Required Texts:
Introductory Remarks
This English 201 course is taught completely online; you are not required to
attend classroom sessions on campus. However, this is not a correspondence
course, completed on your own timetable in isolation. There are specific
deadlines, and you will be communicating with your instructor and
classmates regularly.
How To Succeed In This Course:
Course Outcomes
At the end of this course, students will be able to write a humanities-style
research paper which includes
as part of its composition or process:
Online Expectations
If you signed up for this course thinking that it would have less
work than a course in the classroom, you were mistaken. Any online course
has more writing work than a class on campus as all of our
communication must be written.
Please be advised that the workload may be very difficult for you if
work
and/or family demands do not allow you a
minimum of two to three uninterrupted hours every weekday to
work on the assignments for this class. I have tried to focus and space
assignments to facilitate as many learning styles as possible, but extra
time may be needed, especially around paper writing/editing time.
Student Responsibilities Because of the special method of
course delivery, several requirements must be considered. First, and
probably most important, the student enrolled in this course MUST have a
computer and some attendant software and services, including a word processor
(Office 95/Word 7.0 or better minimum), an Internet Service
Provider, and a browser (Netscape Communicator or Internet Explorer).
Perhaps more importantly the student must be familiar with the use of the
above-mentioned items. Whatever web browser you use, be sure to upgrade to
the newest version. If you are not using Microsoft Word to write your
papers, then make sure that your software allows saving documents in Word
format (.doc) as this is the only form I can access. If you are
using the newest version of Microsoft Word be sure to save you files
as .doc rather than the default .docx.
Be aware that I do not teach computer skills; I teach English. I will help if I
can, but I am no expert in computer systems.
Always keep me informed if you have problems with the technology, and I will
try to find help for you.
However, I expect that you bring some expertise with you to help in solving any
problems that arise.
Ultimately, your computer and Internet services are your responsibility. If you
are signed up for the online section and you have computer problems, you
may use the computer labs on the BC campus if you have an emergency.
Additionally, please read and print the following linked page to help you if we
run into technology problems with CANVAS: Server Problems.
You will occasionally be required to access audio or video files.
These files will be in a format accessible to most computers with
typical software and will be usable even if you have a slow internet
connection. However, you may find it easier to access these
files from a faster system. Of course, if you are near campus,
you can always use the computer lab in the N building—it even comes equipped
with staff to help you out. An alternative would be your local
library. Almost every public library has computers with fast
internet connection for your use. Some will even loan out a laptop for
you to use while in the library.
Remember these options any time you experience hardware, software, or server
problems.
My Expectations
As you know, every teacher has expectations. These are mine.
I expect that you signed up for this course because you want to learn to read,
think, and write critically. We call that formal academic writing.
Therefore, I expect that you will complete the work I have created to
teach you these skills.
I expect that you have come to this class with a working usage of modern
English grammar as English 201 does not teach grammar. If you
struggled with passing English 101, then you will have real
difficulty with this course. I may suggest additional non-graded
work for students who struggle with grammar. I encourage you to utilize
the Writing Lab's virtual tutor or go to the Writing Lab on campus for help
with grammar problems. All papers with major grammatical errors lose
points in this class.
I expect that you will participate in all class activities, including peer
reviews, seminars, and essay
discussions. You must complete every assignment in a timely manner to pass this
course.
I expect that you will take care to back up your papers assignments on more
than one disk
and/or store them on your hard drive AND a disk or other portable media. It is
your responsibility to keep track of this material. If some computer
catastrophe should occur, you will still be responsible for producing the
work by the due date in order to get a grade. Be careful--save and back your
work up regularly!
I expect that you will show respect to everyone by responding to e-mail and
discussion postings in a way that is not judgmental, degrading, or
derogatory. Even though we may disagree with the interpretations of others,
please use some self-restraint and compassion in dealing with these issues.
Logical and questioning responses are encouraged. Choose your words and
the tone of your message with utmost care. I also expect tolerance for
others' abilities and learning styles. Please notify me immediately if
you feel another student has not extended these courtesies to you.
I expect each final draft will be submitted to the appropriate locations
and in the manner specified on the assignments page by the date
shown on the specific assignment page and the class calendar.
Papers submitted after that date will one letter grade for each day that
it is late (including weekends). I will not accept papers more than 4 days
late. Do not wait until the last minute to submit your work to avoid
losing points for late work.
I expect honesty. I expect that you will neither do work for others nor use
work done by others. Cheating and/or plagiarizing will not be tolerated.
