The table below provides an overview of the course and a note on what assignments are due each week. For discussions, note that initial posts are due on Thursdays before 11:59pm, and responses to two peer posts are due Sundays before 11:59pm. In addition to the assignments listed, you’ll have weekly materials to read and you’ll be asked to review each module’s major project at the begin of each module. Dates indicated by an asterisk represent unusual academic calendar weeks.
| Week | What’s due |
|---|---|
| MODULE 1: THE RESEARCH PROCESS | |
| Week 1: Academic Research and Literacy Narratives Friday, January 28 – Sunday, February 6* | Discussion posts Low-Stakes Assignment |
| Week 2: Academic Inquiry Monday, February 7 – Sunday, February 13 | Discussion posts Low-Stakes Assignment |
| Week 3: Researching Toward a Thesis Monday, February 14 – Sunday, February 20 | Discussion posts Low-Stakes Assignment |
| Week 4: Mapping the Conversation Using Sources Monday, February 21 – Sunday, February 27 | Discussion posts Low-Stakes Assignment |
| Week 5: Revision, Reflection, and Putting It All Together Monday, February 28 – Sunday, March 6 | Discussion posts Research Process Project |
| MODULE 2: THE SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT | |
| Week 6: Writing within a Discipline Monday, March 7 – Sunday, March 13 | Discussion posts Low-Stakes Assignment |
| Week 7: Primary and Secondary Research Monday, March 14 – Sunday, March 20 | Discussion posts |
| Week 8: Drafting Your Report Monday, March 21 – Sunday, March 27 | Draft of introduction and methods Discussion posts |
| Week 9: Putting It All Together Monday, March 28 – Sunday, April 3 | Low-Stakes Assignment Social Science Research Report |
| MODULE 3: THE PERSUASIVE ESSAY | |
| Week 10: Writing in the Humanities Monday, April 4 – Sunday, April 10 | Discussion posts |
| Week 11: Employing Tools of Persuasion Monday, April 11 – Sunday, April 17* | Low-Stakes Assignment |
| Spring Break (April 18 – 22) | |
| Week 12: Drafting and Peer Review Monday, April 25 – Sunday, May 1 | Draft of the Persuasive Essay Peer Review |
| Week 13: Writing Week Monday, May 2 – Sunday, May 8 | Low-Stakes Assignment Final draft of the Persuasive Essay |
| MODULE 4: SELF-REFLECTION | |
| Week 14: Reflecting on Your Writing Process and Products Monday, May 9 – Sunday, May 15* | Low-Stakes Assignment Optional revision of Projects 1 & 2 |
| Week 15: Looking Back and Looking Forward Monday, May 16 – Sunday, May 22* | Low-Stakes Assignment Critical Self-Reflection Project Optional revision of Project 3 |
Module 1: The Research Process
Week 1: Academic Research and Literacy Narratives
Back to top
About this week
This first week of the course introduces you to the course goals and assignments; it includes an introduction to academic research and joining the academic conversation, and asks you to reflect on your own academic writing abilities in a Literacy Narrative.
Learning Objectives:
- Gain a familiarity with the course site and the course requirements
- Gain an understanding of Module 1 and its focus on academic research
- Reflect on and offer an example of your own writing abilities
Task List:
- Review the materials in Course Information
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Read about the first major project of the course: The Research Process
- Participate in this week’s discussion
- Complete the first Low-Stakes Assignment (LSA): the personal literacy narrative
Required Readings
This source also describes and defines academic writing. Additionally, there are also videos embedded within the alphabetic text of this piece—please watch those as well.
Writing a Literacy Narrative from The Norton Field Guide for Writing
This source will help you prepare for your first Low-Stakes Assignment of this course—due at the end of this week.
Required Media: Academic Writing and Literacy Narratives
These two additional videos will help you acquaint yourself with academic writing and literacy narratives.
What is academic writing? (Duration: 2:57)
What is a literacy narrative? (Duration: 5:39)
Diving Deeper
Some weeks, I’ll suggest some additional resources that you can use to dive more deeply into the topics we’re covering this week. These materials are not required, but you’ll find them useful as you complete your work this week and moving forward.
Chapter one, “Annotating Yourself into Academic Discourse” from A Writer’s Guide to Mindful Reading, Ellen Carillo
This reading is highly recommended. It not only introduces the concept of academic discourse, but it also offers a useful way to engage with academic discourse through the process of annotating academic texts. This will be particularly useful in week 3 when we discuss annotation more deeply!
Academic Writing video from Queen’s College in Ireland
This video provides an excellent overview of academic writing conventions. It is a bit long (15 minutes) but it is worth it, especially if you have any questions about academic writing style.
Review Project 1: The Research Process
Week 1 Discussion
Welcome to the first discussion assignment in the course! While discussions are not formal writing, your comments are public to your classmates. So, please proofread your work carefully before you share it so that your peers and I can focus on your ideas. While the prompt will be different each discussion, the general instructions will be the same:
After you’ve reviewed the week’s materials, head to the current week’s discussion using the Discussion tab. I have provided a prompt for you to guide your comments. Using the comment feature at the bottom of the week’s discussion page, please respond to the prompt by Thursday at 11:59pm. Then read the comments posted by your classmates and respond to at least two of them by Sunday at 11:59pm. Do your best to fully engage with their posts: respond to a specific point they made, offer a suggestion, commiserate, etc. For more information, see the discussion rubric on the Rubrics page. These instructions are also available by clicking on the Discussion tab itself.
