English & Reading Departments INFORMATION FOR INSTRUCTORS

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TEACHING ENG 99--Guidelines from the English Department (most recent version: 6-15-05 )

            This help sheet is a set of suggestions for new teachers of Eng 99.  It is meant only as an unofficial supplement to the official “Eng 99 Course Outline,” which should be read first.

FOUR IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE COURSE

(1)   The IHCC English Department has worked hard to make Eng 99 effective in preparing students for FYC (first-year composition).  Research at one or two other Twin Cities community colleges shows that students who have taken a course like Eng 99 have higher completion rates and/or grade averages in FYC than do other FYC students.  It is likely that IHCC success rates are similar.

(2)   Eng 99’s three credits do not count as college-level credit. 

(3)   A required entrance test places students into the writing course they need: into a lower course, into Eng 99, or into the first college-level composition course.  In addition, IHCC’s placement standards for writing are among the most stringent in Minnesota two-year colleges, and some of our 99 students may even have been “A” and “B” writers in high school.  Because of this and of the course’s noncredit status, Eng 99 students sometimes have difficulty in fully engaging in the course.  For this reason, 99 instructors may find it helpful to be cheerful, fair, firm, and down to earth with students.

(4)   A few students may ignore their writing placement test results, intentionally or accidentally.  For this reason, you will be given lists of your students and their placement results just before your course starts.  First, if a student has not taken the placement test, he or she should not be allowed into Eng 99.  Second, if a student has placed into a lower course, in almost all such situations you should not allow the student to take 99.  Third, if a student has placed into a higher course (FYC), she may take 99 first; however, it is wise to at least discuss her choice with her, as she may not need 99.  Your discussions with your students about placement should happen as quickly as possible in the first week of classes: after this first week, students cannot sign up for other classes without special written permission. 

THE ENG 99 FINAL TEST—PREPARING YOUR SYLLABUS FOR IT

If you are a new teacher, you should note another very important aspect of the course not mentioned in the course outline: a department-wide Eng 99 final written test.  You must plan for it well ahead of time and prepare your syllabus with it in mind.  The written test is one chosen by the department and given at a specific time or times near the end of each semester.  It is then holistically graded by the entire department during a morning off from all classes.  The test counts as 30% of the final course grade, and it is possible for a person to fail the exam but pass the course.

            The English Department considers each student’s written test response very important for three reasons:

(1)   All 99 students should demonstrate adequate preparation for FYC—first-year composition.

(2)   All students starting FYC should know how to write using a formal thesis argument structure.

(3)   All students starting FYC should know how to respond in writing to academic readings.

If you are new to 99 at IHCC, please note that many 99 students fail the final written test because they write substandard essays.  Therefore, you need to carefully consider how to prepare students well in the skills they need for writing their essays.  This means that while most of a 99 course should be about writing, the course also should have some richness and variety of short essays to which students learn to respond in writing.  And by the end of the semester, students should be practiced in writing argumentative responses to readings.  These responses should show the ability to use (a) a thesis structure, (b) references to the readings and detailed examples, and (c) properly formed paragraphs and sentences.

CONTENTS AND READINGS

            Beyond the above parameters, Inver Hills Community College ’s Eng 99 course is like most other colleges’ 90- or 900-level basic writing courses.  The emphasis is on writing and composition, the method is to teach both revision and editing, and the outcome is that a student must be able to produce a cohesive paper using a thesis-topics structure in interesting paragraphs.  There also should be significant review of grammar, punctuation, and other mechanics.  Regarding such review, students can profit in particular from practice in developing their own sentence components—how to form complete sentences and avoid sentence-level errors.  However, the overall purposes for students in the course are not to review mechanics and learn sentence writing (which are more the domain of the lower-level course).  Rather, the purposes are to learn how to write cohesive argumentative and analytic papers with at least a beginning attempt at some sophistication, and to respond and refer to readings by showing understanding of them and the ability to disagree with them.

            There are many textbooks that can be used for this course (and by fall 2006, the department may have chosen a common “grammar handbook”—recommended but not required).  Some textbooks contain needed readings.  However, if you have already chosen a textbook without readings, it is easy to ask students to read and respond to essays found elsewhere.  Short essays should be used so that students may practice discovering readings’ thesis structures and responding to them.  General topics with many readings are allowed.  However, there is initial evidence in studies of Harvard graduates and of Florida secondary students that focusing on a specific topic may help students better remember writing lessons.  In addition, IHCC instructors have found this method especially useful in Eng 1114 (one of two Comp II courses). 

