New Common Syllabus 2010 – 2011 ENG 3010...

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New Common Syllabus 2010 – 2011 ENG 3010 Intermediate College Writing New Common Syllabus/WSU Composition Faculty Handbook This New Common Syllabus sets out the requirements, recommendations, and essential information for GTAs and part-time faculty teaching ENG 3010 at Wayne State University. The WSU Composition Faculty Handbook wiki contains a wealth of supporting information, including information on WSU and the General Education Program; materials from previous Orientations and Grading Workshops; sample syllabi, assignments and graded papers; and more. http://wsucompositionfacultyhandbook.pbworks.com password -- teaching WSU Undergraduate Bulletin Description for ENG 3010 (IC) Cr. 3. Prereq: grade of C or better in ENG 1020 or equiv. A course in reading, research, and writing for upper-level college courses. Emphasis upon conducting research by drawing from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions in preparation for Writing Intensive courses in the majors. BC Prerequisite for ENG 3010 This prerequisite must appear on every ENG 3010 syllabus: To enroll in ENG 3010, students must have completed their WSU Basic Composition (BC) requirement (ENG 1020 or equiv.) with a grade of C or better. Checking Prerequisites for ENG 3010 If you have doubts that a student has met the prerequisite for ENG 3010 during the first two class sessions, look up his/her record on Pipeline because there is one loophole still in the prereq registration system: a student may have been allowed to register in ENG 3010 but not have a passing grade in ENG 1020 if s/he took it in the previous term. To look up a student, log into Pipeline (http://pipeline.wayne.edu ) and select the Faculty tab; under the Teaching menu, select Advisor’s Menu and then Student Academic Transcript. You may search for a student in your course by name or ID. If a student does not meet the prerequisite, s/he should be asked to drop the course. General Education IC Requirement and Prerequisite for WI This General Education designation must appear on every ENG 3010 syllabus: With a grade of C or better, ENG 3010 fulfills the General Education IC (Intermediate Composition) graduation requirement. Successful completion of an IC course with a grade of C or better is a prerequisite to enrolling in courses that fulfill the General Education WI graduation requirement (Writing Intensive Course in the Major). More information on the General Education requirements is available from the Undergraduate Programs office: 1

Transcript of New Common Syllabus 2010 – 2011 ENG 3010...

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New Common Syllabus 2010 – 2011 ENG 3010 Intermediate College Writing

New Common Syllabus/WSU Composition Faculty Handbook This New Common Syllabus sets out the requirements, recommendations, and essential information for GTAs and part-time faculty teaching ENG 3010 at Wayne State University. The WSU Composition Faculty Handbook wiki contains a wealth of supporting information, including information on WSU and the General Education Program; materials from previous Orientations and Grading Workshops; sample syllabi, assignments and graded papers; and more.

http://wsucompositionfacultyhandbook.pbworks.com password -- teaching

WSU Undergraduate Bulletin Description for ENG 3010 (IC) Cr. 3. Prereq: grade of C or better in ENG 1020 or equiv. A course in reading, research, and writing for upper-level college courses. Emphasis upon conducting research by drawing from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions in preparation for Writing Intensive courses in the majors. BC Prerequisite for ENG 3010 This prerequisite must appear on every ENG 3010 syllabus: To enroll in ENG 3010, students must have completed their WSU Basic Composition (BC) requirement (ENG 1020 or equiv.) with a grade of C or better. Checking Prerequisites for ENG 3010 If you have doubts that a student has met the prerequisite for ENG 3010 during the first two class sessions, look up his/her record on Pipeline because there is one loophole still in the prereq registration system: a student may have been allowed to register in ENG 3010 but not have a passing grade in ENG 1020 if s/he took it in the previous term. To look up a student, log into Pipeline (http://pipeline.wayne.edu) and select the Faculty tab; under the Teaching menu, select Advisor’s Menu and then Student Academic Transcript. You may search for a student in your course by name or ID. If a student does not meet the prerequisite, s/he should be asked to drop the course. General Education IC Requirement and Prerequisite for WI This General Education designation must appear on every ENG 3010 syllabus: With a grade of C or better, ENG 3010 fulfills the General Education IC (Intermediate Composition) graduation requirement. Successful completion of an IC course with a grade of C or better is a prerequisite to enrolling in courses that fulfill the General Education WI graduation requirement (Writing Intensive Course in the Major). More information on the General Education requirements is available from the Undergraduate Programs office:

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http://www.bulletins.wayne.edu/ubk-output/ubk%2009-11-wb-01-07.html Class Size/English Department Attendance Policy/Adding ENG 3010 Enrollment in ENG 3010 is capped at 24 students. Instructors should not feel pressured to add students over the limit. Instructors also should not feel pressured to add students or allow enrolled students to join the class after the class has been in session more than two times. The Department of English has a policy stating “Students who do not attend one of the first two class sessions of an English course may be required to drop the course.” This policy appears on the online Schedule of Courses webpage, and it is displayed in the English Department. Place this policy on your syllabus and enforce it in appropriate cases. Balancing class size and student requests to add the course can be tricky at the beginning of the semester because of attrition. Generally speaking, if an enrolled student does not attend the first two class meetings, then that spot can be offered to a student who wishes to add, provided that this student has attended one of the first two class sessions. The student who did not attend the first two classes should be asked to drop. Background -- ENG 3010 as Writing Across the University This New Common Syllabus is based upon the idea that ENG 3010 is a pivotal course for WSU students: it builds upon skills learned in ENG 1020, teaches students to develop sustained research projects using a variety of research genres common to academic writing, and prepares students for Writing Intensive courses in the majors. ENG 3010 is thus a logical place in the General Education sequence for students to learn about writing across the university. To that end, reading, research, and writing in the course should investigate how knowledge is constructed through writing in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions. More specifically, students should draw from these broad disciplinary areas in the university to develop their own research projects in the course. What follows is a short overview of the broad disciplinary categories of the university, a primer, if you will, on knowledge-construction and writing in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions, presented as background for designing an ENG 3010 course that helps students learn about writing across the university. Writing across the university takes place in broad disciplinary and interdisciplinary contexts. In a considerable oversimplification, the traditional definition of a discipline includes its object of study; its theoretical and methodological frameworks; its forms of claims, evidence, and argumentation; its genres and means of dissemination; its applications; and the world view and values of its community of practitioners, both novice (students) and experts (researchers and professionals). Similarly, the broad disciplinary areas of the university are often described in these terms, also in a considerable oversimplification:

• The natural sciences are said to take the physical world as their object of study, with deductive theories (that is, theories that make specific predictions) and hypothesis-driven methodologies (the scientific method). The central genre of the sciences is the IMRD research article (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion). Scientific disciplines

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include biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, earth sciences, and environmental sciences.

