FALL 2023 ENGLISH 1101 – D156

Professor: Dr. Garcia

Email: Rgarcia@citytech.cuny.edu

Course Site: https: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/garciaeng1101-d156fall2023/

Course meeting times: Wednesdays 10:00 am – 11:40 am, room N-601A

Weekly office hours: Monday 1:45 – 2:45 p.m., Wednesday 9:00 – 10:00 a.m, & by appointment

Welcome:

Welcome to City Tech and English 1101! I’m looking forward to working with you and getting to know you over the course of the semester as you adapt to our class and college. If during the semester, you have any questions or concerns about the course or college, or if there is any situation preventing you from participating, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I am here to work with you!

Course Description:

A course in effective essay writing and basic research techniques including use of the library. Demanding readings assigned for classroom discussion and as a basis for essay writing.

Every City Tech (and CUNY) student takes Composition I, which features reading and writing assignments that will help prepare you for college and beyond. Together we will work on communicating effectively, building an argument, adapting your writing for different needs and situations, interpreting and responding to a text, incorporating and citing secondary source material. We will be reading pieces both for their inherent literary and informational value and also as models for our own writing projects. Sharing your own ideas and experiences and adding your voice to our discussions will enrich our class community.

Prerequisite: CUNY proficiency in reading and writing 

Course Meetings:

This course will meet in person for an hour and forty minutes every Monday and Wednesday.

Every Thursday, I will post an agenda with two sets of assignments to complete the following week–one for Monday and one for Wednesday. Unless the agenda states otherwise, each assignment is due by the beginning of our class every week. This work and our in-person meetings are required.

These readings, posts, and other assignments will help you engage with and think critically about the ideas in the reading and the writing process. Additionally, these posts and class assignments will help you develop your own ideas and drafts for your larger projects by breaking down and guiding you through the writing process.

Finally, many times, I will ask you to respond to each other’s writing.  We will work on developing community both in our in-person class sessions, and in our online written community– by writing. This work is also required.

Teaching and Learning Methods:

This course is discussion-based. Students share their writing, both informal and formal, and use feedback from me and from classmates to revise work. We will use a portfolio system, meaning you will compile and revise all work when it is initially due and again at the end of the semester, so that you can reflect on what you have learned throughout the semester to revise your work.

Since this course relies on students’ collaboration and feedback to each other, it is important that everyone share ideas in the spirit of helping and learning from classmates. I will also provide feedback, both written and spoken, on your work in the spirit of supporting your writing development. Respect, consideration, and shared responsibility are central to this approach: individually, between students, and between instructor and students.

Course Website: 

Our OpenLab site is where you will find your assignments, find messages from me, and post all your work. This is in addition to our in person class meetings.

Therefore, it is important that you familiarize yourself with our website and find out where everything is and that you check daily for updates. You are responsible for being up-to-date and knowing what is on our course site.  Please contact me if you are having trouble!

Course Tools and Required Materials:

Course Texts & Tools

• All readings for our course are Open Educational Resources/Zero Textbook Costs (OER/ZTC), which means instead of buying a textbook, students will use materials that are freely or openly available–at no cost to students–not only throughout the semester but after the end of the semester. These materials are linked from our OpenLab course site in the schedule and the weekly assignments. 
• Several of the texts we’ll read in this course are part of Core Books at CUNY, a CUNY-wide initiative funded by a Teagle Foundation grant. Reading these texts will help us engage with broad humanistic questions that we will use to inspire our writing.
• The New York Times (create a free Academic Pass account with your City Tech email). Sign up here: https://library.citytech.cuny.edu/help/how/nytimes.php
• Google Docs (you will submit your major assginments by inserting links to your Google Docs in OpenLab posts).
• A system to record, store, and organize your work. It is very important that you save all of your work for this class. Devise a filing system that allows you to maintain prior drafts and final copies of all major assignments, as well as your research notes, outlines, and evaluations Never throw away or delete drafts or notes until after you have received your final grade.

