BELLEVUE
COLLEGE
ENGL
201: The Research Paper
Winter
2013: (5 credit hours)
Instructor:
Elisabeth Kraus
Office:
off-campus
Email:
elisabeth.kraus@northwestu.edu
Students
can expect responses to emails within 48 hours, M-F.
Students
may also expect responses over the weekends; however, I cannot guarantee a
specific return period
Course description:
The purpose of this course is to
help you develop professional research and writing skills. These skills are
essential in preparing you for the academic writing you produce, not only in
college, but also the writing you will do in your careers beyond BC. It is a
course designed to teach you how to critically evaluate others’ arguments and
mount logical and ethical arguments of your own. Ultimately, you should learn
to be a better thinker, writer, and communicator – someone who thinks
critically about topics, other people, and yourself, one who analyzes specific
situations, adjusts your writing to fit accordingly, and expresses ideas
effectively.
Course outcomes:
Upon completion of English 201, you
will be able to
Course textbooks:
The Curious Researcher,
7th edition, by Bruce
Ballenger
The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th
edition, Modern Language Association
COURSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Deadlines & due dates:
All homework assignments – forum
posts, weekly responses, essays, etc. – are due by 6 PM (PST) every
Friday. It is your responsibility to
meet this deadline every week. I accept no late assignments. If you miss a deadline, the grade for that
assignment is F (0 points).
Participation:
Bertrand
Russell once said, "Most people would rather die than think – and most
do!" I think that this is a bit of
an exaggeration, but I do believe that thinking and reflecting are essential
for the development of optimal writing skills, and the best way for you to
sharpen your capacity to think is for you to actively contribute to class
discussions and to participate in peer review exercises in a productive manner.
Practically speaking, this means that
you are expected to actively contribute to weekly class discussions. However,
just as a classroom instructor will not require students to raise their hands a
certain number of times each session, I do not require a certain number of
weekly forum posts; that said, I will gauge your weekly participation in these
discussions and determine whether or not you have significantly and positively
contributed to our “classroom culture.” Doing so will you require you to
dialog with your classmates multiple times throughout the week; after all,
merely answering a question while not discussing it with your peers does not
constitute productive dialog. Be sure to
demonstrate thoughtfulness, both in your initial response to the topic at hand,
and in your responses to fellow classmates. Ask questions! Give strong answers!
Give specific feedback! Engage with the materials and with your peers!
Failure to participate in every weekly discussion
will negatively affect your final grade.
Students who fail to engage in the weekly class discussions
will earn no higher than a C in the class.
Bellevue College email:
All students registered for classes
at Bellevue College are entitled to a network and e-mail account. Your student network account can be used to access your student e-mail,
log in to computers in labs and classrooms, connect to the BC wireless network,
and log in to MyBC. To create your account, go
to: https://bellevuecollege.edu/sam.
BC offers a wide variety of
computer and learning labs to enhance learning and student success. Find
current campus locations for all student labs by visiting the Computing Services website.
Disability resource center:
The Disability Resource Center
serves students with a wide array of learning challenges and disabilities.
Please visit the DRC if you have any questions about classroom accommodations –
whether you are a student or a faculty member. If you are a student who has a
disability or a learning challenge for which you have documentation or have
seen someone for treatment and if you feel you may need accommodations in order
to be successful in college, please contact the DRC staff as soon as possible. The
DRC office is located in B132 or you
can call our reception desk at 425-564-2498.
Deaf students can reach us by video phone at 425-440-2025 or by TTY
at 425-564-4110. Please visit
our website for application information into our program and other helpful
links at www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc. Remember if you are someone who has either an
apparent or a non-apparent disability and you require assistance in case of an
emergency situation, such as a fire, earthquake, etc., please meet with your
individual instructors to develop a safety plan within the first week of the
quarter.
Learning environment:
What
follows is the Bellevue College Arts & Humanities Division policy on
classroom behavior:
The college's ‘Affirmation of
Inclusion’ is posted in each classroom (even online ones) and sets forth the
expectation that we will all treat one another with respect and dignity
regardless of whether or not we agree philosophically. This expectation is
in line with the principle of free speech in a free society: we have the
right to express unpopular ideas as long as we don't show disrespect for reasonable
people who might believe otherwise. In an on-line [or hybrid] course, you
will be expressing ideas through the medium of the course site rather than face
to face in the classroom. In that case, these expectations refer to the
courtesy with which you communicate with one another through e-mails and
e-discussions. Part of this respect involves professional behavior toward the
instructor, colleagues, and the class itself. Disruptive behavior is
disrespectful behavior. The Arts and Humanities Division honors the right
of its faculty to define "disruptive behavior," which often involves
such things as arriving late, leaving early, leaving class and then returning,
talking while others are trying to hear the instructor or their group members,
doing other homework in class, wearing earphones in class, bringing activated
beepers, alarm watches, or cell phones into class, inappropriate comments or
gestures, etc. In on-line courses, ‘flaming’ anyone in the class is also
considered disruptive behavior. Such behavior interrupts the educational
process. When you are in doubt about any behavior, consult your instructor
during office hours. We recognize the judgment of the instructor as the final
authority in these matters.
