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ENGL 0810 Syllabus

Course Syllabus

ENGL 0810 - Writing Support for English Composition I (Section R80)

3/2 Credit Hours

Course Information

Course Description:

This course is a three-credit/two-credit hour, student-centered, self-paced course of study of the basic essay writing competencies required for success in college-level courses.

Course Outcomes:

Learning Support Writing students will demonstrate at least adequate competence in writing expository essays. Student writing will do the following:

  • Fulfill the requirements of the assigned writing task and have a clear purpose that is sustained throughout the writing.
  • Respond adequately and appropriately to the needs of the audience and the requirements of the writing situation.
  • Be logically organized in support of the text's purpose with a clear thesis statement and topic sentences, supporting points that are presented in a logical progression, and appropriate transitions.
  • Provide logical and adequate support for the thesis by employing appropriate rhetorical strategies/patterns and, when appropriate, by integrating material from primary and/or secondary sources.
  • Display variety in sentence structure, vocabulary, and level of formality appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context.
  • Display competent control of surface features such as basic syntax, grammar, punctuation, word choice, and spelling, particularly those errors that interfere with a reader's understanding and/or undermine the writer's purpose and message.
  • Demonstrate the use of effective strategies for generating ideas, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading. 
Prerequisites & Co-requisites:

Some keyboarding skills are necessary as the Competency One and Competency Two exams are proctored writing assignments which must be completed online in your home institution's testing lab within the designated time limit.

Course Topics:

The actual course topics that any one student will be assigned is dependent upon the student's initial diagnostic test results. However, the basic topics covered in the entire course are as follows:

  • Grammar, mechanics, punctuation, and sentence skills
  • Paragraph writing
  • Five-Paragraph Essays 
Specific Course Requirements:

Must have the minimum hardware and software required by the TBR. You are expected to submit all writing assignments in the D2L Dropbox. Some keyboarding skills are necessary as the Competency One and Competency Two Exams are proctored writing assignments which must be completed online in your home institution's testing lab within the designated time limit. 

Textbooks, Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software Requirements

Required Textbooks:

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course. Move your cursor over the "Books" link in the navigation bar and select "Textbooks & Course Materials." Select your Program, Term, Department, and Course; then select "Submit."

Supplementary Materials:

A collegiate dictionary is useful for identifying and using the correct word choice in writing assignments. The student is allowed to use a paper dictionary when taking exams (not an online dictionary). 

Hardware and Software Requirements:

Minimum hardware requirements can be found here.

Minimum software requirements can be found here.

Common applications you might need:

Web Resources:

Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab (for APA, MLA, or Chicago style)

The Writing Center Online Writer's Handbook

Student Resources:
  • Technical support information can be found on the TN eCampus Help Desk page.
  • Smarthinking virtual tutoring is available FREE of charge. to access Smarthinking, visit the course homepage and select Smarthinking under Course Resources. You also view sample sessions to see what Smarthinking offers and how it works.
  • Information on other student issues or concerns can be located on the TN eCampus Student Resources page.

Instructor Information

Please see "Instructor Information" in the Getting Started Module for instructor contact information, virtual office hours, and other communication information. You can expect to receive a response from the instructor within 24-48 hours unless notified of extenuating circumstances.

Participation, Assessments, & Grading

Testing Procedures:
  • modules are required in your individualized Learning Path in MyWritingLab.
  • If you complete the Competency Two Mastery Exam prior to the end of the semester, you will
  • have completed the requirements of this course and can devote the remaining time to your other courses. If you complete early enough in the semester, you could enroll in one of the short-term courses.
  • The Competency One and Two Mastery Exams will be taken in a proctored** environment. This means you must obtain a proctor approved by your instructor to administer the exam. A proctor can be obtained by calling your home institution's testing center. A proctor is a person who verifies the student by picture identification and oversees the student during the exam. Please see the deadline on the Calendar for providing the instructor with the proctor information. Read more about obtaining a proctor at the following link: http://www.tnecampus.info/steps-obtaining-proctor.
  • Search Answers/Ask a Question (requires login) 
Grading Procedures:

Holistically scored essays will be used for diagnostic placement into appropriate learning units and for summative evaluation of student mastery of the course exit competencies. Writing unit assessment scores from 4 - 6 indicate adequate or better competency and allow the student to progress to the next unit. 

Grading Scale:

Holistic grading scale of 1 - 6

  • 6 = exceptional competency
  • 5 = superior competency
  • 4 = adequate competency
  • 3 = basic, developing competency 
  • 2 = inadequate competency
  • 1 = beginning competency
  • The Final Grade in this course is based upon the Competency Mastery Exams, which are writing assignments. In order to qualify to take these exams, you must complete all of the work assigned in the course.

