Exploring connections learning in the 21st century

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Mid Michigan College Fall 2020

MISSION STATEMENT
We develop knowledge and ability to empower learners and transform communities.

Freshman English Composition
Sections: ENG. 111.W04 (61721) and ENG. 111.W13 (62605)
This is an online class 3 Credits & 3 Contact Hours
SUMMER CLASS Online versions of the course will require a minimum of a 10-12 hour per week commitment from the student.

Faculty Contact Information
Instructor: Eve Elden e-mail: eelden@midmich.edu

Office hours: Please use email. If you do not get a reply in 48 hours resend your message as I must not have received it.

Required Text Materials: Exploring Connections: Learning in the 21st Century. 2nd Ed. Pearson
Learning Solutions, 2013. ISBN-13:978-1-323-48772-3
Supplemental Materials: Resources posted in Moodle.

Access to a computer on a regular basis

Meeting Requirements:
This course meets for 48 hours or 2,475 minutes of instructional time. In addition, students work out of class for approximately an additional 96 hours. For full 16 week courses, online versions of the course will require a minimum of a 6-9 hour per week commitment from the student. A 12 week summer course however, will require 10-12 hours most weeks. Students with extra challenges, such as: ADHD, dyslexia, being a non-native English speaker, or others should expect to put in several extra hours beyond the 12.

Official Course Description:
This course prepares a student for academic writing in the college setting, and concentrates on analyzing and discussing written sources. Emphasis is on writing that shows insight into published discussions of an issue and the understanding of the contexts and academic debate (rather than informational reports or personal essays). In addition, research and revision are treated as integral parts of writing an academically acceptable essay. By the end of the course, a student must show 'competency' in an academic, synthesis essay of their choosing.

Prerequisites: ENG 110 with a C or better or placement into ENG 111 Credits: 3.0

General Education Program
This course is part of Mid’s General Education Program. General education is designed to further develop students’ skills in analytic inquiry, use of information resources, engaging diverse perspectives, ethical reasoning, quantitative fluency, written communicative fluency, and oral communicative fluency.

An Important Note on Demonstrating Proficiencies:
Your chosen institution follows a nationally recognized and respected framework called the Degree Qualifications Profile . Careful planning goes into ensuring that you attain all the needed proficiencies expected of a college graduate. Different expected proficiencies are covered in different classes. Those listed above are the proficiencies that English 111 is designed to help you develop.

With that in mind, each of our earlier writing assignments are designed to help you practice the course proficiencies. Your final synthesis essay will be evaluated using the course rubric to determine if you have competently demonstrated that you’ve attained those proficiencies. Your instructor will give you feedback using the rubric week 12/13, and will complete a final evaluation week 15.

English 111 DQP Proficiencies (Expected Outcomes):
Intellectual Skills

1. Students will construct essays that analyze texts and arguments in an academic context, and will demonstrate the ability to synthesize those texts and arguments. (analytical inquiry)

2. Students will identify, summarize, cite, analyze and synthesize academic and non-academic sources in their essays (use of informational resources)

3. Students will work with ideas and sources from a variety of perspectives and positions (engaging diverse perspectives)

4. Students will write essays that show the ability to organize, frame and edit their writing (communicative fluency)

Broad and Integrative Knowledge – (composition)

1. Students will write, read, discuss and research academic subjects in ways that reinforce the dialogic nature of writing.

2. Students will learn to balance the demands of academic conventions and their own unique voice.

3. Students will practice revision and editing as fundamental aspects of writing.

4. Students will demonstrate the ability to write for a specific context or audience.

Applied and Collaborative Learning

1. Students will work with other students in a collaborative effort to generate topics and edit text

Attendance Policy
Because we believe that being actively present in the classroom is essential to student success, Mid Michigan College now requires all instructors to take attendance for every class session. Additionally, for online classes, instructors are required to certify student participation in at least one learning activity weekly. Students who repeatedly miss classes or who fail to participate in online learning activities on a regular basis could potentially lose eligibility to receive federal financial aid for the course, or could be required to repay federal financial aid already received.

In order to meet course objectives, the focus will be on the reading-thinking-writing process. Please dedicate time to gathering information, reading, planning, drafting, and revising. I am aware that emergency situations do occur. Please contact me as soon as you know you will need an extended absence (more than 1 week) so that we can discuss any problems or questions as well as how to complete any assignments.

If you are not submitting assignments you are not considered to be attending. You must participate in the Week 1 work or you could be dropped from the class for non-attendance.