LSA 1: Literacy Narrative
In this short reflective essay, you will go a little deeper into the question of who you are as a writer. The purpose of this essay is for you to reflect on yourself as a literate person (as a writer and a reader of texts) and to offer your professor a glimpse of this history.
See the assignment sheet, LSA-1, above for the full assignment instructions. Due by Sunday, 11:59pm.
Week 2: Academic Inquiry
About this week
During this second week of the course, you will begin to work on the course’s first major assignment, Project 1: The Research Process. The first step in this assignment will be to understand a portion of the academic conversation taking place with this project’s topic: media literacy. You will do this by reading within this topic and developing a research question based on those readings. At the end of the week you will submit a Preliminary Project Proposal, within which you will define the parameters of the research process you will engage in for this project.
Note: Be sure to review this week’s discussion board assignment before completing the readings.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn how to choose a research topic by engaging in academic inquiry
- Learn about a variety of research strategies including using library databases, developing research questions, and defining search terms
- Understand the importance of Intellectual Property
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Review the “Do I Need to Cite That?” infographic
- Participate in Discussion #2: Reviewing Five Media Literacy Articles for Ideas and Topics
- Complete Low-Stakes Assignment #2: Research Process Proposal
Required Readings with Instructions
In preparation for this week’s discussion post, you first need to review the following five media literacy articles and the instructions below for reading them. These readings are peer-reviewed, academic sources about media literacy, the topic for Project 1. Once you have a research topic, you then need to conduct preliminary research to help narrow your topic’s focus. Rather than ask you to find peer-reviewed, academic sources on your own, five sample sources have been provided to start your research process:
Cooper, Caren B. “Media Literacy as a Key Strategy toward Improving Public Acceptance of Climate Change Science”
Koltay, Tibor. “The Media and the Literacies: Media Literacy, Information Literacy, Digital Literacy”
McLean, Sian. “Does Media Literacy Mitigate Risk for Reduced Body Satisfaction Following Exposure to Thin-Ideal Media?”
Mihailidis, Paul. “Media Literacy as a Core Competency for Engage Citizenship in a Participatory Democracy.”
Potter, James W. “The State of Media Literacy”
As you read these articles:
- Do not read these sources word for word. You are reviewing them to find a research question or focus within the larger topic of media literacy. Skim the articles in order to gather ideas and consider possible directions in your research: read the abstracts (if provided), look at the introductions and conclusions, review the subheadings, etc. Remember to jot down ideas as you review the readings, as you will include these in your discussion post.
- Once you have a list of ideas, choose three potential ideas/topics, and write two or three open-ended questions about each topic. These questions should help you develop a research question—something you would like to investigate or know more about. Make sure they are not yes or no questions: they need to be open-ended questions with complex answers.
Required Media
The following three videos will introduce you to the process of academic inquiry, to the Newman Library (where you will conduct your research for this class), and to the academic databases you will use to find specific articles. These are very important skills, so please pay attention to these videos and take notes.
- Academic Integrity Information from SPS (6:37)
- An Introduction to the Newman Library (6:23)
- Accessing Databases in the Newman Library (1:01)
- How to Find Articles (1:52) While this resource is from the John Jay library, it is useful to review since it discusses how to choose search terms, it defines scholarly or peer-reviewed articles, and it explains how to find databases.
“Do You Need to Cite That?” Infographic
View the infographic below or open the “infographic flow chart.pdf” file if you are visually impaired.
This file and many other resources are also available in the Knowledge Bank. I strongly suggest you explore that part of the course whenever you’d like additional resources about grammar, sentence structure, writing process, or citation.
Week 2 Discussion
After you’ve reviewed the above materials, head to this week’s discussion. Respond to the prompt by Thursday at 11:59pm. Then read the comments posted by your classmates and respond to at least two of them by Sunday at 11:59pm. Do your best to fully engage with their posts by responding to a specific point they made. For more information, see the discussion rubric on the Rubrics page.
LSA 2: Research Process Proposal
Before you start this assignment, make sure you’ve completed the discussion assignment for this week. To start on your research process proposal, review your topic ideas again and choose one to focus on. Then, map out a plan for how you will start to investigate this topic.
Refer to the Newman Library database video and identify the databases you will use to start this research and also consider the key terms you will use as you search those databases. You do not need to begin the actual research now. At this point, you are only being asked to plan the research.
See the assignment sheet, LSA-2, above for the full assignment instructions. Due by Sunday, 11:59pm.
Week 3: Researching Toward a Thesis
About this week
This third week of the course focuses on finding and annotating sources as well as using the research process to develop a thesis statement. As such, you will engage in the research plan you developed last week (in Week 2), and you will find 3-5 academic, peer-reviewed sources about your chosen topic. You will then use those sources to develop a preliminary thesis and to create a Reflective Annotated Bibliography, an assignment that helps you understand the way sources can be used to support a thesis statement.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the criteria needed for an arguable thesis
- Learn to use researched sources to develop a thesis statement
- Understand how to evaluate and annotate sources
- Review and practice summarizing, paraphrasing, and citing sources
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Participate in Discussion #3: Finding Sources and Developing a Preliminary Thesis
- Submit Low-Stakes Assignment #3: Reflective Annotated Bibliography
Required Readings
Required Media
- How to Find Peer Reviewed, Scholarly Journal Articles (1:34)
- How to Use the OneSearch Database (1:18)
- Evaluation and Choosing Sources (5:59)
- Annotated Bibliographies (6:00)
- Thesis Statements (5:24)
Diving Deeper
“Guidelines for Writing a Summary” from Queens College Review these guidelines if you have questions about creating the summary portion of the Reflective Annotated Bibliography.
