English 102: Freshman Composition Online

Southeastern Louisiana University

Department of English

Professor: Dr. Whitton

Office: DVickers 231

Phone: 549-2413 (no calls returned off-campus)

Faculty Website: http://www.selu.edu/Academics/Faculty/nwhitton/

Teacher Contract: I want you to do well in this class. I commit to interesting you in the subjects of reading and writing and to helping you succeed in this course. I look forward to getting to know you.

Placement: Students must have completed English 101 with a P or scored 29 or above on the English section of the ACT. If you have skipped 101, you must let me know before the final exam.

Course Description: English 102 is designed to help students improve their skills as writers, readers, and critical thinkers. Students will read and write about literature and other essays. They will practice writing expository papers including the argument, the critical essay, the research paper, and the essay examination. They will learn techniques such as the use of primary and secondary sources, basic documentation skills, recognition of various documentation formats including MLA and APA, the ability to use research in writing, and knowledge of library, field, and electronic research procedures. Students will develop an ability to write for various audiences and purposes (including timed, in-class writing). Students will develop productive planning and revising processes for various kinds of papers, including those requiring research. Finally, students will review punctuation, mechanics, grammar, and sentence structure within the context of their writing.

Teacher Expectations: When you finish this class, I hope that you will consider yourself a writer and will be comfortable reading and responding to any written material that you come across. The assignments that we do this semester are designed to be immediately useful in your life. I am happy to negotiate and tailor nearly everything on the syllabus to meet your individual needs because my primary goal is that you learn and grow as a person. Everything that we do will help you to pursue the courses in your major and improve your life.

Proficiency Notice: The full text proficiency notice with the requirements for this course will be available in Blackboard. Please make sure that you familiarize yourself with this document. You cannot pass this class without passing the proficiency exam. Students who do not pass this independent proficiency assessment cannot pass English 102 and are required to repeat the course in a subsequent semester.

Required Materials: Universal Keys for Writers, Raimes and Jerskey- Rental

Roots to Branches, Weimelt, Slawson, and Whitton – Rental

Southeastern Style – Recommended purchase

Two pocket light-colored folder for Proficiency Portfolio

Computer with updated software and high-speed internet connection

Attendance: Attendance will be based on your participation in virtual classroom activities. I will not drop you for non-attendance or non-participation. It is your responsibility to withdraw. Please see or email me before dropping. All students who drop internet classes are placed on file in the English Department to prevent them from taking multiple seats in these limited classes. Because space in internet classes is limited, I take dropping this course very seriously. There is always a waiting list, so please think carefully before giving up the spot that you have taken away from another student.

Grading: Your grade will be based on four essays. You will have a midterm essay exam (your final exam is pass/fail and not part of your average). You will also receive credit for participating on the discussion board in Blackboard, doing homework, and taking reading quizzes. I expect everyone to get an A in the course since you have unlimited extra credit opportunities and the ability to revise all of your papers before the due date. You should be able to predict your paper grades adequately based on the Freshman English Rubric available in your handbook. I will help you to improve your work as a teacher, not as a grader, because I will not ultimately determine your grade for the semester. If you fail the final, you fail the course. If you pass the final, you may still fail the course. If you receive an “X” on the final, then your grade will be dropped one letter grade.

Grading Scale: Ten point grading scale; under a 60 is an “F.”

Extra Credit: I want to encourage you to attend cultural events held at SLU. If you attend an approved event, write a one page description of what you saw and turn it in you will receive extra credit. I do not drop any of your grades, but I will add extra credit to your average at the end of the semester. There is no limit on the number of activities that you can attend and turn in.

Late Work: Late work will not be accepted and will result in a zero. You will have all of your deadlines on the first day of class. Taking an internet class requires that you do independent learning, so you will not be reminded of every assignment. You will have work every week and should plan to check Blackboard as part of your daily routine.

Plagiarism: Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity.  Behavior that violates these standards is not acceptable.  Examples are the use of unauthorized material, communication with fellow students during an examination, attempting to benefit from the work of another student and similar behavior that defeats the intent of an examination or other class work.  Cheating on examinations, plagiarism, improper acknowledgement of sources in essays and the use of a single essay or paper in more than one course without permission are considered very serious offenses and shall be grounds for disciplinary action as outlined in the current General Catalogue. In taking this course, students understand that all required papers may be submitted to MyDropBox for the detection of plagiarism.  All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the MyDropBox reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers.  Use of the MyDropBox service is subject to the "Terms and Conditions of Use" posted on the MyDropBox.com website.

