Course Syllabus

 

Great Basin College

Spring Semester 2016

English 102, Sections 1006

Composition II

ONLINE

 Professor Susanne Bentley

Office Hours – M: 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., T: 9:30 – 12:30 p.m., TH:online 6 - 7 p.m.,

and by appointment.

Office: McMullen Hall 126

Phone:  775-753-2358
FAX: 775- 753-2131
E-mail: Use Web Campus e-mail for all correspondence

If you are unable to contact me through Web Campus, you may use my office e-mail at: susanne.bentley@gbcnv.edu.

Course Description: 

Composition II is a three-credit course that continues the reading and writing done in English 101. The course emphasizes writing from sources, argument, the investigative paper, and research techniques.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of ENG 101.

The purpose of this course is to help you become better writers and more critical readers and thinkers, as well as to help you develop a sense of your own voice and place in a community of writers.  This course will help you discover your purpose for specific types of writing and develop authority in communicating your ideas and experiences to your intended audience. We will also focus on conducting research, both in the library and on the Internet, and discover ways to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize sources. We will use many forms of research including field, library, and Internet research, while exploring a variety of topics.

My course design was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation to focus on global climate change and sustainability issues. Our readings and discussions will center on these issues, and students are encouraged to concentrate their research on a topic related to these issues.

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Credits: 3

Course Objectives:

This course addresses the major goals of research-based writing:

• To enjoy the academic project of research for its own sake
• To read with critical facility, especially for future academic work. English 102 concentrates on learning to read closely and reflectively, and on integrating the material that you’ve read into an intelligent, accessible written version for another audience.
• To produce clear, concise, interesting prose. English 102 recognizes that we can all write, but that all of us can always get better at it. It is both a skill and an art that requires the regular practice that perhaps only a writing course provides.
• To understand and practice the key academic research skill: synthesis. Synthesis is that technique which combines the material discovered during research into a new, coherent piece of writing, that pays particular attention to voice. (Voice is you, the writer, behind the words; voice allows the audience to hear the author of the document.
• To understand the use and misuse of research and statistics. English 102 offers the perspective that, although research involves statistical data, not all of that is reported in good faith or with clear motive. Researchers must be able to evaluate the use of statistics and to recognize the inflated, sensational, or oversimplified use of them. We will view videos on the use of statistical data to further our understanding of statistics.
• To learn to use documentation formats, especially MLA & APA guidelines. Writers are expected to follow standardized reference formats, but English 102 reviews each of these two widely used, academic, professional set of conventions.

 

 

Required Texts and course materials.  These must be obtained by the end of the first week of class: Web Campus login Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers15th        ISBN: 978-0321952950. I recommend the spiral-bound edition, but you may choose the paper copy if you like. Mann, Michael E. and Lee R. Kump. Dire Predictions: Understanding Climate Change. The Visual Guide to the Findings of the IPCC, 2nd   ISBN: 978-1-46543364-0. Recommended: Quick Study Bar Chart: APA/MLA  ISBN: 978-1-423217589 A Great Basin College Library card by the second week of class Access to weekly videos posted on the course Website A college dictionary (or use one online) A storage device for storing your work

 

Methods of Instruction:  This course is entirely online. Material is delivered through online lectures on Great Basin College’s WebCampus. Instruction will take place in a variety of ways including online lecture, online discussions, cooperative group activities, student-led discussions and presentations, tutor feedback, instructor feedback, and student question/answer. All assignments are submitted via WebCampus. There are no exceptions to this requirement.

 

Web Campus : Assignments are due each week through the Web Campus platform. Become familiar with these tools and plan to check them regularly:

• Home Page: Always start on the Home Page each time you come to Web Campus. You will need to click on the navigation link “Home” on the left dropdown menu.
• Learning Modules:  Your assignments are outlined in detail on Web Campus. The best way to stay organized with this course is to always check each week’s Learning Module early in the week.  Go to the homepage and click on the appropriate Learning titled Week 1, Week 2, etc. to find each week’s lecture and assignments. You should begin each week by reading the lecture.
• Calendar:Also refer to the “Calendar” tool in Web Campus to keep track of assignments each week.
• Assignments:Your assignments are explained here, and this is where you will submit assignments. Be sure to open each assignment and read it several times before you begin working on it.
• Web Campus E-mail: I frequently use e-mail to send updates and correspondence that will help you with your assignments. Plan to check your e-mail at least twice each week. My goal is to respond to student e-mail within one day, but I may not be checking the Website on weekends or holidays, so please plan accordingly.

