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1. To use
writing, the critical reading of mature prose texts, and research as means of
general cognitive development, as activities which foster intellectual growth in
an academic environment.
2. To
encourage students to see writing as a learning tool that is important in all
contexts and is not confined to the writing classroom.
3. To
teach students to plan, organize, and develop persuasive essays by using
introspection, general observation, deliberation, course reading, and research
beyond classroom texts.
4. To
make students aware of their individual voices and how those voices can be
adapted to fit different audiences and rhetorical situations.
5. To
encourage students to view writing as a process by using several prewriting,
organizing, drafting, revising, and editing strategies.
6. To
stress the importance of clear communication by teaching students to revise
effectively through the complete rethinking, restructuring, and rewriting of
essays.
7. To
encourage independent thinking.
8. To
teach students to evaluate, document, and incorporate source material accurately
and appropriately, according to “The Correct Use of Borrowed Information.”
Writing 101 introduces students to college-level
writing. Our primary goal is to further the development of our students'
writing skills and to show students that writing is essential to a liberal arts
education and to life-long learning. Students should learn about the
developmental nature of writing, the importance of academic standards, and the
significance of "writing to learn." Be
sure to include the 8 listed goals above on your syllabus.
Student
Learning Outcomes (Include on syllabus.)
Student
Learning Outcomes for
Writing 101 include the following:
1.
Students will analyze and evaluate nonfiction prose texts
both for their ideas and their rhetorical choices trough the
use of critical reading strategies.
2.
Students will plan, organize, and develop persuasive,
logical, and well-supported essays by using strategies such
as introspection, general observation, and deliberation of
source material.
3.
Students will recognize and use prewriting, organizing,
drafting, and revising strategies.
4.
Students will apply feedback from the instructor, peers, and
self-analysis to improve their writing.
5.
Students will evaluate, document, and incorporate source
material accurately and appropriately according to “The
Correct Use of Borrowed Information” and MLA documentation
style.
Touchstone
Program (Include on syllabus).
Touchstone Program:
This course meets
Touchstone Goal One: “To communicate clearly and effectively
in standard English” and Goal Three: “To use critical
thinking, problem-solving skills, and a variety of research
methods.” It also provides students with opportunities to
meet potentially Goal Four: “To recognize and appreciate
human diversity (both past and present) as well as the
diversity of ideas, institutions, philosophies, moral codes,
and ethical principles” as well as Goal Seven: “To examine
values, attitudes, beliefs, and habits which define the
nature and quality of life.” Writing 101 appears in the
Touchstone Program as part of the “Writing and Critical
Thinking” skill area.
Minimum Grade
Requirement
Students must earn at least a C- in Writing 101.
Students
must repeat Writing 101 if they earn less than a C-. Remind students that at
least a C- in
Writing 101 is a prerequisite for enrolling in HMXP102. Be sure to
include on course syllabi a notice about this grade requirement.
Number and Types of Assignments
WRIT 101 is an introduction to academic discourse.
The focus of the course should be on the writing process, a process that results
in well-supported, thesis-driven prose. While formal argument will not be the
only emphasis, the writing in this course should use many of the strategies of
formal arguments: a clear stance; reasoned, logical support; concession;
refutation; authorial voice; awareness of audience; and the correct
documentation of borrowed materials. Reading assignments and class discussion
should lead directly or indirectly to writing assignments, and reading
assignments should be mature non-fiction prose. The first paper in the course
may be an experiential, transitional—“from high school to college”—paper, based
solely on personal experience), but writing should progress quickly to objective
analytical writing that correctly incorporates summarized, paraphrased, and
quoted materials.
Instructors should assign at least 4,000 words of
graded writing, an amount that includes the final exam (a timed writing
assignment). Each student should write five graded essays (including the final
exam). Three essays should be written outside of class, and two (including the
final exam) should be written in class. At least four essays should incorporate
borrowed material, and at least two of these should include library or other
outside research. One of our crucial goals for this course is that students
learn how to incorporate borrowed material correctly, and every effort should be
made to ensure that this goal is achieved. The University community assumes
that students leave WRIT 101 with the tools needed to document borrowed material
without unintentionally plagiarizing and to understand what constitutes
plagiarism and what its consequences might be.