• The social sciences are said to take the human world as their object of study, with theoretical frameworks that can be deductive (predictive) and/or inductive (data-driven), and methodological frameworks that can be empirical/quantitative, interpretive/ qualitative, and/or, increasingly, multi-modal/mixed methods. The central genres of the social sciences include both research articles and books. Social science disciplines are as varied as anthropology, economics, linguistics, psychology, political science, and sociology.

• The humanities are said to take the development of a critical perspective on the world as their object of study, with the articulation of theoretical frameworks seen as a central task of interpretive methods. Research in the humanities often places information, ideas, texts, and cultural practices in a variety of interactional, intellectual, historical, and socio-cultural contexts, and traditional questions in the humanities often concern human nature and human values. The central genres of the humanities include articles, essays, and scholarly monographs. Humanistic disciplines include rhetoric, classics, philosophy, literature, languages, and the arts.

• The professions are said to stand in applied and/or technological relationships to the sciences, social sciences, and humanities: science and engineering, and science and health professions, for example, or social sciences and business. Professions often have specific technical genres as key parts of their work. Professions are as varied as agronomy, architecture, medicine, law, nursing, social work, and education.

Disciplines are not static entities; they constantly change and evolve, and disciplinary boundaries are more porous than not: history, for instance, can be considered part of the social sciences and/or the humanities. Increasingly, writing across the university also takes place in interdisciplinary collaborations, and many new disciplines and professions emerge out of interdisciplinary work, such as cultural studies, biochemistry, genetics, gender studies, American studies, and educational philosophy. In interdisciplinary work, disciplines come into theoretical, methodological, and applied conversations with one another, sometimes overlapping and sometimes colliding. When looked at in terms of the connections between the construction and dissemination of knowledge, disciplines – broad disciplines like the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions, and specific disciplines like physics, sociology, cultural studies, and engineering -- can be seen to be discourse communities, with shared language, conventions, argumentation, and genres. It is this richness and variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research and writing in the university that ENG 3010 can introduce to students. (Please feel free to include this primer on your syllabus or in your course materials; a slightly edited version appears on the ENG 3010 syllabus template. Personal note from EB: I would be a very happy (former) DofC if students left ENG 3010 with an understanding of writing across the university at the general level of the points above.) ENG 3010 can be taught as a themed class – for example, classes have centered upon issues of Detroit as a 21st century city, gender as an emergent social category, the consumer as the new

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American citizen, literacy in home and academic communities, and so on. Each of these themes, and many others, can be usefully investigated using the multiple disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives of the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions, all of which investigate interesting and important ideas and issues with different kinds of research and writing. ENG 3010 also can be taught as a class on disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity – for example, classes have asked students to investigate their own majors as disciplines in the university or to trace the development of an idea or issue in disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary contexts. Disciplines are becoming more blurred at the edges of interdisciplinarity, although active policing of disciplinary boundaries still takes place, and these are also issues of interest and importance that can be explored in ENG 3010 by looking at the perspectives and practices of the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions. ENG 3010 also can be taught as a class that focuses on students’ individual interests and research projects. Developing an ENG 3010 as a course that examines the ways knowledge is constructed within and across these broad areas of inquiry will give students an appropriately broad perspective on writing across the university in preparation for their Writing Intensive courses in the majors. This conceptualization and design of ENG 3010 is drawn largely from the writing-across-the-curriculum movement, and there are some background readings from WAC research on the WSU Composition Faculty Handbook wiki, including Charles Bazerman’s seminal article “What Written Knowledge Does,” and the first chapter of David Russell’s Writing in the Academic Disciplines, 1870-1990. Two short pieces on the importance of taking a critical perspective on disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity from Charles Bazerman’s Constructing Experience are also on the wiki.1 For instructors new to teaching from this perspective, the required textbook and recommended reader for ENG 3010 are bridge texts that can support teaching ENG 3010 as writing across the university for the first time (see Texts in ENG 3010 below). In addition, there are several sample ENG 3010 syllabi on the WSU Composition Faculty Handbook wiki; different syllabi follow a theme-based approach (Brown), a disciplinary-interdisciplinary approach (Wallis), or an approach that centers upon students’ individual projects (McGinnis).

http://wsucompositionfacultyhandbook.pbworks.com password -- teaching

Department of English Description The following description must appear on every ENG 3010 syllabus:

                                                            1 Bazerman, Charles. “What Written Knowledge Does: Three Examples of Academic Discourse.” Philosophy of

the Social Sciences 11 (1981): 361-387. Print. Russell, David. Writing in the Academic Disciplines, 1870-1990: A Curricular History. Carbondale: Southern

Illinois University Press, 1991. Print. Bazerman, Charles. Constructing Experience. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1994. Print.

