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ENG 102: "Academic Writing and Research" Course Design
ENG 102: "Academic Writing and Research" Course Design
In my own research of transfer studies, I have discovered that the explicit use of writing terminology has been valuable in promoting the use of composition skills between different disciplines. With this idea in mind, I incorporated a text that focuses on naming specific composition moves as a primary reading in the ENG 102 course: Rewriting by Joseph Harris (2006). In the book, Harris provides readers with a set of vocabulary he recommends we use when interacting with sources. As I read the book, I thought about how adaptable the text was when considering how we may conduct research across disciplines. Thus, I decided to make Rewriting a primary text for students in ENG 102 as I felt it would provide them with a foundational set of writing vocabulary they could use beyond my class. Similar to my ENG 101 course, a goal I have for my students is that they become more connected with the college campus, which is why I incorporated the Community Connections (CCs) opportunity for students in ENG 102 as well. While I recognize not all instructors would agree, I feel as if it is the responsibility of general education courses to help aid students in the transition to college. A part of this transition should include introducing students to resources and opportunities available that may increase their campus involvement, and hopefully lead them to become active citizens in their local communities after college. Since ENG 102 also uses a grading contract, the CCs would be optional for students to engage in both on- and off-campus opportunities, which would lead to a plus or minus additional to their final grades. The sequence for major assignments in ENG 102 begins with students drafting a learning philosophy. I have designed this assignment as a chance for students to reflect on a few readings I built in the first week of the semester that discuss academic integrity. The learning philosophy would allow students not only to draft their own academic integrity statement but also would provide them the chance to share with me how they learn best. I hope to use this assignment as an opportunity for me to get to know all my students, as well as make any necessary adjustments to the course in order to best support their learning. About halfway through the first quarter, students are assigned the next major project, which introduces using primary sources. In ENG 101, my goal was to help students transition to college-level research skills, and ENG 102 helps reinforce these same skills but also introduces other types of research beyond only using secondary sources. In the assignment, I ask students to reflect a bit on their future career goals and plans. Students would then find a person either on- or off-campus who is in the field they are interested in, and they would hopefully conduct an interview using different types of questions we discussed in class. The main objective of having students conduct interviews is for them to learn how to engage using primary sources. In my own experience, I had never completed research where I held an interview to gain information, and I feel as if it gives students an opportunity to experience a different type of research they may need in the future. The midterm project for my ENG 102 course is a literature review, which is a common type of writing assignment across disciplines. Throughout the course, I have dedicated specific citation styles per assignment as a way to expose students to the variety of writing standards that are used in academia. While I have designed my course with the various styles in mind, I am concerned about the complications of transfer by introducing three different citation/formatting methods. My goal is for students to at least have some experience using the different styles, but I am slightly worried about if by introducing three of them within one course may create some confusion. However, I have kept the stylistic preferences built into the class as my plan currently would be to teach them as explicitly as possible. Hopefully, by equipping students with the terminology and resources, they may be able to apply their knowledge outside of ENG 102 and into their other courses. After the midterm, the next project is an exploratory essay where students are asked to pick a STEM-related topic in their respective fields. One activity I had in mind to introduce this project relates to teaching students how to generate their own topics for writing assignments. I designed a lesson that initially asks students to browse popular news sites, such as The New York Times or Science News. From there, students are asked to find 10 headlines that they would consider interesting and fits into their field of study. Then, I would gradually help students narrow down their headlines to two or three where they could then pick a topic based on their initial search. I have used this strategy with high school students in generating topics for larger writing assignments, and in the past, it has been very successful in teaching students a way they could find topics without much help from their instructor. After this activity, the students would hopefully have their own topics which they could then find more sources using the library's databases and other resources to steer their research. In ENG 101, I had students complete only four major projects, and the final for the course was a Defense of Learning presentation demonstrated through a digital portfolio format. For ENG 102, I wanted to build upon the same portfolio idea so that if students took both 101 and 102, they would be able to add to their portfolios, and ideally, would create a product they could continue adding to beyond their general studies. However, I added an additional project before the Defense of Learning for ENG 102 which is a multimedia project. Prior to this project, I plan on introducing a unit on visual and audio representations that explore how composition is not solely essays. My goal with this project would be for students to experiment with styles of composition outside of their boxes, which would hopefully equip them with another skill they could potentially use beyond ENG 102. As I mentioned before, the final for the class would be a Defense of Learning presentation, which would be based on their digital portfolios. The portfolio would ask students to choose three out of the five major assignments that they felt were the best representation of their learning from that semester. Then, students would be asked to write reflections for each assignment chosen that answer not only what they learned but also where they could apply this knowledge outside of our class. Ultimately, I hope that all these assignments and expectations in ENG 102 will help teach students how to transfer knowledge across disciplines, and hopefully guide them toward having a successful college experience.
ENG 102 Syllabus.docxENG 102 Grading Contract Base.docxENG 102 Project Sequence with Guidelines (1) (1).docx
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