A.  Credit hours: 5

B.  Total contact hours: 5

C.  Course Meets: Online 

D.  Prerequisite: Appropriate assessment score, passing grade in a high school transition class, appropriate high school GPA, appropriate passing grade from an ABE or ESL class.

E.  Co-requisite: None

F.  Course Description: This course is designed to help students develop the writing skills necessary for college-level courses, including the composition of paragraphs and essays, an understanding of the writing process, the introductory use of sources, and the basics of grammar and punctuation. This course may be taken three times to accomplish a grade of "C" to satisfy requirements for the next course in the sequence. (5 contact hours)

A. Connect Writing 3.0 from McGraw Hill Publishers 

    ISBN:  978-1-26-647654-9 

McGraw Hill Connect Writing 3.0 is a FREE online resource, and you already have access to it through Canvas.  Click on the McGraw Hill Connect link in Canvas to register.  

B.  Writing Unleashed by Sybil Priebe, Dana Anderson, and Ronda Marman (Open Educational Resource—see Canvas) and Technology Accessibility

IF YOU DO NOT POSSESS THESE REQUIRED TEXTS, YOUR GRADE CAN BE AFFECTED.

C. Technology Requirements: In addition to the basic computer specifications needed to support Canvas, students will need a web cam, a microphone, and access to Microsoft Word.  More information on these requirements and how to get free access to Microsoft Office 365 is available on the Moraine Valley website under Academics/Online Learning/Online Student Resources.

Any student who is having difficulties with connectivity or technology should contact Moraine Valley’s Help Desk immediately at (708) 608-4357.  

Course Content Outcomes:

1. Understanding the writing process and rhetorical situation

2. Developing topic sentences and thesis statements

3. Assembling and writing an essay with an introduction, body, and conclusion 

4. Producing prewriting/outlines/rough drafts

5. Revising drafts

6. Editing drafts

7. Peer editing other students’ papers

8. Using sources following MLA format

9. Utilizing campus resources

10. Constructing portfolios

Expected Outcomes for Student Learning

A. Course Content Learning Outcomes 

Upon completion of this course, a student will be able to apply the following concepts: 

1.  Language Work:

--Identify, compose, and self-correct sentence-level features such as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling

--Develop college-level vocabulary in Standard American English

2.  Paragraph and Essay Work:

--Compose well-developed paragraphs and essays supported with relevant, specific evidence with regard to purpose, audience, and genre

--Identify and employ the range of structural and stylistic options available to writers, including paragraph organization and appropriate diction and tone

3.  Resources:

--Utilize a variety of student support services and technologies

4.  Rhetoric:

--Demonstrate understanding of rhetorical elements: how reader, writer, and subject interact

--Identify and critically analyze the audience, purpose, and message across a variety of texts

5.  Source Work:

--Demonstrate an understanding of MLA format

--Use introductory-level information literacy skills to locate, identify, and evaluate sources

--Create and integrate accurate, ethical summaries, paraphrases, and quotations of sources

6.  Writing Process:

--Engage in the writing process by employing effective strategies for generating, outlining, drafting, revising, and proofreading

--Collaborate with others during the writing process and develop ways to offer constructive criticism and accept the criticism of others 

--Develop self-reflective skills to recognize individual strengths and challenges in reading and writing