English 101 Section 70133 Online

Fall 2018

Contact Information: Kabaji_noha@sac.edu

You may expect a response from me within 24 hours on weekdays. 

The section titled “SAC Student Services” is part of this syllabus.

The section “Students' Resources” is part of this syllabus.  

Learning Objectives

Expository and argumentative essays and the research paper. 

Students Learning Outcomes

• Students will be able to read critically for literal and implied meaning, identify main ideas, organizational strategies and authors' writing strategies as well as summarize, paraphrase, and analyze written works.
• Students will use the writing process to write, in proper MLA format, academic essays, including a documented research paper, using appropriately chosen details, organizational strategies, more complex sentence variety, and sufficiently correct grammar, punctuation, effective word choice, and style.
• Students will evaluate and ethically use primary and secondary academic sources to avoid plagiarism and will use the library's resources, including online databases, to locate appropriate academic source material.

Required Texts and Material

Textbooks will be available free to you on the class website.  In addition, free writing centers will also be available for you. The links are provided on the Home page.

• English Composition 1
• Conventions 101
• The Purdue Online Writing Lab website
• Guide to Grammar and Reading website
• The Pearl (Download)
• The Pearl (Read on website)

How the Course Works

There are two kinds of weekly assignments

Activities that will help you understand the lesson and prepare you for writing the weekly paper. Those activities are lightweight. I read and respond to them when I see a muddy point or a misunderstanding of the lesson to make sure that the lesson is quite clear to you.

Weekly papers (either a journal or an essay) that will receive a major grade. A journal is a response to a reading text. An essay is a response to a Give topic.

Library Workshops 

Before you start working on the research paper, you need to take graded workshops at the library. You can schedule the assigned workshops on your time to take them by week 9. Reserve a seat early in the semester as those workshops fill out quickly. 

You will receive a grade for attending the workshops and it will be posted as soon as I receive the email from the library stating that you attended.

Learning Center Workshops

The Learning Center (D-307) offers workshop on several important topics for writing, and reading, and research. You can early extra credit points when you attend those workshops.

Working Ahead  

It is better to stay at pace with the class and submit your work weekly. I always modify and add material to the lessons to clarify and to simplify the work you need to do. Working ahead will me you miss the opportunity of benefiting from the changes.

Online Writing and Posts

When you log on to the class website to participate in activities or send emails, , and when you submit your assignments, you are in the classroom with other students and with the instructor in an academic environment and will, therefore, adhere, in language and in the material you submit, to the Student Code of Conduct of Santa Ana College. Make sure you use courteous and appropriate language and content in everything you write.

What is Attendance in This Class

In this online class, attendance is completing and submitting assignments by their due date. To be considered "present," you need to submit your assignments.

• Assignments are due by 11:00 pm Friday each week.
• You will need to allocate 6-8 hours a week to do the required work for this class, with additional time for the research paper work.
• If you do not submit assignments for two consecutive weeks, or three intermittent weeks, you will be denied access to the class
• All assignments are to be dropped in Canvas. No assignments can be sent by emails. It is not possible to track, grade, or submit a grade for assignments submitted by email.

Dropping the Class

After the first two weeks, it is your responsibility to drop the class, if you wish to. However, if you stop participating in the class for two consecutive weeks, or three intermittent weeks, I will assume that you are no longer interested in the class and will deny you access. It is your responsibility to drop the class to avoid a grade of F.

I would encourage you, though, to share with me your circumstances and reasons for dropping the class before you make a final decision so that I can work with you on overcoming challenges.

To Avoid Being Dropped from the Class

To avoid being dropped from the class the first wees of the semester, students should do both of the following:

1. Show presence in the class by participating in discussions
2. Submit the diagnostic essay

To avoid being denied access to the class after the second week, students should not miss submitting assignments for two consecutive weeks or for three intermittent weeks. 

Class Activities 

Activities you do in this class include 

• Essays in response to a given topic
• Journals in response to an assigned reading text
• Discussions in response to a given prompt
• Research paper in response to a chosen topic
• Novel responses
• Grammar exercises based on individual needs
• Library Workshops
• Learning Center Workshops

Before you start working on the research paper, you need to take graded workshops at the library. You can schedule the assigned workshops on your time to take them by week 9. Reserve a seat early in the semester as those workshops fill out quickly.

You will receive credit as soon as I receive an email from the library that you have completed the workshop successfully.

Modifying Course Content

As this course is skill oriented and not content oriented, sometimes I feel the need to make modifications in the course and/or grade distribution to adapt to your needs.   You will be notified of any such modifications in time. 

What Do You Need to Get Credit in This Class?

It is mandated by the state that students in English 101 write 6,000-8,000 words to fulfill the mandated requirement, and the assignments are designed to fulfill these requirements. Therefore, to get credit for this class, you need to fulfill ALL of the following requirements:

1. Submit all course papers even those of an assignment that is divided into several parts
2. Get an average of 70% or better.

The Research Paper is made up of 3 assignments and will receive credit only if all three assignments are submitted, approved, graded, and accepted in their right sequence. If one of the three assignments is not submitted in its right sequence, or if it is not accepted, the other two assignments will receive a grade of zero.

MLA format 

All assignments have to be in MLA format. For each assignment, a template has been provided to make it easier on you. However, you should not copy and past from another document into this one. If you do, the template will lose its formatting. 

• Submit all assignments, each in its own drop box in Canvas. A record of the submitted document, of the graded document, and of the grade will be kept in Canvas forever.
• As long as your assignment has not been graded, you can resubmit and Canvas will keep all submitted assignments. But I will grade the latest version.
• Never submit an assignment by email. No record is kept by email. No grade can be posted.
• Every assignment you submit in this class is written completely by you and has never been submitted in any class before by you or by anyone else.
• All assignments have to be submitted by their due dates. Once you submit late, you will start lagging behind and will find it very hard to get back on track.

Plan for Your Success

It is very important for you as a student in an online class to stay on track, which includes being up to date with assignments. All assignments are to be submitted by their due dates.

A missed assignment is a grade of zero. You need to work on your final grade with your first assignment and get used to allocating time divided over several days of the week.

The time that you allocate for your weekly assignments cannot be in one day. That is not good studying practice. It is not possible for you to go to class on campus, sit there for ten hours to read a lesson and understand it, do individual and group activities, and then write a paper of 800 words and submit it all in one day. That is simply impossible.

To work comfortably and at your own pace and enjoy learning and improving your skills, plan on spreading out the work over the week and on submitting all work on time.

It is not enough for me that you are in my class. I want you to enjoy the class and love learning what you have paid and dedicated your time for.