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Syllabus Template
Course Title:
Academic Writing 10600
Term:
Fall 2014
Final Exam Date:
XXXXXXXXXX
Instructor:
Name and Email
Office Location/Hours:
XXXXXXXXXXX
Required Materials
XXXXXXXXXXX
Catalog Description: This introductory, freshman-level course teaches students how to read
perceptively and write coherently in college courses. Students learn to comprehend, critique, and
respond to college readings by writing analytical essays ranging from single-source papers to
evaluations of the claims and evidence in a number of readings. Typical assignments include
single-source critiques and multiple-source syntheses. The course emphasizes thoughtful and
responsible use of sources. May satisfy departmental and school requirements for a level-1
writing course.
Course Description: (Our SLOs are based on the WPA Outcomes, which are described
below. Whether or not you include the criteria definitions is up to you. Also, feel free to
modify the course description if you plan to thematize your course.)
This course will help you develop or refine the writing and reading abilities that you need to
function within the academic community. To achieve that goal, we focus on four areas:
Rhetorical knowledge
Critical thinking, reading, and writing
Processes
Knowledge of conventions
Rhetorical knowledge: Writers who are “rhetorically aware” analyze the social contexts that
create occasions for writing and consider the needs of potential audiences. This course will
improve your rhetorical awareness so that you can function independently as a college writer and
make wise choices about content, format, and style. You will be encouraged to become an active
participant in discussions that are ongoing in academic literature and public discourse.
Critical thinking, reading, and writing: The reading and writing assignments in this course will
challenge you to work with complex ideas. Through class discussions and writing projects, you
will analyze and synthesize multiple viewpoints presented in sources and develop cogent
arguments to articulate and support your own claims. You will also be encouraged to draw on
your prior knowledge and personal experience as you read and write.
Processes: This course emphasizes a process approach to writing that involves critical thinking,
drafting, and revising. Writing takes time, and hard work is more important than natural ability.
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In the weeks preceding a full draft due date, you will produce a range of preliminary writing
pieces that may include summaries of or responses to readings, freewriting exercises, audience
analysis exercises, and journal entries. You will revise your initial drafts based on peer review
and/or individual conferences.
Knowledge of conventions: Academic writers typically back up their assertions with support
from published sources and follow standard procedures for borrowing and documenting those
ideas. They also observe conventions for organizational structure, grammar, usage, and
mechanics. This course will identify those conventions that extend across the academic
community, but also indicate points where conventions vary according to genre and context. You
will learn to make conscious decisions about certain elements of writing—for example, level of
formality—as you approach each new occasion for writing.
Course Objectives
By the end of the semester, students will: (Feel Free to Modify the Course Objectives Based
on Your Goals as the Instructor. You could also use the WPA Outcome above as your
course objectives)
● Develop a rhetorical awareness of social contexts and situations in which writing emerges
and evolves
● Work with various texts and writing assignments that advance and complicate critical
thinking abilities, beliefs, and assumptions
● Learn about the process of invention and revision
● Acquire knowledge of correct grammar, style, and syntax
● Learn to access and evaluate reliable and credible online sources and responsibly
integrate information into writing to advance critical claims
● Learn to work both independently and collaboratively to meet personal learning goals and
the goals of the course
● Develop a metacognitive awareness of the learning process
Technical Skill Level (Optional)
● Monitor emails daily
● Use Sakai and Google account
● Use various online sites, including the library databases, to complete the requirements for
the course
Student Conduct (Optional): The following activities can result in failure of the course:
Trolling. Wikipedia defines a troll as “someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or
off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the
primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response….” For example, a racist
or misogynistic comment unrelated to the discussion would be viewed as inflammatory.
On the other hand, inflammatory comments related to the discussion should have an
academic purpose and should keep audience in mind. Refrain from insulting classmates
or the instructor and refrain from using profanity for the sole purpose of demeaning
another.
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Sexual Harassment. The following stance on sexual harassment is retrieved from the
Ithaca College Policy Manual:
“Sexual harassment may take a variety of forms and refers to a broad spectrum of
conduct ranging from unwelcome sexual comments to physical assault.
In keeping with the E.E.O.C. Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Sex (29 CFR
1604. 11), Ithaca College defines sexual harassment as unwelcome sexual advances,
requests for sexual favors, and other physical and expressive behavior of a sexual nature
when:
1 submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or
condition of an individual’s employment or academic status; or
2 submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis
for employment or academic decisions affecting the individual; or
3 such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an
individual’s professional or academic performance, or of creating an
intimidating, hostile, or offensive employment or educational environment.”
Plagiarism. The college stance on plagiarism is retrieved from the Ithaca College
website (http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/theatre/resources/academics/honesty/): (You
should make reference to the IC plagiarism policy. It’s optional to include the entire
policy):
“Whether intended or not, plagiarism is a serious offense against academic honesty.
Under any circumstances, it is deceitful to represent as one’s own work writing or ideas
that belong to another person. Students should be aware how this offense is defined:
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of someone else’s published or unpublished ideas,
whether this use consists of directly quoted material or paraphrased ideas.
Although various disciplines follow styles of documentation that differ in some details,
all forms of documentation make the following demands:
■ That each quotation or paraphrase be acknowledged with footnotes or in-text
citation;
■ That direct quotations be enclosed in quotation marks and be absolutely faithful to
the wording of the source;
■ That paraphrased ideas be stated in language entirely different from the language
of the source;
■ That a sequence of ideas identical to that of a source be attributed to that source;
■ That all the sources the writer has drawn from in paraphrase or direct quotation or
a combination of paraphrase and quotation be listed at the end of the paper under
“Bibliography,” “References,” or “Works Cited,” whichever heading the
particular style of documentation requires.
A student is guilty of plagiarism if he/she fails, intentionally or not, to follow any of these
standard requirements of documentation.
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In a collaborative project, all students in the group may be held accountable for academic
misconduct if they engage in plagiarism or are aware of plagiarism by others in their
group and fail to report it. Students who participate in a collaborative project in which
plagiarism has occurred will not be held accountable if they were not knowledgeable of
the plagiarism.
What, then, do students not have to document? They need not cite their own ideas,
references to their own experiences, or information that falls in the category of
uncontroversial common knowledge (what a person reasonably well-informed about a
subject might be expected to know.) They should acknowledge anything else.
Other Forms of Academic Dishonesty. Other violations of academic honesty include, but
are not limited to, the following behaviors:
● Submitting a class paper written by someone else;
● Submitting a paper one has already submitted to another course;
● Submitting the same paper simultaneously to two courses without the full
knowledge and explicit consent of all the faculty members involved; and
● Having someone else rewrite or clean up a rough draft and submitting those
revisions as one's own work;
The above offenses violate the atmosphere of trust and mutual respect necessary to the
process of learning.”
Work Responsibilities (Optional): Assignment details and deadlines are updated on a weekly
basis. Each week, it is your responsibility to review all assignment details and deadlines. This
information is available in Sakai. All assignments must be submitted by the due date to receive
credit. Late work will receive zero credit. At my discretion, extra credit will be allowed. On
average, students should expect to engage in approximately 9 hours of reading/writing-related
activities.
Writing Projects (Optional) (Provide brief project/assignment descriptions as a way for
students to determine if the course is a right fit for them):
Writing Projects:
1. Rhetorical Analysis: For this assignment, students will use Microsoft Publisher (or its
equivalent) to design a newsletter and provide a rhetorical analysis of a published essay. To
complete this project, students will learn about the rhetorical situation; how to read rhetorically;
how to conduct a genre analysis; how to analyze the socio-cultural context of a writing situation;
and how to communicate with text, images, and information design principles.
Requirements: ~1500 words.
2. Research Narrative: Once students have completed their rhetorical analysis of a published
essay, students will select one issue raised from their rhetorical analysis to investigate further. To
complete this project, students will learn about inquiry-based learning, develop their information
literacy skills by using the library databases, synthesize multiple texts and perspectives,
summarize efficiently and concisely, apply rhetorical devices such as the they/say I/say
structures and Given/New principles to establish sentence and paragraph cohesion, and learn to
write with direction and purpose.
Requirements: ~1500 Words, Times New Roman 12 Font, 1-inch Borders.
