Syllabus

ENG3306-04 Advanced Writing in the Disciplines / Summer Session I 2013

Online Version

Professor Genie Giaimo

Office hours:  By appointment only

Email:  Giaimo.g@husky.neu.edu

Course Texts:

(ONLINE/REDACTED) Kellogg, David and Susan Soroka, eds. The AWD Toolkit. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt, 2007.

(OPTIONAL) Trimbur, John. The Call to Write: Brief Fifth Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2010.

Course Description:

English 3306 is the Advanced Writing in the Disciplines course geared towards those in the health professions, which provides writing instruction for students in the College of Social Science and Humanities. This course will satisfy the AWD requirement for students in Bouve College of Health Sciences.

Your writing in this class comprises four individual writing projects or Unit Papers and a final Reflective Portfolio. The Unit Papers are as follows:

Unit 1: Discourse Community Analysis              1500 words

Unit 2: Writing in the Professional Sphere          750 words

Unit 3: Researched Academic Argument           2000 words

Unit 4: Writing in the Public Sphere                    750 words

Unit 5: Final Reflective Project                           1000 words

Think of the unit papers as engaging in genre-specific writing tasks for distinct audiences. You may focus all of your papers on the same subject, or you focus each paper on a discrete subject. Whatever you choose, it is easiest to relate your writing topic(s) to your chosen field or profession and to writing that you have done in the past. Each unit paper undergoes a drafting process in which it is submitted for written review and revised in response to that review; the paper is then submitted for a letter grade. The Reflective Portfolio that ends the class includes all four of these polished, revised Unit Papers (totaling approximately 5,500 words), a reflective essay, and a set of supporting materials, all of which are submitted electronically via Blackboard. All the writing you do for this class is designed to meet several specific class goals. These goals (the AWD Learning Goals) are explained in the Toolkit in greater detail, and so we don’t need to discuss them at length here. In any event, they’ll become quite familiar soon enough: you’ll read about them, discuss them, and write about them to the point that you may feel as though you had composed them yourself! That wouldn’t be bad: you certainly should take ownership of the goals and find your own path to exceeding them throughout the course.

Learning Goals statement:

A student who successfully completes the AWD requirement at Northeastern should have demonstrated:

1. A strong understanding of the uses of writing in his and her academic discipline and/or career path.

2. Critical understanding of and facility in the discourse of a field.

3. Successful use of appropriate citation conventions.

4. An understanding of the importance of audience and context with respect to writing style and arrangement.

5. Confidence and facility with the process of revision.

6. The production of 5000+ words of polished, revised writing.

7. Written reflection on his or her own writing processes and texts and their role in his or her own practice of critical reasoning.

Please note that these goals do not exist in some sort of theoretical vacuum. Rather, each assignment and piece of writing you do will, in some way, connect back to and challenge these goals.

I also would like to emphasize the point made in The AWD Toolkit that the “Learning Goals statement articulates a set of minimal expectations for student success,” and “meeting the goals” is the “equivalent to getting a [grade of] C. In order to get a higher grade, you must demonstrate performance that consistently exceeds the goals.”

Information Specific to an Online Course:

Online Advanced Writing in the Disciplines has the same requirements and goals as regular AWD. It is conducted via Blackboard. Students who are on co-op may find this option particularly attractive, but any student may enroll in online AWD. Here are some things you might consider as you weigh this option:

• Students must be self-motivated learners who have facility with online technologies.
• The course is not self-paced—students must meet multiple deadlines each week.
• The course will provide student with the same kind and level of feedback from instructor and peers as face-to-face versions.
• The course requires more writing than regular AWD, because typically oral in-class work (e.g. class discussions) must be rendered in writing in online AWD.
• Online AWD fulfills the AWD core requirement.

Grade Breakdown

The breakdown of grades for each unit follows below. You will be given a summative letter grade for the final draft of each Unit. This will make up your base grade. All other assignments leading up to a final draft (formative assessment) that are handed in will be reviewed and commented on but will not be given a letter grade. Rather, they will given a ü, ü-, or ü+ for work that either meets, fails to meet, or exceeds the stated expectations. Your feedback on the shorter writing assignments and exercises should serve as an indicator of where you are heading into the final draft. At the end of the term, class participation (measured by handing in assignments, conducting peer review, and engaging in any required virtual meetings) will also be evaluated in such a manner.

At the end of the semester, the mean of these assessments will be added to your base grade to calculate your adjusted grade. A check = 0, a plus = 1, and a minus = -1.  Your grade adjustment is the mean of these scores (which will be a number between -1 and 1). To calculate your adjusted final grade, simply add the base grade to the adjustment.

