DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES,
LITERTURES, AND LINGUISTICS
DLLL 1001
University Literacies & Belonging
Course Section: DLLL1001 (B)
Course Director: Dr. Jacqueline Ng
ASSIGNMENT EVALUATION
Evaluation of course work will be weighted as follows:
Assessment
Active learning and Participation:
Students will participate in regular, active and informed inclass and online activities and experiential educational (EE)
tasks
In-class & online activities: e.g. group discussions, verbal
reports, informal writing exercises, reading responses, selfassessments, peer feedback etc.
EE activities: e.g. scavenger hunt, campus discovery walk,
field trip etc.
Wiki Diary: Bi-weekly eClass reflections based on provided
prompts
Reflective Learning Journals:
Students will submit at least three journal entries (300-500
words each) over the course of the term, responding to
provided reflection prompts, given as part of each week’s
follow-up activities.
University Literacies Inquiry Project:
Students will conduct research about a university policy or
campus resource and share their learning outcomes with the
class through an oral presentation. It comprises of 3 stepbased tasks to scaffold and support completion of the
project:
1. Proposal exercise
2. Summarizing and Paraphrasing exercise:
3. Oral presentation
Due Date
Weight %
Completed on
a weekly basis 30%
Sundays by
11:50 pm
#1 by Sep 15
#2 by Sep 29
#3 by Nov 10
#4 by Nov 24
30%
#1 by Oct 06
#2 by Oct 27
#3 during
Units 11 and
12 class
sessions
40%
10%
10%
20%
100%
All course assignments will be evaluated using the Faculty of LA&PS grading scheme. The final
letter grade for the course will be calculated on the basis of the following conversion table:
A+
90 -100
Exceptional
A
80-89
Excellent
B+
75-79
Very good
B
70-74
Good
C+
65-69
Competent
C
60-64
Fairly competent
D+
55-59
Passing
D
50-54
Barely passing
E
40-49
Marginally failing
F
0-39
Failing
Evaluation Policies:
-
-
Under normal circumstances, students will receive graded feedback worth at least 30% of
the final grade prior to the final withdrawal date from the course without receiving a
grade.
Specific evaluation details and grading rubrics will be provided for each assignment
throughout the academic term. In general, assignments are evaluated based on content,
structure/organization, language use, and academic conventions (citations/references and
formatting).
Assignments with plagiarized material are considered as violations of Academic Honesty
Policy. See the Academic Integrity section of the course syllabus for more details.
It is the students’ responsibility to be aware of their grades and standing in the course.
Please check grades on assignments as soon as they are returned and contact the professor
if you have any questions.
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ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTRIONS & RUBRICS
For each major assignment, a detailed assessment rubric will be uploaded to the Assignment
Folder on eClass at least 2 weeks prior to the assignment due date.
I. Active learning and Participation (30%)
Students are expected to demonstrate active engagement with the course readings/materials and
meaningful contributions to online tasks. You need respond to questions raised by the instructor
and your classmates. Your responses should be respectful and demonstrate your understanding of
course materials and your ability to relate them to your prior experiences. Your grade for the
active learning tasks is cumulative and is based on your overall preparedness, consistent effort,
and progress in the assignments throughout the academic term. Please note that this grade is not
simply based on class attendance. To receive a full grade, you need to demonstrate your
engagement and participation in both in-person and asynchronous learning activities. You
will be asked to interact with course materials and your peers by completing activities including:
Wiki Diary: You will work on a bi-weekly reflection based on the topic and prompts provided.
Please read instructions on eClass and submit your work to the “Wiki Diary” assignment folder.
Experiential education (EE) learning tasks: You will participate in EE activities (e.g. scavenger
hunt, campus walk, Student Learning Success workshops etc), inside and outside the classroom,
to explore important campus resources and connect academic learning with real-life practice.
Library workshop: You will attend a library workshop/module to learn about library resources,
research tools and strategies, and effective measures to formulate your research question, select,
cite and annotate sources, and consequently enhance your academic writing skills.