“Using Quotes and Paraphrases” Video
Watch this video to learn more about the difference between using quotes and using paraphrases from your sources.
Queens College Library Tutorial
Want to learn more about doing library research? This page from Queens College Libraries offers a number of tutorials that can be used to expand and deepen your research knowledge.
Preparation for This Week’s Discussion
Following the research plan you developed in Week 2, find five academic, peer-reviewed sources that relate directly to your chosen research topic and construct a preliminary thesis based on those sources.
- To do this, you first need to review this week’s resources above about how to find peer-reviewed, academic articles and how to use the library’s databases. Remember to use the key terms you chose last week, but feel free to add more as you see fit; see what works—research is trial and error! And please, resist the urge to give up quickly. If one database is not giving you the results you need, try another database and try new search terms or different combinations of terms.
- Once you have found five articles that are closely related to your specific topic, read through them to see what ideas, themes, and perspectives link them. As you are reading, take notes and jot down the page numbers of particularly interesting quotes (you will need these page numbers for this week’s Low-Stakes Assignment). See what ideas develop as you read and compare your articles and start to construct possible thesis statements/claims you might make about your topic based on this evidence.
- Review the week’s discussion assignment directions to prepare your assignment.
Week 3 Discussion
After you’ve reviewed the above materials, head to this week’s discussion. Respond to the prompt by Thursday at 11:59pm. Then read the comments posted by your classmates and respond to at least two of them by Sunday at 11:59pm. Do your best to fully engage with their posts by responding to a specific point they made. For more information, see the discussion rubric on the Rubrics page.
LSA 3: Reflective Annotated Bibliography
A reflective annotated bibliography is an expanded version of a traditional annotated bibliography, which only asks you to summarize/annotate and cite your sources. The reflective annotated bibliography goes beyond this and works as a research device. It asks you to:
- create a list of terminology/keywords for each source
- reflect on the usefulness of each source
- create a list of quotations from each source that you might use in a draft of a research paper.
These additional sections help you differentiate between summary (where you offer an “objective” review of the source’s main points) and analysis (where you offer your “subjective” idea about the source). It also acts as a mnemonic device to help you retain terminologies, key terms and phrases, and useful quotes.
See the assignment sheet, LSA-3, above for the full assignment instructions. Due by Sunday, 11:59pm.
Week 4: Mapping the Conversation Using Sources
About this week
This week you will continue to work with the sources you found for your Project 1. Last week you annotated and reflected on those sources; this week you will put them in conversation with one another by mapping them in relation to themes, perspectives, and main points that connect to your research topic. You will also continue to practice APA format by submitting a title page and a references page for Project 1: The Research Process.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand how sources work in conversation with one other
- Compare and synthesize your sources
- Practice APA title page and reference page format
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Participate in Discussion #4: APA Format: Title page and References page
- Submit Low-Stakes Assignment #4: Source Map
Required Readings & Media
All of the following sources have alphabetic text and embedded videos. Please review all four of these sources closely; they will help you understand the very important concept of an “academic conversation” and they will help you plan how to determine the conversation taking place among the sources you found.
- Identifying a Conversation
- Conversation Between Sources
- Scholarship as a Conversation
- Understanding How a Conversation Changes Over Time
Materials on APA format
- APA Style Workshop, which provides an overview of APA formatting style
- APA Title Page, for instructions about formatting your title page and a example of what a title page should look like/how it should be formatted
- APA In-Text Citations, for how to cite sources (quotes or paraphrases) within a paper or project
- APA References, for information about how to cite a variety of electronic sources on the References page
- APA Sample Student Paper, which shows you what the student version (as opposed to the professional version) of an APA paper should like/how it should be formatted
Diving Deeper
- Synthesizing Research, a document that offers a textual overview of this process
- Comparing and Synthesizing Sources, which delves more deeply into how to synthesize academic sources
Week 4 Discussion
After you’ve reviewed the above materials, head to this week’s discussion. Respond to the prompt by Thursday at 11:59pm. Then read the comments posted by your classmates and respond to at least two of them by Sunday at 11:59pm. Do your best to fully engage with their posts by responding to a specific point they made. For more information, see the discussion rubric on the Rubrics page.
LSA 4: Source Map
For this fourth LSA, you will map out the academic conversation taking place between the three sources you wrote about in your Reflective Annotated Bibliography. By doing this, you will be engaging with your sources more fully and developing points that could be included in a draft of your Research Paper (if you were going to write one). In other words, this assignment is another step in the research and writing process.
To complete this assignment, you can use whatever format works best for you:
- you could write it out in paragraph or bulleted form;
- you could create a visual map using bubbles and/or boxes;
- you use Google Slides or PowerPoint to organize your work.
See the assignment sheet, LSA-4, above for the full assignment instructions. Due by Sunday, 11:59pm.
Week 5: Revision, Reflection, Putting It All Together
About this week
In this final week of Unit 1, you will focus on preparing to submit the complete, revised, and edited version of Project 1: The Research Process, which is due at the end of the week. Please note that this includes one new section, the Research Reflection, along with revised and edited versions of the other sections that you drafted during Weeks 1-4. To assist you with the process, you will review and implement revision and editing strategies and you will learn about the benefits of metacognitive reflection.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand and practice revision and final submission strategies
- Understand and produce metacognitive reflection
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Participate in Discussion #5: Preparing the Final Submission
- Submit final draft of Research Process Project
Required Readings
- Writing and Revising Academic Projects Learn about how to effectively revise an academic writing project and to go beyond proofreading and editing.