Complete revisions (i.e. re-written papers) may
count as new essays if both versions are graded. Ungraded drafts and
corrections do not count toward minimum writing requirements. NOTE: In WRIT 101, we DO
NOT teach modes (narration, description, classification, etc.) as the sole
organizing strategy for any single assignment.
NOTE: Final exams
must be given during the assigned exam time.
Texts
All WRIT 101 faculty are required to use the same
handbook and documentation guide: Prentice Hall Reference Guide:
3rd Custom
Edition for Winthrop University, taken from the
Prentice Hall Reference Guide,
8th edition by
Muriel Harris. You may choose the non-fiction reader you wish to use from the texts selected for WRIT 101: Behrens and Rosen’s
Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum
(11th edition);
Axelrod, Cooper, and Warriner's
Reading Critically, Writing Well
(8th edition);
The Arlington Reader; and
From Inquiry to Academic Writing.
Common Book
All Winthrop freshmen will read the same common
book as part of their orientation and ACAD experience. This year, the book
selected is Bill Strickland's Make the Impossible
Possible. The University College website has
information on the Winthrop Common Book Project.
Grading
Please require your students to download and print
a copy of the
grading rubric from the department web page. We ask
that you go over this material with the students prior to the first essay
assignment. Some faculty have had great success in asking students to evaluate
a student-written essay using the grading rubric. This task seems to make them
more aware of what is required in their own writing.
Be sure to include on your syllabus your grading scale, breakdown, and
whether or not you are using
the +/- system.
Diagnostic Essay
Faculty should have students produce a writing
sample on the first day of class. A prompt will be available in the workroom,
or you may use one of your own. Many faculty use this writing as a pre-writing
exercise which leads to a revised essay. These essays may help you to spot
students with serious writing problems so that you can direct them immediately
to the Writing Center for assistance.
Documentation
Students should learn how to summarize, to
paraphrase, and to handle direct quotations in Writing 101; and they should be
able to use material from two or more sources in one essay. The departmental
guideline entitled "The
Correct Use of Borrowed Information" which is now included in the
custom handbook should be used along with the appropriate chapters in the
Prentice Hall Reference Guide –3rd Custom Edition. The Winthrop library also
has prepared information about “Citing
Electronic Sources: MLA Documentation” that you may use. Students
and instructors should be familiar with the University’s policy on plagiarism
(as stated in the
Winthrop University Undergraduate Catalog and the
Student Handbook) and should be aware that the
penalty for plagiarism, depending on the severity of the offense, may vary from
a grade reduction on the assignment to a failing grade in the course. We
encourage all faculty to set up an account and use
TURNITIN. We believe this program will help you and
your students and certainly reduce the incidents of plagiarism.
Required Library
Lecture
There is now an
on-line tour of the library, which each student may
take from the privacy of his/her computer terminal. This assignment will focus
on using DOC and finding books. This assignment will be
completed in students' ACAD courses.
Writing 101 classes
normally include include
a library lecture; however, this semester, the library faculty will
prepare video tutorials on various topics that are scheduled
to be available mid-September on. Please reinforce this information with
your students. If you would like to have a librarian come to visit your
classes, please contact David Weeks at (x2319).
Final Exam
All Writing 101 students will take their Writing
101 exam during the regularly scheduled exam time for that class period in their
regular Writing 101 classroom. (The
exam
schedule is available through the Records and Registration website.)
Each instructor will
construct his or her own final essay examination based on course material or
special readings provided by the instructor. (Objective exams are not
acceptable.) The final exam should count from 10% to 15% of a student's
final grade for the course. Your syllabus should
include your exam time.
Please give a copy of your final exam topic
(assignment) to the Director of Freshman Writing and to Carol Schlabach.
Storage of Students'
Papers
At the end of the semester, students' papers should
be filed in the department's storage room. Please bind the folders together by
section, and label a blank folder with your name, course name, section number,
and the semester in which the course was taught. The bound student folders
should be placed in the storage room in the appropriate cabinet (labeled by
year). Please remind students that you must keep all their papers from the
course. If they want copies of those papers, they must make them before the end
of the semester.
Assessment
You may be asked to provide copies of randomly
selected papers for assessment purposes.
Syllabi
When you have drawn up your syllabi, give one
copy to Carol Schlabach. All syllabi must also be archived electronically for
accreditation purposes.
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