ENG 203 Syllabus, Spring 2016

FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH English 203 (Academic English) Sections 6 & 11 SPRING 2015-2016 (Classes January 25-April 27) Instructor: Ms. N. Moukadem El-Den Office Hours: TR 12:00-1:30pm & by appointment Email: ne04@aub.edu.lb (expect reply within 48 hrs.) Office and Phone: Room 309/Ext.3128 English Department Main Office: Fisk Hall, 345/Ext 4090 COURSE DESCRIPTION-------------------------------------------------- English 203 is a sophomore level academic writing course designed specifically for the AUB student who will think, read, and write critically about contemporary themes and texts provided in its custom reader, Shifting Narratives, edited by AUB Instructors for the Anglophone Middle Eastern student. Throughout the semester, students explore the various stages of the writing process, learn how to invent and develop ideas, write multiple drafts, review peers' essays, and evaluate and reflect on their own writing, which should demonstrate the use of key rhetorical devices and rich content that are inherent in effective writing. This course seeks to develop students’ intellectual viewpoints and a writing voice through open class discussions; self-reflection developed through regular journaling; and reflective pieces on their writing. Combining a stronger self-knowledge with the understanding of the conventions of academic writing, students will produce approximately 40 pages of both formal and informal writing that ask questions and investigate possible answers through reflection, argument, analysis, and synthesis. SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOMES & OBJECTIVES------------------ By the end of English 203, students will 1. Use active and critical reading strategies to learn, assess, and apply rhetorical strategies such as structure, diction, tone, audience, and purpose, as demonstrated through the reading selections. 2. Actively respond to and discuss assigned themes and texts in class and online discussions and in writing. 3. Apply knowledge of the phases of the writing process – invention, drafting, and revising – toward well-organized, structured, and documented exploratory and argumentative essays. 4. Find, evaluate, and ethically incorporate Internet and library sources, along with course texts, into documented writing. 5. Develop knowledge of classmates’ and one’s own writing progress through participation in writing workshops, peer review sessions, writing conferences, and reflective assignments. 6. Gain the basic skills of oral communication to persuade and inform the audience. 7. Learn how to communicate and present writing through various and alternative mediums. 8. Collaborate with peers on written and oral communication. 1 | P a g e Spring 2015-2016 COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS PROGRAM POLICIES _________________________ ATTENDANCE POLICY Attendance is required in all Communication Skills courses. The table below illustrates the maximum number of permitted absences. However, please Note that every absence will be penalized in the calculation of the ‘Participation’ grade: Classes Before Week 10 Total M/W/F 6 9 Automatic Withdrawals and Failures Due to Absences: If a student is enrolled in more than 12 credit hours for the semester and misses more than the allowed number of absences by Week 10, the instructor will automatically request that the student be withdrawn from the course. If a student is only enrolled for 12 credit hours but has missed more than the allowed number of absences by Week 10, he/she will automatically earn a failing grade of 40 for the course. If a student misses more than the total number of allowed absences in a given semester, he/she will automatically earn a failing grade of 40 for the course. Excused Absences: If you must miss class due to an illness and wish to be excused, you must provide your instructor with a medical report and/or professional opinion issued by a qualified AUB employee, AUBMC doctor, or University Health Services. Students who seek excused absences for university- sanctioned events must provide an official letter from the sponsoring organization notifying your instructor of the absence at least one week before the event. Students are expected to complete assignments on time, actively participate in other class sessions, and to make up work missed as agreed with the faculty member. Schedule Conflicts: Note that no common exams or labs are to be scheduled that conflict with students enrolled in this class. You are responsible for communicating with all parties involved prior to the date of the conflict. Please note that any student who misses this class to take an exam or attend a lab is not excused from this class and is responsible for arranging for makeup work, should the instructor allow it. TARDINESS POLICY Students are expected to come to class on time. Late arrivals will be penalized: every two late arrivals between 3-5 minutes will be considered as one absence; and every late arrival of more than 5 minutes will count as one absence. Moreover, leaving class early will also be considered as half an absence. Those students who come in late should take their seats quietly without disturbing the class. LATE WORK POLICY Students should respect due dates. Grades will be deducted for late work (5 points per day). Assignments submitted after 48 hours will automatically receive a grade of ZERO! PARTICIPATION