ESL Open Learning Centre (OLC):You will sign up an OLC theme class (e.g. academic
presentation, academic reading and grammar, principles of academic writing, vocabulary and
collocations, successful learning strategies etc.) and write a reflection on the impact of one of the
theme classes on your academic learning. You are also encouraged to bring an assignment draft
to OLC for one-to-one consultation to receive constructive feedback.
Asynchronous eClass activities: You will work independently or collaboratively on eClass
activities, e.g., discussion forum, verbal reports, informal writing exercises, reading responses,
self-assessment, peer feedback etc.
Assessment criteria:
Your active learning and participation will be assessed in a holistic approach at the discretion of
the course director based on the following guiding criteria:
1) Quality and quantity of participation and engagement in all class activities including in-person
and weekly online activities;
2) Preparedness for each class with good understandings of required course materials;
3) Overall learning attitude and 'visible'/ noticeable efforts to participate in all class activities in a
respectful and supportive manner throughout the course
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II. Reflective Learning Journals (30%)
Throughout the academic term, you will be participating in various experiential educational (EE)
learning activities (see above). After each EE activity, you will reflect on your learning
experience in a reflective learning journal. You may choose to submit 3 journal entries over 4
topics. Or you can submit 4 journal entries and the top 3 (with the highest marks) will be counted
towards your final grade.
As you explore during a campus discovery walk, take photos of the objects and signs that catch
your attention and represent the educational, social, cultural values of our university. While
exploring and learning new insights, please keep track of what sparks your attention and interest:
➢ Take photos of the significant and relevant objects
➢ Take field notes by jotting down your thoughts and relevant information
➢ Document all learning resources (including texts, images, photos, video clips) in APA
Prepare for the reflective learning journal: You may come up with an eye-catching title for your
journal, followed by 1-2 body paragraph(s). You may end your reflection with a summary of
your main ideas or with an important message. Each journal entry is expected to be 300-500
words-long. You may use the following guiding questions:
1) What have you learnt by participating in this experiential education (EE) learning
activity? What was particularly important and useful? Describe your experience with
specific examples.
2) How did your learning experience from this EE activity connect with the topics/
concepts/ knowledge/ skills discussed in the course readings/ materials? Provide relevant
examples to illustrate your thought. Use at least two course materials with APA
references.
Topics of journal entries:
• Learning Journal Reflection #1: In your 300 -500words report, describe each of the three
university services that you visited in the last weeks (e.g., as part of Scavenger Hunt EE
activity) and how you might use them this year to support your success. Sept 15 Due
• Learning Journal Reflection #2: In your 300-500 words report, explain active reading
strategies addressed in the course resources and class discussions addressed in the past
weeks and reflect on your strategies to effective reading, providing specific examples of
your own reading of course readings (using materials of this course and/or your other
courses). Sept 29 Due
• Learning Journal Reflection #3: In your 300-500 words report, reflecting on the course
materials and class discussions so far, identify three most important academic literacies
and skills required to succeed in your current university studies. Provide specific areas
and examples wherein the academic skills will be used and critically reflect on / examine
your own competency and satisfaction in those literacies and skills. Nov 10 Due
• [Optional] Learning Journal Reflection #4: Reflect on one of the class topics addressed
as part of Units 8 - 12. Nov 24 Due
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Reflective Learning Journals Assessment Rubric (30%, with 10% each entry)
Assessment Criteria
1. Depth of reflection
- Exceeds expectations: The entry clearly connects relevant experiences and
examples to the topic and assigned readings, and demonstrates a high level of
critical thinking and reflection. 40
- Meets expectations: The entry is written as a reflection and provides some
relevant examples or experiences. 30
- Meets expectations to some extent: The entry is a summary of course material
(e.g., the assigned readings and resources) but includes little reflection related to
personal experiences and examples on the topic. 20
- Barely meets expectations: The entry briefly discusses the topic but does not
demonstrate relevant reflection and personal experiences. 10
- Does not meet expectations: The entry does not include any reflection 0
2. Incorporation of course readings and resources
- Exceeds expectations: All assigned readings are thoughtfully and meaningfully
incorporated in the student's reflection of the topic and the course readings/
resources are referenced with appropriate reference formatting. 40
- Meets expectations: The assigned readings are included in the entry as brief
summaries with relatively well formatted references; however, more in-depth
and critical engagement with course resources required. 30
- Meets expectations to some extent: The entry incorporates course resources.