Grading Scale
At the end of the semester, points for all assignments will be added together. Grades will be determined by the following scale:

94-100A 82-80 B- 69-67 D+

90-93 A- 79-77 C+ 66-63 D

87-89 B+ 76-73 C 62-60 D-

86-83 B 72-70 C- 59-0 F

To calculate your current or final grade, divide the total earned by the total assigned and find the letter grade according to the scale above. Be sure you know how to check your grades and find my feedback (in forums and assignments, depending on where they are submitted).

Instructor Expectations, Policies, & Suggestions:
1. Assignments/forums must be submitted on time in order to earn full credit. Any class work will lose 10% for each day it is late (unless approved by me). Assignments are due on Sundays at 11.p.m. (unless otherwise notified). Class work will not be accepted after the last day of class.

Activities and Discussion Forums: writings and and responses

The rubric for discussion forum assessment/grading can be found at: Discussion Forum Rubric

The forums have three parts:

1) Your original post to the discussion prompt.

~Due Sunday at 11 p.m. (the end date of each week)

2) Replies to at least two classmates (every week, unless otherwise specified).

3) Also, include a follow-up/wrap up of your conversation. You do not have to reply to each individual reply that you get, but you should reply to some and wrap up the conversation.

~Replies are due by Tuesday (the following week) 11 p.m.

My goal is to have forums read and graded before or at least by the Sunday after your original

post (a week later). This means that my response might be delayed, but you should check for

it and comment on it, which means you may have to look back at previous week’s posts.

2. Please use a 12-point font with a serif typeface, Times New Roman for example, and double-space papers (not necessary in forum writings). You can also attach longer writings to the forum (instead of pasting into the discussion area)

We will use MLA (modern Language Association) documentation style .

Papers should have well-chosen—creative, catchy, interesting, etc.—titles that reflect your idea. This is a great place to start selling your idea to your audience. You can give readers a hint at your thesis/message or have some suspense that entices us to read. General titles like the subject covered are not that interesting. Titles that are the assignment (Response 1 for example) or name of the article (that is already someone else’s title) are even less effective!

Please include page numbers. Separate title pages are unnecessary.

3. Multiple revisions will be done on some essays (the Synthesis Essay problematizing Adult Learning for an Academic Audience paper will not be accepted unless I see this process).

Google docs/drive is a handy resource if you do not have a thumb drive or Word. Log into the Mid portal, see the Drive tab. Or log in through Google/gmail)Screen Shot 2015-08-28 at 12.23.46 PM.png Even if your computer crashes, you will still have virtual documents! No excuses!

For help with Google drive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCZj5ojxRAA

4. All written work submitted must be your own writing. When using ideas or words from another source, a writer must use appropriate citations and documentation using MLA (modern Language Association style. Do your discussion post before reading others if you do not want to unintentionally borrow from others. Plagiarism is a serious offense and could result in failure of the assignment or failure of the course.

Academic Dishonesty
Students have an obligation to abide by accepted standards of academic honesty which dictate that all scholastic work shall be original in nature. According to MMC “Plagiarism is seen as an act of academic dishonesty. Students have an obligation to abide by accepted standards of academic honesty which dictate that all scholastic work shall be original in nature.”

A copy of MMC’s Academic Dishonesty Policy can be found at:

https://www.midmich.edu/academics/courses-catalogs

6. Take control of your own learning! There are many ways to get help at MMCC: free tutoring, instructor office hours, the Writing Center, and other students (some say this is the best help of all). Take steps toward meeting new people and learning new things.

The location of the Testing Center, Math Lab, and Writing & Reading Center (WRC) on the Harrison campus has been moved due to the work occurring in the Library & Learning Services space. The WRC will be in E202.

Students may opt to use the WRC Moodle or e-mail writing questions with or without writing drafts to a consultant by signing up here: Writing and Reading Center

The hours for all academic support resources on both campus can be viewed here: https://www.midmich.edu/student-resources/lls

7. Think about this as your class. To be an active participant in your learning you have to explore, interact, and attempt assignments in your own way, (within the parameters of the assignment and online setting, of course). Obviously, everyone should approach assignments differently so I cannot/will not just tell you what to do. I have students say “just tell me what you want, I’ll do it” but that is not going to happen—it is not possible for one and is not my way. I will give you assignments, guidelines and suggestions but you have to create your unique response/paper based on your decisions and ideas. You have the responsibility to try to understand and engage with new ideas and to learn, grow and improve. Enjoy the process!