- Reflection: We’re Always Doing It This source introduces you to reflective writing and why it is beneficial to both your writing process and your writing products.
- Higher Order Concerns V. Lower Order Concerns, otherwise known as global v. local concerns. When revising and editing you need to consider both of these issues.
- Edit Your Essay, a quick guide for questions to ask yourself as you are doing a final revision and editing session.
- Editing and Proofreading Strategies, a list of strategies you can employ as you get your project ready for submission.
Diving Deeper
- What is Metacognition? (1:38), a short video that offers a brief overview of metacognition in relation to learning
- English Grammar, a website dedicated to all things grammar-related
Week 5 Discussion
After you’ve reviewed the above materials, head to this week’s discussion. Respond to the prompt by Thursday at 11:59pm. Then read the comments posted by your classmates and respond to at least two of them by Sunday at 11:59pm. Do your best to fully engage with their posts by responding to a specific point they made. For more information, see the discussion rubric on the Rubrics page.
Submit Project 1: The Research Process
MODULE 2: THE SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT
Week 6: Writing within a Discipline
About this week
This week marks the beginning of the second unit of the course, which is focused on a specific kind of academic writing: writing in the Social Sciences. During the first unit of the course, you learned about and practiced some general principles of academic research. In this unit, you will hone those skills further, and conduct research and produce writing within the discipline of the Social Sciences. Your work in this unit will be focused on the second major assignment, the Social Science Report Report, which asks you to track and analyze your own language use. During this first week of the unit, you will begin this work by reading about the writing expectations of different academic disciplines, by learning about the role of audience and purpose in academic writing, and by investigating your own language use by collecting primary data about it over a 24-hour period.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand disciplinary conventions and expectations
- Understand how to write for a specific audience
- Understand and create primary data
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Review Project 2: The Social Science Research Report
- Participate in Discussion #6: Considering Audience
- Low-Stakes Assignment #5: Collecting Primary Data—24 Hours of Language
Required Readings
- What to Think About When Writing for a Particular Audience
- Writing for an Audience: These sources will help you understand why you need to pay close attention to audience when drafting academic writing and they will also provide you with strategies for writing toward that audience.
- An Introduction to Disciplinary Writing: When considering the notion of audience, you also need to consider disciplinary conventions and expectations—for example, what format, tone, content, and type of data a Social Scientist expects to see in a Research Report.
- Writing in the Social Sciences: This source offers an overview of the general structure followed by most Social Science Research Reports. Use it as a general guide as you begin your major project for this unit.
- Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and Interviews: You will only be conducting observations for your Social Science Research Report (so focus on that section of the reading), but this source offers a clear overview of a variety of ways to conduct primary research. Use it to familiarize yourself with primary research planning and collecting as well as the ethical considerations that come with such data collection.
As you complete this week’s readings, consider how audience plays a major role in the effectiveness of a particular writing or speaking situation. If you write for the wrong audience or you do not pay attention to the needs and expectations of your audience, your piece will not be as successful as it could be. Imagine, for example, that you compose a research paper in the same tone and format as a text message. Even if the content of the paper is superb, the paper will still not be successful because it has violated the audience’s expectations and not adhered to the conventions of the research paper genre. Keep these considerations in mind as you write your response to the discussion below.
Review Project 2: The Social Science Research Report
Week 6 Discussion
After you’ve reviewed the above materials, head to this week’s discussion. Respond to the prompt by Thursday at 11:59pm. Then read the comments posted by your classmates and respond to at least two of them by Sunday at 11:59pm. Do your best to fully engage with their posts by responding to a specific point they made. For more information, see the discussion rubric on the Rubrics page.
LSA 5: Collecting Primary Data—24 Hours of Language
For this assignment you will collect primary data about your own language use and the languages you encounter over a 24-hour period. This data will form the foundation of your Social Science Research Report, so it is imperative that you do this assignment fully and carefully.
See the assignment sheet, LSA-5, above for the full assignment instructions. Due by Sunday, 11:59pm.
Week 7: Primary and Secondary Research
About this week
Now that you have gathered primary data about your personal language use and exposure to language, you will focus next on analyzing that data and creating an analytical claim about it; you will also learn about how secondary research can help you support and develop that claim. To that end, this week you will first read secondary research that applies to the topic of your research and you will then analyze your primary data in relation to these sources. The work of the week will culminate in a Discussion Assignment where you analyze secondary sources in relationship to your primary evidence, where you identify the analytical claim that will focus your Social Science Research Report, and that lists your plan for finding additional secondary sources for this project.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn how to analyze primary research
- Understand secondary research and how it can support an analytical claim
- Review and practice APA in-text citation format
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Participate in Discussion #7: Analyzing Secondary Sources and Connecting them to Primary Research
Required Readings
Note: Before reading, review the Discussion assignment for this week! It’s a bit more complicated, so you may want to print it out.
You’re reading more than usual this week (see page counts below). To help offset this, there’s no Low-Stakes Assignment this week—only the discussion board. These materials will help provide the foundation for your second project, so please be sure to read them carefully (remember to annotate!).
- Garcia, Ofelia. “Societal Multilingualism in a Multicultural World in Transition” (23 pages)
- Gee, James Paul. “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction” (14 pages)
- Lowi, Rosamin. “Codeswitching: An Examination of Naturally Occurring Conversation” (15 pages)
- Swales, John. “The concept of Discourse Community” (12 pages)
Week 7 Discussion
Preparation for the Discussion Board
Last week you collected primary data by observing, documenting, and organizing your language use and exposure within a 24-hour period. This week, you will switch to analyzing this data; in order to do this, you need to conduct secondary research within your project’s topic, namely literacy and language use. To help you with this, you have been provided with four secondary sources (all peer-reviewed, academic articles) that relate to your topic.