Plagiarizing is cheating, as is copying answers on a test, glancing at
nearby test papers, swapping papers, buying papers, using ideas from other
sources without proper documentation, writing papers for others, or having
them written for you. BC utilizes a plagiarism detection software, and I
use it for random spot checks. Plus, if I even remotely suspect your paper
is plagiarized, I will submit it to this site. If you cheat or plagiarize,
the following actions will be taken:
Personal
conferences on your paper can be held via an e-mail conference. If you
are interested in doing this, please e-mail me through the CANVAS e-mail
to arrange a time to "meet."
I expect that you will try, to the best of your ability, to master the skills taught
in this class. According to the English department at BC, by the end of
the quarter, you should be able to:
After completing this course, student will be able to...
Think and Read Critically: carefully
read, analyze, interpret and evaluate claims, beliefs, texts and/or issues.
-read more precisely so as to recognize the ideology, assumptions, and academic
perspectives of sources.
- critically assess how texts are designed for different audiences.
Compose and Revise in Context: produce
complex, persuasive arguments within a scholarly context.
- select and define a research topic or question, identifying key concepts
within the topic, question, or academic conversation.
- demonstrate how writing on a topic fits into an academic conversation, and
advances knowledge or understanding in a (disciplinary) community.
- develop a focused thesis that is informed by research and is appropriately
complex.
Incorporate multiple perspectives,
balancing their personal point of view with an objective presentation of
others’.
-create an integrated organizational structure that guides the reader through
the argument.
-develop a more sophisticated understanding of how audience, writer, subject
matter, and purpose inform one another in academic arguments.
-practice revision, editing and proofreading and understand when to use each of
these techniques
Research Effectively: locate,
evaluate and incorporate appropriate external source material
-develop a variety of effective research strategies that meet the demands of
various writing tasks. Such strategies include
-identifying reliable sources of information
-using effective keyword searching to locate sources
-knowing when to seek assistance from research experts
-evaluate the level of authority and relevance of sources based on the demands
of specific research writing tasks.
-incorporate material from sources effectively and ethically, and cite sources
consistently and accurately using an accepted academic citation method (MLA,
APA, CMS, CSE, etc.).
-understand when to use quotes, paraphrase, and/or summarize.
Technical Issues:
I am a teacher.
I am not tech support. Before you inundate me and your classmates with
frantic posts, please slow down and try to trouble shoot.
Questions - If you have a question that you think other
classmates might also be having, post it on the "Questions for the Instructor"
thread. Again, if you always check there first, it may already be
addressed and/or answered.
E-mail - Do
not post mark your e-mail priority. Every student is a priority, and I
read e-mails in the order in which they are received after checking the "Questions for the Instructor" thread.
Online Is Still Live On the Other End
My goal
is to create the best learning environment possible. I can
only do this with your help, so please help me to make this class good for
everyone.
Grading
(percentages of total course grade)
Effort, Attitude, and Participation
5%
Discussions (10 points per week averaged for final score)
15%
Argument Analysis
Paper
20%
Preliminary Bibliography and
Outline
20%
Final Research
Project
40%
Peer
Reviews
* see below *
Total
100%
* The Effort, Attitude, and Participation grade reflects the following:
Do you log in daily M - F? Are you respectful and clear in your
communication with your peers and instructor? Do you read the posts of
others on the discussion threads and are your replies thoughtful? Is it
evident in both your work and communication with others that you have carefully
read the syllabus, course calendar, all of the assigned readings, and
assignment details carefully? Have you utilized the supporting materials
under the Resources tab?
* You will have Peer Reviews for all major assignments. These reviews
will count for half of your letter grade for these projects. As you can
see from the table above, these projects are a significant portion of your
grade. If you fail to do a peer review, your grade will start at a C
before I even read the paper! Most importantly, you will miss important
feedback that often significantly strengthens your writing.
The My Grades link will take you to the gradebook for
this class. This area will contain all of the grades for your work when
I have completed the grading. To figure out your grade at any time,
simply divide the total points you have earned by the total points you have
submitted to that point. I use standard percentage markings, using the mean for
each:
|
A |
100% |
to 94% |
|
A- |
< 94% |
to 90% |
|
B+ |
< 90% |
to 87% |
|
B |
< 87% |
to 84% |
|
B- |
< 84% |
to 80% |
|
C+ |
< 80% |
to 77% |
|
C |
< 77% |
to 74% |
|
C- |
< 74% |
to 70% |
|
D+ |
< 70% |
to 67% |
|
D |
< 67% |
to 64% |
|
D- |
< 64% |
to 61% |
|
F |
< 61% |
to 0% |
Please note that A and A- are reserved for excellent writing, B+, B, and B- for
good writing, C+, C, and C- for competent writing, D+ and D, and D - for
unsatisfactory writing, and F as failing.