Base Grade Breakdown:

Unit 1: Discourse Community Analysis            1500 words                   15%

Unit 2: Writing in the Professional Sphere        750 words                     20%

Unit 3: Researched Academic Argument         2000 words                   30%

Unit 4: Writing in the Public Sphere                   750 words                     15%

Unit 5: Final Reflective Project                          1000 words                   20%

Late Assignments: Because this is an intensive online course I do not accept late work unless you were in the hospital or extremely sick. If you know you have a difficult week coming up, please make arrangements ahead of time to turn in class assignments on time. Unless otherwise specified, I do not accept e-mailed assignments. If the assignment is due at a particular time on Blackboard I expect it to be there unless I am given prior notice.

Suggestions:

• Familiarize yourself with all aspects of all assignments. You are responsible for all information that I cover here and in the other course pages available on Blackboard and WordPress. By enrolling (or remaining enrolled) in the course you implicitly accept as fair and manageable the criteria and the expectations I present.

• Save a copy of each assignment for yourself, as both a hard copy and electronic copy.

• Visit the Writing Center; it is a valuable resource.

• If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please arrange to meet with me and, if you have not already done so, to meet with a representative of the Disability Resource Center (617.373.2675).

• Connect with other classmates! Work together and support one another.

Format

Your unit papers will be formatted in a style appropriate to your field and to the genre. Different unit papers may show some formatting differences. In most cases, however, you will submit your unit papers in Times New Roman, 12 point font, and use traditional margins, headers, subheadings, pagination, and so forth. Don’t get fancy or idiosyncratic without a good reason. It is possible to substitute nontraditional elements if you have a specific purpose or audience, but you must justify such deviations.

Graphical elements

Graphical elements (tables, figures, schematic drawings, and the like) can make your writing projects more effective and more meaningful. You will probably have some opportunities to include graphical elements along with your writing. When you get this opportunity, take it — but not if it means doing a half-hearted job. Trivial, irrelevant, or flippant use of graphics can put a drag on project effectiveness and, consequently, on your grade.

Participation

Because this class functions as a workshop, your participation is essential for its effectiveness. On the other hand, because poor participation generally leads to poor quality work and failure to meet the Learning Goals, it tends to bring its own penalty. Therefore, I do not have a participation grade as such. However, if you are unprepared or unwilling to participate (i.e. fail to conduct Peer review, attend skype meetings, hand in work at designated times etc.) I reserve the right to mark you as “absent” for that class.

Respect

A workshop is a community, and we are likely to have a great deal of academic diversity in each section. Other forms of diversity are also likely. With that in mind, I would like to stress that all members of a community should respect the work and human dignity of others. Expressions of disrespect degrade the community and damage us all, and they will not be tolerated.

Final Points 

The following are discussed in the Toolkit but bear additional emphasis here:

1. Learn about the Writing Center and take advantage of this useful resource.

2. If you have any difficulties with English, read the part of the Toolkit entitled “If English Is Not Your First (or Strongest) Language” and consider its advice.

