FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY

GENERAL EDUCATION

COURSE INFORMATION BOOKLET

1ST SEMESTER
A.Y. 2020-2021

GEDO101- College Academic Skills in English (CASE)

Table of Contents

Lecturer…………………………………………………………………………………… 1
Course Synopsis………………………………………………………………………….. 2
Course Status……………………………………………………………………………... 2
Course Purposes and Goals………………………………………………………………. 2
Course Expected Learning Outcomes……………………………………………………. 3
The FEU Student-Centered Teaching and Learning Culture……………………………. 3
The FEU General Education Curriculum Principle……………………………………… 4
Learning Environment…………………………………………………………………… 4
Delivery Methods………………………………………………………………………… 5
Assessment Methods……………………………………………………………………... 5
Grade Policies and Assessment………………………………………………………….. 5
Policy on Academic Integrity……………………………………………………………. 6
Policy on Late Submission………………………………………………………………. 7
Reading List……………………………………………………………………………… 7-8
Corse Outline and Schedule……………………………………………………………… 9-10
Learning Content and Activities…………………………………………………………. 10-11
Scheme of Work and Deadlines………………………………………………………….. 11
Rubrics…………………………………………………………………………………… 11-12

Lecturer

Facilitator : Janeth S. Hyatt, M.A. Ed.

Email : jhyatt@feu.edu.ph
Consultation Hours : Monday & Thursday 3:00-5:00 pm (can be through
CANVAS or email)

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Course Synopsis

GEDO101 College Academic Skills in English (CASE) is part of the general education curriculum
which aims to enrich academic skills in English through student-centered learning approach that:

1. Prepares students to be lifelong learners through the development of study habits and key
academic skills, foremost of which are critical reading and analytic writing;
2. Trains students to reflect on and asses their own thinking and learning strategies; gather, weigh,
and organize relevant information, draw connections between ideas; distinguish sound and
unsound arguments, and express their own sound and cogent arguments in clear and concise
academic language.

Course Goal
The course intends to develop individuals who can extract necessary information from various
sources: written texts, audio-visual materials, online platforms, and actual events and to use the
information critically, analytically, and creatively in appropriate situations.
COURSE EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES (CELO)
Upon completion of the course, the student should be able:

1. demonstrate extensive note-taking, outlining, and annotation skills in processing diverse

genres of reading materials;
2. exhibit analytical thinking skills logically critiquing print, broadcast, and social media
resources identifying fallacious reasoning;
3. use critical thinking skills in evaluating arguments embedded in multimodal texts as to the
truthfulness and validity of their claims;
4. show creative thinking skills through production of multimodal materials;
5. exhibit fortitude, excellence, and uprightness in writing a well-documented argumentative
paper on a relevant social issue;
6. defend a position about an issue through the creation and delivery of a persuasive and logical
speech;
7. appreciate the importance of study and thinking skills in processing information from
multimodal sources which can be exhibited through written and oral output.

Course Status

Credits : 3 units
Total Learning Time : 54 hours (18 weeks)
Course Status : General Education
Pre-requisite : None

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The FEU Student-Centered Teaching and Learning Culture

FEU practices, advances, and advocates for a learning culture that is student-centered. FEU affirms
the ability of students to produce valuable reactions to, reflections and questions on, and
understandings and appreciations of topics and issues in classroom. As such, the FEU classroom
is set-up in a manner that will best solicit student input and the FEU teacher’s responsibility is to
ensure that the students participate in the generation of ideas rather than be passive recipients of
ideas. FEU and FEU teachers firmly believe that the atmosphere in which learning and
development happen best is an atmosphere where students are co-authors of ideas. The FEU
teachers’ role, therefore in the classroom is to coach and facilitate creation.

