I have designed and taught a variety of writing courses at a variety of institutions. Below are brief descriptions of those courses I have most recently taught or designed and links to additional materials from those courses.
Basic Writing Courses
Intensive English Composition I This course is designed to help underprepared students prepare for the second course in this two course sequence. It focuses on thesis-based and argumentative writing. Students prepare portfolios, including a final reflection, that contain 4 major essays. These essays are focused around units that include (1) Self-Image, (2) Food and Community, (3) Higher Education, and (4) Sports, Entertainment and Technology. Each paper draws on these themes and texts from the assigned reader or freshman common read. The final project is a remediation of the last essay into a visual argument poster. To see the materials for this course, click here.
Critical Reading and Writing This course is a bridge course between our ESL program and English Composition sequence that I was asked to develop by administration. The course focuses on reading and reading comprehension skills, developing vocabulary, oral communication skills and writing in response to reading. Students participate in guided class discussion and compose weekly discussion reports, complete weekly textbook exercises and quizzes, and write paragraph-length reading responses. To see the materials for this course, click here.
First-Year Composition Courses
English Composition I This course introduces academic writing, focusing on thesis-based writing, research and documentation practices. There are 3 major papers in this course and a final project. The final project varies from semester to semester based on the freshman common read–but typically involves a combination of primary research and visual remediation of a paper into an exhibit, presentation or poster. To see the materials from this course, click here.
English Composition II This course is the second in a two-course sequence and focuses on research writing and primary research methods. Students compose a community-based research portfolio over the course of the semester that includes (1) a Community Profile, (2) a Problem Statement, (3) a Justification of Research Methods, and (4) a formal Research Report. During the semester, students experiment with a variety of research methods and make group presentations about particular research methods before choosing a method for their own projects. To finish the semester, students make a poster presentation of their research. To see the materials for this course, click here.
Technical Communication This course focuses on the principles and genres of technical writing. Students work on a variety of individual and group projects aimed at exposing them to various skills, such as writing instructions and constructing graphics, and various genres, including memos, emails, and proposals, that they will use in future workplaces. This course has been designed to include a reflective component that asks students to engage with their processes in producing documents and to explain their processes in responding to feedback from the instructor and the outside evaluators to whom they present their proposals. To see the materials for this course, click here.
Intermediate Courses
Business and Professional Communication This course focuses on principles and genres of business writing. Students work on individual and group projects that require them to practice business writing skills such as designing documents for accessibility, constructing images and graphics, and writing instructions. Students practice composing genres such as emails, reports, pitches, evaluations, and proposals. To see the materials for this course, click here.
Research Writing This course expands students’ experiences with academic research. Students conduct both primary and secondary research. Students complete a research portfolio with a literature review, problem statement, and report of primary research. Students also work collaboratively to produce a documentary about some aspect of campus that combines archival research, interviews with alumni, and their own experiences. To see materials for this course, click here.
Web Content Management This course introduces students to content management and content management systems (CMS). Students learn about the history and development of the internet, user interface design, accessibility, and how to use a CMS. Students design and build their own websites and also code a webpage in HTML. To see the materials from this course, click here.
Advanced Writing Courses
Advanced Composition This course focuses on academic and professional genres to prepare students for upper-level academic work and graduate school. In this seminar, students compose academic genres including article critiques, a literature review and a research report. They also produce a digital professional portfolio with a CV, statement of purpose, and research agenda. To see materials for this course, click here.
Literature Courses
Introduction to Literature This course is an introductory humanities course for students of all majors, designed to expose them to literature from a variety of periods and genres. This course progresses chronologically, with students reading poetry, drama, and prose from each period. Students respond to their reading in student-led discussion, and in two major writing assignments. Students also compose a collaborative reference work of literary terms over the course of the semester. To see the materials for this course, click here.
Sports Literature This course, which I have designed, but only taught as an intensive course in China, surveys a variety of writing about sports including novels, short stories and non-fiction sports writing. It is designed in three major units (1) Pride and Identity, (2) Triumph, Glory, and Heroism, and (3) Fallen Heros and Cheating that explore themes surrounding sports in American culture. In addition to the reading students will complete 4 projects: (1) a collaborative Sports History report, (2) a Book Annotation of a work not assigned for the course, (3) a Connections Essay that elicits a common theme from assigned works, and (4) a Researched Essay that articulates an argument about a theme related to sports literature, supported with works from the semester and outside research and criticism. To see the materials for this course, click here.
Speech Courses
Effective Speaking (Online) This course is an 8 week intensive version of the face-to-face version of the course. It meets exclusively in an online environment. Students compose 5 speeches, including an Introduction Speech, a Demonstration Speech, a Storytelling Speech, a Sales Speech, and a Persuasive speech. Students post their speeches on YouTube and provide feedback to one another via a discussion board. Students also complete analyses of assigned speeches over the course of the semester. To see the materials for this course, click here.
Honors Courses
Introduction to Honors This course introduces students to the William G. Edwards Honors Program by addressing, through readings and projects, the main tenets of the program: inquiry, problem solving, inter-disciplinarity, and collaboration. Students in the course read a common text, produce a collaborative project, and build their individual Honors Scholar Digital Portfolio. To see materials for this course, click here.
Graduate Courses
Research and Writing Skills for Professional Success This 8-week intensive graduate-level course prepares students for completing secondary research and research-oriented writing tasks. It focuses on critical reading of research articles and writing critiques and a literature review. The course also addresses issues of intellectual property and academic writing conventions. I taught sections specifically for international students. To see materials for this course, click here.
Seminar in Techno-Pedagogy This course was developed in response to a research project on teacher preparation that indicated many graduate students were not being prepared to teach writing in technologically mediated environments. This course provides an introduction to techno-pedagogy, the theories and practices of teaching writing with digital tools. Through a combination of readings and hands-on activities, this course asks students to “reimagine” writing, writers, the writing classroom and writing teachers in a digital age. Topics covered in the course include digital writing, digital literacies, classroom design, classroom management, assignment design, assessment and professional development. Based on these topics, the major project in this course is a digital portfolio containing (1) a teaching observation of a computer-mediated classroom, (2) a digital tool demonstration, (3) a collection of resources on a specific topic related to teaching writing in a digital age, (4) a techno-pedagogy philosophy, and(5) a course plan for any level writing course. To see the materials for this course, click here.
Introduction to the Teaching of Writing This course explores the many theories and practices surrounding the teaching of writing. Topics addressed include approaches to teaching writing; designing writing assignments, assessment, multimodal and digital composition, language and grammar, classroom management and teaching writing in contexts other than FYC. Rather than encouraging a particular approach to teaching writing, this course is designed to allow students to investigate and experience a variety of approaches and to cultivate an approach that best suits their situations and practices. The course culminates in a portfolio that includes a textbook review, a brief research assignment, an assigning and responding project, a teaching philosophy, and a course plan. To see the materials for this course, click here.