English 1010, Fall 2011 Web-Based

English 1010, CRN 81813

Course Description
English 1010 focuses on the study and practice of good writing. See the ofcial course outline below for the course outcomes and objectives. We will write essays and numerous short writings, and our readings will include a number of shorter essays and one novel. This is a web-based course that meets online and completes work in a Blackboard site. See the section below on student responsibilities in an online course.

Instructor Information
Instructor: Dr. Barbara L. Pittman. I have a PhD in English and have taught composition since 1987. I currently work full-time for Tri-C, training faculty to use technology in teaching. I teach this course as an adjunct instructor.
Communication: We will use Messages in Blackboard for direct communication about course issues that are related to your grade. There will also be an open forum on the discussion board for general course questions. It is imperative that you login to Blackboard at least every other day to keep up to date. See the section on Netiquette below the syllabus. Ofce Hours: Adjuncts are not required to conduct ofce hours at Tri-C, and you may not visit me in my campus ofce, but we can arrange to meet online if necessary. I work full time during the day and can be available on some evenings for online meetings.

Required Textbooks (3)

James S. Miller. Acting Out Culture. ISBN 0312624293. This new textbook contains the majority of the readings for the course, with a focus on understanding and writing about culture. There will be multiple short writings about the readings in this book, as well as one main writing project. Diana Hacker. Rules for Writers with 2009 MLA Update, 6th ed. ISBN 0312593391. This handbook includes instruction about writing essays, documenting sources, and grammar. J. M. Coetzee. Waiting for the Barbarians. ISBN 0140061109 or 0143116929. This novel will be the source for your second writing project. I will be using the 2010 edition, but it should not matter what edition you use.
Pittman 1 English 1010, Fall 2011

Academic Credit and Online Coursework Expectations

How online coursework is calculated: In order to award one (1) semester hour of college credit, the Ohio Board of Regents requires two hours of signicant study outside of the classroom for each one-hour in class for the equivalent of an academic semester. Thus, the standard expectation for a web-based course is that you will spend 3 hours per week for each credit hour. This is a 3 hour class.Expect to spend 9 hours per week on this course.

Student Responsibilities in an Online Course

There is no back of the classroom where online students can hide, while other students do most of the work. Each student in an online course is essentially front and center. You need to be a motivated learner before the course begins. Even though you will have some required interaction with other students in the class, you will work alone for the most part. You need to make a commitment to the course work from the rst day. Communication is key to success in this course, both among students and with the instructor. Group work requires that you communicate with other students. Excuses after the fact carry no weight. Instead, they convey the sense of invention. You must contact me prior to any known medical absence or to any missed due dates for course work in order to receive consideration. There are no makeups of quizzes, regardless of the nature of the excuse. Technology excuses have replaced the old "the dog ate my homework" excuse. Technology problems are not an acceptable excuse for late or missing work. If you have no condence in the reliability of your own computer or your Internet connection, you should arrange to work in a library. It is your responsibility to maintain your computer with current productivity software and virus-protection software. It is your responsibility to work under optimum conditions to prevent your computer from crashing; for example, do not have too many windows and applications open at the same time; do not try to surf the web and send email when working on a Blackboard quiz; when writing a paper, save it often and save multiple drafts as backup. You must be able to save your work in acceptable document formats: .doc, .docx, .rtf Claims that Blackboard is not working when you need it can be conrmed in the Bb log of such issues--usually those claims do not turn out to have happened. Usually the problems are with your own computer or your own actions.

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English 1010, Fall 2011

Coursework and Grading Distribution

Every writing course requires a lot of writing. Writing is hard; writing well is harder. This course will ask you to perform many writing tasks during the semester and to perform them to the best of your ability and on time. Make a commitment to the course from the rst day.

Points
75 100 90 75 60 30 100 80

Coursework* Writing Project 1: Using Patterns of Writing Writing Project 2: Analysis of Literature [includes short responses] Writing Project 3: Persuasive Argument Writing Project 4: Course Portfolio Discussion Board Forums or Blog (4 @ 15 pts. ea.) Peer Review of Drafts (2 @ 15 pts. ea) Quizzes (approx. 5 @ 20 pts. ea.) Reading Responses (approx. 8 @ 10 pts. ea.) *Check the Weekly Calendar for any changes to coursework.

Writing Assignments
Writing Project 1: Using Patterns Writing Project 2: Analysis of Literature Writing Project 3: Persuasive Argument Writing Project 4: Course Portfolio

Approximate Dates*
Weeks 1-3 Weeks 4-7 Weeks 8-12 Weeks 13-15

*See Weekly Calendar for specic due dates of all course work.

