Course Objectives and Student Learning Outcomes for English 1A and 1C

English 1A

Course Catalog Description:    

This course is designed to strengthen the students’ ability to read with understanding and discernment, to discuss assigned readings intelligently, and to write clearly. Emphasis will be on writing essays in which each paragraph relates to a controlling idea, has an introduction and a conclusion, and contains primary and secondary support. College-level reading material will be assigned to provide the stimulus for class discussion and writing assignments, including a required research paper. 

 

Course Objectives: 

1.     Recognize and revise sentence-level grammar and usage errors. 

2.     Read and apply critical-thinking skills to numerous published articles and to college-level, book-length works for the purpose of writing and discussion. 

3.     Apply appropriate strategies in the writing process including prewriting, composing, revising, and editing techniques. 

4.     Compose multi-paragraph, thesis-driven essays with logical and appropriate supporting ideas, and with unity and coherence. 

5.     Demonstrate ability to locate and utilize a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. 

6.     Utilize MLA guidelines to format essays, cite sources in the texts of essays, and compile Works Cited lists. 

Student Learning Outcomes:  

Upon completion of this course, students will:  

1. Complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis using analysis and synthesis.  

2. Integrate multiple sources, including a book-length work and a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page.  

3. Demonstrate logical paragraph composition and sentence structure. The essay should have correct grammar, spelling, and word use. 

English 1C SLO-aligned Assignment (Spring 2014)

The assignment designed using these criteria will be used to assess the course SLOs and should be assigned as a later (or last) essay.

One. Students will express critical viewpoints and develop original thesis-driven arguments in response to social, political, and philosophical issues and/or to works of literature and literary theory.  This argumentative essay will be well organized, demonstrate an ability to support a claim using analysis and elements of argumentation, and integrate primary and secondary sources.

Two. The paper should use at least three sources and not over-rely on one secondary source for most of the information.  Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.

Three. This paper will be approximately 4-5 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required.  The Works Cited page does NOT count toward length requirement.

Four. Within your argument, address issues of bias, credibility, and relevance in primary and secondary sources.

Five. Demonstrate understanding of analytical methods and structural concepts such as inductive and deductive reasoning, cause and effect, logos, ethos, and pathos, and the recognition of formal and informal fallacies in language and thought.

Six. You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.

Seven. You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.

Eight. You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

English 1C SLOs (most recent)

English 1C Critical Thinking and Composition Students will:

1. Compose an argumentative essay that shows an ability to support a claim using analysis, elements of argumentation, and integration of primary and secondary sources.

2. Identify and assess bias, credibility, and relevance in their own arguments and in the arguments of others, including primary and secondary outside sources.

3. Organize an essay in proper MLA format and will also be technically correct in

paragraph composition, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and usage.

Essay Requirements: 

One. Students will express critical viewpoints and develop original thesis-driven arguments in response to social, political, and philosophical issues and/or to works of literature and literary theory.  This argumentative essay will be well organized, demonstrate an ability to support a claim using analysis and elements of argumentation, and integrate primary and secondary sources. 

 Two. The paper should use at least three sources and not over-rely on one main source for most of the information.  Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.  

Three.  This paper will be approximately 5-6 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required.  The Works Cited page does NOT count toward length requirement. 

Four. Within your argument, address issues of bias, credibility, and relevance.  

Five. Analyze and employ logical structural methods such as inductive and deductive reasoning, cause and effect, logos, ethos, and pathos, and demonstrate understanding of formal and informal fallacies in language and thought.  

Six. You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.

Seven. You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary. 

Eight. You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. 

English 1C

Course Catalog Description:         

This course focuses on the development of critical thinking skills.  Students will apply these skills to the analysis of written arguments in various forms and genres, both classic and contemporary, and to the writing of effective persuasive essays.  Students will learn to evaluate and interpret data, to recognize assumptions, to distinguish facts from opinions, to identify and avoid logical fallacies, to employ deductive and inductive reasoning, and to effectively assert and support argumentative claims.

Course Objectives: 

1. Evaluate arguments in terms of bias, credibility, and relevance.
2. Assess an argument's claims by examining assumptions, by differentiating between facts and inferences, by recognizing errors in logic, by analyzing support, and by identifying both explicit and implied conclusions.
3. Recognize and assess argumentative claims embedded in literary works, advertisements, political tracts, and presentations in other media.
4. Express critical viewpoints and develop original arguments in response to social, political, and philosophical issues and/or to works of literature and literary theory.
5. Demonstrate the ability to evaluate electronic sources and databases, to incorporate research from on-line and print media, and to compose unified, coherent, fully supported argumentative essays that advance their claims by integrating primary and secondary sources, and by employing the tools of critical interpretation, evaluation, and analysis.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course, students will:

1. Compose an argumentative essay that shows an ability to support a claim using analysis, elements of argumentation, and integration of primary and secondary sources.
2. Identify and assess bias, credibility, and relevance in their own arguments and in the arguments of others, including primary and secondary outside sources.
3. Organize an essay in proper MLA format and will also be technically correct in paragraph composition, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and usage.