The characteristics of a culture of student-centered learning are that it is constructive. Teachers

within a culture of student-centered learning provide opportunities for students to construct
knowledge and guide students in the creation of new knowledge; they see assessment as an
opportunity for learning and formation. It is also relevant and responsive in that ensures that
students are provided activities drawn from authentic and real-life situations that will encourage
students to connect learning with real-life situations. Its atmosphere is one that is democratic in
its insistence on the recognition and respect of the diversity of opinions and ideas and on its
emphasis on an understanding and appreciation of the context upon which these diverse ideas are
born. Student-centered learning values and encourages critical thinking and active learning by
engaging students to ask essential questions and by synthesizing and contextualizing viewpoints.
Students, in this learning environment reflect and ask questions, seek relevance and engage in
scholarly discourse that leads to inferences, insights, and sound positions.

In FEU, student-centered learning is undertaken in a technology-enabled learning environment

that promotes digital literacy. It utilizes technology for more relevant and meaningful learning.
The FEU student, in turn, sees technology as a tool for learning and use it responsibly.

The student-centered classroom is interdisciplinary, integrative, and interactive. Its teachers

challenge students to interconnect disciplines and relevant issues and to find interconnections and
patterns. The objective of student-centered learning is the development of lifelong learners and
creative thinkers and the cultivation of attitudes and habit that ensure continuous self-enhancement
and knowledge generation. As products of the FEU student-centered experience, FEU students
are models of competent and effective learners and of the continuous quest for knowledge making.

The FEU General Education Curriculum Principle

The FEU General Education Curriculum, besides being interdisciplinary and outcomes-based, is
grounded on Student-Centered Teaching and Learning grounded on a number of principles
directed towards increasing students’ achievement of key learning outcomes by giving them
opportunities to take an active role in the construction of knowledge. Such will be achieved by
allowing them to actively participate in discussion-based sessions undertaken in technology-
enabled learning environment, intended to develop their ability to appreciate, reflect on and react

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to issues at hand. The goal is to empower them to develop attitudes and habits that will bring them
academic and life success.

Learning Environment

Traditionally, learning happens in the classroom. But with the recent events, that is
suddenly altered to different modalities. These modalities present various limitations in terms of
delivery of lessons and assessments. These changes create difficulty which confuse learners and
teachers. However, let us not forget that we are still guided by our principles to learn regardless of
the difficulty of the learning environment. Thus, any form of learning modalities still adheres to
various standards, expectations, duties, and responsibilities for both the learner and the teacher.
The following are lists of responsibilities of the student and the teacher:

Student’s Responsibilities:

Ø Read and understand the content of this booklet

Ø Read and understand the texts assigned to you
Ø Do the assessments and submit on time
Ø Always set aside time to study the lessons
Ø Raise questions if instructions are unclear
Ø Annotate the reading materials i.e. write comments, ask questions, write your
understanding of the lesson, write what are the vague concepts
Ø Attend online class always
Ø Make sure to participate in online class and ask concepts, ideas that are unclear
Ø Submit outputs that are substantive
Ø Prepare for the lesson by reading the assigned text ahead of time
Ø Always check the announcements, guidelines, rubrics, instructions of the teacher
Ø Read the course outline to guide you with the sequence of the readings
Ø Participate in the discussion board
Ø Turn in papers that show hard work and substance
Ø Read the guidelines on how the assessments are graded
Ø Write and submit an ORIGINAL WORK

Teacher’s Responsibilities

Ø Inform the student on the lessons ahead of time

Ø Set a time frame on the submission of assignments, term papers, quizzes etc.
Ø Set a schedule on video conferencing, discussion board, and output and grade consultation
Ø Create a schedule on when to return the outputs with comments to the students
Ø Set a time for assessment and giving of feedback
Ø Give rubric for essay questions or term paper

Delivery Methods

• English is the language of instruction

• Student-centered learning activities

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 • Mixed-Mode Teaching through the use of CANVAS
• Selected reading assignments (provided with supplemental materials)
• Exploration of educational web pages and links (optional due to possible difficulty of
internet conncetion)
• Discussion board participation (if possible but optional since this is analogue)
• Teacher guided instruction consists of giving of important concepts and guide questions
• Modular instruction
• Inquiry and analysis through critic paper
• Individually written work

Assessment Methods

In order to pass this course, there are requirements that are expected from you. All requirements
are written and oral as well thus reading the article/s is required from you in order to answer the
guide questions and the assessments.