Technology 

• For our course, you will need an OpenLab account (and membership in our course site), as well as your City Tech email account and CUNYfirst login. And your passwords for each!
• To complete your coursework, you will need a reliable internet connection and a device to access our shared spaces. 
• You may be able to complete some of your work using your phone, such as shorter readings and writing assignments. You will likely find it difficult to conduct all of your work on your phone. If your phone is the only device you have regular access to, please consider using computer labs at City Tech, including G600, the library, and in Voorhees. You can also consider requesting a loaned computer or wifi hotspot from City Tech.
• You’ll need storage space for your work. I strongly recommend cloud storage, such as a Dropbox or Google Drive account. You can get an unlimited-storage  CUNY Dropbox account for free.
• Even with all of this digital technology, you will still want to use pen or pencil on paper–they’re technology, too! I recommend having a notebook to keep ideas, freewrites, sketches, etc, together throughout the semester.
• Although a printer is not required, you should consider how you read and compose best and decide if you would benefit from printing your materials, either by visiting one of the computer labs at City Tech or by investing in a printer.
• The camera on your phone or tablet can be very useful for quickly digitizing non-digital materials, such as work in your notebook, or written comments on drafts, that you can then share on the OpenLab. You can also download a free program that lets you use your phone’s camera to create PDFs, such as Adobe Scan, CamScanner, or Genius Scan.
• A word-processing program will be necessary for our major unit assignments. You might use Google Docs or, if you’re interested, Microsoft Office: The City University of New York provides Microsoft Office 365 for Education to students at participating colleges, including City Tech via the Microsoft Office in Education program. You sign in using your CUNYFirst/Blackboard credentials (this is different than your regular CityTech email) and have online access to MS Word, Powerpoint, Excel and other programs in the MS Office Suite. You may also be eligible to download the Suite to your computer.  Read more about and download Microsoft Office 365.
• A digital folder on your computer named for each course you take this semester to store files.

Grading Breakdown:

Unit 1: 20%

Unit 2: 20%

Unit 3: 20%

Final Reflection: 10%

Participation (this includes participation in our in-person meetings and your timely participation in all in-class and OpenLab assignments): 30%

Note: Low-stakes writing (which means the assignments you do on our course site and in our in-person class sessions) is part of your participation grade in this class. This means you need to regularly attend and participate in-person class sessions, as well as keep up with your work on the OpenLab site to get that 30%. These assignments and participation are also necessary for your success because they teach you and guide you through the process of writing (and reading, and researching).

When I grade your low-stakes writing I will look to see that you did the assignments thoroughly and thoughtfully, and that you have done it in a timely manner. I am not grading you on whether or not you are right or on your grammar. (If you’re having trouble with getting things done on time, please let me know.)

Late Paper Policy:

Major essays are due as indicated on our syllabus and weekly agendas. If you are having difficulty completing a major assignment please talk to me before it is due.

Revision Policy:

In this course, you can revise one major unit assignment for your final portfolio. Your new grade replaces your old grade. However, you are welcome to revise all major assignments during the course of the semester. Please be in touch with me about any revisions you do during the semester, rather than at the end. Please come see me during office hours if you’re confused about my comments or you’d like additional feedback.

University Policies:

Diversity and Inclusive Education Syllabus Statement:

This course welcomes students from all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. In accordance with the City Tech and CUNY missions, this course intends to provide an atmosphere of inclusion, respect, and the mutual appreciation of differences so that together we can create an environment in which all students can flourish. It is the instructor’s goal to provide materials and activities that are welcoming and accommodating of diversity in all of its forms, including race, gender identity and presentation, ethnicity, national origin, religion, cultural identity, socioeconomic background, sexuality and sexual orientation, ability, neurodivergence, age, and etc. Your instructor is committed to equity and actively seeks ways to challenge institutional racism, sexism, ableism and other forms of prejudice. Your input is encouraged and appreciated. If a dynamic that you observe or experience in the course concerns you, you may respectfully inform your instructor without fear of how your concerns will affect your grade.  Let your instructor know how to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally, or for other students or student groups. We acknowledge that NYCCT is located on the traditional homelands of the Canarsie and Lenape peoples.

