CRTW201 Syllabus Fall 2009

CRTW201: Critical Reading, Thinking, and Writing (3.0 hrs)
Fall 2009
This page was last updated on 04/22/2010

Section 12
TR 3:30
Owens 207

Dr. Jo Koster
228 Bancroft Hall
803-323-4557
kosterj@winthrop.edu
Office Hours: W, R 1-3 pm; and gladly by appointment

[Texts] [ Goals & Outcomes] [Grading] [ Instructor Access]
[Calendar of Readings and Assignments] [Online Participation]
[Saving Your Papers] [Plagiarism] [Turnitin.com] [Revisions]
[Late Papers] [Attendance & Flu] [Accommodations]
[Other Things You Should Know About This Class]
[Calvin & Hobbes on CRTW]

Texts:

Nosich, Gerald. Learning to Think Things Through 3rd ed. Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-813242-9.

Harris, Muriel, ed. Prentice Hall Reference Guide to Grammar and Usage. 6th or 7th ed. Prentice Hall.

Rosenwasser, David, & Jill Stephen. Writing Analytically. 5^th ed. Thomson/Wadsworth. ISBN: 1-4282-2989-2.

Wilson, Edward O. The Future of Life. Vintage. ISBN: 0-679-76811-4.

Goals

To recognize critical thinking and problem solving strategies in different academic disciplines and for different audiences.

To evaluate arguments, evidence, and the contexts in which they appear.

To prepare for writing by carefully analyzing evidence and demonstrating successful application of analytic skills.

To plan, organize, and develop essays based on introspection, general observation, deliberation, research, and the critical reading of mature prose texts drawn from varied disciplines.

To learn to revise effectively by completely rethinking, restructuring, and rewriting essays.

To recognize individual writing voices and learn how those voices can be adapted to fit different audiences and rhetorical situations.

To improve oral communication skills through class discussions and small group activities.

To successfully demonstrate the mastery of effective critical reading skills.

To successfully construct written analyses and both inductive and deductive arguments.

To demonstrate successful mastery of MLA documentation according to The Correct Use of Borrowed Information.

See a complete listing of course goals for the Department of English at http://www.winthrop.edu/english/goals/index.htm. CRTW 201 is a Touchstone course and was designed to help meet goals 1, 3, 4, and 7 of that program.

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge: By the end of the semester, students will be able to

identify and define filters, barriers, and impediments to critical thinking
identify and define the elements of reasoning
identify and define the standards of reasoning
identify and define the character traits of a critical thinker
apply the elements of reasoning to analyze their own thinking and the thinking of others
apply the standards of reasoning to analyze their own thinking and the thinking of others
use critical reading strategies to analyze a variety of texts
plan, draft, and revise critical writing in a variety of rhetorical contexts and disciplines
effectively discuss their thinking and the thinking of others in a variety of oral forms (e.g. discussions, group presentations, etc.).
integrate critical thinking character traits into their academic and personal lives
recognize and appreciate the differences between critical and noncritical thinking in both themselves and others

Grading and Assignments:

Assignment	% of Grade
Three 7-9 pp. essays (papers 1, 2, & 3)	Each: 10%
Group presentation and resulting essay	10%
Researched Argument (10-12 pp. exclusive of WC)	25%
Online Writing and other informal writing	10%
Class participation	10%
Final Exam	15%

Grading Standards

If you do not receive at least a C- or S grade in CRTW 201, you must repeat the course to graduate. I do not check to see if you are S/Uing the class until I submit final grades, so everyone is treated equally. In this class, I will be using plus/minus grades and the following conversion scale:

A 94-100; A- 91-93; B+ 88-90; B 84-87; B- 81-83; C+ 78-80; C 74-77; C- 71-73; D+ 68-70; D 64-67; D- 61-63; F 0-60

WebCT

We will be using WebCT for some of our course activities this semester. I will provide you log-in information and more details about this in the second week of class.

Saving Papers

The department keeps all students' papers from the course; I will be archiving graded papers on turnitin.com, but if you ask for hand-graded papers, you must save these papers and turn them in for storage at the end of the semester.. Your papers may be randomly selected for assessment efforts. If yours is selected, all identifying information will be removed before it is used in the assessment process.

Syllabus Change Policy

This policy statement posted on my class web page is the most up-to-date one and will be the one we use to resolve any questions or issues. Please note the effective date; the up-to-date one is the applicable version in case of questions.

