Kaler, Matthew

Werner, Katharina

English

University of Montana

University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana University of Montana Course Syllabi Open Educational Resources (OER) Fall 9-1-2021 WRIT 101.XH1: College Writing I Matthew Kaler University of Montana, Missoula, matthew.kaler@umontana.edu Katharina Werner University of Montana, Missoula, katharina.werner@umontana.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Kaler, Matthew and Werner, Katharina, "WRIT 101.XH1: College Writing I" (2021). University of Montana Course Syllabi. 12252. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi/12252 This Syllabus is brought to you for free and open access by the Open Educational Resources (OER) at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Montana Course Syllabi by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact scholarworks@mso.umt.edu.                WRIT 101 College Writing Instructor: Matthew KalerEmail: matthew.kaler@mso.umt.eduClass Dates and Location: This course runs August 30 – December 15. Final Exam week runs from December 13 – December 17 (note: there is no final exam in WRIT 101). The class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. in a blended format (on the course Zoom link and in classroom 119 on the Bitterroot College (BC) campus in Hamilton, MT) under the supervision of Bitterroot College – University of Montana.Office Hours: Please schedule an appointment with me in a class session or by email. I will respond to most emails within a 48-hour period, Monday-Friday.Course Notices for All Course Modalities (different ways to be in class): • Each class session will be recorded and posted on Moodle • Mask use is required within BC classrooms and labs • Stay home if you feel sick or display COVID-19 symptoms; in this case, please contact your primary care physician, or get COVID-19 test at the Curry Health Center (406.243.4330) or the Ravalli County Public Health Department (406.375.6670) • Stay up-to-date on COVID-19 information from the University of Montana • UM Coronavirus Website: https://www.umt.edu/coronavirus • If you are required to isolate or quarantine, I will support your continued academic progress through our remote learning option on Zoom and Moodle. Please schedule email me to schedule a meeting for questions and guidance. • UM recommends all get a COVID-19 vaccine; direct questions or concerns about vaccines to the Curry Health Center • Specific seating arrangements will be used in class and class attendance will be recorded to support contact tracing efforts • Drinking liquids and eating food is discouraged within the classroom; this requires mask removal and increases risk of transmission COURSE DESCRIPTION:  WRIT 101 is a course in public writing, a kind of writing that is meant to communicate with and engage a specific audience toward a specific purpose, and it is based on community. Your purpose will ultimately be to write a proposal that could have positive impacts on an important issue within your local community.  To do so, we will work on three Formal Writing Assignments throughout the course, culminating in a proposal that would ideally be sent to the decision maker(s) and argue for the specific change requested.  We begin with a Community Profile, an assignment that asks you to vividly describe a specific community.  This assignment offers you the opportunity to look more deeply at a community, whether that community is your current hometown, a community where you intend to live, or a different kind of community, such as a club, a religious organization, an online group, a civic 1            group, an artistic group, or a learning community that you are currently involved with or intend to join. The only requirements in terms of the selection of the community are that is of significant personal interest, that you can provide an insider’s perspective on it, and that it does not violate the course Civility Clause. Ideally, the community you select for the first assignment will be the one you will work with throughout the course. We continue with an Exploratory Essay Sequence, a set of assignments that asks you to resist any immediate conclusions about your community and to truly explore difficult questions and possible answers. The exploration includes research of both local and national sources and leads to the selection of a community issue, questions about that issue, and possible answers to the questions from multiple points of view.  The sequence consists of three written assignments: a research log, and two short papers that analyze and synthesize your sources.Finally, you will compose, refine, and polish a Proposal that asks its audience to implement a specific change in order to improve the community in a positive way.  Your proposal will outline specific actions necessary, argue for their importance based on observation and evidence, support evidence for their feasibility, and anticipate alternative solutions and objections.  Ideally, the proposal would be submitted to an actual committee or individual authority within the community.WRIT 101 LAB Section The WRIT 101 Plus section provides additional instructor led support. Students are selected for this one credit section based on writing assessment scores and work submitted early in the semester. Students may also voluntarily enroll in this section; please speak with me if you would like to discuss this option. The final grade will reflect participation in this environment.WRIT 101 Plus provides selected students more opportunities to meet in a small group for additional feedback and time to focus on developing drafts for your essays. COURSE TEXT: The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing, Missoula College ed., Bedford, Axelrod and Cooper.ORThe St. Martin’s Guide to Writing, 10th ed., Bedford, Axelrod and Cooper.Required Technology: UM E-mail Accounts, Moodle, and Zoom:  Please activate your campus e-mail account right away.  Every student is issued a university e-mail account, and there is no cost.  Contact Bitterroot College for assistance.  You will need to activate your email before you can access Moodle.This course requires essential computer skills so that you can access email and negotiate Moodle. Early in the semester, UM offers a number of Moodle workshops.  