You must complete all assignments to
receive a passing grade in this course.
The instructor reserves the right to adjust assignments or points as needed
throughout the quarter. Students will be notified when this
happens.
Required Reading: There is a substantial amount of
reading in this course. The average amount is 20 pages per
day. I strongly suggest that you read these pages as early in the week as
possible. Your best plan is to read them the weekend before so that
you will be ready to participate in the Discussions.
Additionally,
you will learn how to write effectively, use MLA citation, and develop a strong
research topic for your Final Research Project. DO THE READING.
Discussion: All discussion threads open on Monday at 12:30 am
and close the following Monday at midnight. Please
note that your first post is due at least 24 hours prior to that deadline(earlier is
preferable). Late posts will not receive credit. You are expected to
participate thoughtfully to all threads
each week. In addition to your own original post responding to the course
material, you need to reply to at least one post by a peer for each thread in a
separate post (total of two posts minimum). More posts are highly
encouraged.
Posts should be several lines in length, but keep in mind that I grade on the
quality rather than the quantity written. You will be graded based upon
the depth and quality of your participation, not simply number of times you
post. Your posts must be relevant, thoughtful, and respectful, and you
are welcome to attach images,
links, quotes, or any other material that you feel will deepen the discussion. A simple "I agree/disagree" is not
sufficient.
As we don't see each other in person, posts are a very important part of your
learning, deepening your understanding of the readings, deepening your critical
thinking skills, exposing you to new perspectives, giving you fodder for your
essays, and strengthening your reading and writing skills. Ideally, it is best to post early in the week to
enhance the quality of discussion. If we all wait until the last minute
to write our posts, the discussion is useless in helping you to understand the
course material. I do my best to participate in the discussion, however,
I cannot possibly respond to every comment or answer.
Discussion thread grading:
- If you fail to put your first post on the thread less than 24 hours prior to the close
of the thread you will lose 4 points (out of 10) for your grade
on the thread.
- If you fail to reply to the post of a peer you will lose 4 points (out of 10)
on your discussion thread grade.
- Posts posted after the close of the thread (each Monday at midnight) will not receive any credit as you
have a full week to complete your posts.
- You can see how this adds up quickly, so please make sure that you are
following discussion thread guidelines guidelines.
- Please read the Discussion
Tips and Best Posts of Week 1 thread. I have included the
grading criteria along with strong posts from previous courses to make certain
you understand what I expect in your discussion posts. Additionally, at the
conclusion of our first thread, I will add the strongest posts from our
class.
Keep in mind however that though you may have a strong post, you may not
receive full credit for late posting and/or failure to reply to the post of a
peer.
Essays: You will write 1 argument analysis paper (2-3
pages),
1 preliminary bibliography and outline (2-3 pages), plus a final large (8
pages minimum) research paper. The process for writing, revising and
submitting work is on a tight timeline. We will follow this process for
the argument analysis paper and the final research project (your
preliminary bibliography and outline will not receive a peer review):
You will post an original, self-revised draft of each paper to the discussion
area in the appropriate peer review forum by the date on the calendar.
This draft MUST be attached to a message in the correct forum. If you
expect to get help on your papers, you must post them early. Papers posted late
in the review process may be overlooked by other students as the deadline
nears.
While you wait for comments on your paper, you will give peer comments on two
other group members' papers which have been posted. After giving comments,
collect the comments on your paper. Then, revise and edit your paper before
submitting it to me through the assignment tool by the date and time listed on
the calendar, using the editing tools provided under Course Info.
Directions for submitting your final draft to me are posted in the Course
Info. Once the paper crosses my virtual "desk," its grade is
permanent.
You can find sample research essay on pages 301-313 in Current Issues and
pages 296-328 in Writing Research Papers. There are also many links
that will help you with MLA formatting and give you examples papers under
Course Info > MLA Links. Take note of not just the content but also the
format.
Essay Format:
All essay assignments must be double spaced with a 12-point font and
no extra space between paragraphs. We will be learning to follow the
rules of MLA formatting so you will need to make sure that your essays
look just like these. Written assignments must be submitted by
midnight on the due date.
Peer
Review: Much of what you will learn in this course will
come from participating in a peer review of others' papers. Do not fail to
participate in this area of the course. See the Assignments area/Peer Tools
& Instructions link located under Course Content for how to complete
this critical work. In general, to participate successfully in peer
review, you will complete these tasks:
(1) You will analyze two other students' papers using the Peer Review
guidelines. You MUST follow the Peer Review guidelines completely that I
have provided in order to earn full credit for comments on student
papers.