• Outputs are individually prepared

• Written Outputs
• Formative Assessments (given for each material – essay questions)
• Summative Assessments (position paper, thesis statement/argument of 800-1000 words,
infographic, and synthesis of the texts read)

Grade Policies and Assessment

Classroom assessment in FEU is a joint process that involves both teachers and learners. It is an
integral part of teaching and learning which holistically measures learners’ current and
developing abilities. FEU encourages authentic assessment which promotes real-life learning.
Adhering to this paradigm, below are the guidelines in classroom assessment in the university.

1. Grading periods will be limited into two: Midterms and Final periods. The 18 weeks will
be divided equally. Each of the grading periods will be nine (9) weeks each.
2. Assessments in the university are classified into Formative and Summative. Below are
the samples of each type.

Formative Assessment Summative Assessment

• Quiz (short-long, short
response essay questons)
• Seatwork
• Presentation of output
• Work samples (portfolio)
• Demonstration &
observation of skill
• Peer evaluation of project
work
• Infographic
• Case study/problem
analysis
• Capstone/application
projects
• Research/term paper
• Performance test for skill-
based courses
• Position paper
• Crafting of thesis
statement/argument

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 • External review of
student projects
• Self-evaluation of work

3. Your grade will be calculated as:

a. Formative Assessment (FA) – 70%
b. Summative Assessment (SA) – 30%
4. Passing mark is 50%.
5. Grading is zero based.

Policy on Academic Integrity

Anchored on the core values of Fortitude, Excellence and Uprightness, Far Eastern University
(FEU) believes that its students, administration, faculty and staff should demonstrate academic
integrity at all times. Academic integrity means that the members of the entire academic
community adhere to the fundamental values of honesty, hard work, originality, respect and
responsibility. FEU students are expected to always adhere to the highest standards of academic
excellence.

FEU students are expected to demonstrate beliefs, attitudes and behaviors associated with
academic honesty. Thus, all acts of academic dishonesty in FEU are not tolerated. Academic
dishonesty comes largely in two forms: cheating and plagiarism.

It is considered a major offense subject to disciplinary actions if students cheat or plagiarize their
work.

Cheating is broadly defined as getting unauthorized help on an assignment, quiz or examination.

The following are considered as acts of cheating:

• Copying from another student during a test or examination, with or without his/her
knowledge;
• Allowing another student to copy his/her work;
• Using unpermitted notes during a test or examination;
• Having in one’s possession written notes or electronic devices during a test or
examination;
• Getting questions or answers from someone else who has already taken a test or
examination;
• Turning in work done by someone else;
• Taking a test or examination for another student;
• Writing or providing an assignment for another student.

Plagiarism is another form of academic dishonesty. All FEU students are expected to turn in work
that is a product of their own efforts, study and research. Thus, copying work of others (in whole
or in part) and claiming it as one’s own is considered an act of plagiarism. A work is also
plagiarized if the student did not properly cite or acknowledge the sources or references for his/her

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work. One must remember that plagiarism is identified not through intent but through the act itself.
The following are considered acts of plagiarism:

• Repeating someone else’s words verbatim without acknowledgement;

• Presenting someone else’s ideas without acknowledgement;
• Paraphrasing, translating, or summarizing someone else’s ideas without
acknowledgement;
• Improperly acknowledging of sources, as with incomplete/imprecise documentation;
• Having one’s work done by someone else or having one’s work substantially revised by
someone else;
• Having one’s work done by some else or having one’s work substantially revised by
someone else (in this kind of set-up, your work is done at home, thus some will be
tempted to ask other people to write the assessment for them, but remember that the
assessments are given to help you develop your understanding of the text and the
critically analyse the problem. Not doing YOUR OWN assessments for various reasons is
like disrespecting ad not trusting yourself. Even without others looking, let us develop
and respect integrity in whatever we do. The law of karma will haunt you. Academic
honesty must always be respected.

