IDS 103: Academic Writing and Critical Thinking

Course Description

This course will concentrate on the process of developing writing paragraphs and essays that follow specific patterns of development and on building critical reading skills that enhance writing and critical thinking. Students will analyze readings and create paragraphs with strong thesis statements and specific supporting details. This course is recommended for students who need to review or strengthen these skills. (3 credits)

Prerequisite

This course has no prerequisites, but students may be placed in this course based on their performance in other entry level courses.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Employ active reading strategies to comprehend and think critically about college-level texts and writing assignments.
Determine the subject, purpose, and audience of a piece of writing.
Differentiate between formal and informal writing and associate these levels with appropriate audiences and purpose of writing.
Identify main ideas, supporting details, and organizational structures in paragraphs and essays, and explain the relationships among them.
Describe and employ phases of the writing process (chiefly prewriting, drafting, revising and editing) in the development of various non-fiction composition projects.
Write coherent paragraphs that feature effective topic sentences, relevant supporting detail, and logical techniques of organization.
Write paragraphs that serve specific purposes and functions, such as definition, summary, report and argument.
Demonstrate an understanding of the differences among summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting from outside sources and the ability to format and cite sources accurately.
Identify the basic elements of a standard English sentence.
Apply selected rules of English grammar, syntax, and mechanics to construct clear, fluent sentences. Find and correct basic sentence level errors in own writing and in text by other writers.

Course Activities and Grading

Assignments	Weight
Discussions (10 points each)	25%
Writing Assignments (Weeks 1-8) (100 points each)	55%
Short Answer Quizzes and Graded Wiki Post in Week 2 (100 points each)	20%
Total	100%

Required Text

This course uses Open Educational Resources (OER). OER are openly licensed, educational resources that can be used for teaching, learning and research. OER may consist of a variety of resources such as textbooks, videos and software that are no cost for students.

Course Schedule

Week	SLOs	Readings and Exercises	Assignments
1	1,2,3	Topic: Critical Reading Readings: Joey Green’s “Beauty and the Beef” Module I, Sections 1- 6 Purpose and Audience Video: Informal/Formal Writing and Reading Strategies	Read assigned chapters Participate in Discussions 1 and 2 Watch videos Review the lecture Submit writing assignments: Critical Reading Write Informal and Formal Paragraphs
2	2,4,5,9,10	Topic: Starting the Writing Process Readings: Module I, Sections 6- 12 Grammar Review: Lumen Learning Mini-Lesson: Fragments 1 Video: Prewriting Techniques	Read assigned chapters Participate in Discussion 1 Post to Wiki (2 assignments) Review the Lecture Submit writing assignments: Pre-writing Exercises and Descriptive Paragraph Organizational Patterns
3	4,6,8,10	Topics: Summarizing and Paraphrasing Readings: Module 2 Sections 1-9 Grammar Review: Pronouns	Read assigned chapters Participate in Discussions 1 and 2 Post to Wiki Review the Lecture Submit writing assignments: Paraphrasing Primary and Secondary Sources Works Cited Page
4	2,6,7,9	Topic: Writing an Extended Definition Readings: Module 3, Sections 1-6 Grammar Review: Lumen Learning Mini-Lesson: Sentence Types Video: Thesis Explained	Read assigned chapters Participate in Discussions 1 and 2 Review the Lecture Submit writing assignments: Definition Paragraph Sentence Types Submit Writing assignment to tutoring service
5	2,3,4,7,10	Topic: Writing Comparison/Contrast Essay Readings: Module 6, Sections 1- 5	Read assigned chapters Participate in Discussion 1 Post to Wiki (2 posts) Review the Lecture Submit writing assignments: Comparison/Contrast Essay Short Answer Quiz on Reading of “Friending, Ancient or Otherwise”
6	1,2,4,6,7	Topics: Writing an Essay Using Illustration/Examples Readings: Module 5, Sections 1, 2, 4 and 5 Grammar Practice: Use of Voice	Read assigned chapters Participate in Discussions 1 and 2 Wiki post Review the Lecture Submit writing assignments: Using Examples and Illustration in an Essay Short Answer Quiz on Reading of “She’s Your Basic LOL in NAD”
7	1,2,4,6,10	Topic: Writing a Cause and Effect Essay Readings: Module 7, Sections 1 - 4 Grammar Practice: Parallelism	Read assigned chapters Participate in Discussion 1 Wiki post Review the Lecture Submit writing assignments: Cause and Effect Essay draft Short Answer Quiz on Reading of “Cultural Baggage”
8	10	Topics: Course Reflection and Final Cause and Effect Paper Readings: There are no assigned readings for this week.	Participate in Discussion 1 Submit writing assignment: Final Cause and Effect Essay Complete Course Evaluation

COSC Accessibility Statement

Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.

COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources

Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.