3. As the class unfolds, consider submitting your work for the Excellence in Writing Award.

Note: The Professor has the right to alter the schedule

DATE	DUE
Monday 5/6	1. Write a professional biography as an introduction to the class (300-500 words) Post to BB Discussion Thread by Noon.2. Review the syllabus and learning goals for the course. Post any questions you might have to general discussion link on Word Press.3. Review the Unit 1 Assignment link on WordPress. 4. Review the discussion of Unit 1, uploaded by Professor Giaimo under the weekly discussion link on WordPress.
Tuesday 5/7	1. Look up specific academic journals/articles that are pertinent to your field through Snell Library’s academic journals databases, and do a mini discourse community analysis of 500 words in anticipation of the unit 1 project and post to BB Discussion Thread by 6PM.
Wednesday 5/8	Use as Library Day to work on Unit 1
Thursday 5/9	1. Write Draft of your Unit 1 Discourse Community Analysis (1500 Words) Post to BB Discussion Thread by Noon.2. Conduct peer review of one student’s discourse community analysis draft in your class (first student to post reviews second student’s paper and second student reviews third student’s paper etc., in chronological order, and student 19 reviews first student’s paper) by 6PM
Over the Weekend	Revise your Unit 1 paper using the comments from your peer reviewer. Then upload a second draft of your Unit 1 rhetorical analysis to BB so that I can provide my own feedback.The second draft of Unit 1 will be due at noon on Saturday. I will return feedback to you by Saturday night, which will give you time to revise your Unit one papers in time for the Monday at noon deadline.
Monday 5/13	Unit 1 Final Draft Due at Noon, posted to BB.
Tuesday 5/14	1. Write A 250-300 word reflection on the Unit 1 assignment and its relationship to AWD’s learning goals, Post to BB Discussion Thread by Noon.2. Review the discussion of Unit 2, uploaded by Professor Giaimo under the weekly discussion link on WordPress.3. Review the Unit 2 Assignment link on WordPress.
Wednesday 5/15	Look up three examples of professional writing in your profession. Analyze the purpose of the document, the format of the document, the audience of the document, the success of the visual layout of the document, and the usefulness of the document. In other words, think about how these documents might impact your workplace or the workplace of a person in your profession. Do a 200-300 word write-up for each of these three examples, post to BB Discussion Thread (*be sure to include images/scans of the documents) by 6PM.
Thursday 5/16	Use as Library Day to work on Unit 2 *please email me to notify me of your choice to edit an existing professional document or create a new document* 1. Post a draft of your Unit 2 project to BB Discussion Thread by 6PM. Conduct peer review of one student’s draft in your class (first student to post reviews second student’s paper and second student reviews third student’s paper etc., in chronological order, and student 19 reviews first student’s paper) complete by 8PM.
Over the weekend	Revise your Unit 2 paper using the comments from your peer reviewer. Then upload a second draft of your Unit 2 paper so that I can provide my own feedback.The second draft of the professional document project will be due at noon on Saturday. I will return feedback to you by Sunday, which will give you time to revise your Unit one papers in time for the Monday at noon deadline.
Monday 5/20	Unit 2 Final Draft Due at Noon, posted to BB.
Tuesday 5/21	1. Write A 250-300 word reflection on the Unit 2 assignment and its relationship to AWD’s learning goals, Post to BB Discussion Thread by Noon.2. Review the Unit 3 Assignment link on WordPress.3. Review the discussion of Unit 3, uploaded by Professor Giaimo under the weekly discussion link on WordPress.
Wednesday 5/22	Use as Library Day to work on Unit 3 1. Identify a research topic and argument for your unit 3 project. 2. Identify scholarly sources, recent research into your topic, and your own intervention into the current body of research.
Thursday 5/23	Write a research proposal about your unit 3 topic (300-600 words, not including annotated bibliography). Include current scholarly research that relates to your topic. Identify any holes in current research or thinking and defend why more research into your chosen topic is necessary. In other words, make a brief argument for the necessity of conducting more research into your chosen topic.The proposal will include an annotated bibliography of at least 15 recently published peer reviewed articles.*Please note, if you choose to do a proposal or grant, I will need to see the template you are working off of and, if applicable, information about the grant you are “applying” for, Post to BB Discussion Thread by Noon.
Monday 5/27	Memorial Day
Tuesday 5/28	Draft of your Unit 3 project posted to BB Discussion Thread by 3PM. Conduct peer review of one student’s draft in your class (first student to post reviews second student’s paper and second student reviews third student’s paper etc., in chronological order, until student 19 who reviews first student’s paper). Complete by 8PM
Wednesday 5/29	1. Conduct revisions on your Unit 3 project based on peer feedback.*2. Post updated draft 2 of your Unit 3 project to BB Discussion Thread by 8PM, and indicate what specifically you would like in terms of feedback from me. *Because this is a longer paper, I cannot give line edits to each student. Therefore, I can only focus on a section of the paper.
Thursday 5/30	Conduct further revisions to Unit 3 paper over the weekend.
Monday 6/3	Unit 3 Final Draft Due at Noon, posted to BB.
Tuesday 6/4	1. Write self-assessment exercise (mid-semester letter) and email to Professor at giaimo.g@husky.neu.edu by 4PM2. Review the Unit 4 Assignment link on WordPress.3. Review the discussion of Unit 4, uploaded by Professor Giaimo under the weekly discussion link on WordPress.
Wednesday 6/5	Identify three public documents related to your field (brochures, public service announcements, etc.) and, as with the professional document exercise, conduct a rhetorical analysis on them. Identify the effectiveness of their visual layout, the clarity of their information, the intended public audience they are trying to reach, their purpose and their success at disseminating information. Do a 250-300 word analysis of each document. Be sure to include either scans of photographs of the documents in your write-up, post to BB Discussion Thread by Noon.
Thursday 6/6	Use as Library Day to work on Unit 4. No Peer Review.
Monday 6/10	Unit 4 Final Draft Due at Noon, posted to BB.
Tuesday 6/11	1. Write A 250-300 word reflection on the Unit 4 assignment and its relationship to AWD’s learning goals, Post to BB Discussion Thread by Noon.2. Review the discussion of Unit 5, uploaded by Professor Giaimo under the weekly discussion link on WordPress.
Wednesday 6/12	Skype Discussions regarding final UnitBetween 9am and 11:30 and then from 3:30 to 5
Thursday 6/13	Write a brief proposal (350-500 words) for your unit 5 assignment. If you are going to write a reflective piece please outline your points. If you are creating a digital project please describe it and let me know if you have modeled it on any other pre-existing media Post to BB Discussion Thread by Noon.
Monday 6/17	Post drafts of Unit 5 project to BB Discussion Thread by noon. Peer review only if you arrange with other students beforehand. This is optional and the responsibility of each student to coordinate.
Tuesday 6/18	TBD
Wednesday 6/19	Use as Library Day to work on Unit 5
Thursday 6/20	1. Unit 5 projects and papers due, post to BB Discussion Thread by noon. 2. Post final drafts for units 1-4 (in single document, if possible) to BB Discussion Thread labeled “Final Portfolio.” Have a great summer!