EN 101
Sections ONL4 and ONL5
English Composition
Fall 2008
Instructor Information
Name: Ms. Kim Murphy Office: N/A
E-mail: kmurphy@frederick.edu
Phone Number: 443-812-4381
Office Hours: By appointment Campus Mail Box Number: 405
Course Information
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: EN 50A or
satisfactory performance on writing assessment and
EN 52 or satisfactory performance on reading assessment
|
Meeting Time: Weekly
Online |
On-Campus Exams: 0 |
Important Dates
·
Last Day to Drop:
·
Last Day to Withdraw:
·
Thanksgiving Break:
Course Description
Presents the basic
techniques of exposition through the writing of essays and the study of prose
models.
Core Learning Outcomes
Students will demonstrate
1. College-level communication skills by
§
writing effective, organized, clear,
concise, grammatically correct English by using appropriate stylistic options (tone,
word choice, and sentence patterns) for a specific subject, audience, and
purpose (informing, arguing, or persuading).
§
demonstrating the ability to understand and interpret both written texts
and oral presentations in English.
·
understanding the critical role of listening in communication.
·
demonstrating an ability to organize
ideas effectively by
o
selecting and limiting a topic.
o
developing and supporting a thesis with
relevant and well-
reasoned material.
o
employing a logical plan of development
and using effective
transitions.
§
demonstrating an understanding of the
conventions of the English language by
·
writing essays that are substantially free of errors in grammar,
spelling, punctuation, and mechanics.
2. Critical thinking skills
by
§
evaluating evidence by differentiating
among facts, opinions, and
inferences.
§
generating and evaluating alternative solutions to problems.
§
researching, analyzing, comparing,
synthesizing, and drawing inferences
§
from readings and other research
materials in order to make valid judgments and rational decisions
3.
Social and educational values by
§
identifying and evaluating moral issues and conflicts displaying
academic honesty and properly documenting source material.
§
valuing the importance and responsibility of the individual.
§
understanding the need for lifelong learning and its applicability to
their educational goals.
4. The value of a multicultural society by
§
acknowledging a plurality of cultural
and personal values and demonstrating
§
respect for the right of others to express their viewpoints.
§
working cooperatively in groups with
diverse membership and contributing
§
to the group’s efforts with ideas and suggestions.
5. The use of technology by formatting
papers and conducting research.
Class Discussions using Blackboard
Email
Instructor’s feedback on papers
Hacker,
Diana. The
Kennedy,
X.J., Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Marcia F. Muth. The
EN101 Resource
Booklet
Internet Sites
Access to Blackboard
(Username:
W+student ID; Password: last 4
digits of student ID)
Supplies for Course
Blackboard
access, Microsoft Word 2003 or 2007, FCC email address
Essay
1: Compare/Contrast 10% 90-100%
A
Essay
2: Text Analysis 10% 80-89% B
Essay
3: Definition 15% 70-79% C
Essay
4: Cause/Effect 15% 60-69%
D
Essay
5: Argument 30% Below 60% F
Grammar
Quizzes 10%
Participation
10%
Total 100%
All
final grades are final and will not be changed for any reason.
By the
end of the fourth week of the semester, students will have had their first
major paper returned and will have an opportunity to evaluate their progress in
this course. At that point, students can
decide if they need to make any adjustments (additional studying, tutoring,
conference with instructor) to best assure their success in this course.
1. Students have the right to offer opposing
opinions and to reserve judgment about
their views,
beliefs, academic evaluations, and political affiliations.
2. Students have the right to fair evaluation by
instructions, based upon clearly defined
criteria
presented at the beginning of the course.
In an online class, consistent attendance is
paramount. Therefore, it is to students’ advantage to log on to the class site
a minimum of once a week to check announcements, contribute to class
discussions and pick up any new assignments.
Students may reach the instructor by phone at 443-812-4381 or by email
at kmurphy@frederick.edu
with any questions regarding attendance.