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Course Policies and Expectations

Assignment due dates: 

• I will strictly enforce the "no late papers" policy in English 102. If you had problems with getting your English 101 assignments turned in on time, you will either need to change your organizational skills of find a different class. There will be absolutely no late assignments accepted in this class.
• Each assignment has a due date. If you experience an emergency and miss the due date, you may submit your assignment within 48 hours of the due date for a twenty percent reduction in credit. The assignment will be marked as “late.” 
• No more than two late assignments will be accepted during the semester.
• After the 48-hour period, you cannot submit your assignment. Only assignments submitted through the correct assignment drop box will be accepted.
• Absolutely no assignments will be accepted through email. This means that if you miss turning in a major paper by the due date, you will have to drop the class or earn an "F."
• We may have peer reviews for some assignments. Missed peer reviews cannot be made up.

 Satisfactory Progress on Written Assignments:

In order to pass this class, students must receive a passing grade (60 percent or higher) on the following written assignments:

• Syllabus Quiz
• Discussion Participation
• Brainstorming a Research Topic
• Research Question
• Journal Article Analysis
• Multiple Source Analysis Project
• Sentence Outline
• Research Project Proposal
• Final Research Paper

Within a week of receiving grades, a student who does not receive a passing grade on any of these assignments, excluding the final research paper, will attend a mandatory conference to discuss his or her progress in this class. Any student who does not comply with this requirement within a week of receiving a failing grade will be dropped from the class.

A grade of 1 point: If you receive a grade of 1 point, this indicates that there is a problem with the assignment that you must address within 24 hours. Inattention to fixing the problem will result in a failure of that assignment, so check my correspondence regarding assignments regularly.

Instructor Responses: I will respond to your e-mail messages within 48 hours, and often much sooner. Assignments will usually be graded within a two-week period after submission. More detailed papers will take up to an additional week to grade.

Your Commitment to This Class:  Much of English 102 revolves around students working independently on their research. As a student in this class, you should be prepared to spend at least 9 hours a week reading, preparing assignments and participating in class activities.  It is essential that you commit yourself to this degree of involvement to be successful in this course.

The class transfers to major universities, such as the University of Nevada and the University of California, so you should be prepared for a workload and a level of intellectual engagement comparable to these systems. The specific assignments and requirements for the class are explained in detail in the “Assignments” section of WebCampus.

Assignment Submission Guidelines:  All work must be typed and be formatted according to 2009 MLA guidelines (APA guidelines if you discuss this with me prior to turning in the assignment).

Your work must be saved as a Microsoft Word document. This means the file extension will say either “.doc” or .docx.”  If you do not have Microsoft Word, you need to save your document as a pdf in order for me to read it and to be able to make comments on it within the assignment.

Please do not send anything through Google Docs or Open Office, and if you have a MacIntosh, you need to convert your file to Microsoft Word or a pdf before you send it to me.

It is your responsibility to understand this process.  Microsoft Works is not the same as Microsoft Word.  If I can’t open your document, you will not receive a grade for the assignment. Ask the Help Desk (Links to an external site.) for assistance if you do not understand how to save your work in the correct format.

 

Computer Problems: Every semester, at least four or five students experience some kind of computer problem. It usually occurs after students have written a substantial paper, which subsequently vanishes. Then, students have to recreate weeks of research and writing, and sometimes they have to drop the course and start all over again. Do not let this happen to you.

Computers crash, flash drives get lost, students go out of town and do not have Internet access, dogs eat memory sticks, and your Internet service provider may not work. It is your responsibility as a college student to plan ahead to avoid these problems. Save your work often to avoid losing it. Computer or Internet problems are not valid excuses for not submitting your assignments.

***One easy way to save your work is to e-mail it to yourself through WebCampus. Plan on doing this before you close whatever you are working on each day.***

Format for Papers: All essays must be submitted in proper MLA format. You may use APA format with permission. Any format you use must be consistent.

