Courses

The Student Learning Outcomes Statements for are intended to provide instructors and students with a sense of what kinds of knowledge students should be expected to acquire and demonstrate by the end of each course. The student learning outcomes, which were created through the participation of instructors in the Composition Program, are intended to create a sense of common purpose for the courses and clear expectations for the students. At the same time, the student learning  outcomes have been written to maintain the flexibility in the program that allows individual instructors to continue the tradition of innovation and creativity in the classroom that is one of the great strengths of the University of Louisville Composition Program.

English 101 (Intro to College Writing)

English 101 focuses on recognizing and responding to different rhetorical situations and developing effective writing processes. A student writer in English 101 should expect to: create and revise works in multiple genres; establish a clear purpose and sense of his or her presence and position in each work; and compose the equivalent of 18 - 20 pages of text over the course of the semester.

Student Learning Outcomes for English 101:

Rhetorical Knowledge
Students will produce writing that responds appropriately to a variety of rhetorical situations. Their writing should:

• Focus on a clear and consistent purpose

• Analyze and respond to the needs of different audiences

• Employ a tone consistent with purpose and audience

• Use a variety of genres or adapt genres to suit different audiences and purposes

• Choose evidence and detail consistent with purpose and audience

• Recognize the utility of digital technologies for composition

Critical Reading and Thinking
Students will produce writing that abstracts, synthesizes, and represents the ideas of others fairly. Their writing should:

• Summarize argument and exposition of a text accurately

• Demonstrate awareness of the role of genre in the creation and reception of texts

• Provide an understanding of knowledge as existing within a broader context, including the

• purpose(s) and audience(s) for which a text may have been constructed

• Incorporate an awareness of multiple points of view

• Show basic skills in identifying and analyzing electronic sources, including scholarly library databases, the web, and other official databases

Processes
Students will produce writing reflective of a multi-stage composing and revising process. Their writing should:

• Reflect a recursive composing process across multiple drafts

• Illustrate multiple strategies of invention, drafting, and revision

• Show evidence of development through peer review and collaboration

Conventions
Students will produce writing that strategically employs appropriate conventions in different writing situations. Their writing should:

By the end of English 101, students should demonstrate the ability to produce writing that

• Use structural conventions such as organization, formatting, paragraphing, and tone

• Demonstrate control of such surface features as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling

• Provide an understanding of the conventions of multimodal composition that comprise developing communication in the 21st century

Ownership
In fulfilling the above outcomes, students will take ownership of their work and recognize themselves as writers who:

• Have a growing understanding of their own voice, style, and strengths

• Demonstrate confidence in their writing through frequent drafts

• Can articulate their own positions relative to those of others

Adopted November 2014

English 102 (Intermed. College Writing)

English 102 focuses on creating and answering questions through research and writing using academic sources, both primary and secondary. A student in English 102 should expect to: develop and answer research questions; articulate a position relative to others on a topic; address audiences inside and outside the academic community; and compose, revise, and edit multiple assignments equaling about 20 to 25 pages of text, including at least one extended research project.

Rhetorical Knowledge

Students will produce writing that responds appropriately to a variety of rhetorical situations. Their writing should:

• Articulate a purpose for research and their own position relative to the positions of others
• Analyze the needs of an audience and the requirements of the assignment or task
• Adapt an argument to a variety of genres and media to suit different audiences and purposes
• Use evidence appropriate to audience and purpose

Critical Thinking and Reading

Students will produce writing that abstracts, synthesizes, and represents the ideas of others fairly. Their writing should:

• Use evidence that responsibly represents other research and communities in and beyond the classroom
• Demonstrate an understanding of a text as existing within a broader context, with a distinct audience and purpose
• Represent and respond to multiple points of view in research and across community and cultural issues

• Select academic and nonacademic sources with discernment

Community Issues and Cultural Diversity

Students will produce writing that communicates an understanding of how communities and cultural categories are constructed.  Their writing should:

• Demonstrate awareness of multiple points of view
• Question existing assumptions about culture and community
• Describe actions being taken to address cultural and community issues
• Address concerns of diverse audiences

Processes

Students will produce writing reflective of a multi-stage composing and revising process. Their writing should:

• Use sources to discover and develop research questions and/or projects
• Reflect recursive composing processes and strategies across multiple drafts and research assignments
• Show evidence of research development through peer review and collaboration
• Evaluate the credibility and relevance of both print and digital sources

