Barton Community College English Composition I (ENGL 1204) Course Description An approach to purposeful writing stressing self-expression through written communication by logical presentation of ideas with emphasis on content, organization, and mechanics. Carrie Feist 218 E. 7th Street Hoisington, KS 67544 620.653.2141 cfeist@usd431.net Classroom Policy Students and faculty of Barton County Community College constitute a special community engaged in the process of education. The college assumes that its students and faculty will demonstrate a code of personal honor that is based upon courtesy, integrity, common sense, and respect for others both within and outside the classroom. The college reserves the right to suspend a student for conduct that is detrimental to the college s educational endeavors as outlined in the college catalog. Plagiarism on any academic endeavors at Barton County Community College will not be tolerated. Learn the rules of, and avoid instances of, intentional or unintentional plagiarism. All students will be required to turn in all essays through ecollege. This will allow the instructor to run the essays through turnitin.- com, BCC's plagiarism checker. Anyone seeking an accommodation under provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act should notify Student Support Services. COURSE AS VIEWED IN THE TOTAL CURRICULUM English Composition I is an approved general education course at Barton County Community College, which can be used to fulfill degree requirements as a fundamental course acceptable as general education credit towards any degree (A.A., A.S., A.G.S., or A.A.S degree). This course transfers well and may be used to help fulfill credit and course requirements for general education at most if not all Kansas Regents institutions. General education requirements vary among institutions, and perhaps even among English Composition I 1
departments, colleges or programs within an institution. Also, these requirements may change from time to time and without notification. The students shall assume the responsibility to obtain relevant information from intended transfer institutions during their tenure at Barton County Community College to ensure that they enroll in the most appropriate set of courses for the transfer program. Most will not accept this course unless the student earns a C or better. Transfer equivalencies are located online at this website: http://www.bartonccc.edu/careercenter/transferinformation.htm ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING / COURSE OUTCOMES and COURSE COMPETENCIES Barton County Community College assesses student learning at several levels: institutional, program, degree and classroom. The goal of these assessment activities is to improve student learning. As a student in this course, you will participate in various assessment activities. Results of these activities will be used to improve the content and delivery of Barton s instructional program. Outcome A: Use a variety of planning strategies. Employ planning strategies that are effective for a variety of writing tasks, including, but not limited to journaling, listing, free writing, brainstorming, clustering, reporter s questioning. Outcome B: Employ effective narrowing strategies to draft an effective thesis. Organize an essay using outlining strategies. Write an opinionated, focused thesis statement and topic sentences for a specific audience and purpose. Compose a thesis that will address a specific audience. Adequately test a hypothesis to determine whether it is specific and well-focused. Outcome C: Effectively and logically organize body/topical paragraphs. Demonstrate mastery of a variety of organizational methods appropriate to the writing task, such as comparison/contrast, cause/effect, definition, problem/solution, classification, and process analysis. Compose opinionated topic sentences that not only support the thesis but also direct the content of the paragraph Incorporate both general and specific supporting evidence. Judge whether topical paragraphs display unity, completeness, order and coherence. Outcome D: Write introductions and conclusions appropriate to the subject, audience and purpose of the essay. Compose introductions that address a specific audience and introduce the topic appropriately. English Composition I 2
Compose conclusions that effectively lend closure to the many ideas expressed within the essay s development. Outcome E: Recognize the importance of coherence to the audience and incorporate effective and appropriate coherence devices to meet this need. Correctly use appropriate and effective transitional devices. Correctly incorporate pronouns and key words as coherence devices. Demonstrate proficiency in using parallel structure. Outcome F: Compose essays that meet the standards of academic writing. Choose diction that is specific as well as vivid and appropriate for college level academic writing. Compose sentences that clearly express the author s ideas. Demonstrate the ability to judge writing situations when non-standard English grammar is appropriate and when it is not. Write using standard English grammar. Produce documents which conform to recognized (standard) guidelines such as those of the Modern Language Association (MLA), the American Psychological Association (APA), or the Associated Press (AP). Avoid plagiarism by crediting any outside sources incorporated into a document using attributive tags and/or in-text references as well as works cited/ bibliographical listings. Outcome G: Revise effectively. Evaluate the effectiveness of the relationship between the thesis and the essay to determine whether the essay develops the idea expressed in the thesis and whether the thesis accurately conveys the ideas developed in the essay. Evaluate the effectiveness of the relationship between each topic sentence and its paragraph to determine whether the paragraph develops the idea expressed in the topic sentence and whether the topic sentence accurately conveys the ideas developed in the paragraph. Revise paragraphs for logical presentation and complete development of ideas. Revise sentences for clarity, emphasis, economy and variety. Write in third person, when appropriate, following the rules for correct pronoun/antecedent agreement. Employ strategies that promote the use of active voice. Use conjunctions correctly, observing the conventions of parallel structure and correct punctuation. Demonstrate proficiency in proofreading and editing. INSTRUCTOR'S EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS IN CLASS The instructor assumes that college students are mature adults and that student be- English Composition I 3