POLICY Your class particpation grade includes the following components:  Completing all reading assignments  Completing all free-writing assignments  Completing all reflective writing 2 | P a g e Spring 2015-2016  Participating in and completing all informal writing (i.e. blogs, discussion forums, and so on)  Participating in writing workshops  Participating in peer review sessions  Participating in student-teacher conferences  Showing evidence of progress Students Must Take All Scheduled Tests: Make-up tests are given only at the instructor’s discretion if the student presents a valid excuse for his/her absence from the test within one week of that test. Students Are Required To Submit All Assignments On Time, Whether Online Or Hard Copy: Students are expected to check deadlines regularly, under ‘Upcoming Events’ on MOODLE. Students Are Responsible To Keep Track Of Due Dates And Class Assignments And To Take Charge Of Their Own Learning: If you are absent on a specific date, you should find out what was assigned and to come prepared the following session. Use of cellular phones in class is strictly forbidden: You are to turn off your phones before entering the classroom. If you are expecting an urgent call, notify your instructor before the class starts. Students Are Expected To Behave According To University Principles: Please refer to the AUB Student Handbook, specifically http://www.aub.edu.lb/pnp/generaluniversitypolicies/Documents/StudentCodeConduct/ StudentCodeConduct.pdf N.B. Students are allowed to register for a Communication Skills course a maximum of three times, the third requiring permission of the student’s advisor and the Department of English. Students withdrawn will be counted as having registered for the course one time. COURSE LEARNING RESOURCES AND POLICY ON ORIGINAL BOOKS— The Communication Skills Program requires all students to purchase ORIGINAL copies of the textbooks for this course. Purchasing a photocopy of the book means that you have violated international copyright laws and ignored the principles of Academic Integrity, which all faculty in this Program are committed to upholding.  Kirszner, Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell. The Wadsworth Handbook. International Edition. 10th ed. Australia: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 2014.  Sinno Z., R., Bioghlu-Karkanawi L., Fleszar D., N. Jarkas, Moughabghab E., Nish J. M., Rantisi R., Ward A. (Eds.). Shifting Narratives: A Reader for Academic Writing. Educart (Middle East) Publishing: Beirut, 2015.  Online material on course website (MOODLE username and password). o Technical Support: For any difficulties with Moodle or technical issues, please contact IT Academic Core Processes and Systems(acps@aub.edu.lb)or(moodle@aub.edu.lb), extension 3580/6  Additional Materials 3 | P a g e Spring 2015-2016  Folders (to save all hard copies/graded work)  Notebook for class notes  USB (to save ALL soft copy work!)  Small binder (for portfolio) ASSIGNMENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exploratory Synthesis: Students will be required to write a formal documented essay in which they explore a topic. (Approx. 4-5 pages) Reading Responses: Reading responses are formal writing assignments in which students engage with their reading(s), questioning, probing, contesting certain concepts in the reading(s), or simply presenting their reaction. Students will be asked to write a reading response in class to test their critical reading skills.(Approx. 2 pages) Argumentative Synthesis: Students will be required to write a documented argumentative Synthesis in which they support a certain position with regards a contentious issue. This Synthesis could be the continuation of the exploratory Synthesis. (Approx. 5-6 pages) Informal Writing: Through informal writing, students will negotiate ideas, express their opinions, and discuss issues of interest. The venue for such informal writing could be online discussion forums, free-writing activities, etc. Oral Presentations: Individually/ in groups, students will present a thematic reading text/current issue using visuals. Reflective Writing: Students will submit 1-3 pieces of reflective writing in which they reflect and comment on different writing tasks they have done in the semester. *GRADE DISTRIBUTION*--------------------------------------------------- Your grade will be based on a point system and will be broken down into the following parts/percentages: UNIT I___________________________________________________________ ____ 1-2 Responses (10%) Essay I: Process (Outline, Sources, First Draft) and Product (Final Draft) (15%) Mini Oral Presentation (5%) Class-Activities (5%) UNIT II________________________________________________________________ 1-2 Responses (10%) Essay II: Process (Outline, sources, First Draft) and Product (Final Draft) (20%) Major Oral Presentation (10%) Class-Activities (5%) ________________________________________________________________________ GRADE DISTRIBUTION (Continued)-------------------------------------------------- Reflective Writing (10%) 4 | P a g e Spring 2015-2016 Attendance and Participation (10%) _____________________________________________________________________ *N.B* KINDLY NOTE THAT THE INSTRUCTOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE MODIFICATIONS TO THE ‘GRADE DISTRIBUTION’ DURING THE SEMESTER! ACADEMIC INTEGRITY & PLAGIARISM POLICY--------------------- In all