If you are unfamiliar with Moodle or if you have limited computer experience, please attend these workshops. You will be expected to work with computers for class assignments, and most correspondences will be conducted via email/Moodle.  Most class materials and instructions will be posted in Moodle. With the exception of some initial explanations during our first classes, please do not expect extra time in class for any learning curve you might face with technology. Likewise, please do not expect any extensions on due dates for an assignment because of any technical difficulties you have not conquered. Yet. So backup all work. 2   Course Requirements and Policies: Writing  You will have the opportunity to develop all of your major projects through a process of inquiry and drafting. You will compose papers in and out of class, alone and with your small group. For some of your writings, I’ll ask you to bring enough draft copies to share with your group or ask you to email your papers to group members for workshop. We may include whole-class workshops into the drafting process. I will respond to drafts with comments focused on suggestions for revision.At least one online tutoring appointment for one of your formal essays will be required with the UM Writing & Public Speaking Center as part of your “participation grade” (explained below). Details and instructions will be covered in class. Format requirements for written work you turn in: Complete all reading and writing assignments on time. Be sure that all written assignment are typed. Any assignments submitted by email mustbe in document form, attached to the email; no assignments will be acceptedin the message body. Use the following format for submitting written assignments unlessinstructed otherwise or unless you are following specific genre conventions: - Provide a basic header in the upper left hand corner of page 1:Your name Course section and number Instructor’s Name Date - Double-space the text- Use one-inch margins- Use a standard 12-point font & Times New Roman (or another professional font; no f*&$ing comic sans) - Number all pages- Use a works cited page as needed Keep copies of all your work, as hard copy and on a flash drive, or in the cloud. All of the Formal Writing Assignments below must be submitted to pass the course: 3   * Four (4) Essays edited, revised, and typed   * Two (2) Research Logs  * Thoughtful, active, and responsible participation and citizenship, including discussion, preparation for class by reading all assigned materials, in workshops, and informal writing. PAPER AND FILE FORMAT Submitting assignments should be done electronically via Moodle. Electronic files will be uploaded to the appropriate Moodle Assignment drop.  The file must be in a doc or docx format and titled using the following format naming: lastnameassignmentname.docx — for example:  KalerMatthewCommunityProfile.docx Optional Revision If you bring drafts of all formal essays when required on assigned dates and turn drafts in during the acceptable due date windows, and you will receive feedback. Submitted essays will receive a grade; your evaluation also weighs the effort given during the entire writing process. You also have the option to revise any or all of the formal essays to submit anytime before and / or at the end of the semester for the chance to improve your grade.  This option gives you the opportunity to revise your essays until the end of the semester. You control your success in this course. GRADING SUMMARY:  Community Profile: 25% Exploratory Essays (Local & Global): 20%   Research Logs (Local & Global):   10%   Community Proposal:     25%  Participation/Revision:     10% Informal Writing: 10% OTHER COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Zoom Conduct In order to get to know you in a virtual environment, and to uphold the value of our class community within the superstructure of that concept in our curriculum, please turn your cameras on when attending class during the first three weeks. Use the background feature if desired (as long as it does not violate the student conduct policy). Participation and Preparedness: This class is based on the discussion and production of writing about your community. That writing makes use of an individual’s knowledge and research to argue for a new understanding or a better way of operating that benefits the entire community. You have not had the same experiences I have, and vice versa. We rely on your contributions to class discussions and to the work of your classmates. Treat this component of your course as another rhetorical situation. I am 4                    the grading audience, but your peers are an audience as well. We will be watching for intelligent and appropriate contributions to the class discussions, for engagement with the topics and the lessons, for preparedness for class, and for quality effort on your projects. Attendance Policy: Due to the novel context of this semester, there is no official attendance policy. Please plan to attend class whenever possible on our scheduled days and times – if you are unable to attend, relevant class sessions will be recorded and the videos posted on Moodle for review. While there is no attendance requirement, I encourage all of you to get the most out of your academic investment. Participation counts for 10% of your final grade and you cannot participate without regularly attending class.How to be absent: If you must be absent for a class, watch the class recording through our Moodle link. Additionally, email one of your classmates, (even if you don’t know them very well) with specific questions. I may not have time to, or may not respond to general student inquiries about course content during absences because the Weekly Plans provide your “Homework” directions. You are responsible for all missed material and the homework assigned during your absence. You may make an appointment with me to go over information. Unless we have previously agreed to some other arrangement, all assignments are due on the announced due dates regardless of your class presence.Registration Issues If you miss the first three class meetings (and haven’t communicated with me in advance about extenuating circumstances), you need to drop the course on Cyberbear and enroll another semester. The reason for this policy is that important groundwork for the semester is put in place in the first couple of class meetings, and students without that foundational framework are better served by taking the course when they can give it the attention it deserves. Note: Important dates can be found on Cyberbear.Grading Scale:  94-100 A93-90 A-87-89 B+86-83 B82-80 B-77-79 C+76-73 C72-70 C-Final Grade I encourage you to talk with me at any time to better understand my comments or to discuss your overall progress and success in the class. Success in this class depends on:5        • Meeting all the requirements• The quality of your written, electronic, and oral work• Your willingness to enter into the spirit of inquiry, which includes intelligent and appropriate contributions to the class discussions, engagement with topics and lessons, and quality effort on your projects. Please note: There is no credit applied to attendance.  