Conventions

Students will produce writing that strategically employs appropriate conventions in different writing situations. Their writing should:

• Use structural conventions such as organization, formatting, paragraphing, and tone
• Demonstrate control of surface features such as grammar, punctuation, and spelling
• Provide an understanding of the conventions of multimodal composition (in print and/or digital media) that comprise developing communication in the 21st century
• Cite the work of others appropriately=

Adopted Spring 2015

English 105 (Honors Composition)

English 105 is an honors course that satisfies both the English 101 and English 102 requirements. To enroll in the course, incoming first-year students must have an ACT composite score of 28 or higher or the equivalent SAT score of 1240 (composite math and verbal scores) and a high school grade point average (GPA) of 3.5. Because English 105 is the only first-year writing course honors students are required to take, it needs to cover the rhetorical and writing process concerns of English 101 as well as the writing with research concerns of English 102. Instructors teaching English 105 should also review the Student Learning Outcomes for English 101 and English 102. A student in English 105 should expect to write and revise essays in multiple genres, each with a clear purpose and sense of the writer’s presence and position. The student should also expect to create and answer questions through research and writing that draws upon written texts and other sources. A student in English 105 can expect to write four to six papers during the term, including at least one extended research essay, totaling about 20 to 25 pages of text.

Student Learning Outcomes for English 105:

Rhetorical Knowledge (responding appropriately to a variety of rhetorical situations)

By the end of English 105, students should demonstrate the ability to produce writing that

• Focuses on a clear and consistent purpose

• Analyzes and responds to the needs of different audiences

• Employs a tone consistent with purpose and audience

• Uses a variety of genres or adapts genres to suit different audiences and purposes, including writing with research sources

• Chooses detail and evidence, including evidence from research sources, consistent with purpose and audience

Critical Reading and Thinking (analyzing rhetorical positioning of texts)

By the end of English 105, students should demonstrate the ability to produce writing that

• Demonstrates awareness of the role of genre in making meaning from a given text

• Demonstrates understanding of knowledge and information, including information from research sources, as existing within a broader context

• Represents and responds to multiple points of view, including the positioning of research sources

Processes

By the end of English 105, students should demonstrate the ability to produce writing that

• Identifies a research question and develops a research strategy

• Identifies, evaluates, and uses research sources to discover and focus a thesis

• Demonstrates through reflection awareness of their own writing processes across multiple drafts

• Demonstrates strategies of invention, drafting, and revision

• Demonstrates ability to critique own work and work of peers

Conventions

By the end of English 105, students should demonstrate the ability to produce writing that

• Demonstrates control over conventions of format and presentation for different purposes and different audiences

• Demonstrates control of such surface features as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling

• Uses conventions of structure and format appropriate to the rhetorical situation, including purposes and conventions of documentation and multiple methods of citation

English 303 (Scientific & Technical Writing)

The focus of English 303 is recognizing and responding in writing to different rhetorical situations in scientific and technical discourse communities. A student in English 303 should expect to create and revise documents in multiple genres. Each document should establish a clear purpose, sense of audience awareness, and sense of the writer’s presence and position. A student in English 303 should expect to complete four-to-six projects.

Student Learning Outcomes Statement for English 303:

The Student Outcomes Statement for English 303 is intended to provide instructors and students with a sense of what kinds of knowledge students should be expected to acquire and demonstrate by the end of this course. The student learning outcomes are intended to create a sense of common purpose for the courses and clear expectations for the students. At the same time, the student learning outcomes have been written to maintain the flexibility in the program that allows individual instructors to continue the tradition of innovation and creativity in the classroom that is one of the great strengths of the University of Louisville Composition Program.

Rhetorical Knowledge (responding appropriately to a variety of rhetorical situations)

By the end of English 303, students should demonstrate the ability to produce writing and use oral communication skills that

• Demonstrate knowledge of audience, which includes the ability to determine appropriate scope, genre, technical vocabulary and detail, and tone when writing for both technical and non-technical audiences

• Demonstrate knowledge of context, which includes analyzing professional cultures, social contexts, and audiences to determine how they shape the various purposes and forms of writing

• Demonstrate an ability to use, explain and integrate quantitative information with verbal prose to achieve particular rhetorical purposes

• Demonstrate knowledge of research methods that produce professional documents, including analyzing professional contexts and assessing and summarizing information resources

Processes

By the end of English 303, students should demonstrate the ability to produce writing that