Policy on Late Submission

In order to instil academic discipline and develop work ethic among students, ALL PAPERS
SHOULD BE SUBMITTED ON TIME. Late papers will no longer be accepted. The schedule of
submission is given with this booklet and indicated as well in the modules hence, there is no reason
not to be aware of the date of submission. Thus, any requests for possible extension of deadline
will be denied.

Reading List

The readings for this course are provided to you together with your modules. These are also
available online through CANVAS and at the internet. The readings are presented according to
the last name of the author/s NOT on how they will be discussed. Some of the readings are chapters
from the book and copies will be provided before the discussion. The title of the book itself is given
to you in case you want to read other chapters to enhance your knowledge of the content of the
topic/s. There are supplemental reading materials that you can read as well in case you want to
explore the topic area. But only the reading materials listed below and in the course outline are
the main texts and the sources of formative and summative assessments.

Primary Reading Materials:

Akutagawa, R. (1952). Rashomon and other Stories. Pp 15-28.

Berehulak, D. (2016, December 7). They are slaughtering us like animals. The New York Times.
Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/07/world/asia/rodrigo- duterte-
philippines-drugs-killings.html

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Carter, H. (2012). We’re losing the drug war because prohibition never works. In
McDonald, S. & Salomone, W. (2012). The Writer’s Response: A Reading-based Approach to
Writing. UK: Wadsworth.

Ciardi, J. (1976). Another school year—why? In J. Berke, (Ed), Twenty Questions for the Writer:
A Rhetoric with Readings. USA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Gelernter, D. (2011). Computers cannot teach children basic skills. In Kennedy, X., Kennedy,
D., & Muth, F. The Bedford Guide for College Writers. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Golding, W. (1986). Thinking as a hobby. In McCuen, J.R. & Winkler, A. C. Readings for
Writers. NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers.

Gross, B. (2005). Bitch. In Selzer, J. & Carpini, D. L. Conversation: Readings for Writing. USA:
Pearson Education, Inc.

Jose, F. S. (2011, September 12). Why we are shallow. The Philippine Star. Retrieved from
http://www.philstar.com/arts-and-culture/725822/why-we-are-shallow.

Mills, C. W. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. Oxford University Press.

Mills, C. W. (1956). The Power Elite. Oxford University Press.

Schor, J. (2011) The creation of discontent. In Kennedy, X., Kennedy, D., & Muth, F. The
Bedford Guide for College Writers. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

References

APA Style. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/

Freeley, A.J. & Steinberg, D. (2009). Argumentation and debate: critical thinking for reasoned
decision making. California: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Kennedy, X., Kennedy, D., & Muth, F. (2011). The Bedford guide for college writers. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Langan, J. (2013). Reading and study skills (10th ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill Companies.

Mayfield, M. (2014). Thinking for yourself: Developing critical thinking skills through reading
and writing. MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Purdue Online Writing Laboratory. Available at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/

Rosenwasser, D. & Stepehn, J. (2015). Writing analytically (7th ed.). DT: Cengage Learning.

