Dr. Matthew Wilsey-Cleveland Tel: (303) 735 3058 Email:
Program for Writing & Rhetoric Office/Consultation Hours (by appointment only):
University of Colorado, Boulder MW 1pm-3pm
ENVD 1B50F Mailbox: ENVD 1B62C (lobby)
WRTG 3030 Spring 2010
Science & Society: Elements of Exposition in Argument (Artificial Intelligence & Organic Agriculture)
Section 016 MW 3pm-4.15pm DUAN G1 B25
Section 020 MW 6pm-7.15pm DUAN G1 B25
Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) Criteria
This course meets the CCHE criteria for the general education requirement in communication for advanced writing courses (CO3) in the following capacities:
Rhetorical & Advanced Content Knowledge: Students will develop rhetorical knowledge through engaging with, and drawing from, published scholarly/research and non-academic (popular mainstream media) texts pertaining to science and technology. Students will also learn to synthesize data from these texts in order to more effectively communicate and substantiate ideas. Although texts from other science and technology fields will be examined, the primary thematic foci of this course will be Artificial Intelligence and Organic Agriculture. Students will need to engage with, and demonstrate advanced comprehension of, issues and arguments pertaining to these fields.
Writing Processes & Information Literacy: In this course, great emphasis will be placed upon developing editing skills as well as audience awareness. Basically, students will not only learn to be investigators and problem solvers of their own work through learning to identify, assess, and redress issues in the work of others, they will also learn how specific expositional and rhetorical strategies/contexts operate to improve communicative control, clarity, and persuasiveness. To these ends, students will also perform multiple peer reviews of other students’ writing and craft multiple drafts of each major submission. Students will also learn effective library usage and academic research skills in relation to a major research assignment.
Writing Conventions & Communication Strategies that Demonstrate Content Knowledge: Although this course is structured in great part around themes pertaining to technology and the sciences, it is fundamentally a writing course. As such, form and mechanics will be at least as important as content. In other words, although students will be evaluated for their comprehension of, and ability to engage with, the topics and issues covered from selected fields of science and technology, a great deal of attention will be placed upon each student’s ability to adhere to formal academic writing conventions. Not only will submitted writing be assessed in terms of syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling, it will also be judged in relation to demonstrated ability to use specialized vocabulary as well as fluency with employing specific voices and idioms in relation to different rhetorical contexts and/or audiences. All writing will be formatted according to MLA or APA conventions.
COURSE DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES
Via the thematic foci of Artificial Intelligence and Organic Agriculture, this course will explore the connections between exposition and argumentation. Exposition involves writing that explains, analyzes, describes, and/or informs. Argumentative writing explores differences in perspective (multiple viewpoints) in order to persuasively substantiate a claim or position. It is almost always the case that argumentative writing relies upon elements of exposition. In order to improve fluency and rhetorical awareness, students will learn to identify, evaluate, and employ specific elements of exposition in relation to above-mentioned science and technology topics. Grammar, mechanics, research, and rhetorical context will be covered; key emphases will be placed upon critical analysis and revision/editing skills. Class sessions will be highly interactive and will comprise lectures, seminar discussions, debates, and sundry group activities. Students should expect to carry out reading and writing assignments for every class session. Students should also (emotionally) prepare themselves to perform multiple revisions of their written work. Aside from the shorter weekly written assignments, students will complete two longer essays.
Required Readings, Other Media, & VPN
A broad range of readings and other media will be used. Specific readings for each week are listed below in the Course Outline Section. Texts that will be used reflect the above-listed CCHE criteria.
· Students will be provided with excerpts and handouts pertaining to rhetorical knowledge and editing practices from various composition and rhetoric publications such as Robert Schwegler’s Patterns of Exposition (Pearson Longman, 2004), Ann Raimes’ Keys for Writers (Houghton Mifflin, 2002), Betty Mattix Dietsch’s Reasoning and Writing Well: A Rhetoric, Research Guide, Reader, and Handbook (McGraw-Hill, 2006) and the Gilbert Muller and Harvey Wiener publication To the Point (Pearson Longman, 2009).
· Readings pertaining to research strategies and format will come from Principles of Writing Research Papers by James Lester and James Lester Jr. (Penguin, 2007).
