Course Policy for ENG 1101—English Composition 1
Section: OL22, Spring 2021
CLASS Time: Mon, Wed: 10:00 –11:40 am. Place: Online–Zoom (and Blackboard and OpenLab)
Instructor: Professor Sean Scanlan
Email: sscanlan@citytech.cuny.edu
Course Website: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/profscanlan-english1101-ol22-spring2021/
Office Hours: Wednesdays and Thursdays, 1-2pm on Zoom (links tba). Also, emails and calls are possible.
Description:
This is a course in effective essay writing and basic research techniques, including the use of the library. College-level readings are assigned for classroom discussion and essay writing. We will utilize a range of online tools to help us read, write, and learn (Blackboard, OpenLab, Zoom, and others). Students in the course will construct a portfolio of writing.
Prerequisite: CUNY certification in reading and writing
1101 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 21st– 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.
Methods:
- Frequent reading and writing assignment, class discussion, and group work
- Use freewriting, reading responses, at-home reflection, and gathering material for formal and informal writing assignments
- Review of grammar and punctuation rules as necessary
Requirements:
- Brief in-class and take-home assignments: freewriting, journal entries, summaries, and other informal assignments (Blog entries and comments on the OpenLab)
- Three formal essays–parts of the portfolio: many of your in-class and take-home assignments will be preparatory work for these essays.
- Examinations: the mid-term and final are both in-class exams.
- Class participation: this course is a performance, discussion, and skills course; it is not a lecture course. Your work—writing, discussing, listening, critiquing—will be at the center of our activities. This work requires you to be here in body and mind. You should come to each class prepared to speak about the assigned material. Such preparation may require you to reflect on class questions, concepts, and your classmates’ ideas. A good goal is to try to add to class discussion with at least one substantial comment or question during each class. Be proactive. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to get notes, assignment sheets, etc. from a classmate. When you are absent, you should email me and perhaps to set up an office visit.
Texts: There is no textbook to buy for this course. Prof. Scanlan will supply the reading material.
In order to help us improve and understand college-level grammar, we will use a free, online grammar guide called Purdue OWL, published by Purdue University. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
Other Materials:
You must devise a system to record, store, and organize the course materials. 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 written evaluations. In addition to keeping a copy of your work on the hard drive of your computer, save all drafts of assignments on a stable format such as a flash drive or on a remote hard drive/server such as iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Docs. Never throw away or delete drafts or notes until after you have received your final grade. Computer/Printer malfunctions are not viable excuses for late or lost work.
Assignments and Grading:
Important update about the WU grade:
A grade of WU is to be assigned to students who attended a minimum of one class, completely stopped attending at any time before final exam week and did not officially withdraw. A WU grade should never be given in place of an F grade. The F grade is an earned grade based on poor performance and the student not meeting the learning outcomes of the course throughout the entire academic term/session.
Completing all the required elements in good order and form constitutes the average, or a C. To raise your grade above this average, you will need to invest your time, talents, and energies to add insightful commentary, sound argumentative reasoning, and show initiative in your approach to scholarship. It should be understood that revision and refinement are necessary, though not the sole, qualifications for success. Each major assignment will be returned to you with specific comments and suggestions on how to improve your work. I recommend that you make an appointment to see me if you receive a grade of C- or lower.
There will be times when your expectations and my evaluation do not match. I am always willing to explain my comments on your assignments, and to discuss ways in which your work might benefit from additional effort. Lower grades most often result from misunderstanding the assignment goals, and from insufficiently realized or poor executions of these goals. I do not grade beliefs or values. If you are unhappy with a grade, or unsure as to why you received such a response to your work, please make an appointment to see me.
Major assignments must be typed, and they must use standard college-level grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Computer spell and grammar checkers help to spot some errors (but not all). In general, use carefully divided and constructed paragraphs and full sentences. The content should logically progress from one idea to the next in such a way that the entire essay has a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Final grades are determined by the following:
1–Unit One: Intellectual Home 15% (Personal Essay: description/synthesis)
2–Unit Two: Research Essay 30% (Annotated Bibliography)
3–Unit Three: Portfolio 22% (Revisions of Units One and Two and Reflection Essay)
4–Quiz 1 5%
5–Participation 20% (includes 6 Coffeehouse Posts, informal homework, in-class participation, and email participation)
6–Final Quiz/Exam 8%
_________________________________________
100%
IMPORTANT NOTES:
1.Attendance: Synchronous classes meetings resemble traditional on-campus classes where students must be
(virtually) present at the same time. Though they are conducted virtually, synchronous classes meet in real- time. Students must commit to scheduled class times and sign onto their virtual learning platform on schedule. During these classes, students will engage with the instruction during online lessons and presentations and have virtual class discussions. Assignment deadlines and exams days/times are maintained and included on our class syllabus. Students are not penalized for missing a class, but Participation is connected to attendance–students cannot gain participation points if they miss class.
2. Drafts and Typing: The three essays will require organization, honesty, and clarity. In order to practice the process of writing, the essays will require drafts. If you have word processing questions, please ask me. All City Tech students have access to MS Word for free.
3. Late Papers and homework: For each day that an assignment is late, ten points will be deducted. After ten days, the assignment will be recorded as a “0.”
4. Homework Requirement:According to Federal eligibility requirements for a college or university in the US, 3 hours of in-class contact time require approximately 6 hours of homework, study, and/or preparation per week. This is a CUNY standard. And this requirement is also referred to as a Carnegie Unit.
[See: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/credits.doc]
5. Portfolio: Each student must keep all of his/her writing for the course. I will collect a portfolio of your work near the end of the semester.
6. 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.
7. College Policy on Academic Integrity: Students who work with information, ideas, and texts 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 CUNY 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. Is the unauthorized use of another person’s ideas, language, or research as your own, whether intentionally or unintentionally. City Tech does not tolerate plagiarism. Using proper documentation and textual analysis will help you avoid plagiarism. If you have any questions about plagiarism, please ask me. Any cases of plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty will result in a failing grade and appropriate administrative measures. Please familiarize yourself with City Tech’s policies on academic honesty in the college catalog: http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/catalog/docs/catalog13_14_sp14ver.pdf (pages 60-1)
8. Be on time: tardiness disrupts the entire class. Please join the Zoom meetings on time.
9. The Atrium Learning Center: I encourage all students to take advantage of the writing tutors at the Learning Center. This is an excellent recourse for writers of all abilities. ATRIUM LEARNING CENTER: Atrium Building G-18, Director: Judith Rockway, Phone: 718-260-5874. jrockway@citytech.cuny.edu.
10. English Department Writing Center: Students should email CityTechWritingCenter@gmail.com asking for assistance, and they will arrange a tutoring session.
11. 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 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. For more information, see THIS LINK .
13. Advisors: 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. Academic advisors are able to help you navigate these paths. If you are in SEEK or ASAP or have declared your major, you have an assigned advisor with whom to schedule appointments. Others should seek out appointments with Dr. Julian Williams, Director of Liberal Arts & Sciences, jwilliams@citytech.cuny.edu
14. Students Without Devices: For students who don’t have devices, there is a webpage for them to fill out to request a loaner. This is the address: https://www.citytech.cuny.edu/loaner/
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