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Building upon students’ diverse skills, ENG 3010 prepares students for reading, research, and writing in upper-level college courses. ENG 3010 also prepares students for Writing Intensive courses in the majors by asking students to consider how research and writing take place across the university in the broad disciplinary and interdisciplinary patterns of the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions. The main goals of the course are (1) to have students read materials from different disciplines across the university; (2) to introduce students to the ways writing constructs knowledge in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions; and (3) to develop a sustained research project that integrates information from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions in critical analysis and argumentation. To achieve these goals, the course places considerable emphasis upon analytical and critical reading and writing; the development of research skills; the genres of research proposal, literature review, research presentation, and researched argument; and the use of multiple technologies for research and writing. ENG 3010 Learning Outcomes Learning outcomes for all WSU composition courses encompass reading, research, writing/ revising, and technology. The following learning outcomes must appear on every ENG 3010 syllabus: A passing grade in ENG 3010 indicates that students are able to:

• use analytical and critical strategies for reading texts and media across broad areas of disciplinary inquiry, including the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions

• identify and evaluate the structure of analysis and argument in writing from a variety of disciplinary and (inter)disciplinary perspectives, including authors’ claims, evidence, appeals, organization, style, and effect

• analyze the rhetorical situation for writing assignments in upper-level courses across the university, including audience, purpose, and disciplinary context

• develop an extended research project based on primary and secondary research in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions

• write effectively in a variety of research genres, such as research proposals, literature reviews, research presentations, and critical analysis/argument

• write using a flexible writing process that includes generating ideas, writing, revising, providing/responding to feedback in multiple drafts, and editing texts for correct grammar, mechanics, and style

• make productive use of a varied set of technologies for research and writing Texts in ENG 3010 Required Textbook in ENG 3010

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Instructors in ENG 3010 are *required* to use the following textbook:

Miller-Cochran, Susan, and Rochelle Rodrigo. The Wadsworth Guide to Research. Wayne State University Edition. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage, 2009. Print.

The Wadsworth Guide is a process-oriented text moving students through preparing for research, conducting primary and secondary research, and developing research-based arguments. The research scenarios for chapters in the text are based on students’ writing in different disciplines, including the social sciences, humanities, and professions. There is a chapter on conducting primary research (observation, interview, survey), and another chapter on writing about data. There are also chapters on conducting secondary research, including both print and electronic sources. The assignments in Wadsworth Guide include writing a research proposal (pp. 49ff.), a literature review (pp. 155ff.), and a researched argument paper (pp. 225ff.). In Fall, 2010, the edition of the Wadsworth Guide for ENG 3010 classes is a special edition labeled the Wayne State University Edition. It includes the 2009 MLA updates and an updated Chapter 13 on APA style. The APA style chapter is not in full color, but it provides a completely updated text for APA citation and documentation. If students have a regular edition of the Wadsworth Guide with just the MLA update, all chapter and page numbers are the same, so the book can be used. For these students, please make the updated Chapter 13 available. There is a PDF of the updated Chapter 13 posted on the WSU Composition Faculty Handbook wiki with a link in the ENG 3010 box:

http://wsucompositionfacultyhandbook.pbworks.com password -- teaching

Readings in ENG 3010 The New Common Syllabus is designed to require a composition textbook with the expectation that instructors will choose their own required readings to reflect their goals, experience, interests, style, and efforts toward student engagement. Instructors may choose to use the recommended reader or select other readings. Instructors are free to use a course pack, a set of electronic readings, anthologies/readers, popular press non-fiction books, or any combination of their choice. The one requirement for readings in ENG 3010 is that they draw in substantive ways on the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions. Recommended Reader in ENG 3010 (optional) For instructors new to teaching writing in terms of writing across the university in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions, there is one recommended reader for use in ENG 3010:

Ackley, Katherine. Perspectives on Contemporary Issues: Readings Across the Disciplines. 5th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage, 2009. Print.

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This reader has a chapter on reading critically, along with chapters on research genres (summary, critique, argument). The majority of the text provides readings in three categories: The Arts, Media Studies, and Popular Culture; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Science and Technology; and Business and Economics. Chapters cover issues such as music and video games, criminal behavior, public health, and the global marketplace. Recommended Text (optional) There is one recommended text for use in ENG 3010:

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010. Print.

Please note that They Say/I Say is in a new edition for 2010-2011. This brief volume looks at the higher-level conventions of academic discourse (e.g., introducing a counterargument) at the sentence level, providing students with heuristic templates for academic writing. Recommended Handbook (optional) For consistency and cost, instructors are required to use the following handbook if they include a handbook in their ENG 3010 text selections:

Ruszkiewicz, John, Daniel Seward, Christy Friend, and Maxine Hairston. The Scott, Foresman Writer. 5th ed. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

The Scott, Foresman Writer is the recommended handbook for all composition courses at WSU, and it includes a free one-year subscription to MyCompLab, an extensive composition website. If students already own a copy of the Scott, Foresman Writer but their subscription has expired, they can purchase a new subscription for a reasonable cost on the MyCompLab website (http://www.mycomplab.com/). The MyCompLab research space provides an excellent data base of print and internet sources in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions. Desk Copies Desk copies of all required or recommended texts are available in the Department of English. Ordering Texts The WSU Barnes and Noble bookstore keeps the required and recommended texts for ENG 3010 in stock. Instructors’ individual readings for the course must be ordered separately for each section at Barnes and Noble. Marwil’s stocks the required and recommended texts for ENG 3010, but prefers that instructors order all of their books individually by section. To order at Marwil’s, *all* of the books – the required and recommended textbook(s) and the instructor’s individual readings -- should be ordered separately for each section.