· Content knowledge pertaining to the themes of Artificial Intelligence and Organic Agriculture will come from a number of scholarly and popular scientific journals such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Spectrum, the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, and The Futurist. Reflecting a diverse range of topics, perspectives, formats, and media, other readings that will be used in relation to content knowledge will come from the CQ Researcher database, as well as publications such as the Gilbert Muller and Harvey Wiener anthologies the short prose reader (McGraw Hill, 2006) and To the Point (Pearson Longman, 2009), the Richard Dawkins compiled Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing (2008), Richard Grinnell’s Science and Society (Pearson Longman, 2007), Jack Selzer’s Conversations (Longman, 2003), the New York Times Magazine, essays from the collection Contemporary Issues Companion: Artificial Intelligence (2007), and Thomas Easton’s Taking Sides: Science & Society (McGraw Hill, 2006). Multimedia in the form of Youtube videos will also be studied.
All readings, multimedia, and resources are free and available online via CULearn (see below). Students are FULLY responsible for printing off hardcopies of the readings provided in CULearn and watching videos online if they have missed class screenings.
In order to access CU library databases as well as any other on-line materials from a computer terminal off campus, the CU Virtual Private Network (VPN) needs to be installed and run. Please follow the instructions at the following link: http://www.colorado.edu/its/vpn/
***NB. Bibliographic data for each reading in PDF format can be obtained by clicking the yellow ‘sticky note’ located on the first page of each document.
CULearn
The course syllabus, additional readings and resources, as well as assignments, may be obtained via CULearn (formerly WebCT). CULearn for this section of WRTG 3030 can be accessed by going to the ‘Courses’ tab after logging on to CUConnect and following the link on the top left-hand vertical menu. Because it is mandatory that students are able to adequately negotiate CULearn, please consult ITS or the course professor for help with any problems or concerns.
ASSESSMENT
Major Research Essay (1450-1650 words) 35%
Writing Portfolio Sections (A 15%; B 15%) 30%
Minor Essay (900-1100 words) 20%
Attendance/Participation 15%
* Please note that in order to qualify for a passing grade, ALL assignments must be completed with a minimum grade of D-.
Final Grade Scale (all values are as a %): 94-100=A, 90-93.9=A-, 86.1-89.9=B+, 84-86=B, 80-83.9= B-, 76.1-79.9 = C+, 74-76=C, 70-73.9=C-, 66.1-69 = D+, 64-66=D, 60-63.9=D-, < 60% = F
Minor Essay: Formal Exposition (20%) due Mar 1st (Monday, Week 8)
The key purpose of the Minor Essay (ME) will be to develop expositional skills (see description in ‘Course Description’) within a scholarly context. Writing in the third person and using a tone and idiom that is formal/scholarly, students will provide an objective expositional account comparing the relative rhetorical merits and shortcomings of sample readings that exemplify key elements of exposition. While no research will be necessary, students will be expected to demonstrate understanding of pertinent course texts and lecture material. The ME will also be assessed in relation to general fluency and mechanical ability (not just grammar/syntax but also effective paraphrasing and quotation), as well as adherence to academic formats and audience awareness. The ME question prompt will be disseminated to students during Week 2 (Wednesday, Jan. 20).
Major Research Essay: Analysis & Argumentation (35%) due 1pm Apr. 23rd (Friday, Week 14)
The Major Research Essay (MRE) will expand upon the expositional skills acquired via the ME by focusing on developing voice and agency within scholarly discursive contexts. Students will essentially be required to examine multiple viewpoints of an issue in formulating an argument and then support that argument through research and synthesis of theoretical and cultural (e.g. via the news media and/or cinematic) texts from within and without the course. Students will need to demonstrate advanced comprehension of content knowledge, communicative fluency and control, university-level research skills, the ability to synthesize data from a range of media, and a sophisticated degree of argumentation. The topics for the MRE will be supplied in Week 9 of this Semester (Wednesday, Mar. 10). Students are strongly advised not to exceed the 1650-word limit (around 6 ¾ pages). Students may not reference any of the texts discussed in their Minor Essay. At the very latest, all submissions are due at 1pm electronically on the Friday of Week 14 (Apr. 23). No late submissions will be accepted for any reason.