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3. Argument Project: Now that students have fully analyzed the rhetorical situation and
conducted background research, they are ready to write a focused thesis statement. The direction
and purpose of their argument project will derive from the work completed in the two prior
assignments. To complete this project, students will learn about effective and ineffective thesis
statements, myths about academic writing, writing with authority, writing toward complexity,
writing with direction, and about introductions and conclusions.
Requirements: ~2000 Words or 4 Pages single-spaced, Times New Roman 12 Font, 1-inch
Borders.
4. Final Portfolio: Students will submit a portfolio with all final drafts and a reflective analysis
that articulates the ways in which your writing is meeting, trying to meet, or has meet the
learning objectives for the assignment and the course. Fifty percent of the portfolio grade is
based on the quality of the reflective analysis piece. The other 50% is based on the quality and
quantity of revision in all final drafts.
Requirements: ~750 Words, Times New Roman 12 Font, 1-inch Borders.
By the end of the semester, students will produce approximately 5750 words of final revised
prose.
Conferences (Optional)
Students are required to attend at least one conference appointment for the semester. Failure to
arrive to your conference appointment on time will result in a 25-point reduction in participation.
Participation (Optional)
Participation is determined by your activities in online and in-class discussions, learning
activities, peer review, and drafting:
 Participation in online class discussions involves meeting a minimum word count, as
indicated by the assignment guidelines, and providing thoughtful and comprehensive
original posts and responses to peer posts. The posts can take tangents and use colloquial
language; however, it’s still important to proofread your work. Participation in in-class
discussions involves making connections between class readings, personal experience,
prior knowledge, and the online discussions. Students are encouraged to share insightful
comments, worries, objections, revelations, and sincere questions.
 Online learning activities may include reading quizzes, wikis, reading responses,
annotation records, video responses, and/or concept maps.
 Peer review is the social and rhetorical process of providing constructive critical feedback
and suggestions for revision. Peer commentary that predominantly praises student work
without addressing the peer review questions will receive zero credit.
 Each writing project will require anywhere from 2-4 drafts (possibly more) depending on
students’ rhetorical objectives, the assignment guidelines, and peer/instructor feedback.
 On average, students should expect to read and write about 9 hours a week.
Grade Breakdown
Use percentages, points, or a combination of both to breakdown the major assignments and
projects for the course. You may also consider including participation as well. As you see above,
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I have defined what participation means in my course, which helps to mitigate grade disputes.
Moreover, students learn how to succeed as a student in your class.
Writing Projects
Rhetorical Analysis 10%
Research 20%
Argument 30%
Participation 20%
Homework
Online Discussion
Class Activities
Peer Review
Drafting
Reading Quizzes 10%
Reflections 10%
Grading Scale:
100-97; 96-93; 92-90=A+; A; A89-87; 86-83; 82-80= B+; B; B79-77; 76-73; 72-70 =C+; C; C69-67; 66-63; 62-60 =D+; D; D59-57; 56-53; 52-50 =F
Assessment Guidelines (Optional)
Provide a philosophical rationale for your assessment policies. This brief statement instructs
students of your values and goals as their instructor. You could also explain your assessment
methods, such as the use of points, checkmarks, percentages, formative feedback, and summative
feedback on assignments and major projects.
Each of the writing projects will apply assessment measures (e.g., rubric, checklist, performance
criteria) appropriate for the project objectives. In general, A projects are the result of multiple
revisions, hard work, planning, and social interaction with fellow classmates and the instructor.
[Students may meet the minimum requirements delineated in a prompt and meet all the
expectations for revision, yet not obtain an A if students require more time and help to produce
excellent work]. However, students are encouraged to do substantial revision on any major
writing project for a better grade. Substantial revision addresses macro and micro-level problems
in writing, such as thesis statement development, paragraph organization and coherence, content
development, synthesis, and analysis.
Note: Failure to follow the assignment instructions and meet the expectations of an assignment
could lead to a zero or a reduction in points.