            The College Librarians recommend, in particular, five series of short, argumentative essays from the IHCC Library: Opposing Viewpoints, Reference Shelf, At Issue, Current Controversies, and Taking Sides.  Each series contains many books of single or paired essays on a wide variety of subjects.  Librarians Julie Benolken and Ann Schroder are quite knowledgeable about such series and can reserve a few books for your students.  Such books also are relatively inexpensive and sometimes can be ordered quickly.  Other options include newspapers, magazines, or a basic reader.  (Note to new teachers: Avoid making your own collection of copyrighted essays for multiple printing; contact the Bookstore far in advance about permissions issues.) 

RESOURCES

            For more information and additional help, please contact Ellen Lansky, the Eng 99 Final Test Coordinator; the current Department Coordinator (chair; rotated yearly); and other members of the department.  If you are new to the Inver Hills English courses, you also should read the department’s “Eng 1108 Outline” so that you know what is expected of Eng 99 students in FYC, their next course.   

            Here are additional resources:

IHCC English Department Web Site: http://depts.inverhills.edu/English  (Please add to your syllabus.)

Inver Hills Community College : http://inverhills.edu

Student/Staff Network Account, Starting One: http://www.inverhills.edu/accounts/#ly

MnSCU New Faculty e-Handbook: http://vfc4.project.mnscu.edu/   

Online Composition Resources and Online Grammar Handbook: http://CollegeWriting.info 

(Jewell. First version May 2005)

TEACHING ENG 1111--Guidelines from the English Department (most recent version: 6-15-05 )

            This help sheet is a set of suggestions for new teachers of Eng 1111.  It is meant only as an unofficial addendum to the official “Eng 1111 Course Outline,” which should be read first.

            New teachers should know that students receiving a two-year degree or the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum from IHCC generally must complete a two-course sequence of composition.  The first course is Eng 1108 (4 cr.).  The second course, however, is—depending on a student’s program requirements—either Eng 1111 (2 cr.) or Eng 1114 (3 cr.).  Each course has a different audience.  Eng 1111 is taken by a greater number of students, often because their technical or professional degrees require the course but sometimes because it appears easier.  Eng 1114 usually is taken because its 3 cr. may transfer more readily and it is recommended for those seeking a bachelor’s degree.

 LENGTH OF COURSE: Eng 1111 is the only 2-cr. course offered by the English Department.  It also is a research-writing course.  For both reasons, new teachers of 1111 should be careful to give students only 2 cr. of work.  In practice, the course often feels more like a 3- or 4-cr. offering, so instructors should err on the side of caution when making assignments in order to avoid giving themselves and students too much work.  This is especially important because of a ten-page minimum requirement for formal writing in this course (see “Writing Assignments,” page 2).

            New instructors also should exercise caution in teaching 1111 online: doing so also can be even more time consuming.  It is wise to do it gradually over several terms: first, in a normal classroom with some Internet content; next, in a hybrid section; and then, perhaps, in a fully online section.

TEACHING METHODS: It is the understanding of IHCC’s Academic Council that students learn research methods in 1108 and then practice them by writing intensively in 1111/1114.  Some instructors teach Eng 1111 as a shortened version of Eng 1114 (i.e., without the reading and analysis of the book-length text required in 1114).  Other instructors teach 1111 as a discipline(s)-oriented research-writing course, either for technical/professional research in general, or for research in one or several specific disciplines.  The Department currently considers either method—or anything between—reasonable. 

            In support of teaching the course like 1114, the 1111 catalogue description clearly states that the course’s purpose is to “focus on academic research writing,” just as in 1114.  Additionally, other course purposes and “Outcomes” in the “Eng 1111 Course Outline” are similar to those for Eng 1114. 

            In support of teaching 1111 using a disciplines-oriented method, the course catalog description encourages the learning of research “in various disciplines.”  The 1111 “Outcomes” also include allowing the teaching of “organization, language, and citation methods for a specific discipline.”  In addition, the catalog description’s “academic research writing” may include research in professional and technical fields of academia.   

            No special steps need be taken if 1111 is taught like 1114 or as a general disciplines-oriented course.  In fact, the department strongly recommends that new IHCC instructors first teach 1111 in one of these two ways.  However, experienced instructors who have been at IHCC for a year or two may choose to teach 1111 using a narrow focus—for one or a few disciplines.  With a narrow focus, students required to take the course can find scheduling problematic.  As a result, instructors should discuss scheduling details well in advance with deans or program coordinators whose students need the course.  In addition, the college asks that if possible, the instructor mention the specialized focus in a “section note” in the semester schedule far in advance (by contacting Anne Johnson). 
             

