What good ideas for English 112 do you want to share?

WHAT GOOD IDEAS FOR ENGLISH 112 DO YOU WANT TO SHARE? Reducing the amount of essays from four to two (report and annotated bibliographies), which provided more time for teacher feedback and support. Using the Writing in the Discipline sources and handbooks with students before beginning to compose. Incorporating a Literary Analysis towards the end of the course to help students transition into the next writing course in the CC curriculum, which is a literature-based writing course. Encouraging students to use more quality resources. Incorporating social issues projects, including volunteer work, narratives to describe their work, identification of a social problem, proposals to address this problem, and finally a presentation, including a call to action that includes consideration of what students can actually do to help solve that problem in a real way. (Each paper asks them to take a different perspective (i.e. first person vs. more formal.) This is especially valuable when related to their discipline in some way. Creating opportunities for conversations between faculty across different disciplines. Modified the Writing in the Major assignment by putting them in groups of similar interest, and dividing the ethnographic elements among the students to present. Students then compose individual papers surrounding their participation in this group project. (Seems to work better for smaller CC courses.) Having a discussion forum early on, asking students what style they write in in their disciplines, and why—prompts them to learn more about the ways of knowing in their field before starting to compose.

Having a large population of students that have not had ENG 111, and did not have as much preparation for 112, which required the instructor to “back track” a bit from the WAC course content. Teaching my students what it means to write across the disciplines, i.e. argument. Students are still unsure about the differences between asking a question, making a statement, and making a supported argument. (Problem of transfer—getting students to understand WHY it matters.) In the one topic in your major approach especially, new students are having a hard time seeing and believing how this work affects where they’ll be in the future, both academically and professionally. (Especially for students unsure about their major when they enter ENG 112.) Students “copping out”—they do not take the time to research their majors and the writing conventions within them and just do what is easiest or most familiar, i.e. writing in the documentation style of their chosen field. Students finding actual journal articles within their discipline—and encountering models within their profession that directly contradict the academic conventions we are requiring of our students in the classroom. What challenges or problems did you have with 112 this year?

What else do you want to talk about regarding 112?