Composition I: Autoethnography Online

Course Description: The main purpose of this course is to introduce students to the expectations, conventions, and creative possibility of academic (college-level) writing. Specifically, this course takes up personal and cultural understandings of the purpose and power of writing as the site of critique for our class discussion and writing exercises. In addition, as an online course, students are required to communicate using email and discussion boards, to send attachments and "attend" class in virtual and physical reality.

Course Goals: The overall goal of this course is to make each student more aware of his/her own writing strengths and weaknesses in order to make a successful transition into Composition II. In particular, we will focus on:

  1. An ability to use the elements of critical thinking including analysis, synthesis and informal logic.
  2. An ability to think imaginatively, to understand the nature of the creative process and to develop problem-solving skills.
  3. An ability to read at the college level.
  4. An ability to write clearly, intelligently, and effectively.
  5. An ability to listen attentively and speak clearly and effectively.
  6. Competence in the use of personal productivity software including those used for word processing and the Internet.
  7. An understanding and appreciation for cultural diversity as a way of expanding their view of their own and other cultures.
  8. An ability to address the basic ethical questions that confront all human beings as well as methods used to approach these questions.
  9. Familiarity with various forms of creative expression in the arts through analysis and comparison of their components.
  10. A developed process of self-inquiry and the practice of civic responsibility enabling them to become lifelong learners as well as active contributors to society.

Course Requirements: The requirements of this course, as with all composition courses, include daily participation, writing exercises, as well as more formal writing assignments. Sometimes, you will have to complete your assignments online, in virtual space. While having constant access to a computer is not required, you do need to make sure that you can access a computer with an internet connection every few weeks or so for a few hours in order to satisfy the requirements for this class. In addition, important documents will always be available online and email is always a good way to stay in communication with the teacher and other students.

In addition, the larger, overarching requirement for this course is the writing, building and uploading of an autoethnographic web page. The focus of this web page will have something to do with how you understand culture, how you perceive the world. Four separate, yet related writing assignments will serve as the basic written content for your site. I will provide you with a template and time in order to build your site a step at a time. Some outside work with web building may be necessary for you, but I work as hard as I can to make web building relevant and exciting for you.

In this class you will be expected to come to class, participate in online exercises, and complete four formal written assignments. Your grade for this class will be based upon how many points you earn out of a possible 530.

You should also note that YOU CAN NOT PASS WITHOUT COMPLETING ALL ASSIGNMENTS. While you will not receive any credit for assignments more than a week late, you must at least complete all assignments in order to pass the class. That is, you cannot just "slide by" and complete only part of the work and still pass this class. In general, students are allowed a ONE day extension if they contact me prior to the assignment being due. Up to a week late I will dock you half points or a full letter grade, depending upon the assignment. After a week goes by, the assignment counts as a zero, but you will preserve your right to try to complete the class.

Schedule:

Week 1

Introduction
In-Class Essay
Introduction to Intranets.com--our web portal

Week 2

Worldview and Mindset
Writing about yourself
Introduction to web building

Week 3

ONLINE WORKSHOP
Post Drafts
Peer Review Comments
Personal Reflection/Critique

Week 4

Visual Culture
Creating an autobiographical piece

Week 5

Analyzing your quilt/collage
Critiquing Web pages
Creating a web template

Week 6

ONLINE WORKSHOP
Post Drafts
Peer Review Comments
Personal Review/Critique

Week 7

Cultural Scavenger Hunt

Week 8

Examination of Photos
Images and the Web
Working with your template

Week 9

Writing Workshop
Images and the Web
Working with your template

Week 10

ONLINE WORKSHOP
Post Drafts
Peer Review Comments
Personal Review/Critique

Week 11

Identifying a theme for your website
Working on your template

Week 12

Working on your template

Week 13

ONLINE WORKSHOP
Post Drafts
Peer Review Comments
Personal Review/Critique

Week 14

Web building workshop
Uploading sites

Week 15

Final Presentation of your Online Autoethnography

   

In our field * When ethnography and technology meet*

My "partial truths"* Multi-sited insights * Works Cited * Home