Composition Studies – ENGL 607

Course Description

This course introduces composition studies—its theory, research, scholarship and pedagogy—and the teaching of academic composition classes. Students will engage in both theoretical and practical approaches to teaching writing.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

This course should interest both practicing and prospective teachers of writing at middle, secondary and above, those interested in issues of literacy, and those who wish to gain practical tools for becoming better readers of other people's writing and their own.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (4)

Because people who teach writing should be writers themselves, students will write four discussions throughout this course. Each discussions  should be at least 300 words in length. Students should be thorough in their detailing how course material has impacted their thoughts regarding the prompt at hand. The original discussion thread is due by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Thursday of the module in which it is assigned. One 200–300-word evaluation to one classmate's thread is due by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on the final day of the same module. 

Discussion: Micro-Teaching Peer Evaluation

After completing the Micro-Teaching Project: Video Session Assignment, students will submit the lesson they recorded to YouTube. Students will then watch at least two classmates’ videos. After watching the feedback students will offer constructive feedback that is meaningful to their peers’ micro-teaching presentations. In the first Peer Evaluation, students must reply to a peer that does not yet have a peer evaluation completed. This means that before a student can be evaluated for the second time all students in the class must have at least one review completed of their micro-teaching lessons. Peer evaluations should be 250-350 words in length and should focus on strengths, weaknesses, what they learned, and what could be improved (Outcome E).

Micro-Teaching Project Assignments (5)

The purpose of the Micro-teaching Project is (1) to offer experience in planning and presenting instruction in a writing classroom, (2) to allow you to witness a wider range of possibilities, and (3) to expand your knowledge base in the theory and practice of teaching writing. This project assignment will be submitted in five parts and will take the majority of the subterm to complete.

Micro-teaching Project: Topic Selection Assignment 

Micro-teaching Project: Research Sources Assignment 

Micro-teaching Project: Lesson Plan Assignment 

Micro-teaching Project: Video Session Assignment 

Micro-teaching Project: Analysis Assignment

Capstone Paper Assignment

The capstone paper assignment will be a culminating project in which students explore through research and reflection an area of interest in the field of composition studies. It is recommended that the student use either APA or MLA documentation (depending on his/her discipline) and that the paper be between 3000-4000 words in length. (Outcome A)

Quiz: Final Exam

This quiz will be a combination of essay and objective questions and will be based on the textbook readings and presentations. The exam will have a 90-minute time limit and will consist of at least 25 objective questions and 5 essay questions. (Outcome A)