Yet, the integration of the resources to reflection does not go beyond a
superficial discussion/mention. Also, the entry includes numerous major and
minor referencing issues. 20
- Barely meets expectations: The entry touches the surface of the topic but does
not draw any connection with course materials. Sources are not properly
documented. 10
- Does not meet expectations: No readings are incorporated in the entry. 0
3. Quality of writing & Application of multimodalities
- Exceeds expectations: All assigned readings are thoughtfully and meaningfully
incorporated in the student's reflection of the topic and the course readings/
resources are referenced with appropriate reference formatting. 40
- Meets expectations: The assigned readings are included in the entry as brief
summaries with relatively well formatted references; however, more in-depth
and critical engagement with course resources required. 30
- Meets expectations to some extent: The entry incorporates course resources.
Yet, the integration of the resources to reflection does not go beyond a
superficial discussion/mention. Also, the entry includes numerous major and
minor referencing issues. 20
- Barely meets expectations: The entry touches the surface of the topic but does
not draw any connection with course materials. Sources are not properly
documented. 10
- Does not meet expectations: No readings are incorporated in the entry. 0
Total
Grade
/40
/40
/20
/100
Grade:
5
III. University Literacies Inquiry Project (40%)
Purpose
The University Literacies Inquiry Project is designed to foster students’ in-depth engagement
with a research topic relevant to a current university policy or campus resource that can
enhance their academic literacy skills. Through process-oriented research assignments in this
project, students are expected to do literary research, summarize and synthesize the important
issues related to their chosen topic and disseminate the research findings and analysis. It
consists of 3 step-based tasks to scaffold and support completion of the project:
Process & Assessment
Steps/Assignments
1) Proposal Exercise
2) Summarizing & Paraphrasing
3) In-class Oral Presentation
Evaluation weight
10 %
10 %
20%
Timeline
Oct 6, 2024
Oct 27, 2024
Nov 14 & Nov 21, 2024
Suggested research topics
• Transferrable academic literacies emphasized in the first-year undergraduate courses
(academic writing, reading, speaking, listening)
• Interdisciplinary academic and life-long learning skills that are crucial for academic and
professional success emphasized in various university resources and students services at
York (e.g., learning skills services, libraries, career centre, academic advising, writing
centre, ESL Open Learning Centre, York International, etc.)
• Decolonising, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (DEDI) reflected in York University
policies and procedures * (*You can focus on only one element of DEDI, e.g., diversity)
• DEDI reflected in curricular activities at York *
• DEDI reflected in extra-curricular activities at York *
• Challenging aspects of academic transition from high school to university in terms of
academic engagement and assignments (requiring comparative analysis between high
school and university resources)
• Types of critical thinking skills across different university courses
• Others: You can choose your own research topic that is connected to the themes and
topics of DLLL1001
Possible data/evidence sources
• Course syllabi, course websites, course readings/textbooks, faculty websites, webpages of
academic policy and procedures, websites of various university resources and services,
any relevant artifacts, semiotic data, written information related to your research focus
Research Project Process Guidelines
1) Select your research topic, context and focus (come up with a specific research focus)
2) Search resources (textbooks, articles, newspaper, websites, media resources) to learn
about the research topic, and select two resonant pieces of literature (you must include at
least one academic text (e.g., book chapter, scholarly journal article, newsletter, written by
scholars and field experts) ) related to your research topic to have a good understanding of
consensus on the research focus.
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3) Write evaluative summaries on each source (summarizing/paraphrasing and
synthesizing): Annotated bibliography writing (ULI Step #1)
4) Based on your research focus, formulate a research question and tentative thesis
statement and write a brief research proposal (ULI Step #2)
5) Decide and gather research methods and possible data sources
6) Based on the gathered data, select particular information that can serve as evidence to
support your argument/thesis statement (i.e., answer to your research question). Try to
identify as much evidence as possible to make convincing arguments.