When disruptive behavior occurs,
instructors will speak to or e-mail the students concerned. Those students
are then responsible for ending the disruptions at once. Failure to do so
may result in removal of the students from class.
Writing lab:
Please make use – often – of the Bellevue College Writing
Lab. The lab offers tutoring and help (both personal and computerized) on
grammar and basic skills. The Writing Lab is a place where students can work on
developing college-level writing skills. Students can come to the Writing Lab
(not more than once per day) for individual help on revising their writing for
class, college applications, or personal projects. Tutors can listen to ideas
and ask questions to help students focus on one topic, correct and avoid
punctuation and grammar errors, and review papers to ensure they are clear and
follow the assignment instructions. However, tutors do not edit papers! The Writing Lab is located in D-204. Check the website for hours of availability: www.bellevuecollege.edu/writinglab.
While students can drop in any time
the Writing Lab is open, it is better to make an appointment at least
two days before a paper is due by calling 425-564-2200. If students do
not have an appointment and all of the tutors are busy, they may have to wait
or come back later.
Academic honesty:
In this class, any student who
plagiarizes fails the course automatically. I have absolutely no tolerance
for this behavior. Plagiarism, or academic dishonesty, is the act of using
another writer’s words or ideas as your own. It is also the act of using a
paper written for another class and submitting it in this one. According to the Bellevue College Arts &
Humanities website, plagiarism “may take many forms, including, but not limited
to, using a paper written by someone else, using printed sources word-for-word
without proper documentation, and paraphrasing or summarizing the ideas of
others without acknowledging the source. Plagiarism can also occur when
non-written ideas are taken without documentation--using someone else's design
or performance idea, for example. In short, plagiarism is passing off
someone else's ideas, words, or images as your own; it amounts to intellectual
theft--whether or not it was your intention to steal.”
ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS
A Comprehensive Assignment Schedule
can be found on Canvas.
PLEASE REMEMBER:
All weekly assignments – forum posts, readings, weekly
responses, essays, etc. – are to be submitted to our Canvas site by 6 PM (PST)
on Friday afternoons. Late assignments
will not be accepted and will therefore earn 0 points. Emergency situations should be communicated
to the professor BEFORE the assignment is due if the student would like the
instructor to consider an exception to this rule.
Please note: Unless otherwise noted, I require you to use proper MLA format for all written
assignments. This includes not only the way the paper actually looks on the
page, but also in-text citations and a Works Cited page. You should have
learned MLA format in high school, but if for some unknown reason you are
unfamiliar with MLA, refer to The MLA
Handbook, which is a required text for this class.
All assignments should be submitted as Word
documents. I cannot accept any other
format.
Assignments submitted in other formats will not
earn credit.
Evaluation:
Topic Proposal 50 points
Critical summary 50 points
Completed rough draft of research
essay in MLA format 25 points
Completed rough draft of Annotated
Bib. in MLA format 25 points
Annotated bibliography (10 sources
minimum) 100 points
Final draft of research essay in
MLA format 100
points
Weekly class discussions 10 points
each (100 total)
Response Papers 10
points each (100 total)
TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE = 550
points
I
reserve the right to adjust the number and type of assignments, depending on
class progress. In the event that adjustments prove necessary, I will modify
the final grading scale to reflect those changes.
Final grade scale:
A = 94-100%
A- = 91-93%
B+ = 88-90%
B = 84-87%
B- = 81-83%
C+ = 78-80%
C = 74-77%
C- = 71-73%
D+ = 68-70%
D = 64-67%
D- = 60-63%
F = 59% & below
Reading
(LS[1]):
It is impossible to successfully
complete this course without purchasing the textbook and completing each
assigned reading on time. Furthermore, it is essential that you complete the
assigned readings before attempting to discuss them in the class forum
or to complete the assignments pertaining to that information.
Forum
Discussions (LS):
As noted before, you are
responsible to participate in online discussions. These discussions will center on the material
that we are reading and about which we are writing. I will post specific discussion questions
and/or topics, and ask that you contribute meaningfully each week. Take time to ask questions, begin
explorations and respond to the comments/observations made by a classmate. When
posting, please keep in mind that this is an English class; as such, your posts
should reflect good paragraph organization and correct grammar. Posts that do not reflect proper conventions
(i.e. capitalization, spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, etc.) will not
earn credit in this class.
Response Papers (LS):
Throughout the course, I will ask
you to participate in a variety of writing experiences that will help you to
process what you are reading and learning, respond to it, and create action
plans to implement when writing your formal essays. Instructions will be given for each specific
assignment, so be sure to view the “Start Here” documents posted at the top of
each module.