(2) THOROUGHLY evaluate the content, organization, and editing with at least
one full typed page of
review pasted into a new message on the Peer Review Discussion Thread.
After you have analyzed and evaluated each student paper, copy-and-paste
your evaluation of each paper as a REPLY to the paper you reviewed in the peer
review forum NOT as an attachment. Please
be certain to put your review in the body of a new message to receive full
credit. This speeds up the feedback loop tremendously, as
your peers will not be hindered by faulty attachments and will be able to read
and respond to your comments more quickly.
In addition, you may want to go through the draft and make comments on the
draft itself
(highlighting, different colored text, or the comment tool in Word) and attach
this edited version with your comments in the body of the post. This
is highly adviseable. However, please be
certain that the review itself is in the body of the message to receive full
credit.
(3) Peer Reviews must be submitted on time. If you fail to meet these
deadlines, you will NOT receive points, and your peer review constitutes
half of your essay grade on each of your essays.
(4) Keep in mind that it is your responsibility
to get your paper reviewed. If you are not receiving feedback alert your
peers to this and also post on the General Editing thread. Additionally,
consider outside assistance such as the Bellevue
College Writing Lab. Even if you have received thorough
reviews, this is a great resource that you should take advantage of.
Keep the Golden Rule in mind as you peer review. What would you like
others to do for you? If you are a thoughtful reviewer, you can
expect the same in return. If you fail to review the work of others,
don't expect any help in return.
How Do We Communicate With Each Other?
In the toolbar at the top of each page, you will find links to class
announcements, your mailbox, your
gradebook, and the class discussion area.
Announcements will be
posted for you as needed throughout the quarter. Please read these
announcements carefully so that you will know of any important changes or
issues in the class.
A mailbox has been provided
for private e-mail communication between you and I or you and other
classmates. Please use this rather than my BC email (carrie.tomberlin@bellevuecollege.edu)
for
everything but the most dire of emergencies. Since I get between 40 and 50
e-mail messages every day at my various work addresses, I will appreciate
"URGENT" notices in the subject line, but only if you have a
real emergency.
I do my best to respond in a timely manner to all messages, whether or not they
are urgent. Please do not use e-mail to submit your work. All
assignments should be submitted through the
assignment tool.
The My Grades link will
take you to the grade book for this class. This area will contain all of the
grades for your work WHEN I have completed the grading. You can also make
sure that you have submitted your papers by checking the Assignment Tool. Click on the submitted tab to be certain that
your paper was in fact submitted. When I have finished grading, you
will receive a grade and an audio file containing detailed comments under
the graded tab. A green star next on the Assignment tool
indicates that your grade has been posted.
The Discussion area
provides a place for discussions of course materials. The discussion area has
several topics (areas) each of which has a specific purpose.
The Student Union - This
area is for student-to-student discussion. For example, you may post
announcements here if you wish to petition your classmates to join you in a
face-to-face discussion group or a chat room discussion. However, be aware
that I do not read this forum regularly; therefore, do not post questions
for me here.
Questions for Instructor - Post
questions for me in this area if you think that others in the class may
benefit from knowing the answer to your question. I check this area at least twice per weekday.
However, if your question is of a very personal nature, please use my CANVAS mailbox.
Weekly Discussion - These
topic areas will house your discussions about our readings. Each forum is listed
with the weekly topic. Please follow the dates on the class calendar for
posting questions and for commenting. I have allowed time for you to do
this work; don't fail to do it before the deadlines posted on the class
calendar.
Peer Review – You will be
split into Peer Review Groups. Here is where you will post your rough
drafts and evaluations for peer review.
Writing Lab: http://bellevuecollege.edu/asc/writing/ Room
D204 (425) 564-2200
Please visit the Writing Lab outside of class. The lab offers
tutoring and help (both personal and computerized) on grammar and basic
skills. Make an appointment ahead of time (walk-ins will have to
wait). When you go, take your assignment with you so the tutor knows the
assignment expectations.
Special Needs: Students with
disabilities who have accommodation needs are required to meet with the
Director of The Disability Resource Center to establish their eligibility
for accommodation. In addition, students are encouraged to review their
accommodation requirements with each instructor during the first week of the
quarter.
http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc
Main Campus, B132
Phone: 425-564-2498
Email: drc@bellevuecollege.edu
Whew! This is a lot of information, but I try my best to make you aware
of what to expect. Please refer to this document regularly before e-mailing me or posting to
the Questions for the Instructor thread. I spent many hours writing
this document to give you all the information you would need to succeed in this
course.
Welcome, and I look forward to a great quarter!