havior should reflect this assumption. Students should be attentive in class and courteous to others, and they should not engage in activities that compromise the educational climate and integrity of the classroom. Deviation from expected student behavior may result in dismissal of a student from the class. Students are expected to attend class regularly and promptly. Two absences may result in a full letter grade drop. Each missed class after that may result in another full drop of a letter grade. They are also expected to complete and to submit to their instructor assignments in a timely manner. These assignments may be in the form of daily exercises, short quizzes, major writing assignments, and or formal exams. Students absent from class assume the responsibility for making arrangements to ensure full credit for any and all assignments missed. Students absent for a school-related activity or for another scheduled commitment are responsible for making arrangements beforehand to ensure full credit for any assignments missed or due during their absence. Likewise, students who miss class, for whatever reason, are responsible for obtaining any lecture notes, supplemental materials and assignment directions from fellow students. While all instructors are more than willing to help students who are experiencing difficulty, teachers are under no obligation to give lectures twice or hand over their personal notes. Students will word-process (computer generate) all formal writing assignments, utilizing such writing tools as a spell-checker and grammar checker and such aid as the peer and paraprofessional tutors. Students will not be allowed to keep their written work; all major writing assignments and examinations will be kept in a portfolio file of student work with the instructor. Students will be required to utilize the various computer laboratories on campus and become familiar with the library and its various computer search engines as well as the Internet. Individual instructors may require each student to secure a personal electronic mail address, either for their home computer system or through the college for submitting major writing assignments. Student-instructor consultations may require advanced, scheduled appointments, and students are expected to schedule such appointments as needed. TEXTBOOKS AND OTHER REQUIRED MATERIALS Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen Mandell R. Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide. Boston: Bedford/ ST. Martin's, 2010. Print. English Composition I 4
REFERENCES Any of the following materials may be used to supplement classroom activities: Modern Language Association. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: MLA, 2009. METHODS OF INSTRUCTION AND EVALUATION Because of the nature of the class, both lecture and laboratory modes of classroom management will be primarily utilized. Class discussion is highly recommended and encouraged. Students may expect exercises on clauses, pronoun agreement, punctuation and other areas of grammar and usage; however, the amount of class time spent on them will depend on the skill level of the students and the mastery of the particular skill. Students who are deficient in various areas of grammar or who demonstrate considerable difficulty in mastering the necessary grammar skills will be highly encouraged to accept the responsibility needed to correct their problems. Instructors reserve the right to determine whether students may make up any daily, in-class assignments and quizzes missed due to an absence. Students will have only one week to submit late writing assignments or to complete exams and may be penalized with a docked grade depending on the instructor. Any writing assignment or exam not submitted to the instructor within this seven-day period following the due date will not be accepted. Students must meet individually with their instructor to review any extenuating circumstances related to an absence. Students should not expect this meeting will take place during class time. Exams may be given periodically throughout the semester over assigned chapters and lecture notes, with the final exam constituting no more than 10 % of the total grade. Individual instructors will determine the weight of other exams and writing assignments. The instructor reserves the right to consider each final grade on an individual basis. Grading Scale A = 90-100% B = 80-89% C = 70-79% D = 60-69% F = 59% and below ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS Each student will be expected to attend each class session. If students must be ab- English Composition I 5
sent, they become obligated to notify their instructor themselves, ahead of time. In case of an emergency or illness, instructors have the responsibility to provide the opportunity for students to make up in a reasonable and appropriate manner work missed (within the time frame established by the instructor.) Please be advised that collaborative activities completed during class can not be made up in the event a student missed the activity. COURSE OUTLINE Expect units and essays on the following: Narration Description Exemplification Classification and Division Definition English Composition I 6