Instructor Access

You can expect me to be available as a resource from which to draw and to obtain feedback. I am very responsive to email questions as long as I know who the email is from and have all information necessary to provide a complete answer. Please be sure to “sign” your emails as oftentimes email names are confusing at best (brownb1@winthrop.edu could be Bob Brown or Beth Brown). Please make sure to speak slowly and comprehensibly if leaving a voicemail so that I can decipher the name, message, and return phone number as well.

What you cannot expect of me is to be available 24/7. While I do check my email, online spaces (Facebook, Twitter), and voicemail regularly, including weekends (if I am in town), I do not necessarily check them more than once a day or late in the evenings. Therefore, if you procrastinate on an assignment, you may not have the information you need to complete the assignment appropriately. Please plan your time accordingly to maximize the probability that you will receive a response in time for it to be useful.

Plagiarism Policy

Please review the English Department’s policy on Using Borrowed Information at http://www.winthrop.edu/english/plagiarism.htm. You are responsible for reviewing the Code of Student Conduct in your Student Handbook and the description of plagiarism in The Prentice-Hall Reference Guide to Grammar and Usage and handling source materials correctly. If you turn in plagiarized work, I reserve the right to assign you a failing grade for the paper or even for the course. The University Policy on Plagiarism is explained at http://www.winthrop.edu/studentaffairs/Judicial/judcode.htm under section V, "Academic Misconduct."

Revision Policy

If you receive a C or lower on papers 1 or 2, you must revise these papers and submit those revisions by the assigned dates. If your grade is higher than C, the choice of revising is yours, but revision is not required. The grades on those revisions will be averaged in with the first grade for the paper. If you choose not to submit a revision by the assigned date, you are conceding that you accept the first grade on the paper. It may be possible to revise the cultural events paper; you may discuss those possibilities with me individually. Revisions of the research paper are at the instructor's discretion; no one who fails to bring in a complete rough draft of that paper to the scheduled conference will be given the opportunity to revise. A detailed description of revision is found on the Revision Page.

Turnitin.com Policy

We will be using www.turnitin.com this semester for all out-of-class papers; I will give you the ID# and password in class. Papers not submitted to www.turnitin.com will not receive a grade. You will only need to submit a "hard copy" of your research paper; all other papers can be submitted electronically and will be graded online. If you want more extensive, handwritten comments, then also turn in a hard copy of your paper; it's your choice.

If you do not receive a receipt by e-mail when you submit a paper to Turnitin, assume that the paper was NOT accepted and resubmit it. It's your responsibility to ensure that your paper shows up in the appropriate folder on time. Keep the e-mail receipt for all papers in case of questions. I recommend uploading papers from Internet Explorer (not Firefox or Chrome) as .doc, .rtf, or .pdf files, since those seem to cause the least amount of trouble.

