Revised Syllabus

Below is the revised syllabus. Thanks to those students who met with me to suggest changes to the original.


English 102-01 Fall 08
TTh 12:00-1:15 p.m. SGC 122
Dr. James R. Hepworth, Professor, 309 Spalding Hall
Office Hours: MW 4:15-5:15 and TTh 10:30-11:30 & 1:30-2:30 and by Appointment
Email: hepworth@lcsc.edu Telephone: 792-2385
Pre-requisite: English 101 or College Placement

Helpful Hints

• If you have a physical disability or a learning disability, be sure you have registered with Disability Services (RCH 111) to verify the disability and to determine suitable academic accommodations. Then during the first week of class, make an appointment to meet with me in my office to make arrangements specific to this class. Later notification may result in the requested accommodations being unavailable.

• There is one primary rule—the golden rule—for our classroom. Let's practice it.

• This class is writing and computer intensive. It is not, however, a distance learning class. Nevertheless, our class requires you to do perhaps even a majority of your work at a computer with internet access. If you do not own a computer, the college SUB and library both have computer labs where you may use a computer.

• Writing is among the most complex human endeavors, comparable in difficulty, some people argue, to mathematics. If you already know you are struggling college writer, get help early. Find a tutor. Begin making regular visits to the campus writing lab in Spalding Hall. Take advantage of my office hours. By all means, however, see me in person before you attempt to the drop the course. You may be doing much better than you think.

• I like to call on students by name, and I memorize the names of students in all my classes early in the semester, usually within the first few weeks. If I call on you and you don’t know or can’t think of the answer to the question, just say, “I don’t know.” That’s the same answer I will probably give you under similar circumstances. In my experience, too many people are either unable or unwilling to say, “I don’t know.” If you knew everything, why would need a college class?

• I check my Email once a day. Some days I receive as many as thirty or forty Emails in addition to spam. If you must Email me, please limit your Email to three well-written sentences. The college requires that you Email me only from your Warriormail account. I cannot and will not respond to Email sent to me from personal Email accounts outside the college system.

• For updates on assignments, changes, extra credit opportunities, and general news, please check our class blog at least once a week.

Required Materials

Hairston, Maxine et al. The Scott Foresman Handbook for Writers. Eighth Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. This recently revised book may be the most frequently consulted writing handbook in the United States. Our library keeps it under “reference.” Students frequently keep it to use throughout their college careers. Bring it to every class. And make sure you buy the most recent (8th) edition (ISBN 0136148638), which comes packaged with your personal access code to the book’s online website where you can go for help twenty-four hours a day.
• Bluebooks (Please have a supply of two or more on hand for in-class writing assignments. Bring them to every class.)
• A plain (8.5” x 11”) office file folder with your last name followed by your first name on the flap. (You won’t be able to turn in a hardcopy of your essay unless you submit it in a folder along with your pre-writing and drafts. I want to see the entire evolution of your paper from conception to publication.)
• From time to time I may require students to furnish each other with complete (typed) hard copies of their drafts for peer editing and review. Students should budget for this expense early in the semester just as they would a required textbook ($20-$30).

Course Websites

www.mycomplab.com
<www.jimhepworth.com>

Course Description and Course Outcomes

English 102 continues the work begun in English 101 with—in the words of the Lewis-Clark State College Catalog 2007-2009—“an emphasis on general research techniques” that apply to various academic disciplines (286). Although we will do some review in class on an as-needed basis, students should take it upon themselves to review such subjects as invention, drafting, collaboration, and revision, as well as grammar, sentence structure, paragraphing, and punctuation. I assume—and I assume the college assumes—that all English 102 students have achieved, either on their own or by taking English 101, competency or better in College Writing. Our section of this course will also emphasize collaborative writing and online publishing, document design, critical reading, and problem solving.
Our class combines instructor lectures and in-class workshops and discussions with online work. We will hold both large and small group discussions, read aloud, edit and evaluate each other’s work, make presentations, and write and revise weekly and daily assignments. Students will also create and publish individual and team blogs, take online quizzes, and complete various other online exercises and homework assignments, both on a scheduled and an “as needed basis.”
Upon exiting this course successful students will be able to

