Other Information

English Composition First-Year Program Outcome Goals For All Students:

At the end of this course students should have knowledge in the following areas. It is important to remember, however, that it takes dedication and hard work from both the teacher and the student to meet these goals.

Rhetorical Knowledge

• Identify and understand rhetorical purposes, audiences, and situations and the relationships among these
• Understand how to draw on genre conventions to address purposes, audiences, and situations

Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing

• Develop your own ideas in relation to the ideas of others through writing and reading
• Evaluate, analyse, and synthesize primary and secondary texts through writing and reading
• Critique your own and others' ideas
• Integrate your own and others' ideas

Processes

• Understand writing as a recursive process that permits writers to use a variety of strategies during writing stages and processes
• Understand the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes
• Develop an awareness of the role of computer-mediated communication

Knowledge Conventions

• Practice appropriate means of documenting your work
• Control conventions of structure, syntax, grammar, usage, punctuation, and spelling,

Civil Discourse, Rights, and Responsibilities:

In our class discussions, in our readings, and in our writing throughout this quarter, we will be examining ideas from diverse perspectives. At this university, students and faculty are afforded an academic environment that allows for intellectual expression; challenging issues and ideas may arise, but none of these should be expressed in an inappropriate manner either verbally or in writing. One of the goals of a university is to challenge us to think again about what we know (and all that we don't know). This demands that we all share responsibility for creating and maintaining a civil learning environment in our classrooms and in the larger university community: we will be conscious of and accept responsibility for what we say and do, how we act, how our words and actions have consequences, and how our words and actions affect others. As part of this awareness we well avoid sexist, racist, and heterosexist language. We will not perpetuate stereotypes.

Use of Student Writings

Occasionally in my own work, I find it useful to cite student examples. This may be as illustration for other students (as in the Gallery pages on this site) or in my research and writing about teaching and composition. If you would prefer that I not use your work, or not use your name in such references, please let me know.