On-line English
Course Syllabus
General Information
Required texts: The Contemporary
Reader, 9th edition, Goshgarian, G.
Pocket Guide to APA Style
Other requirements:
·
Internet access
·
Adobe Acrobat Reader software:
free download
available at http://adobe.authenticdownloads.com/
and other sites
·
Microsoft Word is preferable. I cannot guarantee that I will be able to
open any other software programs.
·
An e-mail address:
Hotmail and Yahoo are frequently blocked by our college’s firewall. G-mail is free and seems readily readable.
·
Allegany College of Maryland library card (obtained through
ACM library)
·
Selected readings as per instructor
Library Card
Students will need the bar code number on the ACM
library card to access Maryland Digital library for research and readings.
If you do not have an ACM library card, you must
contact
Most databases can be
accessed through the Maryland Digital Library.
Please read “Using Allegany College of
Maryland’s Digital Library Offerings.
Instructor
Information
Division of Arts and
Humanities, Chair
Office………………………..……..H-39,
e-mail…………………………….. jgallion@allegany.edu
Office hours…………………… MWF:
10-11 and TR
*Online Office Hours……………..to be determined by
students
Office
phone………………………
Secretary
phone………………….Mrs. Helmstetter
Note: On-line office hours will be conducted
in the Virtual Chat room under “Collaboration” on Blackboard. The class and the instructor will decide
these times.
Please note that the instructor reserves the right and the obligation
to make changes with advanced notice to the students if during the course of
the semester the instructor deems changes necessary.
Purpose
Description
The
course is offered first and second semesters.
Offered as demand warrants in summer sessions. The longer essay and longer works of
non-fiction prose are studied. Writing,
analysis, and critical thinking are stressed.
Further instruction in methods of research culminates in the writing of
a term paper. A term paper, objective
examinations, and a final essay are required.
Prereq.: English 101
Course Objectives
1. The student will complete 4 essays of
approximately 2-4 pages each.
2. The student will review and improve
planning, prewriting, and editing skills learned in Eng. 101.
3. The student will demonstrate knowledge
and application of critical thinking concepts in his/her writing and classroom discussion.
4. The student will apply the above
skills, along with research techniques, to the successful production of a
research paper on a topic approved by the instructor.
Course Policies
Attendance/Participation
The student will be expected to
complete all assigned readings. The
discussion posts and responses to other students’ posts are considered
“attendance” in an on-line class.
Submitting essays on time will also determine attendance. The instructor reserves the right to drop a
student for lack of attendance if the instructor deems the student’s
performance and grade are direly affected.
Attendance
is determined by the amount of contact with the instructor, class participation
in the “Virtual Classroom” and completing “Discussion Board” posting
assignments and essay assignments.
Students will engage in one group assignment where participation will be
noted.
If a student
does not log-in to the course or contact the instructor for more than 7-10 days, the instructor will make
one attempt to contact the student by e-mail and by phone. If the instructor does not hear from the
student within 2 business days, the
instructor will assume the student is no longer committed to the class and will
drop the student from the course. **Students should know
that the instructor has a feature called “Course Statistics” that enables the
instructor to know exactly when a student logs in, how long they are logged in,
and exactly which areas of the course the student visited.
Assignments
·
1
introductory quizzes
·
4
shorter essays of 2-4 pages, acceptable documentation where required
·
12
discussion posts (minimum)
·
2
skills building assignments
·
1
longer essay of 5 pages, and a bibliography, outline, and notes.
You must complete all course assignments to pass this course. You must participate in the group activity. Otherwise, you may fail the course.
Grading
The standard grading system is used:
A=
100-90
B=
80-89
C=
70-79
D=60-69
The
essays will receive four grades for a total of 200 points on each essay. The basic grading is as follows:
First
draft: Students will receive 2 letter grades, one for content and one for
grammar and mechanics (please refer to the separate document, Grading Criteria, for an explanation for
these areas. The first draft is a
benchmark grade and not permanent.
Final
draft: Students will receive 200 points
for each essay.
·
Content,
Development, Diction, Sentence Structure, Style and Expression =150
·
Mechanics,
punctuation, spelling= 50
·
Outline:
If no outline is presented, the paper will have an automatic deduction of 10%
·
Format: If format is not adhered to, then the paper
will receive an automatic 10% deduction (when specified).
Please
refer to “Standards for a ‘C’ Grade in English
Composition” and “Grading Criteria” under
course documents.
Discussion
posts are 25 points each.
The
skills building assignments vary in point value.
Please
understand that a grade of C means “average.”
The assignment was submitted on time, free of errors and is composed in
a manner that is easily understood. The
grade of A is reserved for exceptional papers, not handed out as a reward for
“showing up,” “working hard,” and “submitting work on time.”
Extra Credit
Upon
occasion an extra credit opportunity will be offered. The instructor does not develop extra credit
for students unhappy with their grades.
Tutoring
A
student should seek help immediately.
The instructor is always willing to schedule assistance outside of
office hour time. The student is
responsible for arranging an online meeting time with the instructor or a
conference by phone or face-to-face.
