EN112 Content Area Composition and Research
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Instructor’s Name: Jaime Vendeville
E-mail: jaime_en112@hotmail.com.
Information about instructor
More Contact Information
Course Description/Purpose
This course is about analyzing (pulling apart) ideas contained in the various academic disciplines and stating them in our own words. It is also about combining ideas from different sources, and explaining them clearly and with sufficient depth so as to demonstrate the learning you've acquired, including the conclusions you've drawn based upon your learning. This is essentially what you do when you write a paper for a college class. The overall purpose of this course is to give you the thinking and writing tools to succeed in higher level college classes at BMCC and transfer universities.
Prerequisites
EN111 with a C or better; CS112. Because we want students to succeed, not struggle, prerequisites will be checked and you will be granted an administrative drop if you lack these prerequisites. You may want to check your own transcripts now and talk to Sherry Bertram if you do not have the prerequisites. She will arrange to change your registration.
EN 112 Learner Outcomes
By the end of the semester, in pieces of approximately 600 to 2,500 words long, students will be able to:
- engage in process writing, with an emphasis on researching information and synthesizing researched information into an outline, as well as revising and editing.
- engage in critical thinking, evaluating ideas, and formulating arguments.
- write expository and persuasive essays on specific topics that challenge student thinking andare relevant to the Social Sciences, Humanities, Technology, and Business.
- process write academic essays in limited time spans ranging from two weeks to two hours.
- paraphrase the ideas of other writers, and credit those ideas appropriately.
- revise their writing using the International Intellectual Standards.
- edit their writing for grammar, mechanics, and punctuation.
- cite sources, using APA in text citations and an APA reference page format.
- Write, in-class, informal pieces of reflective writing (journaling), on a specific topic or in response to short readings.
BMCC Policies
All students please review the following policies and procedures
Student Handbook : (http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/Handbook/index.html).
Drop or Add a Class : (http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/Handbook/index.html#course).
Book Refund and Book BuyBack Policies:(http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/vbookstore.html)
Billing or an outstanding bill: (http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/Handbook/billingProcedures.html).
Information about class schedules and transcripts:(http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/Handbook/transcripts.html).
Course Assumptions
The course assumes that you took EN111 as recently as last semester (which puts you in the best position to build on the skills you acquired in that class). It also assumes that you've learned to carefully review your writing for errors of grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling, and that you are willing to look up what you don't know.
After having taken Introduction to Computers and College Composition, you should be in the habit of spell checking everything you write and of taking advantage of grammar check, carefully reconsidering every sentence underlined with a green wavy line. In other words, you have partnered with technology to make your academic life simpler.
If this isn't the case - sometimes students have to miss a semester, and sometimes the "pack and stack" nature of many college courses makes it easy to forget what you mastered a year ago - please let me know within the first week of class. My goal is to help you succeed; I'll arrange to get you the necessary review. As long as you're willing to put the time and effort in, you will succeed.
Time Necessary to Complete
This is a four credit course. Conventional guidelines recommend that students plan on studying an additional two hours out of class for every hour in class.
Of course, you won't be attending a class. However, this on-line course parallels the course on-campus. Each on-line session covers what is covered on-campus in two-hour blocks. Of course, you need not work through each two-hour session all at once; as an on-line student, you have the flexibility to work at your own pace. Nevertheless, homework is assigned above and beyond the two-hour sessions, and the assignments require additional time for reading, researching on the net, and writing.
While one individual may be able to work through the two hour sessions faster than a group would, the assignments can only be done successfully by investing time in them. We recommend that you reserve at least eight hours a week for this class, keeping in mind that sometimes your homework will take less time, sometimes (particularly for research projects) it will take more.
Effective Learning
If you do decide to work through the sessions as designed, you will see that we've built in breaks and suggestions for keeping your mind sharp and your motivation high as you progress through the course. The suggestions and optional activities are based on brain research that has shown educators how to facilitate learning.
This research has found that movement stimulates the neurochemicals that allow us to learn and remember; oxygen (from deep breathing) likewise facilitates our brain function. What we eat significantly impacts our learning as well: too much coffee and processed sugar makes us drowsy, and in some people, aspertame has been shown to negatively affect memory. Fresh fruit and pure water, on the other hand, have been shown to significantly improve test scores. Stress has a terrible effect on our ability to learn and remember; humor and stress reduction techniques help us ‘reset’ the mind for learning.
You are, of course, free to take the suggestions or leave them; they have no impact on your grade.
Materials
There are three texts for this class.
The first is the basic text, a guide to English for Academic Purposes:
The Essentials of Academic Writing by Derek Soles
The second is a reader:
The Writer's Selections: Shaping Our Lives by Kathleen T. McWhorter
The third is a reference handbook for APA documentation:
The Houghton-Mifflin Pocket Guide to APA Style ISBN 0618308202
It is also recommended that you purchase a floppy disk that you will use exclusively for backing up your class files; as part of the class, you are required to keep copies of all your work. A disk back-up will help ensure you don't lose your cool if your hard drive crashes.
A link to instructions for setting up your electronic portfolio (your file folders) is provided on the course directory.
You should also have a pad or package of writing paper, along with a pencil or pen, for brainstorming, outlining, and perhaps for your first drafts. These tasks can be done on a computer, but it’s time consuming, especially if you’re not fast at keyboarding. Handwritten outlines may be sent in to your instructor via U.S. Mail, so you might want to stock up on brown envelopes and stamps.
Assignments and Activities
There are three types of assignments
in this course. The first two types will be done either as part of the two
hour In-Session block or as Homework.
a. Read
and respond
b. Informal
writing
c. Formal
writing
Most classes will contain reading usually followed by some kind of response. Additionally, you will have informal writing assignments, which range from a single 200 word paragraph to a 500 word informal essay. Your responses are e-mailed to your instructor, not for a grade, but to be put into your portfolio. Each portfolio entry earns a point as long as it meets minimum standards of length, relevancy to the assigned task, and attention to detail.