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Reading, Research, Writing/Revising, and Technology in ENG 3010 Reading Students enter intermediate composition courses at Wayne State with a wide range of reading abilities, and they may not be familiar with readings across the broad disciplinary areas of the university. To develop their understanding of the ways writing reflects inquiry and knowledge construction, students should read extensively in ENG 3010. As mentioned above, the one requirement for readings in ENG 3010 is that they draw in substantive ways on the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions. For an instructor new to teaching ENG 3010 with this emphasis, the recommended reader for the course – Perspectives on Contemporary Issues – can function as a bridge text. Students in ENG 3010 should be taught specific strategies for reading analytically and critically, looking for similarities and differences in writing across the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions. Perspectives on Contemporary Issues includes a chapter on Reading Critically, with standard questions prompting students to think about titles, authors, audiences, purposes, thesis/main ideas, supporting evidence, and overall evaluation. During the course of the term, students could be asked to compare these questions and answers across readings from the different disciplines represented in the reader. The Wadsworth Guide to Research includes a chapter on Reading Sources Rhetorically, which prompts students to consider the author, purpose, audience, and topic of sources, again categories that could be compared across readings from different disciplines. Research ENG 3010 should be organized around a sustained research project in which students integrate ideas and information from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions. In ENG 3010, students should be explicitly taught research skills – the Wadsworth Guide is organized into chapters to support a sustained research project, including identifying a topic, developing a research question, planning research, conducting primary and secondary research, evaluating sources, writing about data, constructing an argument, and selecting and incorporating evidence. Even in ENG 3010, instructors cannot assume that all students will have a solid background in research skills. Although we require researched papers in ENG 1020 at Wayne State, many students in ENG 3010 have received transfer credit for Basic Composition (ENG 1020 or equiv.) from a variety of other institutions, so the skill level within a 3010 section may vary considerably. Further, even students with research experience in freshman composition may not be familiar with conducting research at an advanced level and within multiple disciplinary perspectives as required in ENG 3010. In ENG 3010, students should be explicitly taught how to cite and document information from sources, with introductions to both MLA and APA style. The Wadsworth Guide has separate chapters on MLA and APA style; in the Wayne State University edition, these chapters are updated with the 2009 MLA and APA updates. Please teach the updated MLA and APA style

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conventions in ENG 3010. Even if MLA will be the preferred style for students’ final papers and projects, at least one assignment (e.g., the literature review) should be submitted in APA style. In ENG 3010, students should work on projects of appropriate complexity; this course is a preparation for writing in upper-level courses – 3000-5000 level courses in the majors – so instructors may need to steer students away from the list of research paper topics that students recall from high school – the death penalty, abortion, legalizing marijuana, etc. Students often turn to these familiar topics when first asked about possible topics for research projects, but instructors should help them identify more complex topics and formulate a specific and sophisticated research question. The sample student essays in the Wadsworth Guide can give students an idea of the level of complexity and specificity appropriate for research and writing in upper-level college courses. The Undergraduate Library and its website should be a major resource for teaching research skills in ENG 3010. The Undergraduate Library offers a wide variety of sites and services for undergraduates and for instructors, including Ask-a-Librarian, reference tools (e.g., for citation styles) and learning tools (e.g., for an assignment planner). More information is available on the library website and the pages for Reference Tools and Learning Tools:

http://www.lib.wayne.edu http://guides.lib.wayne.edu/referencetools

http://www.lib.wayne.edu/services/instruction/learningtools.php

The library also has a YouTube channel, which provides short videos on how to search for books and articles, how to evaluate websites, and how to recognize a scholarly article:

http://www.youtube.com/wsuinst In addition, the library offers re:Search (formerly Searchpath), which is a set of self-directed online instructional modules on library research:

http://www.lib.wayne.edu/services/instruction/searchpath/ Modules include an introduction to the library (Starting Smart), choosing a topic, finding books using the catalog and articles using indexes and data bases, researching on the internet, and avoiding plagiarism by citing sources. Instructors can work re:Search into an assignment sequence: students can complete one or more modules, take quizzes, and have the quiz results emailed to instructors. Especially relevant for teaching ENG 3010, the Undergraduate Library website has subject Guides for over 60 disciplines along with 15 How To Guides for students:

http://www.lib.wayne.edu/resources/guides/ How To Guides include materials about citing references, using APA and MLA style, finding book reviews, and using reference tools. The subject Guides include a wide variety of fields in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions, including biology, sociology, classics, criminal justice, etc. There are also a number of Guides to interdisciplinary areas, such as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual studies; labor studies; Near Eastern studies; and gerontology. Asking students to peruse various

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Guides, or even incorporating the Guides into an assignment or a research plan, is an excellent way for them to begin to learn about how to conduct research in varied disciplinary areas. Each Guide is customized for the discipline, and most have tabs to relevant books, article databases, online journals, encyclopedias, or websites for that particular field. There is a specific and extensive Guide for English:

http://guides.lib.wayne.edu/content.php?hs=a&pid=62407 The tabs across the top provide links to Articles, Books, and Web Resources. The articles tab includes links to data bases such as Proquest and Academic OneFile. On the English Guide, there is a special tab for ENG 3010, which is correlated to the chapters in the Wadsworth Guide. There are sidebars on exploring a topic, distinguishing between primary and secondary research, accessing online journals, and developing effective research proposals. The topic boxes in the center help students discover different disciplinary approaches and consider the different research methods of qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, and textual analysis. Librarians are also available to students and to instructors by appointment. Our English Department liaison librarian is Judith Arnold ([email protected]). Plagiarism Students in ENG 3010 should be taught how to avoid plagiarism, either deliberate or inadvertent. The Wadsworth Guide has a chapter on Understanding Plagiarism and Integrating Resources. Every ENG 3010 syllabus must include the instructor’s written plagiarism policy (see the English Department Syllabus Checklist and Policy Information handouts that are distributed at the beginning of each term). All cases of plagiarism *must* be discussed with the Assistant to the Associate Chair in the English Department. A first case of plagiarism typically does not result in departmental action beyond the instructor’s plagiarism policy, but the Department does need to guard against serial plagiarism. A sample plagiarism policy is the following:

Plagiarism is the act of copying work from books, articles, and websites without citing and documenting the source. Plagiarism includes copying language, texts, and visuals without citation (e.g., cutting and pasting from websites). Plagiarism also includes submitting papers that were written by another student or downloaded from the internet. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense: the minimum penalty for plagiarism is an F for the assignment; the full penalty for plagiarism may result in an F for the course. All cases of plagiarism in ENG 3010 will be reported to the Department of English; information about plagiarism procedures is available in the Department of English.

To prevent and detect plagiarism, instructors are strongly urged to review all major assignments with SafeAssign on Blackboard. If you are not familiar with SafeAssign, please sign up for an introductory training on Deterring and Detecting Plagiarism with SafeAssign at the WSU OTL [Office for Teaching and Learning]:

http://www.otl.wayne.edu

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The OTL will also schedule individual appointments for instructors to learn SafeAssign. If you use SafeAssign, please incorporate the following into your plagiarism policy:

Major assignments in ENG 3010 will be submitted to SafeAssign on Blackboard. SafeAssign includes in its data base papers previously written by WSU students as well as papers plagiarized from print or internet sources. All papers submitted to SafeAssign become part of the WSU data base.