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English 1010, Fall 2011

Grading Scale
90-100% = A 80-89.99% = B 70-79.99% = C 60-69.99% = D 59.99% and below = F
There will be no rounding up of grades on the edges of the scale. This is a generous scale with wide ranges per grade, and no plus or minus grades.

Outcomes & Objectives from the Ofcial Tri-C Course Outline

Upon satisfactory completion of ENG 1010 - College Composition I, the student should be able to perform the following outcomes and supporting objectives: Write college-level essays, compositions, interpretive papers, research papers, and other assignments/exam responses, using correct grammar, appropriate rhetorical strategies, and appropriate proofreading/revising techniques. Demonstrate correct application of standard English syntax. Write about assigned and self-invented topics. Apply appropriate methodology and content from other disciplines to assigned and self-invented writing assignments. Write an assignment reecting his or her understanding of organization, logic, adequate development, coherence, and signicance. Integrate new facts and ideas with personal experience in assigned and self-invented writing assignments. Use appropriate rhetorical strategies such as the following: description, narration, process, example, classication/division, denition, comparison/contrast, cause/effect, problem solution to write multi-paragraph essays of varying lengths. Demonstrate an awareness of purpose and audience. Choose appropriate external sources when writing shorter, researched essays. Employ the citation of external sources in order to avoid plagiarism and to support persuasive writing. Demonstrate ethical choices in dealing with ideas borrowed from external sources, including paraphrase, summary, and quotation, in order to avoid plagiarism. Use rhetorical methods to write interpretive/analytical papers based upon both ction and nonction. Demonstrate analytical competence in identifying theme/thesis, main points, and supporting details of a reading selection. Discuss and write about the objectivity and reliability of information found in essays. Identify and analyze problems found in ction and nonction; develop, evaluate, and prioritize possible solutions to problems verbally and in writing. Recognize cause and effect relationships in essays and ction through discussion and writing.
Pittman 4 English 1010, Fall 2011

 Write informed critical analyses about works of ction. Apply proofreading, editing, and revising techniques to all writing assignments, written communication, and personal writing projects. Edit and proofread essays for syntax, organization, logic, development, coherence, and signicance. Recognize that writing on the level of this course is a process that requires constant revision and editing and utilize these steps in preparing compositions for class In addition to these college objectives, you must do all your work in a digital environment, which will enhance your digital literacy skills.

Policies for Submission of Assignments & Quiz Policies

Course assignments have been created to be due in a regular pattern; you should plan your weeks so that all material is submitted when due. Read all the assignment documents to become familiar with weekly due dates. Writing Projects, both essays and shorter assignments, will be downgraded by 5% for each day late. The next day begins at midnight or 12:00 AM. There will be a number of paragraph-length writing assignments. Like the longer writing projects, they will be downgraded by 5% for each day late. Peer Reviews must be performed within assigned dates in your group wiki. You may not perform peer reviews in any other format, nor outside of the assigned times set on the calendar. Quizzes may be taken twice for the highest grade, but must be taken within the assigned dates on the calendar. There will be no makeups of missed quizzes, as they will be open for several days to accommodate schedules.

Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty

Writing in an academic setting means that it is often necessary to use information from good resources to support your ideas. You cannot be expected to be an expert on all subjects, and the good news is that we want you to use the words of experts to support your ideas. Your responsibility is to learn how to use those words appropriately, so that readers know who said what in your writing. Readers need to be able to clearly distinguish your ideas from your experts ideas. If you are unclear about when and how to acknowledge (cite) these ideas, read ahead in your writing handbook, Rules for Writers, to Chapters 53-56. Your writing handbook lists the rst three of the following acts as plagiarism, and I have added the rest: (1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas,
Pittman 5 English 1010, Fall 2011

(2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words. (Hacker 415) (4) representing submitted work as yours that was written by someone else (5) submitting work written for another course and assignment without revising and without permission [if you wish to revise and submit writing that you have done in previous courses, you must ask your instructor for permission to do so and give evidence of the previous work] All of these methods of plagiarism include copying material from the Web, from print sources, and from other student papers. Accidental plagiarism means that you do not know how to give attribution correctly to anothers words or ideasyou can only claim that once. Then you need to avail yourself of instruction to prevent it happening again. I will allow one revision of accidental plagiarism, except in cases where an entire paper is the result of copying, even in chunks. Good writing makes minimal use of outside resources to support the writers ideas. If you nd that you need to use quotation marks and parenthetical documentation several times per paragraph, then there are not enough of your ideas in the writing.

Penalties for Academic Dishonesty

Plagiarism in this course will result in zero (0) points for the assignment. Plagiarism performed twice in this course will result in failure of the course. Refer to the Student Conduct Code 3354:1-30-03.5 and Student Judicial System 3354:1-30-03.6 for more information about violations and College disciplinary procedures.

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English 1010, Fall 2011