TOPICS: The “Eng 1111 Course Outline” requires Eng 1111 instructors to cover four “Topics”:

            Critical reading of texts (paraphrase and summary) 20%

            Research skills (such as Internet, PALS, etc.) 20%

            Citation methods 20%

            Writing strategies 40%

            The majority of students entering the course need significant work with “Writing strategies.”  It may be helpful to remember that even though 1111 students have taken Eng 1108, they may have more trouble than 1114 students in remembering 1108—whether from less motivation, less practice since taking 1108, or a longer period of time between the first and second course.  An 1111 instructor should not re-teach 1108.  However, most students may need assistance in developing their own metacognitive understandings—their overviews—of practices in 1108 and in how to transfer them to 1111.

            Students’ “Critical reading” skills also tend to be lower in 1111 than in 1114, possibly because 1111 students are less likely to be regular readers.  For this reason, teaching the critical-thinking skills involved in reading for research can be a useful way of teaching overall research strategies: e.g., identifying useful ideas, summarizing, questioning, and comparing/contrasting.  In addition, 1111 instructors may wish to enhance “Critical reading” by encouraging broad and deep reading in students’ own disciplines or fields for one or more formal writing assignments. 

            There are two more required “Topics” from above—“Research skills” and “Citation methods.”  Instructors should remember that students already have learned some basic research skills and methods in 1108.  Eng 1111 also offers only a short amount of learning time (2 cr.).  In addition, students may need more time than in 1114 to transfer 1108 skills to 1111.  For these reasons, an instructor may wish to save time by combining “Research skills” and “Citation methods” with “Writing strategies” whenever possible.  One example of combining is to change or add to the typical trip to the library for lessons on research methods, especially as some 1111 students complain that they have already made this trip in 1108 or other courses: instead, some instructors combine the three “Topics” by using strategy-teaching exercises involving research and/or citation.  Three other examples are informal practice papers, small-group research practice, and group papers, all of which treat the three topics as research processes.

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS: The general goal of Eng 1111 is that students are capable of producing good research writing.  The “Eng 1111 Course Outline” describes four “Outcome Measures” for evaluating students: “Formal papers,” “Informal papers,” “Exams,” and “Presentations.”  Any one or more may be chosen. There must be “Formal papers” because 1111 transfers to the University of Minnesota-TC as a “WI” (“Writing Intensive”) course: UM-TC WI courses require ten or more typed, double-spaced pages of formal writing (in one or more papers, counting only the final draft of each paper), some of which must be revised from comments by the instructor.  It may also be helpful to consider the catalog description for the other Comp II course, Eng 1114: the course “result[s] in a research paper….”  This description reflects accepted department practice that in both courses, instructors may assign one long research paper or several shorter ones. 

            The department also encourages “Informal papers”—journals, rough drafts, notes, etc.—as additional methods for instructors to spend less time on formal grading while students spend more time practicing writing.  “Exams” also may be used.  Finally, classroom “Presentations” can further decrease instructor grading time, and they may appeal to students who view them as practice for their future professions.  Grading always is A-F, and incompletes are given sparingly.

RESOURCES: 

IHCC English Department Web Site: http://depts.inverhills.edu/English  (Please add to your syllabus.)

Inver Hills Community College: http://inverhills.edu

Student/Staff Network Account, Starting One: http://www.inverhills.edu/accounts/#ly

MnSCU New Faculty e-Handbook: http://vfc4.project.mnscu.edu/   

Online Composition Resources and Online Grammar Handbook: http://CollegeWriting.info 

(Jewell, Wanless-Sobel, and Zeck. First version 2004)

TEACHING ENG 1114--Guidelines from the English Department (most recent version: 6-15-05 )

            This help sheet is a set of suggestions for new teachers of Eng 1114.  It is meant only as an unofficial guide to the official “Eng 1114 Course Outline,” which should be read first.

            New teachers of 1114 should be aware that IHCC students generally must complete two composition courses to receive a two-year degree or the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC; it allows students to freely transfer about three semesters of courses among all MnSCU and UM schools).  Our “Comp I” course is Eng 1108 (4 cr.).  There are two “Comp II” courses: depending on students’ program requirements, they take either Eng 1111 (2 cr.) or Eng 1114 (3 cr.).  Each of the two has a different audience.  More students take 1111, often because their technical or professional degrees require it but sometimes because it appears easier.  Students usually take 1114 because Counseling recommends it to those seeking a bachelor’s degree, its 3 credits may transfer more readily, and/or students who are more comfortable with traditional academic writing may prefer 1114.