The class syllabus should include links on avoiding plagiarism, such as the UGL’s re:Search module on plagiarism:

http://www.lib.wayne.edu/services/instruction/searchpath/mod6/04-plagiarism.html If a student needs more help in writing without plagiarizing, instructors may also require a student to receive a tutorial on plagiarism in the Writing Center:

http://www.clas.wayne.edu/writing/ College and University policies on academic honesty can be found in the current Undergraduate Bulletin. These policies are as follows:

Cheating and Plagiarism (College of Liberal Arts) The principle of honesty is recognized as fundamental to a scholarly community. Students are expected to honor this principle and instructors are expected to take appropriate action when instances of academic dishonesty are discovered. An instructor, on discovering such an instance, may give a failing grade on the assignment or for the course. The instructor has the responsibility of notifying the student of the alleged violation and the action being taken. Both the student and the instructor are entitled to academic due process in all such cases. Acts of dishonesty may lead to suspension or exclusion. Information on procedures is available in the Office of the Dean. Student Academic Ethics (Wayne State University) Academic Work: Academic work submitted by a student for credit is assumed to be of his/her own creation, and if found not to be, will constitute cause for the student’s dismissal.

Writing The General Education requirements for ENG 3010 are (1) that students produce at least 32 or more double-spaced pages (8,000 words or more) during the term; and (2) that one paper be at least 10 pages (2,500 words). Instructors are free to decide how to allocate the ENG 3010 page/word requirements within their individual sections and assignments (see Assignments in ENG 3010 below). The page/word count can include (or not) drafts and revisions. On your syllabus, please list page numbers next to assignments so that it is clear how the assignments add up to the General Education requirements of 32 or more double-spaced pages (8,000 or more words) with one paper of at least 10 pages.

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After taking ENG 3010, students should be prepared to conduct research in support of writing assignments in upper-level college courses in multiple fields. Students finishing ENG 3010 should be aware of the nature of academic discourse as based on investigation, information, ideas, evidence, analysis, synthesis, and argumentation. They should also be aware of the similarities and differences in the academic discourse of the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions. (See the Background section above; feel free to use the primer in your class materials.) In ENG 3010, students should use a writing process that involves generating ideas, writing, revising, providing/responding to feedback in multiple drafts, and editing texts for grammar, mechanics, and style. Students should also be taught editing and proofreading skills, learning how to identify and correct grammatical and mechanical errors in their own writing. If a student has persistent and serious sentence-level problems, please require him/her to go to the Writing Center for additional instruction. By the end of ENG 3010, students should be able to write 10-15 page research-based papers for upper-level college courses in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions. These papers should be free of errors in grammar and mechanics as well as citation and documentation. Revising Instructors are strongly encouraged to incorporate revisions within assignment sequences only. There should be no rewrites after the final grade has been awarded for an assignment. Revising can take place in response to written feedback from the instructor, in conferences, or in peer review groups. Revising within the context and process of an assignment is teaching students valuable skills of providing and responding to feedback, which is an essential part of the writing process. Rewriting solely for a grade is artificial revision, and it risks grade inflation. One best practice of writing instruction is to shift the place of commentary on papers in a two-step process: instructors can collect and comment on a student’s draft, providing feedback for revision, and then read and grade the final paper with minimal or no commentary (this is not to suggest grading twice: it is to suggest writing comments on a student’s draft once and then reading the final paper fairly quickly for a letter grade without commentary). This process maximizes the value of instructor commentary and makes students responsible for meaningful revision. It also avoids the unfortunate practice of students’ ignoring teacher commentary on final drafts. Technology Most classrooms in State Hall and Old Main are equipped with media carts, including a computer, projector, DVD and audio players with speakers; some classrooms are equipped with wireless internet access. To check the availability of equipment and internet access for your classroom, consult the Media Services website:

http://www.lib.wayne.edu/services/media/rooms.php The upgraded media carts in State Hall classrooms are now unlocked, and they are easy to use. If you wish to use the computer in the cart, simply touch the screen to start and select “Room

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Computer” to display the computer screen on the projector screen. A mouse and keyboard have been installed in a sliding drawer in the front of the cabinet. A USB device can be used with the computer by inserting it into the USB port near the touch screen or on the front side of the computer in the cart. If you wish to use your own laptop, there are two connection cables located to the left of the touch screen: a combined monitor/audio cable and an Ethernet cable (for internet access). Each cart also has electrical outlets for plugging in laptops. Some Old Main classrooms still use the older, locked media carts, and instructors must make an appointment with Media Services to learn how to operate the equipment and receive the combination for the lock. Call the Technology Resource Center (7-1980) to schedule a training. If you are in a classroom and need immediate assistance with technology, call Media Services at 7-1980. All sections of ENG 3010 should have and maintain a Blackboard site. Wayne State students are familiar with Blackboard, and surveys indicate that they appreciate Blackboard sites for their courses and use them actively (especially the Grade Center). If you are not familiar with Blackboard, please sign up for one of the OTL’s several workshops on using Blackboard (http://www.otl.wayne.edu). If you use another technology to house your course (e.g., a wiki), please provide links to and from the Blackboard site for the course. Please note that students who do not wish to post assignments on an internet site for privacy reasons should be given an alternative means of submitting assignments (e.g., Blackboard, which is WSU-sponsored and password protected). Students in ENG 3010 should use a variety of technologies for researching and writing, such as word processing, presentation software (e.g., PowerPoint or Prezi), websites, data bases, blogs, and wikis. The Wadsworth Guide has an extensive chapter on conducting secondary research, which includes a discussion of books, websites, articles, podcasts, blogs, social networking sites, and wikis. For students who do not have their own access to computers, the Undergraduate Library has several hundred computer stations available for students, and there are other computer labs on campus as well. Teaching Methods in ENG 3010 ENG 3010 is a challenging course to teach because students may not have a solid background for understanding the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions as areas of broad disciplinary inquiry in the university. Students also may not have extensive experience in developing a sustained research project and conducting primary and secondary research. Teaching ENG 3010 therefore requires a balance among traditional methods, such as responding to readings in class discussions, and explicit instruction and practice in writing. ENG 3010 should not be taught primarily as a discussion class focused on readings; class discussion should consistently refer and relate to the writing being done in the course. Every class period should

