WR
123 ENGLISH COMPOSITION Michael Dembrow, Instructor
MW
Three Transfer Credits Tel:
(503) 978-5213
Email: mdembrow@pcc.edu Office
Hours: MW
<http://spot.pcc.edu/~mdembrow/wr123.htm>
WR
123: WR123 allows you to further develop your
substantial skills in writing and reading (not to mention thinking and creative
problem-solving) by confronting the task of doing a long research project. The course will show you how to set up a
search strategy, articulate a research question, locate and evaluate sources, analyze
and synthesize information from them, write at length and in depth, and format
research papers. A real emphasis will
also be placed on what to do with sources once you've located them: how to
summarize their contents, how to pinpoint their most important ideas, how to
synthesize their information into your own paper. These are skills which will be enormously
useful to you in your academic career (and beyond).
In this course you will learn to become
an info-detective, using your curiosity to ferret out more and more information
on your topic, becoming conversant with all kinds of info/opinion sources—in
print, online, and in person. We will
also work hard at helping you to write your paper so that your reader will
share in your curiosity and enthusiasm about this topic.
You should know up front that this course
will have a unique wrinkle. Everyone’s
project will have something to do with “Education.” Within that restriction, you will be free to
bring your own interests to bear.
Whatever your interests--world affairs, politics, education, business,
economics, health care, counseling, music, law, art, literature, film--you'll
find rich terrain to explore. Having a somewhat restricted range will make it
easier for me to provide you with reserve material and allow us to work
somewhat collaboratively in assembling sources.
Also, you'll find that this common focus will help you to work as a team
of researchers, learning and growing together, feeding one another sources and
other discoveries.
This project will be an opportunity for
you to go beyond the popular media's rather superficial treatment of
educational issues, issues that really do touch all of us in one way or another. It will give you the chance to dig deep, to
get in touch with the experts on the subject that you choose, and to understand
the complexity of the problems that we face.
By the end of this term, you'll be amazed at how much you've learned,
both from your own research and from others in the class. I myself am looking forward to reaping the fruits
of your work.
PROJECT: Your
ultimate goal in this course is to produce a magnificent research paper (on
some aspect of education) that is relatively long: 15-20 pp. of double-spaced
text, as well as Works Cited, Bibliography, and any Appendices. If you've never
written a successful paper of this length, the prospect can be daunting.
Fortunately, you'll have the whole term to work on it, I’ll be showing you how
to break it down and make it manageable, and we'll start work immediately. By the time you’ve completed this course,
you’ll have learned skills that will free you from ever again fearing a
research paper assignment.
I'll want you to show me that you've used
a range of sources: books, articles from professional journals, articles
from popular journals, newspaper articles, items from
the internet, films, videos, and interviews.
You will also show me evidence that you have done database
searches. I'll want to see the final
paper accompanied by notes, outlines, and rough drafts. Your final draft should be impeccable, your
very best product.
The big danger in a project like this is
the horrible "P‑" word: PROCRASTINATION. But there are two other P-Words that you can
rely on to help you out: PACING, PROCESS,
and steady PROGRESS. To be successful,
you must break the process down to a series of manageable steps, set up a
reasonable timetable, and stick to it.
I'll help you to do that by establishing certain fixed deadlines. Here they are:
April 12 Decide irrevocably on your research topic. Submit research proposal. You will refine the topic and get some advice
from me in a conference during the first two weeks.
May 1
Annotated Bibliography due
(approx. 20 entries), together with notes taken up to that point.
May 8 Outline and Initial Notes due (We'll
go over these during conference #2).
May 24 Draft
Due (as complete as possible)
June 7 Completed
final draft due, with abstract.
As you can see, you'll spend the first
half of the course assembling, reading, taking notes on sources, refining your
research question, and creating an annotated bibliography; you'll use the
second half of the course taking more notes, synthesizing the information,
coming up with a manageable and effective structure, writing and revising the
paper, and producing the final version with the conventions of proper
presentation in mind. At the very end of
the course you’ll share your findings with the class as a whole.
You’ll be graded separately on each of
these milestone accomplishments.
Except for your notes, and roughest
drafts, your work should be typed on a computer. PCC‑Cascade and the other campuses have
many computers available for your use.
RESEARCH:
This is not a course in library skills, but I do want you to feel
comfortable in a library and to be motivated to take advantages of the
resources libraries can offer. You have
three primary library resources available to you: the PCC Library and its
various inter‑library loan and database services, the Multnomah County
Public Library, and the Portland State University Library. In addition, you will have a plethora of
electronic resources at your disposal, most of which can be accessed right in
this room. I will expect you to use each
of these facilities over the course of the term.
I'll also try to assemble relevant
materials for the class website. As you
discover interesting sources that will help others in the class, we’ll add them
to the site.
TEXTBOOK: The Curious Researcher (Fourth Edition,
2001) by Bruce Ballenger is the only book you need to buy. (I’m assuming that
you already own a handbook.) It is a
good background resource for the research-writing experience, and I really like
his approach--it's practical, level-headed, and personal, and even
passionate--just what research-writing should be. Do the readings as assigned in the
schedule. I’ll occasionally ask you to
do exercises from the text. If I don’t
ask you to do an exercise, you should read it over, but you needn’t actually do
the exercise.