Classroom Decorum: Free discussion, inquiry, and expression are encouraged in this class. When responding to your classmates and your professor electronically, please be polite. If you violate the University’s decorum policies, your email/posting will be sent to the Office of Judicial Affairs. Just because we do not see each other face to face, does not mean that we should not be kind.

ADA Policy: If you are a qualified student with a disability seeking accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, you are required to self-identify with the Office of Disability Services, Room 203, Student Union. No accommodations will be granted without documentation from the Office of Disability Services.

Email Policy: E-mail is considered one of the official forms of communication at the University. Requests to substitute non-Southeastern e-mail addresses for purposes of official communication will not be honored. With an internet course, you will be expected to check email and Blackboard every day. I cannot answer emails sent from non-SLU email addresses

On-Campus Involvement: You must meet with me twice during the course of the semester – one time during the first week of the semester to discuss the course requirements, and one time during the last week of classes to turn in your proficiency portfolio. These meetings will be in my office during office hours, but I will do my best to accommodate your schedule. You are also required to attend the final exam on the Monday of finals week at 8am. All other activities will take place online. If you want me to help you with a rough draft before you turn in a final paper for a grade, you will need to make an appointment and come to campus. Papers will not be revised via email or online.

Off-Campus Involvement: The University system in America uses hours to delineate class requirements. Thus, a three-hour course means that a student is expected to spend three hours per week in class and six hours working on the requirements for that course outside of class. That is why the traditional course load per semester is 15 hours (15 hours in class + 30 hours outside of class = a full time job of 45 hours). Since we do not have in-class hours, you should expect to spend about nine hours each week for this course. Some weeks you will finish your assignments in much less time, however you should use your extra time to work on your essay. Internet classes are not designed for students who do not have time for college. In fact, most students find that Internet classes take up more time than traditional classes.

Class Schedule: Weekly assignments will be available through Blackboard. If you have problems with an assignment or need help, feel free to email me or set up an appointment in my office or in the Blackboard chat space. We will also use the Blackboard Discussion Board to talk about the common readings for the paper assignments. There are a number of challenges when taking an online course, but I do not ever want you to feel that I am inaccessible. We have a lot to cover in 102, and it is important that you get the skills necessary to pass the proficiency exam.

Writing Center: Students are invited to make use of services provided by the SLU Writing Center at 383 DVickers, where trained student writing consultants offer individual help and tutoring on a full range of writing topics and issues.

Writing Assignments:

All writing assignments must be two to three, double-spaced, typed pages in MLA format and have a minimum of three sources. You may use your reader as a source, but you must have at least one source that can be documented as print-based (i.e. not from the internet and has original pagination, not printer page numbering) and is outside Roots to Branches. Each final draft must include at least one rough draft which you will have submitted to InSite for peer review.

Peer Review:

All writing assignments are due in their completed format (i.e. 2-3 pages or over 500 words, typed, in MLA format) by the rough draft date. All essays must be peer reviewed in MyDropBox and then resubmitted by the final paper due date. The purpose of peer review is not for students to act as teachers, but rather for your work to be read by a wider audience. Turning in a completed rough draft is essential for you to improve your essay, and by extension your grade.

Weekly Assignments: Your weekly assignments are designed to help you to complete your essays and learn more about the world around you. They will be posted in the assignments section of Blackboard. You may also have quizzes to take throughout the semester in this area.

Discussion Board: Since we do not have the luxury of in-class discussion, we will use online resources to make sure that we understand the readings for each paper and each assignment. Your discussion board entries will be graded on their content, length, and care. After you finish the reading, you should post a response entry on the discussion board for that author. In your response, you should raise issues about the piece and how you will use it in your essay. You should also point out how the piece of writing does/does not relate to your own life and current situation. Finally, you should offer several questions for discussion with classmates. You will not receive credit for entries that amount to, “It was great. I liked it.” or “That was the worst thing that I have ever read. I hated it.” Neither of these entries tells us anything about the piece or why the reader has made this assessment. Make sure that you spell check each entry before posting (note that Blackboard includes this option on the discussion board). Once you have posted your first entry, you should check back to read what your classmates have to say and to see if you can answer their discussion questions. Your conversation and continued postings improve your Blackboard grade as long as they are substantive and add to the discussion. In the discussion board for each essay, I will ask you to post your thesis or research question – what are you trying to accomplish in your paper. You will then need to respond to your classmates, giving them your answer to their question or your opinion of what they are arguing in their essay.

Midterm Exam: Your midterm exam will also be taken online in Blackboard. You will be asked to answer a question similar to the final exam essay and post your response. Your midterm will be graded in terms of grammar, completeness, use of sources and MLA format.

Help: Finally, if you need any help with anything this semester, please do not hesitate to ask. I am here to help you do well in this course.