ENGL 1100 - Introduction to University Writing (S12)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Spring 2026
Kwantlen Polytechnic University is situated on the unceded traditional and ancestral First
Nations territories of the of the xwməθkwəyə̓ m (Musqueam), qi̓cə̓y̓ (Katzie), SEMYOME
(Semiahmoo), scə̓waθən (Tsawwassen), qiqéyt (Qayqayt), kwikwəƛə̓m (Kwikwetlem), and of the
qw̓ɑ:nƛ̓ə̓n̓ (Kwantlen) First Nation, which gifted its name to this university.
Course information:
Mode: in person
Class location: Fir 328, Surrey campus
Class time: Mondays, 1-4
Instructor: Dr. Dale Tracy (she/her)
Email: dale.tracy@kpu.ca
Office: Fir 319
Office hours:
Mondays, 12-1
Tuesdays, 3-4
Wednesdays, 12-1
Course description:
The communication and critical thinking skills that you will learn in this course are essential to
your academic journey and future career. They are also relevant to the interpersonal situations
and decisions that make up your life more broadly. Our readings, activities, discussions, and
assignments aim to prepare you to communicate and think with others as you participate in
student life at KPU, in your jobs, in your communities, and in the larger world. We will discuss
tactics of disinformation and examples of weak thinking—including racism and climate
denialism—to help you recognize and overcome deceptions and mistakes. We will work with
established conventions that help us read actively and express ourselves clearly, and we will
practice working creatively with these conventions to say what we want to say in specific
contexts.
Class environment:
Instructor Responsibilities
I will be available for consultation, provide timely feedback, and lead a learning environment
designed to create a meaningful, respectful, and inclusive thinking community.
Student Responsibilities
You are contributing to a shared effort in which each individual is an integral element. In each of
the following responsibilities, I expect that you will offer meaningful and respectful participation
and support your peers’ meaningful and respectful participation. I expect that students will
 attend class (unless you are sick or encounter an emergency)
 complete assigned readings before class
 do in class activities




speak in class discussion, or ask me for other ways to add to class discussion
ask questions when you have them and let me know if you have concerns
read and use assignment instructions to submit assignments
read and use my feedback on your assignments
Course policies:
1.
Attendance
I expect your attendance in class. I designed the course so that each class introduces new skills
that build on the ones from the class before; you will need these skills to complete the
assignments. Moreover, this course is a learning community: when we each contribute what we
can, the collective learning experience thrives.
I will take attendance at the start of each class. Please be on time so that you don’t disrupt your
peers’ learning and don’t miss important information.
Beyond attendance, active participation is key to success in this course. We’ll be doing a lot of
writing in class, so you will need to come prepared with a way to write (like a laptop or pen and
paper). Please see the participation instructions document for more information.
2.
Notetaking
You will need to comment on details from in-class discussions and activities in the proposal and
essay, so you should take notes along the way. You will need to have notes to study before the
exam. More broadly, taking notes helps you learn.
3.
Email
Please note the course and section number in your email: ENGL1100 S12. Please use your KPU
email account when emailing me. I will respond within 24-48 hours on weekdays; my response
time may be longer (within 72 hours) on weekends or holidays. If you haven’t heard back from
me within those timeframes, please assume that something has gone wrong and write to me
again.
4.
Office hours
During office hours, I will be in my office so that students can come by to ask me questions.
Drop in at any point during the set time: you don’t need to email me in advance. If you’re feeling
uncertain about how office hours work, feel free to ask. For some examples, you might come to
office hours to ask me questions about course material or an assignment, tell me something about
your experience of the course, or ask me about resources at KPU.
5.
Assignment Submission and Late Submission
Please put your own name at the start of the file name for all the assignments that you submit.
Please submit assignments as Word documents (not pdfs).
Late assignments will receive a deduction of 5% per day late (including weekends). After seven
days, the assignment will receive a grade of zero. It is your responsibility to be aware if you have
late or missed assignments, so take care to keep track of deadlines.
Make sure that you click the submission button. To avoid technological failures disrupting your
submission, don’t wait until the last minute to submit.
6.
Missing In-Class Midterm or Exam
Exam:
“If you miss a scheduled exam that the university has not cancelled, there are no assurances of a
make-up exam” (Final Exams).
In-class midterm:
“KPU students who have missed an in-class exam MUST seek approval from their course
instructor to write a Make-Up exam with Assessment and Testing Services. … Students who are
requesting a make-up exam are charged $40 per exam, to a maximum length of 3 hours” (Makeup Exams).