writing, ideas and words taken from any source should be documented. Failure to credit ideas or material taken from sources constitutes plagiarism, a violation of the University’s academic regulations, and is subject to disciplinary action. All writing you do for this course must be your own and must be exclusively for this course, unless the instructor stipulates differently. Please pay special attention to the quotes, paraphrases, and documentation practices you use in your papers (note: if you are referring to work previously submitted for this course, then you must cite yourself). Academic Honesty means applying the following standards to all submitted work: - Documenting all proprietary information that is received from sources, including books, articles, websites, lectures, interviews, television, radio, and etc. - Putting quotation marks around the words that were originally written or spoken by someone other than oneself. - Clearly indicating ideas by other authors, even if they are paraphrased (written in your own words) or summarized. Plagiarism: Engaging in any of the following activities constitutes plagiarism: - Submitting a paper written by another student - Requesting or paying someone to complete an assignment for you - Taking material from secondary sources without proper documentation - Copying, word for word, someone else’s writing without putting that passage in quotation marks and identifying the source - Taking someone else’s writing, changing some of the words, and not identifying the source - Taking someone else’s ideas or organization of ideas, putting them into his/her words, and not identifying the source - Having someone else change your writing – a tutor, friend, or relative, for instance – and creating the impression that this writing is your own work. - Purchasing or downloading papers or passages from the Web. - Using facts, data, graphs, charts, photographs, or other information without acknowledging the source with a footnote or reference. Borrowed facts or information obtained in one’s research or reading must be acknowledged unless they are “common knowledge.” Students should check with their teachers regarding what can be viewed as “common knowledge” within a specific field or assignment, but often the student will have to make the final judgment. When in doubt, footnotes or references should be used. Disciplinary Action: When confronting plagiarism, all instructors in the Communication Skills Program abide by the guidelines stipulated in AUB’s Student Code of Conduct, which states: “It is the responsibility of the faculty to uphold university policies. Thus, the immediate responsibility for dealing with instances of cheating, plagiarism, and other academic violations rests with the faculty member. If a faculty member has good reason to believe that a student has violated academic standards, it is his or her responsibility to discipline the student expeditiously. A faculty member who has good reason to believe that a student has violated academic standards must give a grade of zero on the exam or assignment where the violation occurred. When the instructor has taken the initial disciplinary action, he or she should send a letter to 5 | P a g e Spring 2015-2016 the office of the Dean of the Faculty or School, in which the incident occurred, informing him/her of the incident and the initial action he/she has taken. A copy of the letter will be placed in the student's file, and another copy forwarded to the student's advisor for follow-up.” (10) _Turnitin: Turnitin is an online plagiarism-detection tool accessible via Moodle that many faculty at AUB use. Once your work is uploaded, it will be compared with an extensive database of student and publicly accessible writing. Your instructor may require you to upload your assignments to Turnitin. If uploading is required, you must comply or risk losing credit for the assignment. If you have questions about how the software works or how the Turnitin report has been used, please ask your instructor or set up an appointment with the Director of Communication Skills, Dr. Jennifer Nish (x3108, jennifer.nish@aub.edu.lb). *N.B* A grade might change after it was given if plagiarism in that assignment was detected at ANY stage of the course! Grievance Procedure: If at any time during the semester you have concerns about the course, an assignment, or assessment, please set up a meeting to talk with your instructor about it. If need be, you may request a meeting with the Director of Communication Skills, Dr. Jennifer Nish (x3108, jennifer.nish@aub.edu.lb). The goal of any meeting with the Director will be to improve communication between the student and course instructor, and to resolve the issue in such a way that course learning outcomes are achieved. Please note that the instructor for the course is the final decision-maker for any issues that arise. SPECIAL NEEDS POLICY------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you have documented special needs and anticipate difficulties with the content or format of the course due to a physical or learning disability, please contact me and/or your academic advisor, as well as the Counseling Center in the Office of Student Affairs (Ext. 3196), as soon as possible to discuss options for accommodations. Those seeking accommodations must submit the Special Needs Support Request Form along with the required documentation. STUDENT’S RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Come to class: your teacher will regularly take attendance (see “Attendance Policy”). 