Read the chapters in your text on MLA Documentation carefully to see how to do this. On the course homepage, there is a folder named “Writing Websites” that contains links to Websites that show correct MLA formatting in depth. In the “Lecture Notes” file on the homepage, you will find lectures on MLA formatting and capitalization and punctuation of titles. Please read these for more information.

I expect that all work students in English 102 present is carefully proofread and written according to academic standards. Practice proper paragraph structure - indention, a topic sentence that presents the paragraph’s main idea, sentences in the paragraph body that develop the topic sentence with concrete details, data, facts, and examples, and a concluding sentence.

NOTE:  Failure to follow these format guidelines may result in your paper being returned without an evaluation. 

Point of View and Use of Contractions: In academic writing, use the third-person point of view (he, she, it, or they). If you are writing about a personal experience, it is permissible to use first-person point of view (I), but use this sparingly and only when it adds to your paper. Do not use second-person point of view (you) in academic writing. Also, do not use contractions in academic papers.

 Your assignments and due dates are outlined in detail on Web Campus. Go to the homepage and click on the appropriate learning module for assignments.

 

GRADES and Instructor Comments

To Check Your Grades and Read My Comments: Open the “Grades” link on the left of the homepage.

 

Reading My Comments on Your Papers: It is essential that you read all of the comments I make on your papers and learn from these. Do not repeat mistakes that you made on a previous paper. Open the assignment, go to Submission Details, and click on the preview icon to read my comments. This is explained in the link “How do I view instructor comments?” Be sure to use this method to read comments on papers.

 

Essays and major assignments also have a grading rubric, which you will be able to access through the graded assignments tab.

 

If you receive a grade of 1 point, this means that I received your assignment, but there is a problem with the assignment that you need to correct and return within 24 hours.

 

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Professionalism in Writing: This course is a professional setting, and every message you send in such a setting needs to be clear, concise, and checked for spelling and grammar. Do not assume that because email and discussion postings can be written quickly that they can be sloppy. An infrequent mistake is understandable, but if your email messages and postings are continually difficult to read, this will affect your final grade.

Use correct grammar, capitalization, and punctuation for all of your email correspondence and discussion postings. Proofread your email messages and check them for spelling before you send your message. I will not respond to email messages that do not meet the standards of correct grammar, punctuation, and syntax.

In this class, as in any professional setting, your writing reflects your thought processes. Every message you send has the potential to influence your reader’s opinion of you. Consider carefully how you want readers to perceive you. Make a conscious decision to show readers that you are a careful thinker and that your ideas are worth considering.

Attendance and WebCampus Participation: You should expect to spend a minimum of nine hours per week on assignments and reading. For English 102, that amount of time is usually more. My recommendation is that students regularly log on to the course Website a minimum of two days per week and spend time actually reading the lectures, assignments, and background information. I track how much time students spend on the class, and students who log in fewer than seven or eight hours per week usually are not very successful in the class. Make a commitment now to keep up with reading and assignments if you expect to do well in this class.

Tutors: The GBC Elko campus has an Academic Success Center with skilled writing tutors who have experience with our English 102 assignments. I am working on having a course tutor for our class, and I will give you more details as the semester progresses.

Tutoring will be required for our first major assignment, and I highly recommend that you work with a tutor on your papers. There also may be times when I require a student to visit with a tutor. In addition to working with our course tutor, you can make an appointment with the GBC tutors in the Academic Success Center by calling 753-2149. You may also send your work to an online tutor. Instructions are on your WebCampus login page. Plan well in advance, as the turn-around time can be as much as ten days.

Student Responsibility for dropping courses: If you are missing assignments, it is your responsibility to drop the course at the Admissions and Records Office by the deadline, which is before 60 percent of the class is completed. Each semester, go to the GBC calendar (Links to an external site.) to see the final date for dropping a course. Students who have incomplete or late assignments who do not drop the course will receive a failing grade. This is important. You need to drop the class yourself to avoid earning an “F” for the course.

