1. English Composition II ENGL 1020-DNT Course Overview

2. Welcome! English Composition II is a continuation of English I that emphasizes writing, research, and analytical reading. This class has several purposes. You will learn: to express ideas clearly and logically in writing; to employ a writing process that results in a polished final draft; to evaluate your own writing and that of your classmates; to find, evaluate, integrate and document credible sources; to consider context and differing points of view in reading assignments; and to read with comprehension and think critically and 3. Course Overview This is a 12-week course, so we will be movingfaster than we might in a 16-week course, and the information will be more compressed. It will be important that you keep up. As this is an online course, you will need to navigate our Blackboard Site--see Blackboard Tips and Tricks located in the Course Information folder on the left if you need help. You should click through the links on the menu bar on the left to get an idea of how the course is structured. 4. Course Site Orginization Calendar--key dates for the course and college Announcements--posted Mondays or for news Contacts--how to reach me and staff at the college InformationBlackboard tips and Course tricks, syllabus, assignment schedule and other documents Assignments--weekly lessons, major and weekly assignments, weekly task checklistsDiscussion Board--organized by week Tools--handy items like Blackboard IMTest/Quiz--all our quizzes Student Resources--helpful services like tutoring Useful Links-- our textbook resources, online dictionaries, Google Scholar and Hartness Library 5. Course Site Announcementsmain screen when you log in to Blackboard A New Announcement will be posted eachMonday; you will be emailed a copy; the letter will outline our week Additional Announcements will be posted as needed; any important changes will be announced and sent out via email.Course Informationkey documents are here Blackboard Tips and Tricks Syllabus Assignment Schedule Plagiarism Policy 6. Course Site Discussions there is a new forum each week,with multiple threads related to the weeks topic. Please refer to the instructions on each thread and follow them. Good faith efforts will receive full credit (7 points). 7. Assignments This is a very important location! Weekly assignment folders will contain lessons,handouts, a task checklist for the week (see next slide), the writing exercise assignment sheet, and Turnitindropbox for upload Major assignment folders will contain the assignment sheet, grading rubric, any handouts related to the document, and the Turnitindropbox for each assignment. 8. Course Site Tests/quizzes link contains our quizzes Tools link contains handy items such asBlackboard IM Student Resourceslink takes you to college services like tutoring and the library Useful Links include writing and research aids from around the web such as dictionaries, OWL at Purdue, Hartness Library training videos and more 9. Major Assignments The major focus of this course will be a 7-12 page Argumentative Research Essay This essay is worth 400 points, or 40% of your grade All our assignments will be based on this essay Four weeks of our schedule will be spent writing this essay Well end the semester with informal presentations about your research project 10. Major Assignments Our other major assignments will be related to the research essay 1. Topic Proposal Essay in which you choose your topic for the research essay--worth 50 points or 5% of your grade 2. Annotated Bibliography which will help you find and evaluate sources for the research essay--worth 250 points or 20% of your grade 3. Peer Review of a draft of the research essay worth 48 points or ~5% of your grade 11. Major Assignments Together, your major assignments will comprise75% of your grade Topic Proposal 50 ptsAnnotated Bibliography 250 ptsPeer Review 48 WeeksArgumentativ e Research Essay 400 pts You must turn in all four major assignments topass the course 12. Weekly Assignments In addition to our major assignments, we will alsohave weekly assignments, worth 25% of your grade, 21 points per week They are comparable to the activities we would do in the classroom and include: Quizzes on course content and writing conventions Discussion forumsthere will be multiple threadseach week to talk about and practice elements from our lesson Writing Exercisesthese short assignments will allow you to practice key skills and elements of major assignments 13. Weekly Schedule MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridayWeekly Reading Discussion Announcement Quiz on Posts due; ; Lessons main worth 7 posted; New lesson due; points for all Assignments Worth 3.5 threads posted pointsLanguage and Writing Convention Quiz Due; worth3.5 pointsWriting Exercise Due; worth 7 ptsMajor assignments will usually be due on Saturday; Days and point values may vary occasionally; see Assignment Schedule for details Even though these weekly assignments arent worth as many points as your major assignments, over time, they add up to 25% of your grade 14. Reading Most of our reading will bein our textbook, The Norton Field Guide to Writing, with Readings and Handbook by Richard Bullock, Maureen Daly Goggin and Francine Weinberg (3nd Edition), ISBN-10: 0393919595 15. Reading You MUST have the book Well be readingextensively from it every week Youll need it for reference when doing research We will be using the Handbook frequently You can get it from the bookstore, or rent it from Amazon for about $29.00 16. Reading Quizzes: Due on Tuesdays Every Tuesday, well have a quiz on the reading for the weeks main lesson Quizzes will vary in format, but expect questions that require you to show that you comprehend what youve read (you can obviously take the quiz with the book in front of you) Pay special attention to sample essays Our first quiz will include the syllabus and course documents (each quiz is worth 3.5 points) Our reading is listed on the Assignment Schedule Ill also post it in our weekly lesson 17. Discussions: Due on Wednesday Each week, well have discussions on our main lesson There will be clear instructions for posting on each thread Your posts will be due on Wednesdays You are encouraged to check back in and respond to your classmates posts Our discussions will function as a class discussion would in a seated classroom They are intended to