Your Formal Writing assignments include four essays / reports of increasing length and reliance on researched information. Outlines and drafts of essays and research reports are required because good writing results from process writing.
Please keep in mind that the first research-based essay is assigned fairly early in the semester. Many students come into the class with a pre-formed idea (from having been assigned ‘term papers’ in other classes) that research is a semester long project. It is not. Don’t procrastinate on your research. You are given time guidelines throughout the course to help you stay on course. If you follow them, you should be able to handle the workload. While research always takes a considerable amount of time, the amount of time necessary is factored into the sequence of the course. Fewer In-Session and Homework assignments are given when you are expected to be doing a great deal of research.
ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN THE SEQUENCE THEY WERE ASSIGNED. WORK TURNED IN OUT OF SEQUENCE WILL BE RETURNED.
Finally, there are no quizzes or tests in this class. All written documents count for points, although most will only be evaluated to see if they meet minimum standards; only final drafts will receive a grade.
Grading and Evaluation
Assignments and activities will be weighed as follows:
| In-Session
activities
percentage completed = 20 % X
.20 = Maximum of
20 points |
|
| Homework
activities
percentage completed = 10 % X
.10 = Maximum of
10 points |
|
| Outlines and
drafts for formal assignments 2 points per assignment |
10 points |
| Formal Essay #1 | 5 points |
| Formal Essay #2 | 10 points |
| APA Version of Formal Essay #2 | 5 points |
| Formal Essay # 3 (APA documented) | 15 points |
| Formal Essay # 4 (APA documented) | 15 points |
| In-class Formal Essay # 5 (Proctored) | 10 points |
| Total Points | 100 points |
| A | 100
points |
| A- | 94 |
| B+ | 89 |
| B | 86 |
| B- | 83 |
| C+ | 79 |
| C | 76 |
| C- | 73 |
| D+ | 69 |
| D | 66 |
| D- | 63 |
| Less than a D- | no credit |
At the end of the course you may use the above guidelines to estimate your final grade.
When you write your final essay,
you are required to have a proctor. The instructions about who qualifies to
be a proctor and a form for the proctor to fill out and submit are online
at:
http://www.bmcc.edu/Courses/General_Education/EN112/proctor.htm.
You are to arrange for a proctor by the end of the eleventh week. You are
reminded in the Week 11 homework.
Student Responsibilities
To succeed in this, and most other college classes, you will need to:
- submit required papers and
associated outlines and drafts, within the recommended timelines (procrastination
is not conducive to success).
- carefully read the session
notes and the assigned readings, and complete the exercises that are provided
for practice (shortcutting by skipping the instruction and simply
turning in the assignments is not conducive to success).
- maintain a complete In-Sessoin,
Homework, and Formal Writing portfolio, and insure that your instructor
has a duplicate of that portfolio. See Creating
Files for EN112.
- read through your detailed feedback carefully, noting the areas you need to work on, and taking appropriate action to strengthen those areas so that the next paper doesn't suffer from the same weaknesses.
Your instructor will assist you whenever you have questions about his/her feedback or you need additional practice and explanation. Please do not hesitate to ask for help!
Academic Honesty
Any time you use someone else's words or even the basic sentence structure, without quotation marks and documentation that shows your source, you are guilty of plagiarism. Plagiarism is viewed by this instructor to be a serious breach of academic integrity. Be very, very careful not to cut and paste text from your research sources. The sentences you submit in this class must be 100% your own. Your instructor will follow BMCC's Academic Code of Conduct (BMCC Handbook, page 9) in the event that your work turns out to be less than original.
Due Dates
Because this is an on-line course, the due dates are approximate, and they are always expressed in terms of days or weeks from the initial assignment. It is up to the student to calculate what calendar day that would be.
Most students, however, do best when there are deadlines. Due dates (in terms of the week the assignment is due) are listed in the Course Calendar. After that week, the writing assignment begins to lose credit. Please note that each writing assignment has a point after which it begins to lose credit. Formal papers turned in after the deadline progressively lose a letter grade (B to B-, for example) over two weeks time; after a certain point, they can no longer be worth credit.
Likewise, the In-Session and Homework assignments are expected to be submitted on schedule, counting from your start date. For example, the first assignments are due the first week of the semester. If the assignments arrive the following week, they will only earn a half a point. Assignments over two weeks late can no longer earn credit. This policy is to prevent you from becoming overwhelmed with late papers.
When a paper is late because of a legitimate hardship, the instructor is willing to work with you and allow some flexibility, provided you communicate your need for special consideration given the circumstances. Communication is the key, however! Please talk to him/her by phone or by e-mail.
Instructor responsibilities
Your instructor is responsible for:
- providing detailed feedback in no later than one week’s time.
- being available to you for questions, one-on-one assistance and/or obtaining additional help for you by referring you to tutors and tutorial software. He or she is here to help. Don't be afraid to ask.
- checking and responding his/her e-mail at least once a day, Monday through Friday.
Transferability
The content of this course and the amount of writing required is consistent with second semester writing courses in other Michigan colleges and universities; it should transfer to any institution that accepts the MACRAO agreement. We recommend that students always check with the college to which they plan to transfer.
Disabilities
If you have either a learning disability or a physical impairment that your instructor can accommodate, please let him/her know within the first two weeks of the class, so she can help.
Course Calendar
The Course Calendar provides
a "snap shot" of the topics covered in the course and the sequence of assignments.
It will help you "get your ducks in a row." However, for assignment specifics,
students should rely primarily on the session notes and related links.