If you miss the midterm for a serious, unforeseeable reason, contact me right away. We may be
able to arrange a date for you to write the make-up on campus outside of class hours. If we
cannot find a date that works for both of us, Assessment and Testing Services will charge you a
fee to write the make-up in the testing centre. If I do not hear from you within a week of the
midterm, you will not be able to write a make-up.
7.
Feedback and Grades
Expect feedback from me within two weeks of the submission date. If you don’t receive my
feedback in that timeframe, please assume that something has gone wrong and write to me. I will
return your Word document through Moodle, with my feedback added. You will find my written
feedback in the margins (using Word’s Comment feature), written feedback at the end of the
document, and highlighting in the rubric.
I grade what you submit to me, so submit your best work. You will not be able to rewrite and
resubmit the assignment, but you are welcome to come to my office hours to discuss your
assignment while you are working on it before the submission date.
If you have questions about your grade, please wait at least 24 hours after you receive it and then
do the following. Compose a document in which you explain in detail what aspect of your
assignment you believe my feedback or rubric grading does not take account of (tell me
specifically which aspect of my feedback or square in the rubric you want me to think about
again). After I receive your document, I will read it and respond.
Your grade is based on the work you submit to me. It would be inappropriate to ask me to
change your grade for other reasons, like needing a higher grade to pass, to satisfy program
requirements, or to raise your GPA. Similarly, it would be inappropriate to contact me at the end
of the term to ask to rewrite assignments, submit missing assignments, or otherwise alter your
grade. Instead, you should reach out to me for support as soon as you receive a grade that doesn’t
meet your aims. It is throughout the term that I can support your learning; the end of term is too
late for me to do that.
8.
Extensions
Students may take one extension, no questions asked. This extension can’t be used for the initial
proposal deadline, the midterm, or the exam. (The initial proposal deadline ensures you have
something for the peer review session. The midterm is completed in class on the set day and
time. The exam is completed on the day and at the time set by the Enrolment and Registrar
Services Office in the exam period.)
If you use your extension, your deadline will be extended three days (72 hours from the original
due date). To use up your extension, email me prior to the deadline with the phrase “using my
extension” in the subject line. You must request this extension before the assignment’s
submission deadline.
I give you this extension so that you can manage your own time. You may be in touch if you
would like me to consider a further or additional extension for a serious and/or unforeseeable
situation.
9.
Course materials
Course materials are designed for use of the students enrolled in this iteration of this course at
Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Course materials may not be posted online. Do not, for
example, post assignment questions or instructions online to seek answers from other students.
Doing so would be an issue of academic integrity.
10.
Use of Artificial Intelligence: Not permitted
The use of generative artificial intelligence tools, such as ChatGPT, is not permitted in this
course and will be considered a breach of academic integrity under Policy ST2. These tools are
not permitted because they do not support you in achieving the learning outcomes mentioned in
this syllabus: AI prevents you from developing essential reading, writing, and thinking skills (the
skills this course is designed to teach you). Your submissions should solely reflect your voice
and independent work.
If you are unsure whether something is considered an artificial intelligence tool in this course,
please ask. You can learn more about AI tools at KPU by visiting KPU Library’s Artificial
Intelligence LibGuide or contacting the integrity unit at academic.integrity@kpu.ca.
KPU policies
The full list of KPU policies can be found here.
AC4 - Student Evaluations and Grading Policy
HR15 – Diversity and Inclusiveness
ST2 - Student Academic Integrity
ST7 - Student Conduct (Non-Academic)
SR14 - Sexual Violence and Misconduct
We will talk more about academic integrity in class, including, as you can find in ST2, “the six
fundamental values of academic integrity, on which good academic work must be founded:
honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.” Please ask me any questions you
have and learn more at KPU’s Academic Integrity website.
Withdrawal dates
Add/drop deadline (30% tuition adjustment penalty): Tue Jan 20, 2026
Withdrawal period (no refund): Wed Jan 21 - Tue Apr 14, 2026
Click here for more details.
Helpful resources
Click here for resources on academics and well-being.
Student Referral Program
If I am concerned about your progress, I may use the Student Referral Program to connect you
with student services staff who will work with you to find resources or supports that may
increase your chances of success. Such assistance may include putting you in touch with an
academic advisor, a tutor, financial aid, a counsellor or another faculty member. Please be
advised that this information is treated confidentially and is sent because I care about your
progress and success in this course. For more information, click here.
The English Department’s First-Year Writing Labs are your best opportunity to complement
what you are learning in first-year English and to keep you on track. Designed and taught by
English faculty members, these free labs focus on reviewing essay-writing skills in a series of
workshops. The labs offer plenty of hands-on practice in a supportive online environment. Our
labs are based on five different topic workshops: Sentence Structure, Paragraphs, Using
Quotations, Thesis Statements, and Grammar. Starting the week of January 19, labs are offered
synchronously (or “live”) online in Moodle. You can choose from several different lab time
slots, and workshops will take place each week in that time slot for five weeks. For example, lab
A will be held each Monday at 7 p.m. for five consecutive weeks starting January 19th. Each
one-hour workshop should be taken only once and the earlier in the term you take the labs, the
greater the benefit. Registration is free but each session is limited to 25 students and labs do fill.
· Visit the lab web site for more information and instructions on how to register:
https://www.kpu.ca/arts/english/firstyearlabs
· Once you have enrolled in one of the Moodle sites (sorted by day and time), it will appear on
your community.moodle.kpu.ca dashboard.
· Click into the site and complete a survey indicating how many of the five weekly workshops
you’d like to attend.
· Once you have completed registration, you will show up 10 minutes before the time allotted,
and the session will begin on the hour. You will receive a reminder email the day before your
lab.
· Along with access to writing resources, each lab’s Moodle site also contains an optional
activity tracker to help you keep track of which workshops you have attended.
· If you register and later realize you cannot use your spot, please unenrol on the Moodle site so
that another student can benefit from the session.
For each lab you attend, I will add 1% to your essay assignment. During each lab workshop, the
lab instructor will provide you an opportunity to record your attendance and after the session you
will receive a confirmation email. I will also receive an email from the instructor after the end of
the lab’s five workshops notifying me of your attendance.
Assessment
Participation
Thinking with Others Assignment
Midterm
Proposal
Argumentative Essay
Exam
5%
10%
25%
10%
25%
25%
ongoing (in class)
Feb 9
Mar 2 (in class)
Mar 20
Apr 10
Apr 20, 12-3 (in exam period)
Learning outcomes:
A student who successfully completes the course will have reliably demonstrated the ability to
1 Read, annotate, and summarize a variety of academic and non-academic works
2 Write clearly, coherently, and concisely, considering audience, purpose, and rhetorical
context
3 Analyze and evaluate structure, logic, style, and evidence
4 Engage in a writing process that includes brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and revising
strategies to produce university-level writing
5 Apply principles of unity, development, and coherence in writing
6 Write essays that assert and support clear thesis statements
7 Apply research skills ethically to locate, evaluate, assess and cite credible sources
8 Integrate sources into written work using quotation, paraphrase, and summary
9 Format essays using MLA and/or APA style
Readings:
All readings will be available through our course’s Moodle site. Please have access to the
readings in class (by bringing an electronic device).
Grades:
Grade
Grade Points
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
C-
4.33
4.00
3.67
3.33
3.00
2.67
2.33
2.00
1.67
Conversion Scale
(%)
90 - 100
85 - 89
80 - 84
76 - 79
72 - 75
68 - 71
64 - 67
60 - 63
56 - 59
D
1.00
50 - 55
F
0.00
0 - 49
Definition
Exceptional Achievement
Outstanding Achievement
Excellent Achievement
Very Good Achievement
Good Achievement
Good Achievement
Satisfactory Achievement
Satisfactory Achievement
Marginal Achievement. This grade does not
permit student to pursue another course for
which the graded course was a prerequisite.
Minimal achievement. This grade does not
permit student to pursue another course for
which the
graded course was a prerequisite.
Unsatisfactory achievement. Student did not
meet minimum course requirements.
Schedule
The schedule is subject to change. Please check Moodle and your KPU email regularly.
You will not be submitting any of the exercises you encounter in the readings, but I encourage
you to do them on your own.
Each week in class you will be writing, including sometimes drafts of assignments or practice
questions. Please make sure you have what you need with you to use that time well.