Also, students should take advantage of the tutoring services at their
respective campuses.
Essays:
Instructor’s Expectations
It
is expected that since the student has successfully completed English 101, that
the student is competent in grammar and mechanics of writing. It is also expected that the student is
familiar with the practice of citing sources and appropriately documenting
those sources. The student is expected to be able to design a thesis and
construct, at minimum, a working (or “rough”) outline. I expect final drafts from the student
to be submitted within 3-5 workdays.
For
explanation about outlining, please refer to “Creating an Outline” under Course
Documents and any composition or technical writing book.
For
information regarding grading criteria, please refer to “Composition Grading
Criteria” under Course Information.
Cheating and Plagiarism
Incidents
of plagiarism will not be tolerated and will be dealt with according to the
severity of the offense. Penalties range
from a “0” on a paper to suspension from school. Refer to the Student Handbook and a new
addition to ACM’s website: www.allegany.edu/plagiarism/. We will discuss plagiarism in this
course.
“Plagiarism is
the use of someone else’s words, ideas, or line of thought without
acknowledgment. Even when it is
inadvertent—the result of careless note-taking, punctuating, or documenting—the
writer is still at fault for dishonest work, and the paper will be unacceptable
“(Perrin, Pocket Guide to APA Style).
Acceptable Style and Format
All
papers must be typed double space and
formatted using APA format. The specific format will be discussed as per
assignment. Submit papers under
“Assignments.”
Papers
must be typed using Microsoft Word.
Electronic Submission.
Papers
must be submitted on the due date under “Assignments,” by clicking
“view/complete.” Do not send papers as e-mail attachments unless instructed to do so by
the instructor.
Save the file by:
1. Save as: your last name, the assignment name, which
draft.
Example: Smith_television_draft or Smith_television_final
Do
not use periods or symbols such as %@#*.
2. Make sure you save a copy to a drive
accessible to you, such as your C drive, a disk, a thumb drive, or your desk
top.
3. Save it as a “Rich text file” in the
drop box below the “Save as” box.
4. Once the document is saved, go to the
exact assignment under “Assignments” and click “view/complete.”
5. Attach the file by clicking “browse”
and finding the file you just saved. The
function works just like an e-mail attachment.
Deadlines
Web
courses are wonderful for the flexibility the format offers. However, I will maintain deadlines for my
course-management purposes. Writing is a
skill that improves over time through consistent, diligent efforts. Submitting two and three papers at a time is
a practice that does not improve writing—in fact, it’s antithetical to the goal
of improving writing skills. If a student
has a crisis or a situation that requires submitting the paper a day or two
late, I must be notified in advance.
Students may receive a grade penalty if papers are submitted late with
no prior notice. Keep in mind that
technical failures, incompatible programs, etc., are not the instructor’s
responsibility. These are the
techno-equivalent of “the dog ate my paper.”
I
grade essays in the order in which they are received. My goal is to turn them around within 3-5
workdays. I expect final drafts from the
student to be submitted within 3-5 workdays as well.
Reading Assignments
Each
unit has a topic requiring readings from the Goshgarian textbook, which will be
posted under “Assignments.” The first
reading assignment of each unit is for the discussion posts. The second reading assignment is required for
the essay assignment. Students are
required to read the assigned readings and are welcome to use additional
readings from the text or outside sources.
Discussion Board
The instructor will assign essay
readings from the textbook and post questions for response on the discussion
board. The postings are homework
assignments and will count toward the final grade. Students read other students’ comments and
respond to them on the discussion board.
To receive the full 25 points,
the student must respond to another student’s post.
Students are required to post
responses to a pre-selected question under each unit. Students are evaluated on the content and
expression of thought, as well as the grammar and mechanics. Students must write with focus of thought and
articulate points with clarity and support.
A helpful tip is to remember the four E’s: Evidence, Experience, Example, Explanation.
I expect students to engage in
discussion by responding to other student posts. Students must respond with respect to one
another, tolerant of differences in thought, thus building a community of
learning.
Assessment of a post:
·
The
initial post, well-written and carefully articulated, is worth a maximum of 20
points.
·
A
well-written, carefully thought-out response to a classmate’s post is worth a
maximum of 5 points.
·
“Yah,
I agree,” response is worth 0 points.
Instructor’s
Role in Discussions
I read the posts daily, but refrain
from responding until everyone, or most everyone, has responded. I make it a practice to engage in discussion,
but I do not want my response to influence student responses. Frequently
I will add links to relevant articles for students to read.
Communication
An important
component to success in this class is communication.
I encourage
students to e-mail me, call me, use the discussion
board to communicate with me and with each
other. Please refer to Attendance and
Participation policy above. Students who
actively participate in discussion and communicate regularly report a higher
satisfaction rate with the learning environment than students who do not engage
in the communication opportunities.
E-mail
responses: Students can expect the
instructor to respond to e-mails within 24 hours (usually much less)
Monday-Friday. If a student sends an
e-mail Friday evening-Sunday, expect a response by Monday morning.