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include substantial attention to student writing, whether in direct instruction, small group work, individual practice, or other classroom activities. Assignments in ENG 3010 ENG 3010 is centered on a sustained research project drawing upon the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions. Writing a researched argument paper typically requires multiple interim assignments as students work their way through identifying a topic, formulating a research question, conducting primary and secondary research, and organizing and preparing research presentations and final papers. In working on their interim assignments, students should become familiar with the genres common to research across the university. ENG 3010 has four required assignments:

• a research proposal • a review of the literature • a multi-modal research presentation (e.g., PowerPoint, Prezi, wiki) • a 10-15 page researched argument paper

Based on preliminary research on their topic, a research proposal should identify a complex topic for research and formulate a specific research question (see the Wadsworth Guide, Ch. 3, and the assignment for a research proposal, pp. 49ff.). A review of the literature is one of the most common research genres across disciplines, and it is a good place to introduce MLA and APA styles (see the Wadsworth Guide Chs. 4-8, and the assignment for a review of the research (pp. 155ff.). Research presentations are also a common research genre across disciplines, and a genre that is often multi-modal (see the discussion of research presentations in the Wadsworth Guide, pp. 218ff.). Research presentations do not have to be confined to the final project. Instead, they could be distributed across the assignments (e.g., 5-6 students making presentations on each of the assignments, which would take only 1-2 class sessions per assignments). Presentations do not have to be a straight summary of students’ assignments, either; for example, they could be focused on the issues connected to writing a research proposal, review of the literature, interim assignments for the researched paper, etc. For students who are not familiar with PowerPoint or other presentation software, the Undergraduate Library has a How To Guide to Microsoft Office 2007, with a tab for PowerPoint:

http://guides.lib.wayne.edu/content.php?hs=a&pid=85127 http://guides.lib.wayne.edu/content.php?pid=85127&sid=633640

Students also may make an appointment to work on their research presentations at the UGL Student Technology Studio (UGL 2305), which is staffed with media-savvy tutors:

http://www.lib.wayne.edu/services/computing/labs/sts/ Finally, a researched argument paper is the culmination of the course (see the Wadsworth Guide, Chs. 9-11, and the assignment for writing a researched argument, pp. 225 ff.).

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Instructors should feel free to break down these major assignments into interim steps. For the required assignments, instructors *must* provide students with written assignment sheets. Include your grading rubric on the assignment sheet (see Grading Assignments below). An assignment sheet gives students a specific idea of the conventions for analysis and argument in college writing. It also keeps students on track as they write and revise. A written assignment sheet is also an immense help if students go to the library or the Writing Center for assistance. On your syllabus, please *list page numbers next to assignments* so that it is clear how the required assignments are part of the class syllabus and how the assignments add up to the General Education requirements of 32 or more double-spaced pages (8,000 words) with one paper with one paper of at least 10 pages:

Example • Assignment 1 Reading Responses #1 – #5 5 pages • Assignment 2 Research Proposal 4-6 pages • Assignment 3 Review of the Literature 7-10 pages • Assignment 4 Research Presentation PP -- 12+ slides

(= 3-4 pages) • Assignment 5 Researched Argument 10-15 pages

Grading in ENG 3010 Grading Assignments In ENG 3010, final drafts of assignments are awarded grades from A to F. A grade of A – C indicates that the paper has successfully met the requirements of the assignment. A grade of C- or below indicates that the paper has not successfully met the requirements of the assignment. Final grades on papers should reflect the quality of writing, not the amount of effort expended. For the required assignments – research proposal, review of the literature, research presentation, researched argument -- instructors *must* use a rubric for grading. The rubric should be included on the assignment sheet. Using rubrics for grading in ENG 3010 gives students the evaluation criteria for a particular assignment as well as a specific idea of the standards for writing in upper-level college courses. Using rubrics helps instructors achieve consistency and efficiency in grading by focusing on selected criteria that grow steadily more complex over the course of the term. Rubrics also help combat grade inflation. A grading rubric for ENG 3010 papers is attached; it was developed to reflect the learning outcomes for the course. Instructors may revise the rubric as needed for individual assignments. Instructors may also develop their own rubrics for assignments. A rubric can be designed in many forms, including a point system, a series of statements or questions, a checklist, etc. Some instructors design assignment rubrics in collaboration with the students in the class. For more on rubrics, including examples, see the WSU Composition Faculty Handbook wiki:

http://wsucompositionfacultyhandbook.pbworks.com

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password – teaching From the FrontPage of the wiki, click on the Rubrics and More Rubrics page. Early Academic Assessment (EAA) Grades Although instructors are not required to submit EAA grades in ENG 3010, the university system will work for ENG 3010, and instructors are encouraged to post EAA grades for students who are not performing at a C or better level. Early assessment grades are submitted through Pipeline:

http://reg.wayne.edu/faculty/eaa.php EAA grades do not become a part of a student’s permanent academic record, but they provide a timely intervention for struggling students who need help. Students who receive an EAA grade of C- or below receive a letter referring them to university services. There is good educational research to show that early warning and referrals can be key to students’ success in college courses, and there is good institutional research at Wayne State showing that students (and faculty) can be unaware of resources to help struggling students (e.g., the Writing Center, the Academic Success Center, Counseling and Psychological Services, etc.). Instructors will receive emails and instructions from the EAA program early in the term. Please file your EAA grades in advance of the deadline. Grading Policies/Class Policies (See the English Department Syllabus Checklist and Policy Information handouts distributed by the Associate Chair’s office at the beginning of each term). Instructors largely set their own grading policies for assignments in ENG 3010, including expectations for papers (rubrics), format of papers, the policies and processes for drafts and revisions, and the policies on late papers and making up work. Instructors also set their own class policies in ENG 3050, including attendance, adding and dropping the class, and the use of I [Incomplete] and W [Withdrawal] grades. Developing an attendance policy is somewhat tricky in ENG 3010. On the one hand, the attendance policy cannot be too generous: for example, having 10% of the grade awarded primarily on the basis of attendance, under the assumption that participation will follow once students are in the class sessions, allows students to raise their grade by a whole letter not based on writing (see Hints for Grading to the Guidelines below). On the other hand, the attendance policy must not be excessively punitive yet have a significant effect in deterring multiple absences: for example, students who skip 6 or more classes probably shouldn’t pass the course with a C or better. The sample grading policy on the syllabus template attempts to meet both of these demands: attendance is rewarded by a maximum of 5%, and excessive absences are penalized 5% each:

Example

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Class Attendance – class attendance is required, and attendance will be taken at each class session. More than 20 minutes late will count as an absence. Attendance will figure in the final grade as follows:

• 0 classes missed 0 points penalized • 1 class missed 1 point penalty • 2 classes missed 2 point penalty • 3 classes missed 3 point penalty • 4 classes missed 4 point penalty • each subsequent absence 5 point penalty

The attached ENG 3010 syllabus template provides examples of grading policies and class policies. Final Grades With the General Education C or better requirement and prerequisite now in place, instructors must give careful thought to what it means for a student to pass or not pass ENG 3010. A passing final grade of C or better in ENG 3010 indicates that the student has clearly achieved all the learning outcomes of the course and is prepared to write in a variety of upper-level courses in the university. A non-passing final grade of C- or below in ENG 3010 indicates that the student has clearly not achieved the learning outcomes of the course and needs to repeat the course in order to be prepared to write successfully in upper-level college courses. It is important to note that not passing a student in ENG 3010 is not an absolute failure or a ticket to dismissal from the University. It simply reflects the student’s need to repeat the course in order to be prepared for successful writing in upper-level college courses. There are repeating students in most sections of ENG 3010 each term. The credibility of the Composition Program rests in part on consistency of grading across all sections of ENG 3010. Although exceptional classes can happen, the grading guidelines for ENG 3010 aim at a more standard grade distribution for a multi-section course: A up to 20% i.e., around 5 students in a class of 24 B up to 30% i.e., around 7 students in a class of 24 C+/C up to 30% i.e., around 7 students in a class of 24 C-/D/F/W apprx. 25% i.e., around 6 students in a class of 24 These guidelines suggest no more than a 50% distribution of As and Bs in a standard class. Grades in individual sections should normally be in line with these guidelines. Grade distributions in individual sections will be reviewed within the English Department. Hints for grading to the guidelines:

• do not make attendance and participation worth 10% of a course grade: on a 100 point scale, that allows non-writing to change an entire letter grade. Make attendance and participation worth no more than 5% of the grade.

• leverage students’ interest in grades: students in any class are often highly motivated by grades (so make ‘em work).

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• make assignments challenging: if assignments are too easy, especially at the beginning of the term, you may find yourself giving too many As and Bs that have the cumulative effect of an inflated course grade.

• make the researched argument the most heavily weighted assignment: by the time students write their 10-15 page papers in the second half of the course, they will be experienced writers in the context of the class, and they will be familiar with the level of work required for an A, B, or C paper.

• grade conservatively at the beginning of the course: this gives you room to use the entire grading scale as the term goes on, especially for the later papers.

• read through an entire set of papers before beginning to grade individual papers: you will see the variation in the set and get an intuitive idea of how the range of grades – A, B, C+/C, C-/D/F -- should consistently be applied.

• grade with a rubric: rubrics help establish the focus and consistency of letter grading and are now required for major assignments in ENG 3010.

• do not allow rewrites after final grades on an assignment: incorporating revision within the context and process of an assignment teaches students valuable skills of providing and responding to feedback, which is an essential part of the writing process. Rewriting solely for a grade is artificial revision, and it risks grade inflation.

Instructors, especially part-time faculty, are sometimes concerned about the relationship between grading and SET scores on teaching evaluations. The English Department is aware that students sometimes rate instructors in rigorous required courses lower than they may deserve. In the Department, decisions about staffing are never made solely or primarily on the basis of SET scores. WSU Writing Center The following information about the Writing Center must appear on every 3010 syllabus:

The Writing Center (2nd floor, UGL) provides individual tutoring consultations free of charge for students at Wayne State University. Undergraduate students in General Education courses, including composition courses, receive priority for tutoring appointments. The Writing Center serves as a resource for writers, providing tutoring sessions on the range of activities in the writing process – considering the audience, analyzing the assignment or genre, brainstorming, researching, writing drafts, revising, editing, and preparing documentation. The Writing Center is *not* an editing or proofreading service; rather, students are guided as they engage collaboratively in the process of academic writing, from developing an idea to editing for grammar and mechanics. To make an appointment, consult the Writing Center website:

http://www.clas.wayne.edu/writing/ To submit material for online tutoring, consult the Writing Center HOOT website (Hypertext One-on-One Tutoring):

http://www.clas.wayne.edu/unit-inner.asp?WebPageID=1330. Instructors may require individual students to attend the Writing Center to receive tutoring on a specific assignment, skill, or aspect of the writing process. Instructors may also require individual students to attend the Writing Center to receive instruction in grammar and mechanics. Instructors may *not* require entire classes to attend the Writing Center.

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For more information about the Writing Center, please contact the Director, Jule Wallis (phone: 7-2544; email: [email protected]). WSU Resources for Students

• Adamany Undergraduate Library http://www.lib.wayne.edu/info/maps/ugl.php • Student Disability Services http://studentdisability.wayne.edu/ • Academic Success Center http://www.success.wayne.edu/ • Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) http://www.caps.wayne.edu

The Academic Success Center, in particular, is a valuable resource for students: it offers tutoring, study skills counseling, and a wide variety of workshops, including sessions on reading, note-taking, study skills, and learning styles. WSU Resources for Instructors The Office for Teaching and Learning [OTL] offers an extensive schedule of workshops and individual appointments for instructors, from introductions to Blackboard to videotaping and analyzing teaching sessions. The website also has a number of useful pages on WSU policies, including Cheating and Plagiarism and Copyright. The OTL website also includes material from the WSU Digital Humanities Collaboratory.

http://www.otl.wayne.edu Instructor Emergencies If you will miss a class session because of an emergency, please notify your students via Blackboard email or text messaging. Please also notify the Department by calling or leaving a message at the front desk – 313-577-2450 -- include your name, date, class information, and reason for absence.