7) Decide on research findings through the data analysis and make a conclusion
8) Disseminate your research findings in an oral presentation (ULI Step #3)
Step 1: Proposal Exercise (10%)
Write and submit a 300 words-long proposal about your research project:
1) Include information of research topic/focus, research objectives/aims, a thesis statement, and
types of data sources and analysis that connects to the thesis (i.e. main arguments).
2) Include APA citations for all sources
Your proposal will be assessed based on the following criteria:
• relevance of research topic, context, and aims/objectives (20pt)
• background literature review and/or information of potential sources to the research aims)
(20pt)
• research rationale and significance (20pt)
• thesis statement/hypothesis(20pt)
• structural direction (20pt)
Step 2: Summarizing and Paraphrasing (Annotated bibliography) (10%)
Write and submit an annotated bibliography with minimum two data sources (research topicrelated literature and/or webpage information of university resources/policies)
1) Formulate a preliminary research question based on the sources you have selected
2) Write an approximately 300-words annotated bibliography for each source (total of about
600 words excluding references).
3) Provide a complete APA reference for the source
4) Describe what the source is about (i.e., provide a brief summary of the main ideas).
Please remember to follow the structure of the summary: an introductory sentence that
includes the source title, information about the author, and topic; explanation of the main
points and findings of the source; and a concluding sentence that indicates the main
argument of the source.
5) Evaluate the source (i.e., explain the purpose, significance and strengths of the source,
such as its authority, accuracy, relevance, and credibility)
6) Discuss why this source is useful for your project. Rather than providing generalized
statements, such as "This article will be of great help to my research", provide a brief and
specific explanation of why it is useful and how you might use it
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Your annotated bibliography will be assessed based on the following criteria:
• Quality, quantity and relevance of sources (e.g. currency, relevance, accuracy, authority,
purpose, validity, etc.) (20pt)
• Summary of the content of each source (30pt)
• Specific importance of each source for the research project (30pt)
• Academic writing & academic convention-APA Citations (Both in-text citations &
citations in References) (20pt)
Step 3: In-class Oral Presentation (20%)
Modeling a professional conference, this step helps students expand the scope of knowledge
exchange beyond the classroom level and broaden their horizons of scholarly engagement
with the audience from diverse disciplines and backgrounds. Students will disseminate their
research analysis and findings in a theatre presentation to benefit from experiential learning and
improve academic presentation skills.
Panel Presentation Process
This presentation is a dissemination of the University Literacies Inquiry Project. Based on your
research proposal and research analysis, you will be giving a 5-minute presentation in class. You
are expected to answer the audience’s questions during the Q & A (questions and answers)
session at the end of the presentation. The quality and quantity of questions and/or comments
you raise for other speakers will be counted towards your presentation grade.
Your entry will be assessed based on the following criteria (each criterion 10pt):
• Relevance of research topic: The presentation includes highly relevant research topic
and context to the course theme and contributed to engaging discussions with audience
• Analysis of sources: The presentation shows an appropriate synthesis.
• Coherence and cohesion of idea: Overall, ideas are coherently developed
• Critical thinking: the presentation includes in-depth discussions with sufficient evidence
and examples to connect with the presented analysis. Critical (personal) reflective
insights in relation to the analysis is provided.
• Presentation structure: The entry includes a well-organized structure with sufficient
details overall.
• Academic conventions/References & formatting: The entry includes appropriate APA
formatting practice (in-text citations and full references)
• Oral delivery: The presentation demonstrates professional/formal speaking skills (using
appropriate linguistic and paralinguistic features)
• Body language: The presentation shows appropriate body language use in a professional
manner.
• Multimodality: Presentation slides include relevant visual/multimodal aids (e.g. an
outline that visualizes/maps the structure and key content of your final report, flowcharts,
infographics, animated videos, PPT, Prezi slides)
• Interactivity with audience (during Q & A): The presenter engages with
audience actively during your Q &A session (also, as an audience, you engage actively
with class presentations by asking questions and sharing comments during Q&A
sessions)
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