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Attendance
Specify the number of absences allotted before a grade reduction occurs. Below is an example of
my attendance policy for a MWF course:
3 absences =zero grade reduction
4 absences=drop 3% (100%=97% or 91%=88%)
5 absences = drop 6% (100%=94% or 91%=85%)
6 absences=drop 12%
7 absences =drop 24%
8 absences=drop 36%
9 absences*=failure of the course
Make sure you include the following statement in your absence policy:
*Students with accumulated absences equivalent to three weeks of class will be dropped from the
course by the withdrawal deadline, even if all absences are excused. After the withdrawal
deadline, students with 9 absences will fail the course.
You may also want to specify whether absences due to major illnesses or emergencies are
exempt. I do not excuse these absences because I do not want to play the role of arbitrator.
Instead, I allow up to 3 make-up absences in which students attend department readings and
provide summative reports of the reading. It is important to note that absences due to religious
holidays are excused at Ithaca College. You are not required to excuse absences due to sportsrelated events.
E-Portfolio Requirement
Taskstream is the Ithaca College ePortfolio assessment system for the Integrative Core
Curriculum (ICC). On the Taskstream homepage, students will view an icon for the ICC
Directed Response Folio (DRF) program. The ICC DRF will include place markers for students
to upload artifacts for the Ithaca Seminar, the four perspectives (Natural Sciences, Humanities,
Social Sciences, and Sciences), Academic Writing 10600, Quantitative Literacy, Diversity,
Writing Intensive, Complementary Liberal Arts (CLA), and the ICC capstone. At the end of the
semester, students will upload a minimum of one artifact that makes and supports a claim;
locates him or herself in an ongoing conversation in academic or public discourse; and interacts
with two or more sources. In addition to this one artifact, students will upload a reflection (e.g.,
literacy narrative, reflection letter, reflection analysis, questionnaire). Guidelines for the
reflection will be provided by the instructor of the course.
Student Work
With student permission, student work may be used in subsequent classes or for future research.
Consent forms and student approval would be required first.
Restrictions
If you have taken any writing course at another institution for which you received college
transfer credit, you may be ineligible for WRTG-10600 and should immediately discuss your
situation with the instructor.
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Students who have completed the AP English Language and Composition exam or AP Literature
and Composition exam and earned a score of 4 or 5 may be ineligible for WRTG-10600.
Students w/ Disabilities
In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with
Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodation will be provided to students with documented
disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Students must register with Student Disabilities Services and
provide appropriate documentation to the College before any academic adjustment will be
provided.
Academic Advising Center
As a complement to a student faculty advisor(s), the professional academic advisors in the
Academic Advising Center are available to help students discuss the outcomes of academic
decisions, explore academic choices and alternatives, and examine the consequences of changing
a major or adding a minor. Advisors can also provide appropriate referrals to other campus
offices and resources. Students (first year through senior) from any major can make an
appointment to meet with a professional academic advisor by calling 607-274-1001 or
emailing advisingcenter@ithaca.edu. Students can also meet with an advisor during drop-in
hours (no appointment needed) between 9:00 and 4:00 Monday through Friday. The Academic
Advising Center is located at 130A Rothschild Place (next to the Park School of
Communication). Office hours are Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. Additional information on the AAC as well as useful links to advising information and
campus resources is available on our web site at www.ithaca.edu/advising.
Mental Health Support and Resources
Diminished mental health, including significant stress, mood changes, excessive worry, or
problems with eating and/or sleeping can interfere with optimal academic performance. The
source of symptoms might be related to your course work; if so, please speak with me. However,
problems with relationships, family worries, loss, or a personal struggle or crisis can also
contribute to decreased academic performance.
Ithaca College provides cost-free mental health services through the Center for Counseling and
Psychological Services (CAPS) to help you manage personal challenges that threaten your
personal or academic well-being.
In the event I suspect you need additional support, expect that I will express to you my concerns
and the reasons for them. It is not my intent to know the details of what might be troubling you,
but simply to let you know I am concerned and that help (e.g., CAPS, Health Center, Chaplains,
etc.), if needed, is available.
Remember, getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do -- for yourself and for your loved
ones.
Major Deadlines (Optional)
All assignment and essay deadlines can be accessed within Sakai.
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Note: Please note that all dates are subject to change at any time. It is your responsibility to
access Sakai on a daily basis to receive the latest updates.