Before you create your Discussion post, you first need to do the following:
- Read each article and take notes about any points that seem to relate to your primary data. For example, when Lowi discusses codeswitching, does this remind you of how you shift between various types of language use, depending on who you are talking to? Does Garcia’s focus on multilingualism speak to your own experience with language or reflect the multiple language you hear when you are out and about in the city? Highlight these points of connections—even if they are small.
- Review your notes and the points of overlap between your primary data and the information provided by the sources. What connections are strongest? Which interest you the most? Which would you like to explore in your Social Science Research Report (SSRR)? What point or theory would you like to focus on in your SSRR?
- Review the week’s discussion assignment directions to prepare your assignment.
Required Media
Please view the following two videos this week:
Primary vs Secondary Sources (Duration: 5:06)
Excelsior College Writing Center’s video on APA In-Text Citations. (If you’re unfamiliar with APA style, you may want to review the other materials on the site as well.)
Diving Deeper
- The Information Effect: The Facts, The Figures, the So What?: This source will help you understand the rhetorical impact of the sources you choose to include in your writing projects.
- Research Guide: The Value of Secondary Sources: While the immediate page you are being directed to here is a short discussion of secondary sources (so be sure to read it), it is nested within a larger Research Guide that deals with all parts of the Social Science Research Report. Click through the guide to see what other sections might be helpful to you.
- Developing a Repertoire of Reading Strategies, chapter 2 in A Writer’s Guide to Mindful Reading by Ellen Carillo: This chapter offers practical, how-to advice about reading, understanding, and working with academic texts—like the four you are reading this week. If you are having trouble with these readings, review it for advice; even if you aren’t having trouble, it is an excellent resource!
- Creating Knowledge: This chapter discusses the ways that different disciplines construct knowledge; it should be helpful as you continue to understand what it means to write within the Social Sciences and how primary and secondary sources play a role.
Week 7 Discussion
After you’ve reviewed the above materials, click the blue link above to go to the After you’ve reviewed the above materials, head to this week’s discussion. Respond to the prompt by Thursday at 11:59pm. Then read the comments posted by your classmates and respond to at least two of them by Sunday at 11:59pm. Do your best to fully engage with their posts by responding to a specific point they made. For more information, see the discussion rubric on the Rubrics page.
Mid Semester Survey
Now that we are around the halfway mark of the semester, please share your thoughts. Details to come.
Week 8: Drafting Your Report
About this week
Last week you analyzed your primary data. This week you will use your data and analysis to construct a first draft of a portion of your Social Science Research Report: the introduction and methods sections. As a result, the readings are lighter this week and there are no supplementary assignments. Take advantage of this and focus your efforts on writing up the introduction and methods sections of your Social Science Research Report. Near the end of the week you will also share your drafts with your class colleagues and participate in peer review.
Learning Objectives:
- Review and apply the structure of the Social Science Research Report
- Learn about and participate in peer review
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Write a draft of your introduction and methods sections so that you can participate on the Discussion
- Participate in Discussion #8: Drafting the SSRR Introduction and Methods Sections and Conducting Peer Review
Required Readings
- Peer Review: This resource offers an overview of the peer review process and explains how it can be helpful to you as you work on a writing project. Please watch the two embedded videos included here.
- SSRR: the Introduction and SSRR: Methods: These sources provide a detailed discussion about how to construct the introduction and methods sections of your Social Science Research Report (SSRR). However, since your SSRR is based on a very limited study, these sections of your report will be shorter and simpler versions of what you read about here.
- How to Write Meaningful Peer Response Praise: Read this article to learn about how you can offer useful feedback to your classmates.
Diving Deeper
- SSRR Sample: Refer back to the Sample SSRR (originally introduced in Week 6) to get a general sense of what your introduction and methods sections should look like.
- Get assistance with your writing! SPS offers two kinds of tutoring in writing: individual tutoring sessions with the SPS Writing Fellows and through tutor.com. Find out more about both by clicking the tutoring link on the left navigation menu.
Post your Peer Review on This Week’s Discussion Board
After you’ve reviewed the above materials, head to this week’s discussion. Respond to the prompt by Thursday at 11:59pm. Then read the comments posted by your classmates and respond to at least two of them by Sunday at 11:59pm. Do your best to fully engage with their posts by responding to a specific point they made. For more information, see the discussion rubric on the Rubrics page.
Week 9: Putting It All Together
About this week
This is the final week of Unit 2 and the week when you will complete a full draft of your Social Science Research Report (SSRR). Last week you drafted the first portion of the SSRR: the introduction and methods sections; this week you will add the results, discussion, and references sections. Once again, because this week is focused on writing, the readings are lighter than usual; take advantage of this and focus your efforts on composing these final sections of your SSRR. To help you prepare the full draft of your SSRR, you will also return to the issue of sentence-level editing and revision—as you did at the end of Unit 1. After you have a complete draft of the SSRR, apply these strategies so that your sentences are working as hard as the rest of the report.