Topic Proposal (HS):
Students will choose the topic
about which they will write, and for this assignment, will propose that topic
along with a rationale, suggested audience, beginning research, and plan for
gathering further information. A grading rubric and comprehensive assignment sheet (with
all details) are already posted on Canvas.
You will be prudent to review those carefully in order to fully
understand the criteria by which your writing will be assessed.
Comprehensive Summary (HS[2]):
Students will begin their research
by locating a 15-20 page, peer-reviewed journal article from the library
databases. Newspaper articles and books
are not acceptable for this project.
Students will then objectively summarize the content of the article in
no more and no less than 250 words (excluding the header, heading, title and
Works Cited page). Students will receive
a 5-word grace allotment which allows them to be 5 words under OR over the
required 250 words. A grading rubric,
comprehensive assignment sheet (with all details), and explanative lecture are
already posted on Canvas. You will be
prudent to review those carefully in order to fully understand the criteria by
which your writing will be assessed.
Drafts (LS):
Throughout the course, I will ask
you to complete multiple drafts of your formal research paper and your
annotated bibliography. You will then
participate in peer review exercises that will allow you to receive feedback
from your classmates. If you fail to submit a complete draft (partially completed essays do not count),
you will be ineligible to receive the points allotted. Please understand that I do not “mark up” rough drafts, though I will provide general
comments designed to help you to improve.
You will, therefore, receive full credit for submitting a complete draft
on time.
Research Paper (HS):
Over the course of the quarter, you
will write a formal research paper that requires substantial research and
substantial revisions. All other assignments
in this class lend to the completion of this paper. The paper should be 10-12
pages long, including the Works Cited page.
You should be very careful to follow all instructions and should be sure to use correct grammar,
avoiding such issues as sentence fragments, run-ons, comma splices, misplaced
modifiers, etc. (yes….I will help you with this J).
A grading rubric and comprehensive assignment sheet (with all details) are
already posted on Canvas. You will be
prudent to review those carefully in order to fully understand the criteria by
which your writing will be assessed.
Annotated Bibliography (HS):
In addition to the formal research
paper, students will complete a 10-source annotated bibliography that
objectively documents at least 10 of the sources that the student includes in
his or her paper. Each entry should
include both the MLA-formatted documentation as well as s complete summary of
the source. Summaries should be
approximately 100-150 words for every 5-7 pages. A
grading rubric and comprehensive assignment sheet (with all details) are
already posted on Canvas. You will be
prudent to review those carefully in order to fully understand the criteria by
which your writing will be assessed.
WRITING GUIDELINES:
1.
Learn to spell – and don't depend
on a computer program to do it for you. Human beings program spell check
functions. Many of those anonymous human beings cannot spell (and
know very little about grammar). Do not trust those anonymous individuals with
your grade in this class.
In a research
setting, credibility is of the utmost importance.
Your personal
credibility depends not only on the quality of research you collect, but also
the responsibility you take to communicate that information accurately and
carefully.
For this
reason, any essay that includes an error that a quick spell check would have
remedied will earn a grade no higher than “D,” and the student will be
unable to resubmit the paper.
2. Do not
submit a paper to me that you have not proofread carefully. In fact, do not
submit a paper to me that has not been edited by at least three other people
who know much more about writing, editing, and proofreading than you do
– and you’re certain that they know what they are doing.
3. Follow all of
directions that I give you for each assignment. I give them for a reason. Read
each assignment thoroughly. You ignore or skim instructions at your
grade’s peril.
4. Essay
content is important. However, I cannot get to the content if you do not
pave the way for me. Translation? If you fill your paper with sentence
fragments, run-ons, comma splices, incorrect punctuation, agreement problems,
UFPs (unidentified flying pronouns), etc. — that is what I will see first. I will never
get beyond those errors to the rich, deep content in your words.
5. Some of you
do not know what a sentence fragment is. Some of you do not know how to
recognize comma splices or run-on sentences. Some of you have never learned how
to use an apostrophe to indicate possession. Some of you do not know how or why
or when or if to use a comma. Some of you would not recognize a
coordinating conjunction if it walked up to you in broad daylight, clapped you
on the shoulder, shook your hand, and called you by name. However, it's time to
learn. Papers filled with these errors will never rise above a grade of D in
this class.
6. Please
understand that you are entering a college-level writing course. Grades previously earned do not impact the
grades earned in this class. What is important to me is the quality of the
writing you submit to me now, during this quarter, in this
class.
7. Know now
that in English 201:
A means EXCELLENT
B means GOOD
WORK
C means AVERAGE WORK
D means POOR
WORK
F means UNACCEPTABLE
COLLEGE LEVEL WORK
8. I
do not “give” grades. Students earn
their grades. Final grades are just
that: final. I do not change
final
grades for any reason.