LENGTH OF COURSE: The department and the campus have reached an agreement that two of 1114’s three credits are for teaching writing, and one credit is reserved for “critical analysis of fiction or nonfiction texts, at least one book-length” (Catalog), as chosen by the instructor.  An instructor is expected to announce the reading a year in advance as an additional “course note.”  1114 transfers to almost all colleges and universities nationwide as a second composition course or other elective.  In addition, like Eng 1111, 1114 transfers to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities as a Writing Intensive course (UM-TC requires four WI courses, two of which may be taken in the first two years).  

TOPICS AND OUTCOMES: The College’s “Eng 1114 Course Outline” requires Eng 1114 instructors to cover six “Topics”:

Strategies for textual analysis and critical reading 30%

Research strategies and evaluation of sources 20%

Development of an effective thesis idea 5%

Construction of effective support for literary interpretation or position on nonfiction
        text 20%

Documentation using an appropriate method 5%

Techniques for revising and editing 20%

            Generally 1114 instructors require students to write a paper with a thesis or goal.  As the 1114 “Outcomes” state, students should learn to “[i]dentify, summarize, evaluate, and synthesize material from diverse sources. . . .”  They also must be able to recognize bias and “[d]istinguish . . . facts, goals, and assumptions.”  Additional skills students should be encouraged to develop in 1114 include critical reading, intelligent response to readings (to both course texts and to research sources), scientific/ logical thinking, inferential reasoning, abstraction, higher-level argument, and creativity in research.   Moreover, students should develop metacognitive or higher-order writing skills such as authority in voice and style, awareness of audience, and recognition of how authors are using such skills.

TEACHING METHODS: In Minnesota community colleges, curriculum is developed by a department in agreement with a college’s curriculum committee, which is composed of both teachers and administrators.  In most such colleges, the composition curriculum helps serve the entire campus’ introductory-writing needs.  In this manner at IHCC, all three composition courses—1108, 1111, and 1114—have been developed, in accordance with the IHCC Curriculum Committee, as “courses stressing the research component” (“Minutes” 8 May 1997 ).  Concerning research and Eng 1108, research is “important to get into the first composition course,” which must “include analysis and   research components” ( 17 April 1997 ).  It is the current understanding of IHCC’s Academic Council (which has replaced the old Curriculum Committee) that students learn research methods in 1108 and then practice them by writing intensively in 1111 and 1114. 

            As a result, the first two of 1114’s three credits—the research component—should not be taught as a repetition of basic research techniques learned in 1108.  Instead, the emphasis is on application and refinement of those techniques.  However, 1108 basics also may need some additional review and reinforcement (perhaps less so in 1114 than in 1111).  New teachers of 1114 also should remember that occasionally, a student may have placed out of the preceding 1108, another may not have taken it or its equivalent for many years, and still others may have taken the equivalent of 1108 at  a college that does not stress research.  Students in need of substantial review can be sent to the Writing Center or the Tutoring Center . 

            The third credit of 1114, the reading component, involves analysis/discussion of at least one book by the class.  This approach has strong support nationally in recent composition research at Harvard and elsewhere: professionals and older students, when queried about what they remember as useful in introductory writing courses, often report that one very helpful element was an in-depth, critical examination of a single work or subject over a period of time. 

            Once an instructor has chosen a required reading, he or she should announce it in the online college schedule of courses (and, if time allows, in the physically published one) in accordance with an agreement with the Curriculum Committee that “there be a published list of books that will be used in Eng 1114 for students to review upon registering” (22 Feb. 2000).  As soon as possible, instructors should choose a required book(s) and contact Anne Johnson to request that the title(s) be added to the course section notes.  Some English instructors require additional short readings, and some do not.  Some instructors require students to focus on the required reading alone for research, others allow related topics, and still others allow research on unrelated, independent subjects.  No matter which options instructors choose, the department assumes their students will engage, formally or informally, in research and writing about the required reading in some kind of sustained, analytic manner.