Learning Objectives:
- Review and apply the structure of the Social Science Research Report
- Learn about and apply editing and proofreading strategies, paying particular attention to genre, audience, and purpose
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Low-Stakes Assignment #6: Reflecting on Genre, Audience, and Purpose
- Submit Project #2: The Social Science Research Report
Required Readings
Genre: This source discusses the role of genre in academic writing; as you review it, keep in mind the genre in which you are currently writing. The SSRR is a genre in and of itself and as such, has a particular format (intro, methods, etc.), requires a specific kind of language use (brief, direct sentences and clear, focused paragraphs), and has a specific set of audience expectations. For example, it is understood that you are writing for an audience of Social Scientists who expect you to adhere to the conventions of their discipline; you are expected to situate your study within an academic conversation, lay out your precise methods and results, offer a focused discussion of the implications of those results, and document (in APA format) all of your primary and secondary sources.
SSRR: Results and SSRR: Discussion: These sources provide a detailed review of how to construct the results and discussion sections of your Social Science Research Report (SSRR). Remember, though, since your SSRR is based on a very limited study, these sections of your report will be shorter and simpler versions of what you read about here.
Diving Deeper
- Sample SSRR: Refer back to the Sample SSRR to get a general sense of what your results and methods sections should look like.
- Editing for Style: In addition to editing your work for basic errors, you should also edit it with style in mind. For a project like the one you are writing now, your prose should be clear and direct, use active voice, avoid long sentences, avoid complex phrases, and avoid excessive “to be” verbs. This resource can help you edit for all these items.
- Editing and Proofreading Strategies: Remembering Your Audience and Purpose: This source not only offers you a variety of ways you might proofread and edit your work, but it also reminds you that you need to remember the needs and expectations of your audience when editing, proofreading, and revising.
- Remember that you can get assistance with your writing! See the Tutoring link on the left navigation menu.
LSA 6: Reflecting on Genre, Audience, and Purpose
Now that you have completed a full draft of your Social Science Research Report, consider what writing in this particular genre has taught you about writing in general and how you might apply these insights to future writing assignments.
See the assignment sheet, LSA-6, above for the full assignment instructions. Due by Sunday, 11:59pm.
Submit Project 2: The Social Science Research Report
MODULE 3: THE PERSUASIVE ESSAY
Week 10: Writing in the Humanities
About this week
This week marks the third unit of the course, focused on writing in the Humanities. Like the last unit, where you learned about audience expectations and genre conventions for Social Science writing, in this unit, you will learn similar information for writing in the Humanities. Your work in this unit will be focused around the third major assignment: Project 3, The Argument or Persuasive Essay. In this essay you will further explore a topic you were introduced to earlier in the course; you will research that topic and will ultimately produce a thesis-driven persuasive paper. For this first week of the unit, in addition to being introduced to writing in the Humanities, you will also learn about prewriting techniques, and you will end the week by creating a proposal for your Argument/Persuasive Essay.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand qualities of writing in the Humanities
- Learn about claim and argument-driven academic writing
- Understand and apply prewriting/planning strategies
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Participate in Discussion #9: Prewriting and Inquiry
- Review information about Project 3
Review Project 3: The Persuasive Essay
Required Readings
- Writing in the Humanities: This source provides a brief introduction to writing within fields of study within the Humanities.
- Finding Your Way In: Invention as Inquiry-Based Learning in First Year Writing: This source will help you understand the important role of inquiry in the academic writing process.
- Writing Arguments: An Overview: Read this to understand the basic elements of written arguments.
- The Argument Paper: This source provides an overview of the typical structure of an argument paper and also explains each section in detail.
- Prewriting Strategies and More Prewriting Strategies: These sources offer practical, how-to strategies for getting started on an academic writing assignment.
Diving Deeper
- Humanities Research Databases: This is a list of some databases that house peer-reviewed work in the Humanities. Be sure to check the Newman Library at Baruch College to find these (and other) specific databases. Here is the direct link to the library’s list of databases by subject.
Instructions for This Week’s Discussion Board
Week 10 Discussion
After you’ve reviewed the above materials, click the blue link above to go to the After you’ve reviewed the above materials, head to this week’s discussion. Respond to the prompt by Thursday at 11:59pm. Then read the comments posted by your classmates and respond to at least two of them by Sunday at 11:59pm. Do your best to fully engage with their posts by responding to a specific point they made. For more information, see the discussion rubric on the Rubrics page.
Week 11: Employing Tools of Persuasion
About this week
This week you will continue working on your Argument/Persuasive Paper by finding academic, peer-reviewed sources and using those sources to create a thesis statement for that paper. You will also be introduced to Toulmin’s rhetorical concepts of claim, evidence, warrant, backing, and qualifier and Aristotle’s rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos and consider how these can impact the persuasive effects of texts. The week will culminate in a plan for your first draft of Project 3 including a list of sources you found, a preliminary thesis for your paper, and an outline of how you will use your sources to forward your thesis.
Learning Objectives:
- Locate and utilize peer-reviewed sources
- Create a thesis statement and structure an essay around it
- Understand and utilize the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos
- Understand and deploy Toulmin’s concept of claim, evidence, warrant, backing, and qualifier
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Submit Low-Stakes Assignment #7: Planning Project 3
Required Readings
- Finding the Good Argument OR Why Bother with Logic? and Assessing Source Credibility for Crafting a Well-Informed Argument: These chapters will help you prepare the outline or plan for your essay. Read them carefully—and again, annotate and take notes—so you can employ some of the strategies they offer.
- Excelsior Writing Lab’s Toulmin Model for Creating an Argument: The Toulmin Model is a really helpful way to think about how persuasive arguments are constructed, and it will help you to think about this as you build your own. Sometimes it can take a little while to get used to thinking about arguments this way, so if you have questions about it, please do feel encouraged to post on the Q&A forum; your questions will likely help a classmate as well!