Writing Portfolio (15 + 15 = 30%) due Feb. 22nd and Apr. 7th
Basically, the writing performed for the Writing Portfolio (WP) will serve as ‘low stakes’ writing that will not only provide scaffolding for both formal assignments, but also the opportunity for students to rehearse a range of rhetorical and mechanical applications/strategies covered in class. This component of assessment will be comprised of a working Glossary (see below) as well as various short writing, grammar, and related assignments based upon the readings. In some WP assignments, students will be expected to write formal 3rd person accounts in reaction to various aspects of the readings. Students will also have the opportunity to compose 1st person informal reflective pieces based upon how their initial interpretations and theoretical applications have changed (or not) as a result of class lecture and discussion. In other instances, students will respond to short answer questions prompts based upon the readings. Peer review worksheets and drafts, as well as other miscellaneous homework (such as diagnostic exercises) given out in class, must also be neatly included in the WP. With the exception of Peer Review annotations and worksheets, all work submitted with the WP must be typed.
GLOSSARY
The Glossary section of the WP will essentially include a list of critical (or otherwise unfamiliar) terms, concepts, and their attending definitions (rather than copying dictionary definitions verbatim, students are to present definitions in their own words). This list will grow each week as students are introduced to new terms and their critical application. Students should also take the initiative to include useful/appropriate terms that they might encounter within and beyond this course. Extra credit will be awarded to students who include Glossary terms in their submitted essays (bold or highlight Glossary items). Namely, for each essay, students will be awarded 1 extra point per 5 correctly used glossary terms. The maximum extra credit for glossary word usage per essay is 1 point.
Because the two WP submissions together constitute 30% of the total assessment for this course, it is advised that students take care to compose thoughtful and orderly entries for it.
Attendance/Participation/Group-work (15%)
Unless medical or other official certification is provided, every student must attend every class session. In order to avoid a poor grade, students are advised to be appropriately prepared before every class (namely, fulfilling all weekly set readings and homework, etc.). Students arriving to any class without having completed homework or readings will incur a 2% penalty on their overall grade each time such oversights occur. It should also be noted that students will primarily be graded upon their (unsolicited) contributions to class discussion as well as their ability to work/interact cooperatively with others. And although mere attendance contributes very little to the final Attendance/Participation/Group-work grade, students will be penalized for absenteeism. In the case where students are able to document valid cause for their nonattendance, they will still be required to read over the missed lecture notes and complete all homework and readings for the following class session. It is also the responsibility of absentee students to email their professor in order to obtain homework given out in class. Because it is necessary for absentees to have sufficient time to catch up on homework and readings BEFORE the class following their absence, absentees have 12 hours to email their professor to obtain missed work/notes from the missed class – failure to do so will result in half grade penalizations (i.e. 5%) on their overall grade. Students failing to attend more than 3 classes without approved documentation will be penalized a half grade for each subsequent class missed. Failing to attend more than 5 class meetings (for any reason whatsoever) will result in outright failure. Malingering and tardiness will not be tolerated. If a student is more than 10 minutes late for class, s/he will be listed as absent.
** Religious Observances: Reasonable accommodations will be made on a case by case basis. In general, if students are not penalized for missing class as a result of religious observance, they will still be required to fulfill every assignment and reading set for the missed class and must email the professor at least 24 hours in advance of the missed class to receive any consideration/ accommodation. No deadline extensions will be granted in relation to religious observances.
Academic Misconduct: Plagiarism and the CU Honor Code
The handing in of assignments with identical answers/phrasing/data by pairs or groups of students, or of plagiarized work, contravenes university rules. The penalties are severe. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged appropriation of the words and/or ideas of someone else. Basically, it is intellectual theft and can take many forms; ranging from the reproduction of published material without appropriately documenting the source of that material, to submission of an essay written by someone else. Generally, the individual indulging in such deceit is aware of her/his transgression, but there may be cases when, because one’s own thoughts coincide closely with those of someone else (e.g. a researched author), confusion arises as to whether or not plagiarism is an issue. In such circumstances, students are expected to discuss the dilemma with the course professor. Students should note, in any event, that plagiarism is regarded very seriously as a violation of the objectives of a university education. Incorrect or insufficient referencing in a submitted paper will result in the student having to address ALL the referencing issues in that paper within a 48 hour period. Any other form of plagiarism (including: submitting an essay for more than one course, or using part or all of an essay or book chapter attained on-line or from another student), will result in the offending student being reported according to the procedures outlined in the CU Honor Code, outright failure of the submitted essay, and, by extension, failure of the course. Information about the University of Colorado (Boulder) Honor Code can be obtained from the following web address: