EGL 100 - English Composition

Purpose: to help other instructors teaching the same course

Common Course ID:  ENGLISH 100 - English Composition
CSU Instructor Open Textbook Adoption Portrait

Abstract: Abstract: This open textbook is being utilized in a Humanities course for undergraduates by Scott Starr at California State Maritime Academy. The open textbook provides an introductory undergraduate level curriculum for university level expository writing. The main motivations to adopt an open textbook were to eliminate cost for students, ensure accessibility from the first day of the semester, and provide them with resources they may access at any point in the future for personal development or further academic study. Most students access the open textbook on the Rebus Community website and the supplemental material through any web browser.

Course Title and Number
Brief Description of course highlights:  English 100 – This General Education course provides the foundation of academic writing. The course explores research and development of ideas, rhetorical presentation and a review of grammar and mechanics. After completion of English 100, students will be able to take upper division courses throughout the disciplines and be able to adhere to the standards and guidelines for academic research and writing. This is a required course for all students in all majors.

Student population:  This course is required for all majors. The demographics of the class are representative of the CSUM student body and include a wide spectrum of socio-economic and cultural diversity.  
Learning or student outcomes:  Reading and writing proficiency within the discipline, to include the following skills: 

• Summarize texts accurately and comprehensively 
• Analyze written texts. 
• Craft an argument in support of original ideas within the discipline and genre of a writing task. 
• Demonstrate ability to consider audience, purpose, and context of written work. 
• Use appropriate and relevant content in written work. 
• Demonstrate awareness of conventions particular to a specific discipline and/or writing task (including conventions for organization, content, presentation, formatting, and stylistic choices). 
• Use high quality, credible, relevant sources to develop ideas. 
• Use grammatically- and mechanically- correct language to clearly communicate ideas to readers 

Key challenges faced and how resolved:   One of the key challenges teachers face in writing class is that many students did not receive adequate high school instruction in expository writing. As a result, many students require more attention than just the classroom lecture hours. I made myself available for extended office hours and many students came in voluntarily. Also, for two separate weeks out of the semester, I met with students individually (for twenty minutes each) to discuss their writing thus far in the semester. Although all students benefit from this practice, I found that the students who started the semester at a bit of an instructional disadvantage really began to thrive after out one on one sessions. 

Textbook or OER/Low cost Title: Write Here, Right Now. An Interactive Introduction to Academic Writing and Researach - https://pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca/writehere/

Brief Description: This expository writing textbook provides a rhetorical approach to writing instruction at the University level. Emphasis is placed on critical analysis, argumentative construction, and rhetorical persuasion. Each section includes a reading and several writing prompts from which students may respond. The pedagogical approach encourages students to identify with the subject matter and respond logically with thoughtful inclusion of their own experiences.

Authors:  Aaron Tucker and Paul Chafe
Student access:  Students may access online on any device with the link above.
Supplemental resources: I used two supplemental resources:
Purdue Online Writing Lab-  The “OWL” is a free resource that replaces the traditional “Writer’s Handbook” that usually is required for this course. All fundamental concepts of writing (grammar, punctuation, mechanics, formatting and more are covered in detail.

New York Times Online Subscription  The entire website is available through the CMA library for free. The leading newspaper in the US provides context to explore controversial issues and is a great starting point to begin finding areas of interest for later research

Cost Savings:  $140 a student
License: 

1. Write Here, Right Now is Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
2. The New York Times is licensed under NYT Licensing and is free for educational purposes
3. Purdue University OWL Follows Fair use Policies and is free to reproduce for educational purposes- 

OER/Low Cost Adoption Process

Provide an explanation or what motivated you to use this textbook or OER/Low Cost option.  I was motivated to use an open-source textbook for two main reasons. First, I wanted to give every student free access to the materials. Second, I enjoyed customizing study notes with links to specific pages in the textbook reliably work. Electronic versions of textbooks (such as Kindle) are very difficult if not impossible to “link” due to Digital Rights Management (DRM) safeguards.

How did you find and select the open textbook for this course? I consulted with my Library representative and ALS coordinator to find the OER books available. Write here, Write Now was the clear winner. The progression of reading and writing exercises ease students into longer expository and analytical projects.

Sharing Best Practices: I augmented the online textbook primarily with the grammar and mechanics exercises from the Purdue OWL website. As the semester progressed, I compiled common errors and presented targeted reference pages and exercises from the resource. The Style Guides for APA and MLA formatting were particularly helpful.

Scott Starr 
Adjunct Faculty - Department of Communication
California State University, Maritime

Please describe the courses you teach.  I teach English Composition, Ethics, Critical Thinking, Creative Writing, Public Speaking and a variety of special topics within the Humanities. I primarily encourage students to engage with the world through their own experiences and to explore how the Humanistic tradition may inform or broaden their own critical and creative viewpoints.  I foster a learning environment of patience while promoting both rigor and deep reflection.