Required Media
These videos offer clear and informative overview of all these rhetorical concepts. I strongly encourage you to take notes as you watch them since you will need this information as you build your paper’s argument.
An Introduction to Ethos, Logos and Pathos (Duration 4:20)
Toulmin Model of Argument (Duration 8:35)
Suggested review: Unit 1 on Academic Inquiry
As I am sure you recall, we spent a few weeks during Unit 1 learning about and practicing research and composing strategies such as finding academic, peer-reviewed sources through the library databases, constructing a thesis statement using those sources, and planning a writing project that includes academic data. Before you work on this week’s Low-Stakes Assignment, go back to Unit 1 and review this information; it will refresh your memory and remind you of the strategies you need in order to complete this assignment.
LSA 7: Planning Project 3
Last week you identified key terms and potential research databases for Project 3. For this assignment you will continue that process and search within those databases to find applicable sources for your paper. Once you have found and reviewed those sources, you will develop a preliminary thesis and a plan for your paper.
As you know, this prewriting step is an important part of creating a successful academic paper; and, for an argument paper such as this, finding credible, relevant sources is especially important. Not only will these sources help you construct a viable thesis statement, but they will also enable you to create a persuasive text. So please, get started right away and take your time researching so you locate sources that relate directly to the topic you decided to pursue for this paper.
See the assignment sheet, LSA-7, above for the full assignment instructions. Due by Sunday, 11:59pm.
Week 12: Drafting and Peer Review
About this week
As you work on composing your first full draft of Project 3 this week, you will also learn how to successfully incorporate sources into your prose and how you can add style to academic writing. You will submit a full draft of Project 3 and then read and respond critically to some of your classmates’ drafts. Drafting and receiving feedback is an essential part of the writing process, so please take your time with the peer reviews and do your best to offer thoughtful, detailed, and constructive comments.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about and practice integrating sources
- Understand ways to maintain your voice while also citing research
- Learn about and incorporate elements of style into academic writing
- Understand and participate in peer review
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Participate in the Peer Review discussion
Required Readings
- Making a Quote Sandwich: This handout explains how to effectively integrate quotes into your writing; it also discusses using signal phrases and adding analysis after quotes.
- Integrating Sources into Paragraphs: This video offers step-by-step directions about how to successfully integrate sources into your paragraphs.
- Integrating Evidence Appropriately: Review these strategies to successfully integrate sources into your writing without losing your authorial voice.
- Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism: Review this source to understand when and how to quote directly and when and how to summarize.
- Style: This resource offers an overview of style and discusses how style is rhetorical (shifts according to context, purpose, and expectations).
- Peer Review and ‘Tis Better to Give and Receive: How to Have More Effective Peer Response Groups: Both of these readings offer excellent advice about how to help your peer response group be effective and productive.
Required Media
Integration of sources in paragraphs (Duration: 5:37)
Diving Deeper
- APA Style Overview: This website offers an overview of how to format a paper in APA style.
- A Short Guide to Academic Writing Style: This resource offers specific suggestions for helping you write in ways that academic audiences expect.
Peer Review Template
Week 12 Discussion
For this assignment you need to first post your complete draft of Project 3, the Argument or Persuasive Essay, and you will then read and respond to the drafts of two of your classmates. Before you participate in this peer review, however, make sure you review the two peer review resources offered this week.
To complete this assignment, do the following:
By Sunday: upload a full draft of Project 3. Remember to include a title page, reference page, APA page numbers, format, and in-text citations.
By next Thursday: carefully read the drafts that your peer group members have uploaded and offer them feedback. Use the “Project 3 Peer Response Template” to offer careful and critical feedback to these classmates.
Make sure you answer the questions fully; be critical but kind. And be specific: explain what you think the writer should add, delete, change, etc.
Week 13: Writing Week
About this week
In this final week of Unit 3, you will focus on revising your Argument or Persuasive Paper for submission. To assist you in this process, you will also review a number of resources related to editing, proofreading, and revising. And, while you should spend the bulk of your time working on your paper draft in its entirety, you will also devote a bit of time to the local issues of your writing. As such, you will produce an Error Checklist; this assignment asks you to identify the most common sentence-level errors you make in your academic writing, to correct those errors, and to cite the related rule or guideline. This way, you will have a guide to help you as you write future papers; you will know which errors to look out for and how to fix them. Finally, the week will culminate in the submission of your second draft of Project 3.
Learning Objectives:
- Review and implement editing and proofreading strategies
- Understand and implement revision strategies
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Submit Low-Stakes Assignment #8: Error Checklist
- Submit Project 3: The Persuasive Essay
Required Readings
- Revising and Editing: When you revise, you try to “re-see” the paper as a whole, considering changes you might make to your thesis, supporting points, organization, evidence, etc. This is distinct from editing or proofreading, where you are looking for “local” errors and mistakes. Read this resource for more information and to ensure that you are truly revising your paper, and not simply editing it.
- Revision is Writing. That is All: This source reminds us that revision is not the quick review you do of a paper before you turn it in. Revision is an essential part of the writing process. Revision is writing as much as drafting is, which is writing as much as planning is, which is…you get it.
- Grammar, Rhetoric, and Style: This chapter reminds us that grammar is about more than remembering what a semicolon is (or when to use it!); grammar itself is rhetorical and constantly in flux. Read this before you start to work on your sentence-level edits.