• continue to demonstrate competency in the course outcomes for English 101 (see 286 in the college catalog)
• locate, identify, and participate in academic discourse
• read critically, synthesize, and evaluate information
• use a variety of research tools (databases, indexes, the Internet, etc) to locate appropriate information sources
• develop a focused research topic or project
• conduct a review of the literature for a specific topic
• understand what constitutes evidence in a particular discipline
• use valid evidence to support claims
• understand and use APA and MLA formats for organizing and documenting multiple source papers
• understand and demonstrate the ethical responsibility of the research writer to explore multiple perspectives on a topic and to cite sources and report findings accurately
• design and create web pages, individual blogs, and team blogs
• submit and post their writing online and perform successful online peer reviews (For more complete list of course objectives see the Self-Evaluation Form.)

Mandatory Attendance Policy

I promise to do my best to create and maintain a friendly classroom atmosphere. I hope you want to come to class. Regardless, the success of our class depends on your regular attendance and active participation as well as your ability to listen and to learn from the insightful contributions of your colleagues. Therefore attendance is required. Because even the best students must occasionally miss class, however, I hereby grant each student one unexcused absence. Each successive absence, however, will lower your final grade by half a step (e.g. from B- to C+, from C+ to C, from C to C-). Missing a scheduled conference, habitual tardiness, leaving class early. . . . will adversely effect your grade. Come to class even if you are unprepared.

Grading (100 Points Possible)

First, a word to the wise: our college requires students to earn a C or better in English 101 before they can move on to English 102. If you receive a final grade of C- or lower, you must retake this course before moving on. (Students who are not required to take English 102 for their degrees, of course, are exempt from this rule.)


A (93-100%) A- (90-92%)
B+ (87-89%) B (83-86) B- (80-82%)
C+ (77-79% C (73-76%) C- (70-72%)

Essays (60 points):

Students must successfully submit all assigned drafts of an essay. Unless I tell you otherwise, please make two copies of each draft you submit for peer review and for an instructor grade, and be sure to post your finished essays on your blogs. To view recent examples of some satisfactory essays by LCSC students, go to the instructor’s website () and click on “mag-zine.” Please note: I expect to see improvement throughout the semester even in the work of the best student writers. Furthermore, although I will read and mark all essays properly submitted to me, I may choose, particularly near the beginning of the semester, to grade some essays simply Pass (P) or Fail (F).

Essay Submissions Policy: We will be experimenting with online grading this semester. Once we are comfortable with the online program and grading system, I will ask you to submit at least one of your essays for me to evaluate online through Exchange and Grade Tracker. (It may very well turnout that you will submit the majority of your essays to me online, depending on the success of our early experiments.)
Meanwhile, until I say otherwise, you may submit only hard copies of your essays for a grade.
Here’s how the submission process should work:
1. The class will divide into teams of four.
2. Each team will create and publish a team blog. This blog will be available for viewing only to your other teammates and to the instructor.
3. Before the deadline, each member of a team will post a complete draft of his or her essay on the team’s blog for review. (This draft should be as near perfect as you can make it in the time you have to write it. You should also submit it to your E-tutor.)
4. Each member of the team will then read, evaluate, and edit the posted essays of the other members on the team blog. Teammates will comment on the strengths and weaknesses of each team member’s essay and offer helpful suggestions.
5. Each member of the team will also write one “formal peer review”—a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of another team member’s paper’s that quotes and paraphrases the comments and suggestions from all three of the team’s reviewers.
6. Based on peer reviews and a self-evaluation, each team member will then make any and all final revisions to his or her essay.
7. After carefully proofreading the final draft of the essay, each team member will publish two hard copies of the essay for the instructor and also post the revised essay to his or her individual blog for everyone to read.
8. On the deadline, you will then submit the final copy to me for a grade along with
your notes (including zero drafts, scratch outlines, reverse outlines, and all preliminary drafts) and your formal peer review. I want to see the entire evolution of your paper from conception to publication.

Unless I ask you to submit your essay online, all submissions must be made by placing two hard copies of your final draft and all related materials inside an 8.5” X 11” inch plain file folder with your name on the outside flap (last name first). On the inside left cover of the folder, neatly print the telephone number where you prefer to be reached, your college email address, and a postal address.
Please note: I will not accept essay submissions (or any assignments) by Email.