Students are expected to attend all
class sessions except in cases of emergency, religious holidays, or
participation in official College functions. In these cases, notification or
verification, if requested, will be given to the instructor by the
student. In the case of absence for
special reasons other than those mentioned above, it is the student's
responsibility to confer with the instructor about whether the absence is to be
considered excused. When determining
whether to consider an absence excused, the instructor may require such
evidence as seems appropriate without placing undue hardship upon the student.
Responsibilities
of Students For Online meetings
1.
Students
are expected to be respectful to each other and to the instructor in discussion
board and email messages.
2.
Students
are expected to keep up with the flow of the course and to submit assignments
by the assigned deadlines. Students are expected to treat the deadlines in this
online course as they would the deadlines in a classroom course, not as a
correspondence course with open-ended deadlines. In other words, this is not a
self-paced course.
3.
Students
are expected to hand in all assignments no later than Sunday at
4.
Students
are expected to uphold the College's Code of Academic Honesty. Students are expected not to misrepresent
someone else's work as their own.
5.
All
students are expected to use their student email addresses provided by the
College. The instructor will use these addresses to communicate with students.
6.
Students
are expected to log on to the Blackboard website at least twice a week to check
announcements, contribute to class discussions of readings, turn in assignments
and pick up new assignments. All new material for the next week will be posted
by the following Sunday at
7.
Students
are expected to contribute a minimum of one intelligent and substantial comment per week on the discussion
board. Doing so will mean the student was present and participating for that
week. Those who simply log on to pick up and drop off assignments but who do
not participate in group discussions will not receive a
participation grade for that week.
8.
Students
are expected to submit all essays via email using Microsoft Word 2003 or 2007.
All Microsoft Word documents have the .doc extension. The instructor cannot
support WordPerfect documents or any documents that have a .wps extension.
Students who do not have Word on their home computers need to either purchase
the software or find access to a computer that supports Word.
9.
All
essays should be submitted to the instructor as an attachment via email.
Students should not put essay itself in the body of the email, as proper
formatting of essays is a part of the overall essay grade.
For ease of communication between
students and instructors, the College has made an email address available to
all students. This address becomes available to students once they have
enrolled; they need only to go onto the email website and activate it. Students
should go online to activate their email addresses at the start of the course
if they have not already done so. The instructor will communicate with students
using this address only. Therefore, students are required to use their FCC
email addresses. Students should check their FCC email daily.
Format
of Essays
All essays should be formatted using MLA
style. Students are expected to review the information available through the
class website to find out how to format a paper’s headings and margins
according to MLA style. Additionally, students are expected to review information
on how to format in-text citations and Works Cited entries. Students who do not
follow proper formatting will lose points on essays, particularly on the text
analysis essay and the final research paper.
First
Drafts
With the exception of the first essay, rough
drafts are not a requirement of this course. However, the instructor will be
happy to review drafts at a student’s request if the draft is submitted one week before the due date.
Feedback
on Drafts
Students will be expected to submit a first
draft for Essay 1 (compare/contrast) only. These drafts will be reviewed by the
instructor using the “Track Changes” feature in Microsoft Word and emailed back
to the student as an attachment. Specific instructions on how students can turn
off this feature once the paper is returned will be posted on the class
website.
Grading
of Essays
Each essay will be graded according to
guidelines set forth by grading rubrics. These rubrics break down the essays
into the following categories: focus, development, organization, style, MLA
mechanics, and grammar. Each category is worth 20 points, for a total of 120
points. The instructor will make specific comments on the essays themselves,
but will include the final grade with overall comments on the rubric. Both the
essay and the rubric will be returned to the student as an email attachment.
Grammar
Exercises
Students are expected to review various
grammar rules in The Bedford Handbook and complete corresponding
quizzes. Instructions on how to access the website to take the grammar quizzes
are available through Blackboard. The quizzes are self-paced and are open-book.