 

 

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY

Academic dishonesty is defined as an act of deception in which a student claims credit for the work or effort of another person or uses unauthorized materials or fabricated information in any academic work. Academic dishonesty is a violation of the GBC Student Code of Conduct and will not be tolerated in this class. Any evidence of academic dishonesty/plagiarism in this course will result in a failing grade on the assignment and/or a failing grade for the course. You should be aware that at other schools you will risk failing courses and potential suspension/expulsion for academic dishonesty, which is considered a very serious offense. If you are ever uncertain about using material form a source, please ask me about it. GBC tutors can also assist you with questions about documentation. Acts of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to, the following:

• CHEATING--unauthorized copying or collaborating on a test or assignment, or the use or attempted use of unauthorized materials
• TAMPERING--altering or interfering with evaluation instruments and documents
• FABRICATION--falsifying experimental data or results, inventing research or laboratory data or results for work not done, or falsely claiming sources not used
• PLAGIARISM--representing someone else's words, ideas, artistry, or data as one's own, including copying another person's work (including published and unpublished material, and material from the Internet) without appropriate referencing, presenting someone else's opinions and theories as one's own, or working jointly on a project, then submitting it as one's own
• ASSISTING--assisting another student in an act of academic dishonesty, such as taking a test or doing an assignment for someone else, changing someone's grades or academic records, or inappropriately distributing exams to other students.

With online research, it can be tempting to use others' ideas and words from the vast resources on the available online. Do not give in to this temptation unless you are willing to cite your sources completely. Remember, if you found something on the Internet, chances are I can find it too.

 

TurnItIn.com:  Your major assignments automatically are filtered through a plagiarism prevention Website called TurnItIn.com. You should always read your Turn It In report and fix any problems with your citations and resubmit your assignment, if necessary.  If any portion of a paper or assignment is found to be plagiarized, it will result in failure of the course. Period. No discussion. I have zero tolerance for cheating.

 

Student Conduct Policy

Students are expected to follow the Student Conduct Policy for students in the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) outlined in the Great Basin College Catalog. Students will specifically be held accountable for behaving in a civil and respectful manner toward other students and the professor in their classroom and online communications such as e-mail messages, discussion postings, and written assignments.

The college catalog states, “Messages, attitudes, or any other form of communication deemed to be outside the bounds of common decency/civility as judged by common standards of classroom behavior (determined, as they would be in a regular classroom, by the instructor) will not be tolerated” (29).

Pay particular attention to those last four words. Any student who behaves rudely to another student or to me will be dropped immediately. During the first week of class, students will be required to sign an acknowledgement that they have read the Academic Integrity Policy and Student Conduct Policy and understand that they will be dropped from the class for violating it.

 

Confidentiality:  The English Department respects the policy that your grades are your and your instructor’s business only.  However, during the semester, student writing will be shared with peers and/or Writing Center tutors for revision purposes and may be publicly displayed.  This is an integral part of the college writing program.  If you have comments concerning this policy, please make them known to me during the first week of the course. 

 

Grading Policy

The final grade for the course is based on completion of all assignments.  If you do not complete all writing requirements, you will not pass the class! Assignments that are turned in past the due date will not be accepted, and you will receive a grade of “0” for that assignment. 

 

Your final grade is based on the following assignments:

Assignment	Points
Syllabus Quiz	30
Discussions	20 each
Brainstorming for a   Research Topic and Preliminary Research Question	15
Research Proposal	25
Journal Article   Analysis	65 points
Quizzes	10 to 25 points each
Multiple Source Analysis Project	150
Formal Sentence Outline	50
Exercise Central Assignments	5 percent of total grade
Final Research Project	250

 

Pluses and minuses may be figured into the final grade.

 In order to receive full credit, an assignment must:

• be turned in on time and follow proper MLA or APA format
• be complete and well thought out
• meet assignment criteria and minimum word requirements
• reflect academic, college-level work/writing
• demonstrate critical thinking skills
• adhere to MLA standards for formatting and documentation

 

A Grade of one point (1) This indicates that there is a problem with your submission. You either sent a file I cannot read, or there is some other issue with your submission. YOU MUST RESUBMIT THE ASSIGNMENT CORRECTLY WITHIN 24 HOURS OF RECEIVING THE GRADE OF ONE POINT. FAILURE TO DO THIS RESULTS IN ZERO CREDIT FOR THE SUBMISSION.

