Netto
English 101 Online
Course Syllabus
Students: This document constitutes my contract
with you. Please read it carefully. You can expect that all policies and
procedures detailed below will be followed to the letter.
Course Objectives:
Welcome to English 101. The
primary objective of this course is the mastery of college level reading and
writing.
The most influential
factor contributing to student success in an English class is the commitment of
the student to complete the required reading and writing
assignments. Understanding the
writing assignments, however, is not enough. In writing these assignments,
you must demonstrate that you have mastered the rhetorical techniques described in your text-book, proper MLA citation, the original
incorporation of research material, and the basic organizational and stylistic
writing skills (paragraphing and grammar are taken for granted) that are
expected entrance skills for this course. Deficiencies in any of these
areas will prohibit a student from passing this course.
As if all the reading and writing weren't bad enough, you've got the whole distance-learning thing to tackle as well. Taking a class on-line requires a unique kind of academic discipline that not every student is capable of. To succeed in this course, you will have to budget carefully your time and resources. You will be forced to rely on your reading and organization skills as you comprehend, plan, and execute the assignments required to assist you with the mastery of course objectives. Half the battle in taking an on-line course is figuring out what to do and when to do it. Carefully reading this syllabus will take you a long way toward this end. Please read and consider the following. Then, you must decide if you are able to commit to completing this course.
Student Learning Objectives:
Students successfully completing ENGL 101 will
1. Demonstrate the ability to read and think critically;
2. Demonstrate the ability to evaluate and articulate the credibility of print and online sources;
3. Demonstrate the legitimate use of scholarly sources by: summarizing and paraphrasing sources; synthesizing multiple sources; integrating source ideas with their own ideas; and avoiding plagiarism by documenting sources according to MLA conventions.
4. Write papers that: demonstrate the use of expository and argumentative or persuasive forms of writing; are correctly formatted according to MLA conventions; demonstrate competent control over written language, including syntax, punctuation, grammar, and spelling; and show evidence of drafting, revising, and editing to reflect an academic style and tone.
Materials:
There is one required
text for this course. It is the eleventh edition of McCuen
and Winkler’s From Idea to Essay (0-321-35561-X). I also recommend the very inexpensive Learning On-line at MJC which will provide instructions
and suggestions for succeeding in an on-line learning environment. Both
of these texts are available from the East Campus Pirate Bookstore. They
are shelved under "online courses" and NOT under English. If
you are unable to acquire these texts from the bookstore, you are responsible
for acquiring them by other means.
You are also required to have
access to this course via the web. Please check the clas
schedule for the suggested system requirements for webCT
and ensure that you have continual (three to five times a week) access to an
appropriate system. You must also have access to software that will
permit you to type, edit, and save documents with a .doc (not .docx), .htm, or .rtf extension. Questions regarding system
requirements and software compatibility can be addressed to the online help
desk at 575-6412.
Class Policies and
Procedures
Your instructor will be available to you. You have three options for
initiating contact with me in the course of the semester: you may post general questions to the
"main" section of the discussion boards, you may e-mail me
through webCT with personal concerns, you may visit me on campus during my scheduled office hours
(Sierra 253).
I will
reach you via webCT e-mail, the discussion boards,
the instructor comment forms attached to your assignments, and the
announcements area of the course home
page. Contacted through the course, I will respond to your
inquiries within 48 hours on the week days.
You are
responsible for timely contact. Unfortunately, when you take an on-line course,
you will not have the kind of access to your instructor that you would in a
class that meets three times a week. You are, therefore, responsible for taking
care of your own technical and personal problems/concerns in a timely manner.
If you e-mail me, for example, the night before a paper is due, you probably won't get a response before the paper is
late. If you have computer difficulties, please work them out with your own
service provider and the MJC on-line help desk before your assignments are
due.
Attendance
is crucial.”
Any student who fails to attend class regularly or during the first session may
be dropped; however, it is the responsibility of the student to complete the
course or to officially withdraw from a class" (MJC Catalog 21).
Deadlines
are absolute. All essays, postings, and assignments are due on the date designated by
the course outline. No late assignments will be accepted and no make-ups will
be given. There will be no exceptions.
Sometimes
the course will not be available. There WILL be instances when webCT is not available. The server requires
maintenance and sometimes is taken down without notice. If you are unable
to access the course, please do not worry. Even if I don't know when the
server is going to go down, I always know when it has gone
down. If the course is unavailable, please be patient. Continue to
check it every 24 hours until it comes up and you are able to complete your
work.
Plagiarism
is illegal. A word about plagiarism: don't do it. Students are regularly caught and
punished for it. If caught, students will fail this course and their cases will
be reported for appropriate discipline. Cheating is also grounds for
punishment. Students are often surprised at the ability of an on-line
instructor to detect cheating; but, cheaters should be aware that webCT provides the instructor with a number of technical
tools solely for this purpose.
Assignments:
Your grade in this course will be determined by your performance
on the following assignments.
Instructions for all of these assignments may be found either on the
Course Home Page (the page with graphics that opens with this class) or on the
Course Menu (the list of links that appears in the left hand frame in the
default view for this class).
I.
Writing the Essay (55% of final
grade)
|
|
5 sets of exercises for 2
points each = 10 points |
|
|
5 quizzes for 2 points each =
10 points |
|
Essays (5,000 words
total): For each of your Essay units, you will write
a polished 1,000 word essay and submit it via the assignments feature. |
5
essays for 10 points each (Lowest score dropped) = 40 points |
II.
Writing the Research Paper (35%
of final grade)
|
Abstracts (1,500 words
total): For each of your research sources, you will
write an abstract and submit it via the journal feature. |
5 abstracts for 1 point each
= 5 points |
|
Research Components
(3,000 words): You will write a works cited page, research
outline, and 3,000 word rough draft for your research paper and submit them via the journal
feature. |
1 point for outline and 2
points for works cited page and rough draft = 5 points |
|
Research Paper (3,000
words): You will submit a final draft of your
research paper via the assignments feature.
|
20
points |
III.
Final Exam (10% of final grade)
|
Final Exam (800 words): Students will write
a timed, final essay during the last week of the semester. |
Final Exam = 10 points |
Your Grade (100%): Your grade will be determined by the total
number of points you earn on all course work.
There are 100 available points.
Students with a total of 90-100 points will earn an A, students with a
total of 80-89 points will earn a B, students with a total of 70-79 points will
earn a C, students with a total of 60-69 points will earn a D, students with a
total of 0-59 points will earn an F. You
may easily keep track of your own scores, and you may refer to the “My Grades”
link on the Course Menu for an update.
All of the above assignments must be
completed before the due dates published on the course calendar. The
course calendar is available through the link on the course menu. Any work that is late (or improperly
submitted: including work that is e-mailed, faxed, or dropped off) will NOT be
accepted. There will be no exceptions made to this policy, under any
circumstances.