspapers, magazines, and the like will be accepted only if the student justifies the use of such non-scholarly sources. Use of scholarly sources constitutes a minimum requirement on all assignments unless otherwise noted on the assignment prompt. (Mis)use of Technology in Class No texting or cell phones in class. No use of computers in class unless we re working on class work. Firm. Extra Credit No extra credit will be offered in this course. Writing Center The Writing Center offers individual conferences (both face- to- face and via e- mail) about writing with its staff of English graduate students. Services are available to all Western Kentucky University students. The Writing Center s hours are listed on the website: Incompletes Typically, incompletes will not be granted for this course. When extenuating circumstances arise for example, if a student in the military and is deployed toward the end of the semester, or if a student has a personal or medical crisis that comes up toward the end of the semester the student must discuss the situation with me if possible and I will consider an incomplete. I will only consider an incomplete for students who are in good standing (C or higher) in the course. Respectful Behavior and General Civility In my classes, I like to have free and open discussions of what we think and feel about the things we read and write. To that end, I ask that everyone be respectful of each other, even if we don t agree about everything. If someone chooses to use hateful, bigoted, or inappropriate language, I will first consult with that student and, if the behavior continues, I will remove that student from the course. Resolving Complaints about Grades Any student who takes issue with a grade or another aspect of a course ordinarily speaks with the instructor first. If the student and instructor cannot resolve the issue, the student may refer the matter to the Department Head, who will assist the instructor and the student in reaching a resolution. If either party is dissatisfied with the outcome at that level, the matter may be appealed further. The Student Handbook (available online at outlines procedures for appeals beyond the department level. I encourage you to ask me about all matters pertaining to grading, fairness, and course policies prior to approaching the Department Head. ADA Notice Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Office for Student Disability Services, Room A200, Downing University Center. The OFSDS telephone number is (270) V/TDD. Please do not request accommodations directly from the instructor without a letter of accommodation from the Office for Student Disability Services. Program Assessment Notice As part of a university-wide accreditation study, a small sample of papers will be collected from randomlyselected individuals in all ENG 300 classes this semester. The papers will be examined anonymously as part of a program assessment; results will have no bearing on student assessment or course grades. Tentative Course Schedule and Assignment Due Dates: See Blackboard->Unit Schedules for course assignments, due dates, etc.