 Assignments (see Assignments and Calendar in WebCampus for due dates)

Formal   written essays	Each essay must meet   the minimum word requirement on the assignment page. Essay format will follow   MLA guidelines. At times, we may also be sharing parts of these papers with   our peers for critique and assistance.  If you want to use APA   formatting, you must be consistent with this style.
Discussions	We will have weekly   online discussions on the reading and on your research topics. Participation   in online discussions gives students the opportunity to broaden their   perspectives by seeing ideas from different points of view. In online   learning discussions are essential. You should prepare your discussion   posting thoroughly and write an in-depth, well developed posting.   Your initial posting is due by Thursday each week. You must respond to at least  two members of your discussion group no later than Saturday each week.   Discussions have a due date of Thursday, and the discussion closes on Sunday. Again, your posting is due no later than Thursday each week.
Prewriting,   proofreading, and critiquing exercises	For each of the   essays, you may be asked to perform prewriting and post-writing exercises,   such as the development of thesis statements, introductory paragraphs, body   paragraphs, and outlines, and first drafts, as well as proofreading and   critiquing exercises.
Library   Overview	All English 102   students have a requirement to review a presentation from a GBC Librarian. This may be completed by attending a class in which the librarian makes a   presentation. GBC librarians also visit GBC satellite campuses. For online students, the requirement may be completed by viewing on online presentation. We will have more details on this as the semester progresses.
Quizzes	We have weekly assessments (quizzes) that will help you improve your research and formatting   skills. For the assessments, please save each answer as you progress through   the quiz. Sometimes your Internet provider will interrupt your service, and   you can lose the connection, as well as your answers. That is why it is   important to save each answer after you complete the quiz question. You   need to have your Writing Research Papers text   with you to answer the quiz questions.
Exercise   Central Assignments	·           Using correct grammar and punctuation are essential for   success in college and the business world. The Exercise Central provides   exercises to help you with various stages of the research process, as well as   exercises to help you improve your particular writing challenges. Assignments   will be due each week from the website. You will complete the assignment and   send it through the Exercise Central website. Due dates for exercises   will be posted on the calendar. This Website is free, but you will need to   register the first time you use it. ·           For a link to the Exercise Central login page, click here: Exercise Central Comprehensive Study Plan If you need help with Exercise Central,   contact technical support at 1-800-936-6899 or email techsupport@bfwpub.com . They are great about helping   students through any problems. I usually cannot give you much assistance with   registering, so please contact tech support.

 

 

 

How to Succeed in this Class

• Purchase and read the required texts. There are no exceptions to this. Do not expect to pass this class without buying the textbooks.
• Stay current with all reading assignments.
• Read each assignment several times before you start working on it. Do not assume that you understand an assignment until you have gone over the assignment sheet thoroughly.
• Complete all assigned writing and reading on time
• Complete tutor visits if these are required

 Accommodations:  GBC supports providing equal access for students with disabilities.  An advisor is available to discuss appropriate accommodations with students.  Please contact the Student Services Office in Berg Hall in Elko at 753-2271 at your earliest convenience to request timely and appropriate accommodations. 

This is your class.  If you have any concerns, academic problems, or need special assistance, please discuss all matters with me as soon as you can. If you have further concerns, see the current GBC Catalog. 

 

Learner Outcomes (SEE   DETAILS BELOW)	Measurement
Communication Skills	Online discussions,   course correspondence, written papers, completed Research Paper; evaluated   according to grading form found in each assignment and similar to attached   rubric in the link below
Analyze statistical content of article	Journal analyses, written papers, quizzes; evaluated with   grading form
Collect and evaluate information from Internet sources	Journal analyses, written papers, quizzes; evaluated with grading form
Develop thesis statement, gather data, draw conclusions, present conclusions in written   format	Online discussions,   written assignments and essays evaluated with grading form
Analyze, differentiate   roles of individuals in society; describe divergent attitudes, values and   beliefs; synthesize ideas from reading and thinking to create new text	Online discussions, written assignments and essays evaluated with grading form
Communicate and express thoughts fluently and expressively	Online discussions, course correspondence, written assignments and essays evaluated with grading   form

 

 If you want to know more about Learner Outcomes for General Education and English 102, select this link.