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS: The Eng 1114 “Course Outline Form” states that the “Outcome Measures” of the course are “Formal & informal essays,” “Revisions,” and “tests/quizzes.”  Most of these may be used according to instructor choice.  However, formal writing is required.  According to the 1114 course description, the writings will “result in a research paper.”  More than one formal paper may be assigned; however, the number should be small enough or assigned in such a way as to allow students to have time for deep analysis.  In addition, 1114 transfers to UM-TC as a WI (Writing Intensive) course.  This means that there must be ten or more typed, double-spaced pages of formal writing (in one or more papers, not counting multiple drafts), some of which must be revised from instructor comments.  The English Department also highly recommends the “Outcome Measure” of revisions and also strongly supports assigning students other informal writing, as well as critiquing and analysis, alone or in student groups.  Grading always is A-F, and incompletes are given sparingly.

RESOURCES: See the following Web sites for additional help:

IHCC English Department Web Site: http://depts.inverhills.edu/English  (Please add to your syllabus.)

Inver Hills Community College : http://inverhills.edu

Student/Staff Network Account, Starting One: http://www.inverhills.edu/accounts/#ly

MnSCU New Faculty e-Handbook: http://vfc4.project.mnscu.edu/   

Online Composition Resources and Online Grammar Handbook: http://CollegeWriting.info 

(Jewell & Wanless-Sobel.  First version 2004)

             What should a student be able to do in writing, thinking, and research once he or she has taken Eng 1108?  (And what will that student be unable to consistently do without Eng 1108?)  Here is a list of competencies developed by the English Department at its Fall 2005 retreat (and revised afterward).  These are the competencies students gain in Eng 1108: 
---
Eng 1108 Competencies--Students who have successfully completed Eng 1108 ("Composition I") should be able to do the following:
(1) Summarize an academic reading
(2) Respond both logically and thoughtfully to an academic reading
(3) Write standard edited English with a minimum of distracting errors--or know how to get help to do so
(4) Organize ideas into coherent paragraphs (Please remember that disciplines have different ways of organizing these paragraphs into overall parts.)
(5) Write a logically supported, thesis-driven (argument-driven) essay
(6) Find scholarly sources
(7) Use sources without plagiarizing, including citing sources according to the MLA guidelines (Remember there are many different citation/bibliography systems, and your discipline's system might be different from the basic MLA system taught in English 1108.)

"MNADE DEVELOPS BROCHURE TO AID DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATORS"

www.mnade.org

"The Minnesota Association of Developmental Education (MNADE), a state professional organization, has developed a brochure entitled “College Readiness: Understanding the Difference Between High School and College.” Susan Hipp from Century College is the primary author of the brochure and coordinated a team of outstanding educators in the field of developmental education to lay out the conceptual framework of this brochure and to present workshops to community and higher education groups. 

"This brochure can be used to enhance developmental programming with the following audiences:

• Prospective students, parents and 7-12 teachers. This includes home-schooled students, college applicants, GED/ABE programs, K-12 partnerships, career nights, and area high schools.
• Admitted college students. The brochure would be useful in orientation programs, FYE courses, and student groups.
• Student support areas. Learning Centers, tutor programs and training, TRIO, HEOP, library, bookstore, advising centers, and on TV monitors throughout the campus were suggested.
• Campus staff.  Counselors, advisory, admissions staff, assessment, faculty (don’t forget adjuncts), and FYE instructors were mentioned.
• Outside groups.  Advisory committees, churches, scouts, 4-H, and scholarship sponsors (Rotary, Elks, etc.) could utilize the information in the brochure.

"To view the brochure and learn more about how to order copies, visit the MNADE website at www.mnade.org."

--Unattributed Email Source

College (IHCC) Web Site: http://inverhills.edu

College Writing Textbook (Online): http://CollegeWriting.info

"CompFAQs," a Major Web Site from the WPA (Writing Program Administrators): http://comppile.tamucc.edu/wiki/CompFAQs  

"CompPile," a Major Web Site from the WPA (Writing Program Administrators): http://comppile.tamucc.edu  

English Department Web Site: http://depts.inverhills.edu/English (please add to your syllabus)

ESL/NNS Students in Composition Courses--"Generation 1.5 College Students": http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0305harklau.html  

Grammar Handbook Online--University of Minnesota Online Grammar Handbook: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~jewel001/grammar/index.htm  

MnSCU (Minnesota State Colleges and Universities) New Faculty e-Handbook: http://vfc4.project.mnscu.edu/

Professional, Pedagogic, and Other English Links: "Online Help for Instructors," http://www.tc.umn.edu/~jewel001/CollegeWriting/TEACH/onlineresources.htm; 
and "Online Writing Help for Students and Professionals," http://www.tc.umn.edu/~jewel001/CollegeWriting/HELP/onlineresources.htm  

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Date this page was most recently revised: 20 Aug. 2007