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Required Elements of an ENG 3010 Syllabus The following elements are required in an ENG 3010 syllabus:

• Department of English course description • ENG 3010 learning outcomes • required textbook (The Wadsworth Guide to Research) • 32 or more double-spaced pages (8,000 or more words) of writing • required assignments -- within a sustained research project, a research proposal, review of

the literature, researched argument paper of at least 10 pages/2,500 words o note: assignment sheets and rubrics are required for these assignments

• plagiarism policy • WSU Writing Center information

Attached is a template for an ENG 3010 course syllabus with the required elements of the New Common Syllabus incorporated. The template follows the English Department Syllabus Checklist and Policy Information handouts, and examples of course requirements, grading policies, and class policies are provided. The elements of the syllabus may be in any order and contain any other information that the instructor chooses, but the required elements must be present as described in this New Common Syllabus. Required Submission of Syllabus to Department According to WSU policy, all instructors are required to submit a copy of their ENG 3010 syllabus to the Department of English (see the Syllabus Checklist). ENG 3010 syllabi will be reviewed within the English Department to check for the required elements of the New Common Syllabus.

• Fall term deadline -- Friday, September 24 • Winter term deadline -- Friday, February 4 • Spring/Summer term deadline -- Friday, June 10

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ENG 3010 Grading Rubric

The “A” paper:

1. The “A” paper has an excellent sense of the rhetorical situation for the assignment. It attends well to the needs of its audience and (inter)disciplinary context. The paper carefully and completely executes the genre of the assignment (proposal, review of the literature, presentation, researched argument), with all elements present and fully developed.

2. The “A” paper addresses an appropriately complex topic and answers a specific research question. The thesis is sophisticated and clearly presented. The topic and thesis are well-developed with primary and secondary research drawn in a thorough and balanced fashion from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions.

3. The “A” paper is exceptionally well-organized. The development of the topic and thesis is clear and logical. The reasoning is valid and shows an awareness of the complexities of the topic. Supporting evidence is convincingly presented in coherent and well-organized paragraphs.

4. The “A” paper is free of grammatical and mechanical errors. The style is appropriate for the genre and audience. Sources are correctly cited and documented in MLA/APA style.

The “B” paper:

1. The “B” paper has a good sense of the rhetorical situation for the assignment. It attends to the needs of its audience and (inter)disciplinary context, though perhaps not consistently. The paper competently executes the genre of the assignment (proposal, review of the literature, presentation, researched argument) with all elements present, though some may not be completely developed.

2. The “B” paper addresses a topic competently, but the topic and research question may not be of appropriate complexity. The thesis is clearly presented. The topic and thesis are developed with primary and secondary research drawn from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions, but the development may not be thorough or balanced.

3. The “B” paper is well-organized, though the development of the topic and thesis may not be consistently clear. The reasoning may not always be valid and logical with a full awareness of the complexities of the topic. Supporting evidence is not always coherently and convincingly presented in well-organized paragraphs.

4. The “B” paper may contain a few grammatical and mechanical errors. The style may not be consistently appropriate for the genre and audience. Sources may not be completely and correctly cited and documented in MLA/APA style.

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The “C” paper:

1. The “C” paper has an adequate sense of the rhetorical situation for the assignment. It does not show consistent attention to the needs of its audience and (inter)disciplinary context. The paper executes the genre of the assignment adequately (proposal, review of the literature, presentation, researched argument). Elements of the genre may be only partially present and/or not well-developed.

2. The “C” paper addresses a topic, but the topic and research question may not be of appropriate complexity for college-level writing. The thesis may be unclear or unsophisticated. The topic and thesis may not be adequately developed with primary and secondary research drawn from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions.

3. The “C” paper is not well-organized. The development of the topic and thesis may be unclear, and the reasoning may not be valid or coherent. Supporting evidence is not well-organized at the paragraph level.

4. The “C” paper has a number of grammatical and mechanical errors. The style is often not appropriate for the genre and audience. Sources may not be adequately cited and documented in MLA/APA style. The writer may not be clearly making a distinction between information from sources and his/her own ideas in the paper.

The “D” paper:

1. The “D” paper has a poor sense of the rhetorical situation for the assignment. It shows little attention to the needs of its audience and (inter)disciplinary context. The paper does not execute the genre of the assignment (proposal, review of the literature, presentation, researched argument), with major elements missing or poorly developed.

2. The “D” paper addresses a topic that is too broad or too simple. The thesis may be missing or overly simplistic. The topic and thesis are poorly developed with primary and secondary research. The writer may not have drawn from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions.

3. The “D” paper shows little organization. The development of the topic and thesis may be minimal, and the reasoning may be incoherent. Supporting evidence is not presented or organized coherently at the paragraph level.

4. The “D” paper has major grammatical and mechanical errors. The style is inappropriate for the genre and audience. The paper may contain plagiarized passages, with little or incorrect citation and documentation in MLA/APA style.

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The “F” paper:

1. The “F” paper has no sense of the rhetorical situation for the assignment. It shows no attention to the needs of its audience and (inter)disciplinary context. The paper shows no understanding of the genre of the assignment (proposal, review of the literature, presentation, researched argument).

2. The “F” paper does not address a topic suitable for college-level writing. There is no thesis. The topic is not developed with primary and secondary research from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professions.

3. The “F” paper is completely disorganized. The development of the topic and thesis may follow no discernible order, and the reasoning may not be valid or coherent. Paragraphs are neither coherent nor well-developed.

4. The “F” paper has numerous and major grammatical and mechanical errors. The style is inappropriate for the genre and audience. The paper may be mostly or completely plagiarized. There is no citation and documentation of sources in MLA/APA style.