Diving Deeper
- Purdue Online Writing Lab (Purdue OWL) and Excelsior Online Writing Lab: Both of these online writing labs are excellent sources for all issues related to academic writing, but they are especially useful for finding information about sentence-level concerns such as grammar and punctuation rules.
- Excelsior’s 20 Most Common Grammar Errors College Students Make.
- Writing for Success, chapters 2-7: We have read a few chapters from this textbook already, but see chapters 2-7 for specific information about all things related to the sentence and paragraph.
LSA 8: Error Checklist
You have worked repeatedly over the course of this semester not only on the “global” issues of academic writing (identifying a topic, creating a thesis, conducting research, structuring a paper, etc.), but also on the “local” ones as well—the sentence-level work that communicates your ideas and brings your writing to life. For this assignment, you will look back at all your assignment drafts and identify and correct your most common sentence-level mistakes.
See the assignment sheet, LSA-8, above for the full assignment instructions. Due by Sunday, 11:59pm.
Submit Project 3: The Argument or Persuasive Essay
MODULE 4: SELF-REFLECTION
Week 14: Reflecting on Your Writing Process and Products
About this week
This is the first week of the final unit, Unit 4: Reflective Writing: Your Writing Process—Where You Started and Where You Are Going. As such, this week you will focus on looking back at all the work you have done for the course, namely Projects 1-3, and then you will specifically consider ways you might revise Projects 1 and 2. Optional (but strongly encouraged) revisions of these projects are due at the end of this week. Additionally, in a Low-Stakes Assignment you will also identify the local and global aspects of your writing that you have improved this semester. These kinds of considerations will prepare you for the final project of the course, Project 4: Critical Self-Reflection.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand and implement reflective writing strategies
- Understand and implement revision strategies
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Review Project #4
- Submit Low-Stakes Assignment #9: Self-Reflection Project Planning
- Optional: submit revisions of Projects 1 and 2
Required Readings
- Metacognition and Self Regulation
- Revising and Editing
- An Introduction to and Strategies for Multimodal Composing
Review Project 4: The Critical Self-Reflection
LSA 9: Self-Reflection Project Planning
This assignment is essentially the start of your final project for this course, the Critical Self-Reflection, and is meant to help you prepare for the final draft which is due at the end of Week 15. Take your time with it and truly consider these questions—the more work you do here, the better prepared you will be next week, as you draft the final version.
See the assignment sheet, LSA-9, above for the full assignment instructions. Due by Sunday, 11:59pm.
Optional: Submit a Revision of Project #1
Optional: Submit a Revision of Project #2
Week 15: Looking Back and Looking Forward
About this week
Since this is the final week of the course and of Unit 4, you will spend this time reflecting on the work you have done all semester and consider how you would like to continue improving your academic writing. While your work will mostly focus on composing the full draft of Project 4: Critical Self-Reflection, you can also work on an optional revision of Project 3. Both of these assignments are due at the end of the week. Make sure you use the resources provided to help you compose these two important projects. Finally, you will consider the future of your academic writing, and reflect on what you will take with you from this course. The final LSA, due on Sunday, asks you not only to consider what you have accomplished in this course, but also what plans you have for the future of your academic writing.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand and implement reflective writing strategies
- Understand and implement revision strategies
Task List:
- Consume this week’s required readings and media
- Submit Low-Stakes Assignment #10: Final Thoughts and Moving Forward
- Submit Project 4: Critical Self-Reflection
- Optional: Submit your revision of Project 3
- Celebrate reaching the end of the semester!
Required Readings
- Narrative Writing and Weaving Personal Experience into Academic Writing: Review these two resources if you are planning to write an essay for Project 4. They will help you incorporate narration (storytelling) and personal experience into your work.
- Audiovisual Presentations made Easy(-er): Tips for Creating an Effective Powerpoint, Prezi, or Keynote;
Organizing a Visual Presentation;
Incorporating Effective Visuals in a Presentation
Review the three above resources if you are creating a presentation for Project 4. They can help you as you consider which images to use, how to organize your work, and what impact visual sources have on your viewers. - The Sixth Paragraph: A Revision of the Essay: This source reminds you that revising is much more than editing. Read it before you work on your optional revision of Project 3 and also before you compose the final draft of Project 4.
Diving Deeper
- Copyright and Writing: This source reviews some of the basics for using copyrighted material in your work. This will be especially useful to those of you who are creating presentations for Project 4.
- Excelsior Writing Lab: APA Format and Purdue OWL: Remember that you must cite ALL work that is not your own—both in your optional revision of Project 3 and in your final draft of Project 4. This includes images and videos too! You can review APA citation guidelines in either of the above sources.
LSA 10: Final Thoughts and Moving Forward
For this final writing assignment, consider all you have accomplished in this course: what you learned, where you improved, what you realized you already did well. Then, in a 250-word reflection, discuss where, as an academic writer, you will go from here.
As you write, consider these questions (you do not need to answer them all directly—they are meant to provoke thought):
- What insights, strategies and knowledges will you take with you into future courses? What are they and what do you find helpful about them?
- How do you see yourself continuing to develop as an academic writer? Are there specific aspects of writing you plan to improve? What strategies will you use to do so?
- What aspects of your writing do you feel confident about? What do you do well as an academic writer? What behaviors contribute to this success?
- Has your perspective on academic writing and on yourself as an academic writer shifted during this semester? How so? Why do you think this is?
Please make sure you proofread and edit your work. Due by Sunday, 11:59pm.
Submit Project 4: The Critical Self-Reflection
Optional: Submit a Revision of Project 3
This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