Class Assignments:
Disclaimer:

I reserve the right to alter this syllabus, assignments, and course schedule at any time and with limited notice. In the event that such revisions occur, I will attempt to communicate them in a timely manner.

Discussion forum posts: short writing activities/responses (8-9 worth 5-20 points each). See the weekly messages for instructions. Create a title in the subject line of your forum posts (try to get your classmates interested in reading your post!).

Sme of the forum discussions will be Synthesis Responses. Writers often write in response, in a sense, talking with others (the dialogic nature of writing). We will be discussing articles and other texts in the discussion forums. Some forums will request synthesis between authors, using quotes and analysis and synthesis of quotes. These will be at least 3 pages long and use at least two authors/sources multiple times (using summary, paraphrase, and/or quotes) with a Works Cited page and in-text citation for paraphrases and quotes.

Some of the activities may not be graded, but participation is required (week 2 for example).

Academic Multi Source Synthesis Essay (AMS) problematizing for an Academic Audience (250 points):

A synthesis essay for an academic audience is one in which you use published sources, observations, thinking, etc., to bring together a conversation on the issue and construct a new way of looking at something. Here, you will analyze and explore a way of thinking (or habit of mind) that affects adult learners. So, this is not an analysis of the educational system, or children.

Personal and generative writing often comes out of experience. Academic writing often blends observations of experiences with insights from reading. Sometimes academic writing comes as a direct result from reading. What issues about learning and literacy came up for you when doing the forums? What inquiry can you make to contribute to the conversation about learning and literacy?

Problematize some aspect of college or adult learning—perhaps an issue that you don’t see writers addressing or that you have a particular insight on. It also might also come from some aspect of the ideas in your review essays or previous discussion forums.

To problematize means to recognize and define a problem where others may tend to ignore it or not even recognize it. Ideally, problematizing is a productive thing to do: finding and exposing a problem can be steps toward understanding, changing or even resolving the problem.

The essay should be a multi-source synthesis essay in academic form. It will be for a specified college-educated audience and you will write it in documented MLA format. The final multi-source synthesis essay should be between 5-8 pages long. This will be assessed with the ENG 111 Rubric

Emergency Procedures
A copy of Mid’s Emergency related policies and procedures can be found at:

midmich.edu/safety

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Mid Michigan College (Mid) is committed to providing an environment that is responsive and inclusive for people with disabilities. The College prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of disability and takes appropriate action to prevent such discrimination by providing reasonable accommodations to eligible individuals with disabilities equal access to admission, services, college courses, programs, activities, facilities, and technology. For further information visit: midmich.edu/ada

Clery Act Compliance
The Clery Act requires institutions to disclose statistics for reported crimes based on where the crimes occurred, to whom the crimes were reported, the types of crimes that were reported, and the year in which the crimes were reported.

Mid must disclose statistics for reported Clery Act crimes that occur (1) on campus, (2) on public property within or immediately adjacent to the campus, and (3) in or on non-campus buildings or property that your institution owns or controls. For more information visit: midmich.edu/clery

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. Complete information on FERPA and the Privacy Act can be found at: midmich.edu/ferpa

Face coverings and social distancing
Face coverings, such as masks, and social distancing (6 feet apart) are required in all buildings and classrooms*. Students who have forgotten their face coverings may obtain a disposable mask from the Security Offices on both campuses.

The evidence is clear that face coverings are a crucial part of keeping coronavirus at bay, and they support Mid’s commitment to providing all members of our community with a safe, healthy, caring and supportive environment. Face coverings should cover the entire nose and mouth, per guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-to-wear-cloth-face-coverings.html). Students whose unique and individual circumstances require an alternative face covering, as indicated by a medical condition, may request one. To request an alternative, students should contact Student Accommodation Services at accommodations@midmich.edu.

Refusing to wear a face covering in any building or classroom without an accommodation letter from Student Disability Services is a violation of College regulations including the Code of Student Conduct and exposes the student to possible sanctions for not adhering to College regulations. Refusing to maintain social distancing guidelines also violates the same College regulations*. Students not adhering to the policy on face coverings or social distancing will be asked to leave the classroom and the building. In addition, faculty and/or staff may file a report online at midmich.edu/midcares.

(*Note: There are certain course offerings at Mid that prevent 100% social distancing. In these rare circumstances, Mid has developed additional protocols to ensure safety. Instructors teaching courses with these exceptions will communicate additional expectations to enrolled students per the specific circumstances of each course.)