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Course Outline and Schedule

Week Date Content

Orientation
Course outline discussion
Presentation of Reading Materials
1 Aug. 17-20 Levelling of Expectations
Giving of the texts
Negotiating classroom policies
Introduction to the course
Read:
Ciardi, J. (1976). Another School Year -Why?
Topics: motivating the self, study goals and time management,
2 Aug. 24-28
Organizing study space, eliminating procrastination
Formative assessment 1
Deadline of submission: Sept. 2 for W-S Sept. 3 for M-Th
Read:
Mills, C. W. (1959). The Sociological Imagination.
Mill, C. W. (1956). The Power Elite.
Sept.1-4
3 Type of activities: getting the general and specific idea of a written
text, annotating a written text, making a reading outline
Formative assessment 2
Deadline of submission: Sept. 9 for W-S Sept. 10 for M-Th
Read:
Golding, W. (1986). Thinking as a Hobby.
Type of activities: knowing one’s dominant learning style, textual
4 Sept. 7-11
analysis
Formative assessment 3
Deadline of submission: Sept. 16 for W-S Sept. 17 for M-Th
Read:
Brodkey. H. (1985). Reading the Most Dangerous Game.
Sept. 14-18 Type of activities: text analysis of the article, distinguishing fact from
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Opinion, written output
Formative assessment 4
Deadline of submission: Sept. 23 for W-S Sept. 24 for M-Th
Viewing of a documentary film:
(a) The Last Generation: The Lives of Foot-bound Women
(b) Iran: Behind the Veil
6 Sept. 21-25 Type of activity: analysis of a documentary film (drawing inferences
and predicting outcomes)
Formative assessment 5
Deadline of submission: Sept. 30 for W-S Oct. 1 for M-Th
Read:
Sept. 28 to
7 Gross, B. (2010). Bitch
Oct. 2
Type of activity: making generalization from a text

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 Formative assessment 6
Deadline of submission: Oct. 7 for W-S Oct. 8 for M-Th
Read:
Schor, J. (2019) The Creation of Discontent
Type of activities: produce an infographic in response to the analyzed
8 Oct. 5-9 message of the text, distinguishing between a summary and a
paraphrase
Formative Assessment 7
Deadline of submission: Oct. 14 for W-S Oct. 15 for M-Th
Midterm Examination (Summative Assessment)
9 Oct. 12-16
Deadline of submission: Oct. 14 for W-S Dec. 15 for M-Th
10 Oct. 19-23 Midterm Grade Consultation
Read:
Berehulak, D. () They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals.
Carter, H. III (). We Are Losing the Drug War.
11 Oct. 26-30 Type of activity: compare and contrast of written texts to visual texts
Formative assessment 8
Deadline of submission: Nov. 4 for W-S Nov. 5 for M-Th
Read:
Akutagawa, R. (1952). In A Grove.
Type of activities: identifying arguments, evaluating arguments, types of
12 Nov. 3-5
evidence
Formative Assessment 9
Deadline of submission: Nov. 11 for W-S Nov. 12 for M-Th
Research Outline:
Gathering evidence through online research, presentation of research
13 Nov. 9-13 outline and peer critiquing of outline
Formative Assessment 10
Deadline of submission: Nov. 18 for W-S Nov. 19 for M-Th
Read

King, M. Jr. (1963). I Have a Dream.
Shakespeare, W. (1609). Julius Caesar
14 Nov. 16-20 Type of activities: identify the different types of appeal: ethos, logos,
pathos, writing an argumentative paper
Formative assessment 11
Deadline of submission: Nov. 25 for W-S Nov. 26 for M-Th
Read:
Shulman, M. (1951). Love is a Fallacy.
Jose, F.S. (2011). Why Are We Shallow?
Type of activities: valid and invalid arguments and logical fallacies:
15 Nov. 23-27
analysis of political campaigns, literary excerpts containing logical
fallacies
Formative assessment 12
Deadline of submission: Dec. 2 for W-S Dec. 3 for M-Th

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 Read:
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Introduction)
16 & Type of activity: critiquing the idea and writing a persuasive critique
Dec. 1-11
17 about the text
Formative Assessment 13
Deadline of submission: Dec. 9 for W-S Dec. 10 for M-Th
Final Examination (Summative Assessment)
18 Dec. 14-18
Deadline of submission: Dec. 16 for W-S Dec. 17 for M-Th

Learning Content and Activities

This course is organized in two modules: the first consists of modules which contain the materials,
guide questions and graded formative assessments for each text intended for the midterm period;
the second one contains the same but intended for the final period. There is one reading material
per week but a select reading materials depending on the number of pages are scheduled for
discussion for two weeks.