WEEK
1
Jan 12
TOPIC
Introductions
READINGS TO COMPLETE
BEFORE CLASS
No readings
-Diagnostic
writing activity
2
Jan 19
Thinking with
others
Karen Rosenberg, “Reading Games:
Strategies for Reading Scholarly
Sources,” Writing Spaces
“Quoting,” The Word
“Writing Summaries,” The Word
ASSIGNMENT
DUE DATES and
other
ACTIONS TO
TAKE
“Paraphrasing,” The Word
Helpful Professor, “How to
Paraphrase (In 5 Simple Steps)”
“Paraphrasing vs Patchwriting,”
Academic Integrity
Summary vs Analysis, The Rough
Writer’s Guide
3
Jan 26
Researching
-Library
Workshop for
start of class:
meet in library
-“Thinking
through
History”
activity
-preparing for
the assignment
that is due next
week
4
Feb 2
Understanding
rhetorical
situations
-Recap of
“Thinking
through
History”
activity
Mike Caulfield, SIFT, Introduction to
College Research
Celia Brinkerhoff, Doing Research
-read Parts 2 and Part 3
Ulrike Kestler, “MLA Style
Citations”
-read “Part One: Why Do We Cite?”
and explore the table of contests for
the whole book to note sections that
you may use later in the course
Gregory Younging, “Preface” and
“Introduction” (xi-xiv)
-we will use this reading to think
about the purpose of style guides
“2.2 Genres, Stories, and Academic
Writing,” Why Write
“How to Email a Professor,”
wikiHow
“Writing a Letter to Your MP,”
Citizens for Public Justice
-read this page and click at top of
page to read sample letter
JD Dillard, “An Open Letter to the
Man Who Yelled ‘Go Back to Africa’
at Me”
-we will use this reading to practice
thinking about the rhetorical situation
5
Feb 9
Organizing
information
“Grammar” and “Sentences,” TL;DR
(pp. 127-131—use the numbers on
the pages)
Thinking with
Others assignment
due before midnight
on Feb 9
“Back to Basics: The Perfect
Paragraph,” Writing in College
READING BREAK
6
Feb 23
Organizing
information
(continued)
-Abecedarian
outdoor
activity
University of Guelph, “Write Clearly: Feeling uncertain?
Using Evidence Effectively”
Consider meeting
-can you think critically about the first thing
with me to discuss
this handout says about selecting evidence?
the midterm in
office hours this
Nigel Caplan, “Sorry, there are no
week.
rules for good writing”
-we will practice writing argumentative
paragraphs with this reading
Practicing for
midterm
7
Mar 2
Midterm
Midterm
8
Mar 9
Writing
argumentative
essays
“Constructing the Thesis and
Argument—From the Ground Up,”
Oregon Writes
“Synthesizing Sources,” Purdue
OWL
“Flow,” TL;DR (pp. 108-112)
“Introductions,” TL;DR (pp. 99-100)
“Conclusions,” TL;DR (pp. 104-107)
“Intros and Outros,” Writing in
College
In-class midterm
Mar 2
9
Mar 16
Writing as a
creative
process
“Chapter 2: Prewriting,” Building
Blocks
“Language,” TL;DR (pp. 15-19)
Discuss ideas
for proposal
“Creativity,” The Word
Lucy M Davies and Lynn Newton,
Creativity is a human quality that
exists in every single one of us
“Climate Creativity” [Video],
OpenLearn from The Open
University [or read Transcript]
-We will use the three sources on
creativity for some writing practice
10
Mar 23
Revising
“Giving and Receiving Feedback,”
The Word
“Revising Drafts,” The Writing
Center, University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
“Revising Your Writing,” Academic
Writing Basics
Proposal due before
midnight Fri Mar 20
[BEFORE OUR
CLASS]
Peer review activity
(in-class, ungraded):
bring two printed
copies of your
proposal
“Revision,” Writing for Success
Kyle D. Stedman, “Annoying Ways
People Use Sources,” Writing Spaces
11
Mar 30
Thinking
critically
“Climate Mis-/Disinformation
Backgrounder,” Climate Action
Against Disinformation
“Critical Thinking: What Is it to be a
Critical Thinker?”, Carolina Flores
To benefit from the
peer review activity,
you may replace
your proposal
submission before
midnight Mon Mar
23 without late
deduction, if you
had submitted it on
time by Mar 20
In class we will
play some games
online, so please
bring a phone or
laptop if you can
“Five Fallacies,” Idea Channel, PBS
Digital Studios [VIDEO]
“Critical Thinking through Deep
Questioning,” KPU Learning Centre
“About” page for Get the Bad News
game
12
Apr 6
No Class: Easter Monday
13
Apr 13
Practicing for
the exam and
wrapping-up
the course
“Exam Questions: Types,
Characteristics, and Suggestions,”
University of Waterloo
“Get Ready for Exams,” University
101: Study, Strategize and Succeed
Argumentative
essay due before
midnight Friday
April 10