Texts
You do not
need to purchase a text for this class. All reading assignments will
be accessed over the Web. (See schedule for
full reading list.) Note:
there is a small chance that a book will be ordered for your third project.
Ground Rules
Care about learning:
think actively, ask questions, BE CURIOUS.
Care about
others:
- respect the property (words
and ideas) of other writers;
- respect my time and the time
of your classmates. If you miss class or a group meeting, or if you
are experiencing deadline problems, keep me and your group informed;
- respect personalities and viewpoints
different from your own.
Other Rules
Missed
classes:
Because this is a workshop and discussion-oriented course, your attendance
is VITAL. You will often be working with your classmates in collaboration,
and they will frequently depend on you to be present and prepared.
If you
do happen to miss a class or a group meeting, please contact your group
members for notes, schedule changes, and instructions (if any), and
make arrangements with them to complete missed work. Then touch base
with me if necessary (and only after first contacting your group.) You
will be held responsible for anything discussed or assigned in each
class meeting, whether you are present or not.
Activities
toward completion of major projects: since
good writing comes about through a certain amount of perspiration (i.e.,
practice and revision) you will be expected to attend occasional scheduled
conferences, to complete peer critique sessions, and to hand in an assigned
number of rough drafts for each project. Failure to complete any of
these tasks will result in a more intensive evaluation of the final
product. In other words, if you miss a conference, fail to participate
in peer review, and/or do not complete any of the assigned drafts, your
final product will undergo SPECIAL
SCRUTINY. The severity of this
scrutiny will depend upon how many activities you failed to complete,
efforts to discuss problems in advance with me, and attempts to make
up missed assignments. (Major projects which have not been through the
full revision process rarely earn better than a C.)
Late
drafts of projects-in-progress:
these will receive a check for credit, but no feedback
from me. (If you make arrangements with me before a deadline, and if
your reasons are compelling, I'll do everything I can to get feedback
to you.)
Late
final versions of completed projects:
those that reach my hands more than one week late (not counting weekends
and holidays) will result in a two-point per-day deduction from your
semester score.
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Some
Aims of this Course and Skills
You'll Be Practicing
Note: in
many ways, the aims of this course are an open question and, in fact,
are the very focus of our semester's work. In other words, by the end
of the term, you will have hopefully developed YOUR OWN understanding
of what skills and aims are necessary for the teaching of College Composition
in this millenium. Indeed, your conclusions and arguments will likely
affect the way I plan future courses, and I may even pass on your suggestions
to other teachers and researchers.
Nonetheless,
I do have to pre-establish some aims for this class so that you will
know what to expect and will understand my criteria for evaluating your
work. So here they are:
- You'll work
toward gaining versatility as writers, trying out assignments which
ask you to meet the needs of different audiences for different purposes.
- You'll be
encouraged to think critically. That is, you'll be asked to explore
a variety of perspectives on real issues, summarizing as well as (tentatively)
evaluating those perspectives as arguments for different purposes
and occasions.
- You'll be encouraged
to think imaginatively. That is, you will get to try out interesting
and maybe unconventional ideas and connections.
- You'll be encouraged
to write imaginatively and with future needs in mind. That is, you
will get to try out some alternative ways to produce essays, including
the use of electronic new media.
- You'll
practice editing and polishing your work for final presentation (depending
upon your audience), and you'll practice using writing conventions
which are expected in general, real-world communication.
- Through periodic summary writing
and filter-blog assignments, you'll practice reading actively and
with understanding.
- You'll
try your hand at solving real-world questions and begin to build problem-solving
skills which will you can use throughout your life.
- You'll learn
your way around a college library and, with the help of English 189,
hone your research skills.
Minimum Requirements
(You must meet both
of the following to pass this course)
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Accumulated
total of 57 points (57%) for the semester |
Semester grades are determined through a simple point system, where
90-100
= A
79-89
= B
68-78
= C
57-67
= D
0-56
= F
You'll begin the semester with 0, then accumulate points for each major
project and daily activity.
University
Statement on Academic Honesty
Work submitted for this course must adhere to the Code
of Academic Responsibility and Conduct as cited in the Handbook of Student
Policies: "The academic community is operated on the basis of honesty,
integrity, and fair play. Occasionally, this trust is violated when
cheating occurs, either inadvertently or deliberately. This code will
serve as the guidelines for cases where cheating, plagiarism, or other
academic improprieties have occurred. . .Faculty members may fail the
student for the particular assignment, test, course involved, or they
may recommend that the student drop the course in question, or these
penalties may be varied with the gravity of the offense and the circumstances
of the particular case" (65).
All written work and oral presentations must, "respect
the intellectual rights of others. Statements lifted verbatim from the
publications must be cited as quotations. Ideas, summaries, or paraphrased
material, and other information taken from the literature must be properly
referenced" (Guidelines for the Preparation of Disquisitions, the
Graduate School: NDSU, 4).
See
also NDSU CODE OF ACADEMIC RESPONSIBILITY AND CONDUCT
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