  • If you complete only Competency One successfully, your grade will be determined by your score on the Competency One Mastery Exam.

  • If you complete both Competency One and Competency Two in one semester, your grade will be determined by your score on the Competency Two Mastery Exam. 

Assignments and Projects:
  • This course is self-paced and individualized. You will only work on what you need to work on as determined by your Diagnostic Writing Assignment and the Skills Checks preceding the MyWritingLab exercises. The Diagnostic Writing Sample will determine which competency, if any, you will need to work through. The Skills Checks (explained next) will determine how many
  • During the semester, required assignments will be grammar and mechanics exercises, discussion board postings, revisions, and writing assignments varying in length from sets of sentences to paragraphs to full essays. All of the assignments deemed 'required' by your diagnostic writing assignment or the Skills Checks are prerequisites to taking the Mastery Exams.
  • For each of the modules in MyWritingLab, you will take a Skills Check to see which, if any, of the topics in this module you will need to work on. If you do need one or more of these topic reviews, you will then proceed to work through the skill and take the Post Test. If you complete the Post Test with a score of 80%, you can then go to the next required module until you have completed your individualized Learning Path. 
Class Participation:

Students are expected to interact with the instructor and other students in the course. This will be done by using the D2L email and Discussion Board. Students must check the course Discussion Board and D2L email frequently for announcements, and students must actively participate in threaded discussion events. The instructor has the ability to track students in D2L. This means that the instructor can see how many times a student’s visits the site, how many times specific pages are visited, etc. Also, the instructor keeps track of Discussions. Five discussion postings are required; writing prompts will be posted on the discussion board throughout the semester. Keep checking! 

Late Policy:

This course is self-paced; there are guidelines given for working through the course work. The program of work into which each student tests must be completed before a student will be eligible to take the Competency Exams. 

Course Ground Rules

The following two statements (1., 2.) were derived from the TBR System-wide Student Rules document, released January 2012:

RULES OF THE TENNESSEE BOARD OF REGENTS STATE UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM OF TENNESSEE SYSTEMWIDE STUDENT RULES CHAPTER 0240-02-03 STUDENT CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINARY SANCTIONS

Read the document in its entirety here.

1. Standards of Conduct:

  • Students are required to adhere to the same professional, legal and ethical standards of conduct online as on campus. In addition, students should conform to generally accepted standards of "netiquette" while sending e-mail, posting comments to the discussion board, and while participating in other means of communicating online. Specifically, students should refrain from inappropriate and/or offensive language, comments and actions.

2. Review the TN eCampus Academic Integrity/Academic Honesty Policy:

  • In their academic activities, students are expected to maintain high standards of honesty and integrity. Academic dishonesty is prohibited.

Such conduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • an attempt by one or more students to use unauthorized information in the taking of an exam
  • to submit as one's own work, themes, reports, drawings, laboratory notes, computer programs, or other products prepared by another person,
  • or to knowingly assist another student in obtaining or using unauthorized materials.

Plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited.

Students guilty of academic misconduct, either directly or indirectly through participation or assistance, are subject to disciplinary action through the regular procedures of the student’s home institution.  Refer to the student handbook provided by your home institution to review the student conduct policy.

In addition to other possible disciplinary sanctions that may be imposed, the instructor has the authority to assign an "F" or zero for an activity or to assign an "F" for the course.

Other Course Rules:

Students are expected to:

  • Participate in all aspects of the course
  • Communicate with other students
  • Learn how to navigate in Brightspace
  • Keep abreast of course announcements
  • Use the assigned course management (Brightspace) email address rather than a personal email address
  • Address technical problems immediately:
  • Observe course netiquette at all times.

Guidelines for Communications

Email:

  • Always include a subject line.
  • Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.
  • Use standard fonts.
  • Do not send large attachments without permission.
  • Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.
  • Respect the privacy of other class members

Discussions:

  • Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.
  • Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.
  • Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group. Be respectful of other’s ideas.
  • Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.
  • Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.
  • Be positive and constructive in group discussions.
  • Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in TN eCampus programs and courses. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading will be included within the course modules. To access the Virtual Library, go to the course homepage and select the Virtual Library link under Course Resources.

Students with Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the right to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this syllabus is for general information purposes only. While we endeavor to keep this information up-to-date and accurate, there may be some discrepancies between this syllabus and the one found in your online course. The syllabus of record is the one found in your online course. Please make sure you read the syllabus in your course at the beginning of the semester. Questions regarding course content should be directed to your instructor.


Last Revised on July 12, 2021