2. Bring the original – not a photocopy – of any book or other materials required by your teacherrespect your classmates and teacher: if you arrive late, quietly take your place and listen first; do not use your cell phone; do not disturb your friends. View the relevant AUB Policies & Procedures at http://www.aub.edu.lb/pnp/generaluniversitypolicies/Documents/StudentCodeCondu ct/StudentCodeConduct.pdf . 3. Submit your own work: plagiarism will be monitored. View the definition of academic misconduct at http://www.aub.edu.lb/pnp/generaluniversitypolicies/Documents/StudentCodeCondu ct/StudentCodeConduct.pdf (see more on Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Policy below). 4. Submit all assignments: read instructions, complete assignments, and submit work on time; ask your teacher about her late assignment policy. 6 | P a g e Spring 2015-2016 5. If you have complied with the course requirements, expect to pass the course with a minimum weighted average of 60. 6. In case of an illness or another medical condition which prevents you from attending classes, meeting deadlines, and/or participating in other critical components of the course, make sure to notify your instructor as soon as possible and to provide her with a medical excuse certified by Family Medicine (University Health Services) so that your instructor will be able to give you a make-up activity. Moreover, you should also find out from your peers and Moodle what you missed out on so that you are prepared for the next lesson. 7. Keep a file with all your work-- both hard and electronic copies of all assignments until you are given the final grade. Back up your computer files regularly, so your work does not disappear altogether when your computer crashes. 8. Expect and be ready to participate in the following types of activities:  discussions and written reflections on self-development as a student and young researcher, as well as on the process of research itself,  home assignments, consisting in locating and careful study of sources,  fieldwork and library visits,  process writing and progressive completion of multiple drafts of high-stakes written assignments,  oral presentations of research findings,  peer evaluation of fellow students’ work  tests or pop quizzes  timed writing sessions 9. If you have any learning disabilities, let your teacher know in the first week of the semester or immediately after being diagnosed. Do not wait until the end of the semester. 10. Always try to do your homework – plan for its completion to take longer than expected. 11. Expect to draft and redraft your writing: last-minute writing will rarely earn you a satisfactory grade. 12. Carefully read all instructions well ahead assignments are due – if in doubt, consult your instructor. 13. Visit your instructor during office hours – let her know what you are currently working on. Treat your instructor as someone who can help. 14. On your own, try to make sense of all activities and see their possible application in other courses. 15. Assume full responsibility for your own success: always find out what happened in class while you were absent. 16. Read the Syllabus and other pertinent university documents – remember the old proverbs: “Ignorantia iuris nocet”-“Being ignorant of law harms”/ “Ignorantia iuris non excusat”-“Ignorance of the law excuses no one”. INSTRUCTOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES In accordance with the University and Department’s laws and procedures, the instructor’s role is understood as a mentor, a creator of atmosphere conducive to learning, and a manager of various learning activities. It is not any instructor’s role to complete the work for any of his or her students, but to prod them in the proper direction by offering sound advice during class time, office hours, and at additional appointments as agreed on by both parties. It is against the policies of the University 7 | P a g e Spring 2015-2016 and the egalitarian nature of this institution to favor some students over others by allowing for special treatment in evaluating students’ work or calculating their final grade. STUDENT SERVICES_____________________________ Writing Center: The Writing Center offers free, one-hour consultations for AUB writers at Ada Dodge Hall, 2nd floor balcony; West Hall 336; or Jafet Library, second floor reading room. Check the Writing Center webpage on the AUB website. Make an appointment by walking in or by logging on to Writing Center https://aub.mywconline.com/ Library Information Services: Reference librarians and information specialists in the AUB libraries can support you individually with finding academic sources for your research. Jafet information librarians can be contacted in person in their office in the Jafet Library lobby, by email at libinfo@aub.edu.lb, or by phone, extension 2629. Counseling Center-Student Affairs: The center offers counsel and help to students with a range of academic and non-academic problems. If anything happening in your life is causing you distress and influencing your academic performance, and you feel you could benefit from professional help, contact Dr. Antoine Khabbaz. Ext. 3178. ak28@aub.edu.lb or Ms Nay Khatcherian. Ext. 3152. nk63@aub.edu.lb. West Hall 210. Ms Ola Ataya. 3158. oa03@aub.edu.lb . ENJOY the SEMESTER! 8 | P a g e Spring 2015-2016