help you understand the weeks lessons, and may include practice exercises It will be important to stay on topic, or at least 18. Discussionsyour behavior Appropriate Student Behavior: One of WWCCs Goalsfor Student Success is that each of you is able to see issues from multiple perspectives. Our discussions are intended to accomplish this, and I hope that a range of views is represented in them. You may disagree with views presented in reading or on our discussion board, and you are encouraged to explain why in a respectful manner. Please be aware that I will absolutely not tolerate racist/sexist/homophobic language or any other form of hate speech in our discussions or in papers, and I will expect you to refrain from such use. College policy 5420A states that the College can immediately suspend or dismiss a student for disciplinary reasons if the college considers the students actions detrimental to its educational purposes. As a representative of WWCC, I strongly believe that a failure to meet the expectations above is indeed detrimental, and will proceed accordingly if a student repeatedly fails to do so. 19. Language and Writing Conventions: quiz on Thursday Each week, well cover a section of the Handbook(in our textbook) to discuss the way language, word choice, syntax, grammar and mechanics are typically used in academic writing Well begin with language, then move to sentence grammar (syntax), other grammar, and finally mechanics (punctuation and other formatting) On Thursdays, well have our quiz on this topic; there will also be a discussion board to talk about it (each quiz is worth 3.5 points) 20. Writing Exercises: due on Fridays These will be due on Fridays They willrelate to the weeks lesson and allow topractice important skills Often, they will be a part of our major assignments in progress Doing these exercises will allow me to guide you during the writing process of our major assignments 21. Course Requirements (see Syllabus in course documents) To pass the course, you must complete all majorassignments You must have the book You will need to upload .doc or .docx files. They will be uploaded as Turnitinassignments. You will need a way of backing up your work (flash drive, Google drive, Dropbox, emailing yourself). I recommend coming up with an electronic filing system and naming conventions to help you keep track of your work and drafts 22. Course Requirements/Best Practices You should check in to the Blackboard site andyour WWCC email at least once per day Be respectful of me and each otheragain, I will absolutely not tolerate racist/sexist/homophobic language or any other form of hate speech in our discussions or in papers, and I will expect you to refrain from such use. Keep up! Were moving fast in this class, and you may not be able to catch up if you fall behind. Keep in mind that each lesson and each weeks work might normally be spread over three class periods and 16 weeks. 23. Course Requirements/Best Practices Expect to spend 5-10 hours per week on thisclass, although your own reading and writing speed will impact how much time you need to do the work. If you struggle with writing, reading comprehension, grammar or technology, you will need to put in additional time. While I understand that you many of you are juggling multiple responsibilities, I cannot waive requirements because you are busy. 24. Key Requirements/Best Practices Get help if you need it SmarthinkingWWCCs online peer tutoringservice, available through Mustang Cruiser Peer Tutor Center: Rock Springs Campus, room 2006, open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m Me: Email me-MichelleZuppa@wwcc.mailcruiser.com or chat with me during office hours: Sundays 12:00 1:00 PM; Wednesdays 7:00 8:00 PM; Thursdays 9:00 10:00 AM Be sure to install Blackboard IM from the tools menu 25. Course Requirements/Best Practices Additional Resources LibraryThe library is accessible either on-campus in Rock Springs or via online through Mustang Cruiser. Librarians are always helpful, especially when you are working on a research project Learning CenterLearning Centers are located on both the Rock Springs and Green River campuses, and offer a wide variety of college-prep and college level courses in an atmosphere of individualized instruction. ABE, GED, and ESL courses and services are also available through the Learning Center. Under Useful Links on the course menu, there is a collection of web resources including writing and research aids 26. Grading Your final grade will be determined as follows: Assignment/ActivityPoints PossibleProposal Essay50Annotated Bibliography250Argumentative Research Essay400Peer Review48Participation, quizzes and exercises252 Total1000 27. Grading Scale In determining your final grade for the course, the following grading scale will be used: 90-100% of total points earned = A 80-89% of total points earned = B 70-79% of total points earned = C 60-69% of total points earned = D 59% of total points earned and below = F Grades will be rounded as follows: .5 or greater will round up; lower than .5 will not be rounded. So, 89.5 will round up to 90; 89.4 will remain an 89. 28. Late Work Assignments are due as scheduled Major assignments will be docked one lettergrade for each day late unless prior arrangements have been approved Except Peer Reviewif this is late, you will receivea0 Weekly assignments will be docked one point perday late until they hit zero 29. Plagiarism Please read the Plagiarism and Academic Honesty Policy document found in course information very carefully. This is the quick version. Plagiarism is the use of other peoples ideas without giving proper credit. It can result in failing the course or failing the assignment, depending on the severity of the offense. Blatant cheating or a second offense will result in failing the course. 30. Plagiarism Plagiarism happens for many reasons Laziness or not wanting to spend the needed time to complete an assignment Lack of planning Fear of failure or its consequences Carelessness in research and documentation Ignorance of the rules of citation and documentation 31. Avoiding Plagiarism Plagiarism can be avoided: Start assignments early Ask for help if you need it Keep track of sources Take care to cite material from outside sources properly Be aware: I, and most teachers, are good at catching plagiarism Our software, Turnitin, helps us 32. Questions Ask them in the discussion forum!