Attendance Policy	Winthrop policy is that students who miss more than 25% of the classes in a semester (in a twice-weekly class, 7 classes) cannot receive credit for the course. In this class, if you miss more than 4 classes, you will be on attendance probation. Each absence after the fourth will lower your final grade by 3 points. If you arrive more than ten minutes late for class, you're counted tardy; two tardies count as one absence.
Flu Policy	We all know that H1N1 flu and other nasty versions are out there. These strains are particularly contagious. If you think you have the flu, have flu-like symptoms, or have been exposed to the flu, STAY HOME FROM CLASS. E-mail me, and call Crawford (323-2206); isolate yourself. Don't drag yourself to class and infect all of us (especially your instructor, who will become very cranky if she gets sick.) We will accommodate flu-related absences if necessary.
Late Paper/ Assignment Policies	Hard copies of all assignments are expected in www.turnitin.com by the assigned time and date unless you are taking your extension. It is your responsibility to see that I get your papers on time. You may submit one late out-of-class assignment during the term [late meaning due one class period after it is due], provided that you notify me you are taking this extension at least one day before the assignment is due; no explanation is needed. Any unexcused late papers will be thoroughly marked and commented on but will receive a grade no higher than 68 (and probably lower). However, No late research papers can be accepted. There's just not enough time to grade them. Under no circumstances will an assignment be accepted more than two class periods after the due date; it will receive a grade of zero. Failure to submit any graded assignment means failure for the course. No exceptions! Failure to bring a rough draft for a class workshop or mandatory conference will lower your grade for that paper by 8 points and earn you two absences. If a paper is not returned to you within 10 days, ASK ABOUT IT!!!!!
Student Code of Conduct	As noted in the Student Conduct Code: “Responsibility for good conduct rests with students as adult individuals.” The policy on student academic misconduct is outlined in the “Student Conduct Code Academic Misconduct Policy” in the online Student Handbook (http://www2.winthrop.edu/studentaffairs/handbook/StudentHandbook.pdf).
Duplicate Submission of Assignments	You may not submit a paper for a grade in this class that already has been (or will be) submitted for a grade in another course, unless you obtain the explicit written permission of me and the other instructor involved in advance. This is to conform to the Student Code of Conduct, §V, which states: "Academic misconduct includes but is not limited to … presenting the same or substantially the same papers or projects in two or more courses without the explicit permission of the professors involved." (Student Code of Conduct §V: http://www.winthrop.edu/studentaffairs/Judicial/judcode.htm )
Accommodations	If you have a disability and need classroom accommodations, please contact Ms. Gena Smith, Coordinator, Services for Students with Disabilities, at 323-3290, as soon as possible. Once you have your professor notification letter, please notify me so that I am aware of your accommodations well before the first accommodated assignment is due.
Safe Zones Statement	The professor considers this classroom to be a place where you will be treated with respect as a human being – regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, political beliefs, age, or ability. Additionally, diversity of thoughts is appreciated and encouraged, provided you can agree to disagree. It is the professor’s expectation that ALL students consider the classroom a safe environment.
Cultural Events Requirement	You will be asked to attend several (2-3) cultural events this semester as part of a graded writing assignment. I will give you advance warning of these and will provide several options to accommodate varying schedules, etc. Because there are so many options over the twelve-week period of the assignment, everyone should be able to attend at least one. Therefore, there are no excuses for failure to complete the assignment.
Technology Requirements	I conduct most of my business with students using e-mail and our class Facebook group. If you do not have an e-mail account, go to 15 Tillman immediately to set it up. All class e-mail will be sent to your campus e-mail address, so make sure you set it to forward to any off-campus account you use (e.g. Comporium, AOL, Yahoo!, etc.) You must have a working Winthrop Mailbox e-mail address by August 31, 2009. All students must subscribe to the class listserve. All students must participate in the class Facebook group.
Other Expectations	I've been teaching for over 25 years, and I've been teaching this class since it was a pilot course. I have a pretty good idea about what's required to pass it, and I have a good track record of helping students succeed in it. If you'll do what I ask you to do, you have an excellent chance of getting the results you want. If you don't do what you're asked to do, you're jeopardizing your chances. That choice is up to you. If you are not enthusiastic about being in this course, fake it. Fifteen weeks is not forever. You must participate to succeed in this class. If you need to make a certain grade in this class to maintain a GPA or keep a scholarship, the time to start working on it is at the beginning of the semester, not in Week 13. Experience has shown that keeping up with the online writing does more to improve your average than multiple revisions of an average paper; use your time strategically. You are responsible for ensuring that your paper is accepted by turnitin.com on time--always keep the e-mail receipt that shows when your paper was received in case of later questions. I'm not your mom and I don't nag you. If you don't turn a paper in, don't expect me to ask you where it is. It's your responsibility to make sure your paper is in turnitin.com on time and that I get the right version. If you don't get a graded paper back within 10 days of submitting it, it's also your responsibility to ask me what's going on. I expect to see visible signs you are doing assigned work, such as annotations in your book, note-taking in class, online entries, reading notes, etc. If I do not see those signs, your class participation grade will be affected significantly. Again, this is a choice you can make to improve your success in the class. If you are not prepared for class, I reserve the right to send you to the library for the class period to do your preparation and will count you absent for that day. It’s not fair to other people who have done the preparation to have to drag you along with them. So be prepared! Multitasking other than what is required for CRTW is not appropriate during class time. Cell phones, iPods, and other communications devices must be turned off in class.* If they disrupt the class you will be graded absent for the day. Text messaging or checking Facebook or personal messages is not permitted during class. Repeat offenses may earn you an "F" for class participation for the semester. (If necessary, I will designate a student to leave a cell phone on to access the Alertus system.) I will do my best to keep my office hours but emergencies sometimes arise. If I can't keep hours I will e-mail the class discussion list and try to get someone to put a note on my office door. Failure to prepare or use time wisely on your part does not* constitute an emergency on my part. Sleep in your rooms, not in my class. I do not read minds. If something is going on that affects your work in the class, you need to tell me about it. I won’t just sense that "something’s wrong." If some life crisis arises that will make you miss a lot of class, tell me as soon as you realize this—don’t disappear for three weeks, then come back and say, "Uh, did you miss me?" There are accommodations that can be made if you give reasonable notification but few or none if you don't.
Calendar	http://faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj/crtw201.htm The calendar on this website will be updated frequently and will be official, so check it often.