• Demonstrates knowledge of the writing process, which means engaging various strategies for planning, researching, drafting, revising, and editing documents that respond effectively and ethically to scientific and technical situations and audiences

• Demonstrates knowledge of collaborative strategies, such as writing in a team setting, working and communicating on-line, setting and achieving project goals, and responding constructively to peers’ work

Conventions

By the end of English 303, students should demonstrate the ability to produce writing that

• Demonstrates control of the editing process, including the production of documents which exhibit concise language, appropriate technical vocabulary, appropriate format, proper sentence structure, and standardized grammar

• Demonstrates knowledge of document design, including the implementation of various principles of format, layout, and design of professional visual/verbal documents that meet multiple needs and integrate a variety of written, visual, and oral elements of design

English 306 (Business Writing)

The focus of English 306 is recognizing and responding in writing to different rhetorical situations in the professional world. A student in English 306 should expect to create and revise documents that incorporate elements of critical thinking as well as demonstrate intellectual and professional standards of effective communication. A student in English 306 should expect to complete four-to-six projects.

By the end of English 306, students should demonstrate the ability to produce writing that

• Appropriately responds to specific business writing situations with an understanding of context, purpose, and audience
• Reflects an analysis of workplace problems and proposes clear, precise, and innovative solutions for a specific audience
• Incorporates accurate and relevant evidence that supports well-reasoned solutions to workplace problems with a depth and breadth of significant, well-researched information
• Demonstrates the ability to consider co-workers' perspectives with intellectual fairness, empathy, and humility
• Adheres to professional standards and conventions of business communication genres such as letters, reports and resumes
• Indicates the perseverance to revise writing to achieve clarity, precision, and appropriate tone, considering multiple perspectives and sensitivity to cultural differences
• Incorporates a knowledge of document design, including the implementation of various principles of format, layout, and design of professional visual/verbal documents that meet multiple needs
• Reflects a control of the editing process, including the production of documents which exhibit concise language, appropriate format, proper sentence structure, and standardized grammar.

English 309 (Inquiries into Writing)

Prerequisites: ENGL 102 or 105

Note: Approved for the Arts and Sciences upper-level requirement in
written communication (WR).

The focus of English 309 is recognizing differing rhetorical situations and responding to them at an advanced level in appropriate modes for diverse audiences. A student in English 309 should expect to create and revise compositions in multiple genres. Compositions should establish a clear purpose, exhibit audience awareness, and reveal a sense of the writer’s presence and position. A student in English 309 should expect to complete four to six projects of their own design. Themes may vary per section as determined by the instructor.

Student Learning Outcomes for English 309:

Rhetorical Knowledge (responding appropriately to a variety of rhetorical situations)

By the end of English 309, students should demonstrate the ability to compose texts and presentations that

• Develop and negotiate an advanced rhetorical situation

• Integrate and are informed by their own multiple literacies

• Exhibit awareness of audience, including the ability to determine appropriate scope, genre, and tone for a public text or particular discipline

• Exhibit knowledge of context, which includes analyzing discourse communities to determine how they shape the various purposes and forms of composing

Critical Reading and Thinking (analyzing rhetorical positioning of texts)

By the end of English 309, students should demonstrate the ability to produce texts and presentations that

• Evidence skill in reading and understanding texts that draw from multiple literacies

• Indicate knowledge of research methods by analyzing social contexts, assessing the validity of sources, and summarizing and evaluating relevant information

• Result from designing their own research projects by identifying questions, developing strategies, using primary and secondary sources to support arguments, and choosing effective methods of presentation

• Acknowledge the complexity of issues by engaging and evaluating multiple points of view

Processes

By the end of English 309, students should demonstrate the ability to produce texts and presentations that

• Use writing as a tool for exploration and reflection

• Employ strategies for composing as a recursive process of inventing, investigating, shaping, drafting, revising, and editing

• Exhibit the ability to work collaboratively, including in-class, online, and in individual projects

• Evidence the ability to reflect on their individual writing processes

• Exhibit an awareness of the communicative options available for any project, text, or composition and make composing choices accordingly

Conventions

By the end of English 309, students should demonstrate the ability to produce texts and presentations that

• Indicate awareness of various modes of presentation and ability

to select the mode(s) most appropriate to the audience and purpose

• Address the expectations of readers in specific disciplines or public audiences by presenting ideas in appropriate language, format, and citation style