Spring 2012

Honors College Composition I

English 101H, CRN 11841 English Honors Composition is a rst-year writing course that meets the same graduation requirements as all English 1010 courses, but it has been designed with higher expectations in reading and writing. (The ofcial college objectives are posted on page three of this document.) This course is organized around the theme of work, mostly in 21st-century America, but worldwide issues will surely arise in any discussions of how work has changed, and we will begin by looking back to one period in the 20th century as a point of comparison to todays work environment. There will be three rather traditional writing projects and one collaborative project of public research and writing on blogs designed by groups of students. Instructor Information Instructor: Dr. Barbara L. Pittman. I have a PhD in English with a specialization in American working-class ction of the Modernist period (1920s-1930s). I currently work full-time for Tri-C, training faculty to use technology in teaching. I teach this course as an adjunct instructor--yes, I have two jobs! 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, as well as forums for personal introductions, brainstorming and organizing for course projects, and specic discussions of course readings. Ofce Hours: Adjuncts are not required to conduct ofce hours at Tri-C, but we can arrange to meet online in rooms where I can share my screen and/or documents, and we can chat on Blackboards chat tool, Blackboard IM, for which you would download the chat software through our Bb site. I will ask that you let me know in advance in a Message if you need to have such a meeting or chat. I work full time during the day and conduct my teaching on evenings and weekends. You may not visit my Tri-C ofce, which may sound odd to you, but when I am there, I am at a job that is not related to teaching or to the English department. Required Textbooks (3) See the specic details of these textbooks on the Bb site: Novel: Attaway, William. Blood on the Forge. 1941. Reader: Ford, Marjorie. The Changing World of Work. 2006. Writers Handbook: Hacker, Diana. Rules for Writers. 2010. 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 collaboration 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. You must contact me prior to any known medical absence or to any missed due dates for course work before I will consider accepting late work. In any case, late work may still be subject to late policies. There are no makeups of quizzes, regardless of the nature of the excuse, because quizzes will be available for a period of several days to accommodate schedules. 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 (word processing, web browsers) and virus-protection software (if you use Windows). 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, .pdf 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. Sometimes restarting your browser or computer will solve any problem or you may need to contact the Help Desk. Coursework and Grading Distribution Points 150 100 125 100 30 50 50 Course Work Writing Project 1: Analysis of Literature (includes short assignment paragraphs) Writing Project 2: Narrative of an Experience Writing Project 3: Research on Work Writing Project 4: Team Research Blogs Discussion Board Forums (3 @ 10 points each) Peer Reviews of Drafts (2 @ 25 points each) Quizzes (approx. 5 @ 10 points each)

Pittman English 101H

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 101H - Honors College Composition I, the student should be able to perform the following outcomes and supporting objectives: 1. 2. 3. 4. Demonstrate understanding and correct application of standard English syntax, inection, punctuation, and spelling. Demonstrate analytical competence in identifying theme/thesis, main points, and supporting details of substantial reading selections and in relating selections to course theme. Demonstrate the ability to write about assigned and self-invented topics. Demonstrate the ability to write substantial assignments related to the course theme and reecting an appropriate understanding of organization, logic, adequate development, appropriate level of formality, coherence and signicance. Write essays demonstrating an effective understanding of the audience and accomplishing the purpose for that audience. Demonstrate in essays of varying lengths the ability to identify and use successfully rhetorical strategies appropriate to the writing topic such as the following: description, narration, process analysis, example, classication/division, denition, comparison/contrast, cause/effect, and problem/ solution. Demonstrate the ability to edit and proofread essays for standard English syntax, inection, punctuation, and spelling, and for appropriate organization, logic, development, level of formality, coherence, and signicance. Demonstrate ability to write informed critical analyses and evaluations of works of ction and to relate these works to the course theme. Recognize that writing on the ENG-101H level is a process that requires constant revision and editing.

5. 6.

7.

8. 9.

10. Demonstrate the ability to write, either individually or collaboratively as determined by the instructor, a substantial paper displaying a comprehensive and detailed understanding of the themes of the course and developing a reasoned, coherent, well supported response to one or more substantial pieces of reading, including the relating of the reading material to the course theme.

Pittman English 101H

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, (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 ideas you can only claim that once. After one such instance, you need to avail yourself of instruction to prevent it from 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. All essays submitted in this course will be reviewed by the Blackboard SafeAssign tool to determine if you are using sources appropriately.

Pittman English 101H

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.

Pittman English 101H