The reading materials are focused on the intended skills to be developed: Reading, Writing and
speaking Skills. There are 14 reading materials for this course, but the number of pages is shortened
to give you time to read. Each reading material has formative assessment and is provided with
important concepts that you need to look for in the text to help you understand the material. In
addition, two short documentaries were included. Also, guide questions are given to help you
navigate the text.

This course has 14 formative assessments and 4 summative assessments. Each assessment has a
corresponding number so that you can track your submission and in order to avoid confusion as
well.

As you have to study with little guidance because of the nature of the modality, it is your
responsibility to keep track of the schedule of lessons and the deadlines of assessments (provided
below). The reading materials and instructions are available to you so that you can study at your
own pace. Always refer to the Information Booklet and the Course Modules. If there are concerns,
the CANVAS and my email can be a platform for reaching out. Further, all documents for
submission must be in a word file NOT pdf.

Scheme of Work and Deadlines (make sure to observe and follow strictly the deadlines)

1. Formative Assessment 1– Sept. 2 for W-S Sept. 3 for M-Th

2. Formative Assessment 2 –Sept. 9 for W-S and Sept. 10 for M-Th
3. Formative Assessment 3– Sept. 16 for W-S and Sept. 17 for M-Th
4. Formative Assessment 4 –Sept. 23 for W-S and Sept. 24 for M-Th
5. Formative Assessment 5 –Sept. 30 for W-S and Oct. 1 for M-Th
6. Formative Assessment 6 –Oct. 7 for W-S and Oct. 8 for M-Th
7. Formative Assessment 7– Oct. 14 for W-S and Oct. 15 for M-Th

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 8. Formative Assessment 8 –Nov. 4 for W-S and Nov. 5 for M-Th
9. Midterm Examination (Summative Assessment) – Oct. 14 for W-S and Oct. 15 for M-Th
10. Midterm Grade Consultation – Oct. 19 -23 for both M-Th and W-S
11. Formative Assessment 9 – Nov. 11 for W-S and Nov. 12 for M-Th
12. Formative Assessment 10- Nov. 18 for W-S and Nov. 19 for M-Th
13. Formative Assessment 11 -Nov. 25 for W-S and Nov. 26 for M-Th
14. Formative Assessment 12 -Dec. 2 for W-S and Dec. 3 for M-Th
15. Formative Assessment 13 -Dec. 9 for W-S and Dec. 10 for M-Th
16. Final Examination (Summative Assessment)–Dec. 16 for W-S and Dec. 17 for M-Th

Rubric

In answering the formative assessments, always consider this rubric. Your answer to the formative
assessments will be checked in accordance with this rubric.

Score Content Organization Development Use of

Language
9-10 Answer is responsive Clear sense of order. Develops each Use words
to the question. There are point with many appropriately
Content is factually Supporting points specific details. and correctly.
related to the that are presented in Answers No major
question. Addresses a logical question grammatical or
the question clearly progression. completely. spelling errors.
and cohesively.
7-8 Answer is responsive points are presented Each point Accurate word
to the question. in a logical supported with choice. Minimal
Content may have progression. some details word errors.
one or two factual and evidence.
errors. All important
points covered.
4-6 Content relates Logic of argument is details are not Ordinary word
responsibly to the minimally properly choice; Some
question; contains perceivable. Points expressed. The serious errors
significant content presented in a Question is (but the idea is
errors related to the seemingly random partially still clear)
topic in question. fashion, but all answered.
support argument.
1-3 Content unrelated to Lacks clear Statements are Limited
question. The organizational plan. unsupported by vocabulary;
presentation of ideas Reader is confused any detail or errors affect the
is unclear and and does not explanation. expression of
illogical. understand the Repetitious, ideas.
content of the incoherent,
answer. illogical
development.

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