Course Syllabus

English 101: Introduction to College Writing

Mondays and Wednesdays 11:30-1:20 in R209

Tuesdays and Thursdays on Canvas

Room R-209

Summer 2018

 Instructor Sean Allen

sallen@bellevuecollege.edu

Phone: 425-564-2413

Office: R230D

Office Hours: 1:30 Monday-Thursday

Course Description:

 English 101 is a college-level writing class. The focus of this particular writing course is twofold: emphasizing your transition from “writer-centered” writing to “reader-centered” academic writing, while at the same time focusing on “writing process” rather than “writing product.” So while at the end of every assignment students will be required to turn in a polished three-to-five page college-level essay, this course will also focus on acquainting you with the writing process: a process that works. Effective academic writing, to that end, requires the following skill set: the willingness to think critically, inquire, accept complexity, and to understand the important of audience, voice, and other academic writing conventions.

 Materials:

 From Inquiry to Academic Writing, 2^nd Edition, By Steward Greene & April Lidinsky

 Course Outcomes:

• Think Critically and Read Analytically: carefully interpret and evaluate claims, beliefs, arguments or issues, reading various texts critically for purposes of interpretation, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation.
• Compose and Revise in Context: shape written responses for--and employ style, tone, and mechanical conventions appropriate to--the demands of different audiences and purposes, using various methods of development such as illustration, comparison and contrast, and analysis, and balancing their individual voices with those from other texts.
• Reflect, Collaborate & Evaluate: incorporate newly acquired skills, both individually and with peers, to critique their own and others’ work, to gain a clearer perspective of habits that may detract from the effectiveness of their own writing, and to develop flexible strategies for revising, editing, and proofreading in response to comments from their instructor and peers.

Course Requirements:

 Essays: This class requires you to write 4 essays, including free-writes, drafts, and revisions. Each essay is graded on a 0-100 point scale. All written work should be submitted through Canvas on the due dates specified in the course calendar. I return graded essays about a week after they are handed in. You may revise one of your first 3 essays for a better grade.

 Seminar Papers, Quizzes, and Literary Circles are worth 25 points each. For this class, students are required to turn in 2 seminar papers (2-3 pages long), take one quiz, and participate in one literary circle. See the course calendar for specific dates. 25x4=100 points.

 Class participation, valued at 100 points, includes in-class work, productive engagement in class discussions, peer-editing sessions, and other in-class activities. Disruptive behavior such as arriving late, leaving class, distracting others, texting, etc may negatively impact your class participation grade.

 Peer-editing sessions also take place in class, and are an invaluable means for receiving and giving constructive feedback. Therefore, peer-editing sessions are not only important for you-but for your classmates as well. Written peer feedback should be submitted back to the student at the conclusion of your group work. Important: for each of our peer-editing sessions, you must bring to class a typed version of your draft, and you must arrive on time. Students who are unprepared or late for peer-editing sessions will be counted as absent for that day.

Attendance: The BC Arts & Humanities Division’s policy regarding tardiness stipulates that any student missing more than twenty percent of total class time for a course may receive an “F” grade for the course. Since this class meets 5 days a week for a total of 22 meetings, any student missing four or more class meetings may automatically receive a failing grade.

This course also requires that you be on time for class. I take role at the beginning of every class. If you arrive late, you may be counted as absent for that date.

 Late papers: All papers and other assignments are due at the dates and times specified in the course calendar. Each student can turn in one paper late without losing points, but all other later papers will be assessed -10 points for every day they are late.

Grading procedure: Average of 4 essays plus class participation+ final exam score plus seminar papers/quiz score:

4 essays                                                               100 points each

Quizzes+seminar papers                                     25 x 4=100

 7 Canvas Learning  Modules, 30 points each    210 points

Class participation                                                100 points

 

 

Arts & Humanities grading procedure:

100-93%          A

90-92%            A-

89-87%            B+

86-83%             B

82-80               B-

79-77               C+

76-73               C

72-70               C-

69-67               D+

66-63               D

62-60               D-

59%---             F

 Class participation includes in-class work, productive engagement in class discussions, peer-editing sessions, and other in-class activities. Disruptive behavior such as arriving late, leaving class, distracting others, texting, etc may negatively impact your class participation grade.

Peer-editing sessions also take place in class, and are an invaluable means for receiving and giving constructive feedback. Therefore, peer-editing sessions are not only important for you-but for your classmates as well. Written peer feedback should be submitted back to the student at the conclusion of your group work. Important: for each of our peer-editing sessions, you must bring to class a typed version of your draft, and you must arrive on time. Students who are unprepared or late for peer-editing sessions will be counted as absent for that day.

 Attendance: The BC Arts & Humanities Division’s policy regarding tardiness stipulates that any student missing more than twenty percent of total class time for a course may receive an “F” grade for the course. Since this class meets 2 days a week for a total of 12 meetings, any student missing three or more class meetings may automatically receive a failing grade.  

This course also requires that you be on time for class. I take role at the beginning of every class. If you arrive late, you may be counted as absent for that date.

 Late papers: All papers and other assignments are due at the dates and times specified in the course calendar. Each student can turn in one paper late without losing points, but all other later papers will be assessed -10 points for every day they are late.

 Plagiarism:

 Plagiarism, or academic dishonesty, is the act of using another writer’s words or ideas as your own. According to the BCC 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.” Plagiarism in this course may result in a paper’s failing grade, or further disciplinary action from the Dean of Student Success. Consecutive acts of plagiarism may result in a failing grade for the class.

 Cell phones or other electronic communication devices:

 During class time, please turn off your cell phones, pagers, or other such devices. You may use an electronic or paper dictionary to class, but I do not allow cell phones in class for any reason.

 Classroom Behavior

 What follows is the Arts & Humanities Division’s policy on classroom behavior:

 “The college's ‘Affirmation of Inclusion’ is posted in each classroom 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 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 cellular 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.”

Important Links

Bellevue College E-mail and access to MyBC

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 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. .

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 Disability Resource Center (DRC)

 The Disability Resource Center serves students with a wide array of learning challenges and disabilities. If you are a student who has a disability or 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 us as soon as possible.

 If you are a person who requires 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.

 The DRC office is located in B 132 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 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 Public Safety

 The Bellevue College (BC) Public Safety Department’s well trained and courteous non-commissioned staff provides personal safety, security, crime prevention, preliminary investigations, and other services to the campus community, 24 hours per day,7 days per week.  Their phone number is 425.564.2400.  The Public Safety website is your one-stop resource for campus emergency preparedness information, campus closure announcements and critical information in the event of an emergency. Public Safety is located in K100 and on the web at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/publicsafety/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.