I’ll also be giving you handouts to help
with questions of style, technique, and format, and I’ll be steering you
towards relevant resources on the internet.
I’ll also be giving you copies of student work from previous courses
that you can use for models of things to emulate, or to avoid. Most of what
you’ll learn this term will be from the hands-on process of actually doing the
research and writing the work.
SERVICE
LEARNING OPTION:
I am hoping that you will be
supplementing your traditional library research with some volunteer time
working directly with an organization—either on campus or off--providing
service in the area that you are researching. Doing volunteer work will provide you with a
number of practical reference points for your inquiry,
will help you to test the accuracy and legitimacy of the conclusions provided
by the "experts" that you encounter in your reading. It will also
give you access to working professionals in these areas, who will become great
interview sources. In addition, if you
haven't done much volunteering, you'll find it a great experience in and of
itself. As we discuss your research
topic, I can help to connect you with an appropriate agency. You can start to check out some of our
off-campus partners by going to http://www.pcc.edu/resources/service-learning.
While doing a
volunteer service project is not required, I do recommend it and hope that as
many of you as possible will choose to do so. If you do a volunteer project (minimum of 10
hours of service) and successfully incorporate it into your paper, you'll be
rewarded by an additional 10% of "A" grade factored into your final
grade.
You’ll need to
decide on a project and commit to it by the end of Week 2. Once you have made a commitment, I’ll expect
you to stick to it (or your grade risks being lowered).
PROGRESS
REPORTS: Everyone will be giving me (either by email
or hard copy) a progress report each week, in which you bring me along on your
adventures in doing research this term.
I'll want you to tell me what you've done
that week, what you've DISCOVERED
(about your topic and about the research process), any new CONNECTIONS that you can make, and any QUESTIONS that you continue to have (about the topic and about the
research process). Each entry should be
\ at least 200 words long and must be emailed to me by class on Monday.
In addition, for
those of you who are doing service projects, one of the primary resources that
you will be using for your project will be the notes that you keep on your
volunteer experience. I'll show you examples of such a journal, and ways in
which you can incorporate these entries into your paper.
ATTENDANCE: We’ll be spending lots of class time
discussing research strategies and techniques; doing online research
individually and as a group; doing exercises related to summarizing,
synthesizing, and documenting; and providing you with information to use in
your papers. So, regular attendance really
is essential. Absence from class will
not excuse you from the penalty of turning something in on time (each day late
will adversely affect your grade for the assignment). In other words, DO NOT MISS CLASS SIMPLY
BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE AN ASSIGNMENT READY ON TIME. See me, and we'll work things out.
Four absences may automatically result in
a lowered grade. Five absences,
and I may ask you to withdraw from the class.
Remember--if you find yourself slipping,
losing your grip on reality (i.e., this course)--AND YOU PROBABLY WILL--come
and see me immediately. That's the easiest way to work things out.
CONFERENCES: Individual conferences are extremely
important in this class, so I'll be asking each of you to see me in my office
at least twice in the term for a 30-minute conference. (I'll be circulating sign‑up sheets so
that you can make an appointment ahead of time.)
But if you have ANY questions that you
don't want to ask during class, please do not hesitate to ask me after class or
come to my office during office hours or at other times if I'm available. Also, feel free to phone me at
503-978-5213. If I'm not there when you
call, you can leave a message on my voice mail and I'll get back to you as soon
as I can. I check my email several times
a day, so that’s also a good option.
EXAM: The final exam is scheduled for Monday,
June 12, 11-1 (but it will not take all that time). This will be a chance for us to
"debrief" on the research experience.
You'll be writing a brief essay that will synthesize what you've learned
about doing research.
GRADES: This
is my plan for the grade breakdown at this time. This is of course subject to change if events
require.
20%
weekly progress reports
20%
Annotated Bibliography
10%
Notes
10%
Rough Draft
30%
Final Draft
5% Final Exam/Presentation
5% Class Participation
If you need to drop the class, please be
advised that you must do so by the end of Week 2 if you want a refund. You can drop after that point (through Week
8), but you will lose your tuition payment for the class.
If you would like to take this class
pass/no pass, please let me know by Week 5.
(Be advised that P/NP grades cannot be used to fulfill the writing
requirement at many colleges and universities.)
If you are planning to audit the class, please let me know immediately;
regular attendance will be expected.
If you have any special needs that I
should know about, please let me know after class. PCC students requesting formal accommodations
for a disability must provide documentation of disability and work with the
Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) at 503-977-4341.
NOTE:
I mentioned above that Procrastination is the great danger when doing a
research project. This is certainly
true. However, there is another dangerous
P-Word to watch out for:
PLAGIARISM. Plagiarism, whether
conscious or unconscious, is the presentation of the words or even ideas of
others in such a way that the reader might think they are yours. I should caution you that you will automatically
fail the course if your paper includes plagiarism. However, we will be spending lots of time
helping you to avoid this problem. If
you are ever unsure about whether or not something you have written would
constitute plagiarism, PLEASE come and ask me for my opinion in advance.
For more information about PCC's position on plagiarism, see our "Academic
Integrity Policy":
<http://spot.pcc.edu/academ/mlsyl/eml/integrity/integritymain.html>