Revision Policy

Of course you may revise an essay as many times as you like before the deadline for your edited final draft. In fact, I encourage you to revise often. In addition to soliciting peer reviews and E-tutor reviews, you may also want to take your work to the Campus Writing Lab in Spalding Hall. Once you submit an essay for a grade, however, that grade will stand in the grade book.
Please do not ask me to evaluate your paper in advance of the deadline. Grading your preliminary draft would defeat the purpose of peer reviews. Seek help from your teammates and the campus writing lab before you come to me. I will nevertheless be glad to meet with you during my office hours to discuss any problems you have with the assignments.
Please also note that the back flyleaf of our handbook contains a list of most the common editing and proofreading symbols I use to mark student papers. Beside each symbol the editors list the precise section number of the book that students should consult to correct their errors. I expect you to study and correct the errors in the sentences I mark on your papers each time I return them. I also expect you to eliminate the majority of your most common errors from your essays before the end of the semester. To that end, I will assign (and you will self-assign) quizzes and exercises on the textbook website to help you learn to prevent the same errors from recurring. The website will automatically track your grade. In many cases, you will be expected to repeat an exercise until you achieve proficiency.

Late Paper Policy

Because meeting deadlines is important in nearly all professions, I have budgeted plenty of time for students to complete preliminary and final drafts. Turning in a peer review or a final draft one class period late, however, will result in a reduction of two grades (A to C). Again: the deadline for papers (for peer review or grading) is the beginning of the class period on the due date. If you know in advance that you will be absent on the day is paper is due, please make arrangements to turn the paper in prior to the due date. If you know in advance that a paper is going to be late, you may write a one page persuasive letter requesting an extension. There is no guarantee, however, that the extension will be granted.

Participation (30 points):
Scholars generally agree that the learner is the person most in charge of what gets learned inside and outside the classroom. I expect you to be an active learner. I will base your grade in this category on the following criteria:

• your general attitude toward the class: your willingness to volunteer, to express your own thoughts aloud and in writing, to permit others to speak, to assist others with their writing, and the effectiveness of your overall effort and academic maturity
• your ability to work independently and as a part of an assigned team
• your completion of reading assignments in the text and online
• your ability to meet deadlines with complete drafts for peer review (All papers, including drafts for peer review, become due at the beginning of the class period on the due date.)
• the scores and completion rates for all your assigned exercises and quizzes
• your ability to write honest and helpful peer reviews
• your willingness and ability to go beyond the minimum requirements for the course

With the exception of timed essays, all papers (even drafts written for formal peer reviews) must be keyboarded and formatted in MLA or APA style. I will treat the failure to turn in a complete typed draft for peer review by making a step reduction in the final grade (e.g B- to C+).
In previous semesters dozens of excellent students have formed small study groups of three or more people who meet once a week to conduct peer reviews, go over reading and writing assignments, and generally support each other. I highly recommend this method.

Required Individual Conferences: Each student is required to schedule and attend at least one conference with me to review individual course work and assignments. (Be sure to bring copies of your work with you! Students are by no means limited to one conference.) I welcome both appointments and drop-ins during my office hours. Only an appointment, however, can guarantee a particular time in my schedule.

Final Portfolio (10 points):
Near the end of the semester, students may revise one of their documented essays and re-submit it for a grade along with a self-analysis. Students will also turn in both the peer reviews they have written and the peer reviews they have received. Please be sure to include a self-addressed stamped envelope with this assignment. (Students who receive A’s on at least three essays may be excused from this assignment contingent upon an exit interview with the instructor.)

Incompletes: I will grant you a grade of Incomplete at the end of the semester if (1) you have completed 80% of the work and (2) if you have a documented medical or family emergency that occurs in the last few weeks of class.

Plagiarism or any form of cheating will result in an automatic F for the semester.

Extra Credit: Students who publish individual essays in our online class anthology (“mag-zine”) will receive extra credit. Submitting an essay for a full class review also usually results in extra credit. In general, however, I will announce extra-credit opportunities on my class blog as we progress through the semester. To receive extra credit points, students must post them on their blogs along with a description of the extra credit assignment within twenty-four hours of receiving them. Team extra credit points are also available from time to time.