Students are expected to attend all class meetings and complete all assignments for courses in which they are enrolled.   Academic Policies and ProceduresLate Paper Policies Writing Assignments turned in after their due date will be deducted one full letter grade, from the Final Draft grade, per day until received. The option for revision cannot redeem a late essay deduction. Assignments turned in more than three days late will be given an “F”.  I also reserve the right not to accept any late assignment after its due date.Late Paper Extensions Extensions on assignment due dates will only be granted for good reason (I reserve the right to determine this) and if you contact me prior to the due date. No extensions will be granted if you fail to communicate with me prior to the assignment due date.Late Work  If you miss a draft deadline, you’ve missed a crucial chance for feedback on your work. If you aren’t ready with a response to a group member’s draft, you’re letting down someone who is counting on you for help. If you aren’t prepared for class, you limit your own voice and contributions to the class and community of writers and readers. For all these reasons, late work is unacceptable. Deadlines are not negotiable after you’ve missed them.Informal Writing Assignments These writings usually deal with a reading assignment, other media, or class discussion. Informal writing must be submitted electronically. None of these writing assignments will be accepted late. We will regularly share these in class, so be sure to write things you are comfortable discussing with others.Civility Clause You must abide by the rules for academic conduct described in the Student Conduct Code. I will tolerate neither disruptive language nor disruptive behavior. Disruptive language includes, but is not limited to, violent and/or belligerent and/or insulting remarks, including sexist, racist, homophobic or anti-ethnic slurs, bigotry, and disparaging commentary, either spoken or written (offensive slang is included in this category).While I do not disagree that you each have a right to your own opinions, inflammatory language founded in ignorance or hate is unacceptable and will be dealt with immediately.Disruptive behavior includes whispering or talking when another member of the class is speaking or engaged in relevant conversation (remember that I am a member of this class as well). This classroom functions on the premise of respect. You will be asked to leave the classroom and a 6              formal process of Student Conduct Code violation will be pursued if you violate any part of this statement on civility.IMPORTANT NOTES: Communication: I am available to speak with you and answer questions after class, by scheduled appointment through Zoom, and through email. By University policy, all email communication must be conducted to my UM email account through your UM email account. I will only communicate with registered members of this course.I am available to discuss any problems or needs for accommodation, but you need to talk with me beforehand. That includes letting me know if you have children or any obligations outside of class that will affect your presence in the class.Course Accommodations Statement (ODE): Students with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodations in this course. To request course modifications, please contact me as soon as possible. I will work with you and Disability Services in the accommodation process. For more information, visit the Disability Services website (https://www.umt.edu/disability/) or call 406.243.2243.Contact UMOnline if you have questions about or problems with any of our online course materials or your UM email account. UMOnline Technical Support: 406-243-4999, UMONline-help@umontana.eduPlagiarism and Academic Dishonesty: All work submitted for this course must be your own and be written exclusively for this course. The use of sources (ideas, quotations, paraphrases) must be properly documented according to required formatting standards. (We will explore MLA citation and learn how to use it early in the semester.) In cases where plagiarism has been clearly established, the award of an F for the final course grade is the standard practice. Please see me if you have any questions about your use of sources.TITLE IX: Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance. Title IX states that: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.In accordance with Title IX laws, all employees at The University of Montana are considered “Responsible Employees,” which requires me to report incidents of gender-based discrimination (e.g. sexual violence, sexual harassment, rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and/or stalking) to the Title IX Coordinator, Alicia Arant (243-5710, eoaa@umontana.edu, University Hall, Room 006). Please know, I will work with you when I do this. Once an incident is reported to Title IX, the student will be contacted by the Title IX Coordinator for follow up. Students can also report directly to the Title IX coordinator in regards to any gender-based discrimination.Disclaimer Please be advised that I reserve the right to change and/or modify any of the aforementioned points within this Syllabus, details of the Essays and Informal Writings, due dates, and the course 7 Weekly Plans. If I do, I will verbally announce any changes in class as well as post them to Moodle immediately. 8 

WRIT 101.XH1: College Writing I

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WRIT 101.XH1: College Writing I

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