Though we are not in a physical classroom, we are still a community. Respect for everyone in our course (not just the professor) is crucial.

Accessibility Statement:

City Tech is committed to supporting the educational goals of enrolled students with disabilities in the areas of enrollment, academic advisement, tutoring, assistive technologies, and testing accommodations. If you have or think you may have a disability, you may be eligible for reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments as provided under applicable federal, state and city laws. You may also request services for temporary conditions or medical issues under certain circumstances. If you have questions about your eligibility or would like to seek accommodation services or academic adjustments, you can leave a voicemail at 718-260-5143, send an email to: Accessibility@citytech.cuny.edu, or visit the Center’s website at http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/accessibility/ for more information.

Academic Integrity:

Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. The complete text of the College policy on Academic Integrity may be found in the catalog.

Support Resources:

College Writing Center:

Online writing tutoring is available through the Writing Center at City Tech! I encourage you to utilize their services. Keep in mind you’ll need to make an appointment ahead of time. It’s unlikely they’ll be able to squeeze you in at the last minute, especially during busy times, so plan ahead!

Advising:

The transition to college is challenging for everyone. It is helpful to periodically reflect on how you are doing in your classes, and how your anticipated area of study (major) is progressing, as well as to plan next steps. Once advisement begins, you will be assigned a faculty advisor. During this period, if you have not been emailed and/or you do not see your advisor/appointment on CUNY First, go to your major’s homepage; there, you will find advisement details that will include contact information, as well as dates and times.

English 1101 Learning Outcomes

Departmental Learning Outcomes:

It is expected that at a minimum, students in ENG 1101 will:

• Read and listen critically and analytically in a variety of genres and rhetorical situations: Identify and evaluate exigencies, purposes, claims, supporting evidence, and underlying assumptions in a variety of texts, genres, and media.
• Adapt to and compose in a variety of genres: Adapt writing conventions in ways that are suitable to different exigencies and purposes in a variety of contexts, including academic, workplace, and civic audiences. When appropriate, repurpose prior work to new genres, audiences, and media by adjusting delivery, design, tone, organization, and language.
• Use research as a process of inquiry and engagement with multiple perspectives: Learn to focus on a topic and develop research questions that lead to propositions and claims that can be supported with well-reasoned arguments. Persuasively communicate and repurpose research projects across a variety of contexts, purposes, audiences, and media. Demonstrate research skills through attribution and citation gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing both primary and secondary sources. Learn how to use appropriate citation styles depending on disciplinary and situational requirements (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).
• Use reflection and other metacognitive processes to revise prior assumptions about reading and writing and transfer acquired knowledge into new writing situations. Students write reflections of their own reading and writing process from the beginning and throughout the semester with the intention to transfer their acquired knowledge about genre and composing practices into new writing situations.
• Demonstrate the social and ethical responsibilities and consequences of writing: Recognize that first-year writing includes academic, workplace, and civic contexts, all of which require careful deliberation concerning the ethical and social ramifications concerning fairness, inclusivity, and respect for diversity. Write and revise for academic and broader, public audiences accordingly.
• Compose in 21^st– Century Environments: Learn to choose among the most current and effective delivery methods for different composing situations. Students learn to compose in new media environments, including alphabetic texts, still and moving images, sonic, and mixed media compositions. Use digital media platforms appropriate to audience and purpose.

CUNY Pathways Learning Outcomes:

A course in this area must meet all of the following learning outcomes. A student will:

• Read and listen critically and analytically, including identifying an argument’s major assumptions and assertions and evaluating its supporting evidence.
• Write clearly and coherently in varied, academic formats (such as formal essays, research papers, and reports) using standard English and appropriate technology to critique and improve one’s own and others’ texts.
• Demonstrate research skills using appropriate technology, including gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing primary and secondary sources.
• Support a thesis with well-reasoned arguments, and communicate persuasively across a variety of contexts, purposes, audiences, and media.
• Formulate original ideas and relate them to the ideas of others by employing the conventions of ethical attribution and citation.

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