Date: January 13, 2014
Course Title: Communications 101
Course Number: COM 101-016
Days and Time: MWF @ 10:00 a.m.
Location: A203
Semester: Spring 2014
I. Faculty Information
A. Name: Margaret (Tina) Jenkins Bell
B. Office: A214
C. Office Hours: MW 11:00 am-noon / TR 11:00 am-noon
D. Mailbox location: B240
E. Office Phone: (708) 608-4379
F. Email: jenkinsbellm@morainevalley.edu Please allow 24 hours for response to e-mails during the week and up to 48 hours to respond to e-mails sent on the weekends. I do not check e-mails on Sundays.
II. Course Identification
A. Credit Hours: 3 semester hours
B. Total contact hours: 3 lecture: 3 lab: 0
C. Prerequisite: COM 090 with a grade of “C” or better or appropriate score on placement test
D. Co-requisite: None
E. Catalog Description: Designed to teach clear and effective expository prose, with emphasis on organization, clarity and coherence. Learn to adapt style to various readers and use research to clarify explanations and support arguments. A grade of “C” or better is required for this course to transfer under the guidelines of the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI).
III. Textbooks
A. Required: Eschholz, Paul and Alfred Rosa. Models for Writers: Short Essays for Composition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. B. Optional: None
C. Supplies: Ink pens, two #2 pencils, a USB, a folder, and a spiral.
D. Supplementary Materials: When communicating with me regarding this class, please use only your MVCC e-mail. Make sure that you identify your class (ex. 101-004) section and the nature of your e-mail in the subject line.
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure.”---Colin Powell, Former Secretary of State, Retired Four Star General
IV. Course Mission The mission of this course is to provide a safe, non-judgmental environment in which students can sharpen their basic writing and critical thinking skills. In this “learn by doing” course, students will develop their ability to write clear, effective, and grammatically correct prose for a variety of purposes--- academic, work, or personal. Using and adapting the writing process as a tool to develop any type writing assignment or task will also be a priority. An introduction to library and other types of research as well as utilization of MLA standards will also be covered.
V. Course Goals
1. To utilize the writing process to promote logical, organized, purpose-driven communication for a specific audience.
2. To narrow a subject to a workable topic.
3. To establish a thesis or overall “unifying” idea of the essay.
4. To effectively structure essay: Introduction, body and subtopics, and conclusion.
5. To effectively paragraph: Organization, topic sentence, details, evidence, prose tools, and transitional expressions.
6. To write effective sentences: Structure, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
7. To utilize strategies, including editing, revising, peer editing, and other tactics, to produce a polished final draft.
8. To recognize or give credit for use of external information or other people’s thoughts and ideas to support major points in your own essay or research paper.
9. To understand and apply MLA standards.
VI. Expected Outcomes for Student Learning: A. General Education learning outcomes
1. Communicating
Read and listen with comprehension.
Write and speak effectively in English.
2. Information Literacy
Locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
B. Course Content Outcomes
1. Employ the following basic techniques during the writing process:
1.1 Prewriting techniques, such as journaling, free writing, or clustering;
1.2 Drafting techniques, such as experimenting with various organizational patterns;
1.3 Revision techniques, such as identifying sections in a piece of writing which require more elaboration or
