First-Year Composition for Student Success

Rebecca Penrose, California State University, Bakersfield
April 2023

Project Abstract:

The primary goal of this redesign was to offer a no-cost textbook option that also highlighted practical skills and strategies for a freshman-level writing course. A secondary goal was to ensure that all course materials were accessible for users of screen readers and assistive technology. There was no need to significantly change or replace the existing course assignments, only to offer more thorough and relatable instructional materials to guide students through completing the requirements. Due to the ever-increasing costs of print textbooks and handbooks, students often choose not to purchase them, sacrificing key instructional materials that would benefit their coursework, grades, and the ultimate completion of their degree program. Additionally, first-year composition is a high-impact course, serving as a General Education requirement for students of all majors.

Background on the Redesign

Purpose

• Course Characteristics: At CSU Bakersfield, ENGL 1109 (Writing & Research) focuses primarily on research skills--accessing the academic library databases to find scholarly sources, evaluating those sources, and properly integrating them in a college-level research paper using MLA or APA format. In structuring this course redesign project, there was no need to change or replace the existing course assignments, only to offer more thorough and relatable instructional materials at a significantly reduced cost. Additionally, I wanted to make the necessary changes to ensure that all materials were accessible and ADA-compliant.
  
  
• The Learning Problem:  Because ENGL 1109 satisfies a basic GE requirement for all students, it is among the top three courses with the highest impact on persistence and graduation rates. Typically, when students do not pass this course, it is not due to their lack of ability or opportunity but rather to their lack of attendance and/or missing assignments. Students often underestimate the importance of time management, class attendance and participation, and timely submission of coursework. Therefore, incorporating tips for maintaining a healthy mindset and creating effective study habits are well received at this level.

Course History/Background

• ENGL 1109 Writing & Research is a required course for all degree programs. Students can also satisfy this requirement with a score of 3 or higher on the AP English Language exam in high school, but most students take ENGL 1109 during their first year at the university, preferably in their first term. ENGL 1109 is also a prerequisite for many other GE and major courses. Among writing and research skills, this course emphasizes MLA and APA documentation, which are the most popular formatting styles in other courses, so it is ideal for students to have this practice early in their academic careers. Multiple sections of ENGL 1109 are offered every regular semester and occasionally during the summer sessions.

High Demand / Low Success Issues

• As previously noted, many incoming students lack effective study skills and time management practices, underestimating the expectations of the university and their professors. We have seen an increase in this pattern during and since the COVID-19 pandemic, as students are struggling to resume a traditional schedule and return to in-person class meetings. Prior to the pandemic, I had been requiring two books for this course: a textbook titled Envision by Alfano and O’Brien and another resource titled How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport. Together, these materials addressed the course writing requirements and academic expectations.

Syllabus from previous course here.

Student Characteristics

• The majority of students taking ENGL 1109 are incoming first-year freshmen who graduated from the local area high schools. The demographics of CSUB are consistent with the demographics of the Kern County community. We also have a significant number of transfer and returning students, but a smaller number of those students need to take ENGL 1109 because it is a standard lower-division requirement.

Advice I Gave My Students to be Successful

• In introducing the new textbook, I introduced students to OER resources and the goal of this project. I provided students with the eBook link and instructions for navigating the chapters. I also aligned the textbook chapters with the corresponding course activities and projects.

Impact of Student Learning Outcomes/Objectives (SLOs) on Course Redesign

The course SLOs remained the same:

Goal 1:    Reading Skills

• 1A:  Students will recognize the rhetorical devices and/or the choices writers make in a text (e.g., bias, word choice, tone, purpose, methods of development and organization, etc.).
• 1B:  Students will analyze the effects a writer’s choices and/or rhetorical devices have on the audience.

Goal 2:    Writing Skills 

• 2A:  Students will create proficient thesis statements for various types of writing tasks. 
• 2B:  Students will use logical reasoning to develop and organize ideas. 
• 2C:  Students will use appropriate language and grammar as determined by the writing task. 

Goal 3:    Research Skills 

• 3A:  Students will find a variety of credible and relevant sources for an academic research paper.
• 3B:  Students will evaluate a variety of sources for an academic research paper. 
• 3C:  Students will use summary, paraphrase, and direct quotes to synthesize sources into an academic research paper using proper documentation. 
• 3D:  Students will incorporate sources into an academic research paper without plagiarizing.

Assessments Used to Assess Students' Achievement of SLOs

Students demonstrate SLOs by completing major course assignments:

• Critical reading activities
• Critical thinking activities
• Library skills/research activities
• Source integration activities
  • Summary, paraphrase, quotation practice
  • Documentation practice
• Synthesis essays
• Formal research papers
• Presentations

Accessibility, Affordability, and Diversity Considerations

Accessibility

• The technologies employed are part of the regular class enrollment Learning Management System, Canvas.  It is free to enrolled students and is compliant with accessibility guidelines in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C § 794 D). The newly integrated eBook also adheres to these compliance and accessibility guidelines.

Affordability

• I cannot presume that all of my students have access to the same technology (for example, digital tablets or smart phones); however, CSUB provides students with laptops, iPads, and portable WiFi hotspots if needed, so all students have access to the digital tools required for accessing online materials. The new textbook introduced is widely accessible online and free of cost.

Diversity

• The subject matter and themes addressed in ENGL 1109 vary from semester to semester in response to current events and campus-sponsored programs, but all required course materials support diverse perspectives and approaches. My students reflect broad diversity in cultural, racial, socio-economic, gender, and ability factors.  

Course Redesign Teaching and Learning Resources

MERLOT's Pedagogy Portal
The MERLOT Pedagogy Portal is designed to help you learn about the variety of instructional strategies and issues that could help you become a better teacher. The resources you'll find in the Pedagogy Portal should apply to teaching a variety of disciplines. 

Open Educational Practices Portal
MERLOT and SkillsCommons provides a collection of over 1,000 ePortfolios  across a wide variety of disciplines,  with about 700 ePortfolios openly sharing the innovative teaching processes and the student learning outcomes  from course redesign strategies.

MERLOT
MERLOT is a collection of free and open online teaching, learning and faculty development services contributed and used by an international education community. The MERLOT collection of open resources spans across a wide variety of disciplines and education levels. What sets MERLOT apart is a combination of peer reviews, member comments, learning exercises and other valuable information and metadata associated with the materials.

Implementing the Redesigned Course

Redesigned Aspects

Previous Materials
Envision, 5th edition, by Christine L. Alfano and Alyssa J. O'Brien
How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport

New Adopted OER Textbook
https://open.lib.umn.edu/collegesuccess
College Success produced by the University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing

• Previously, I designed workshops and assignments that responded to skills and strategies suggested in Newport's book, often providing examples of assignments to give students a better understanding of the expected product. The new adopted eBook contains self-assessment worksheets and practice opportunities in every chapter, allowing students to download, print, or copy these resources much more easily. Resources are also more current and relevant than before.
• Additionally, the new adopted eBook integrates college writing tips and strategies, replacing the Envision textbook. I scaffold the research paper assignments anyway, and this approach to the writing process is not reliant on textbook instruction; however, the new eBook also includes clear, easy-to-read explanations of the expectations for college-level writing, as well as strategies for improving writing skills and avoiding plagiarism when integrating sources. All of this reinforces the course learning outcomes and the quality of student assignments.

Professional Development and Consultation

• I have participated in multiple interdisciplinary faculty Professional Learning Communities over the last few years, focusing on foundational skill reinforcement throughout all course levels—undergraduate and graduate. I have also attended several accessibility conferences, webinars, and workshops, exploring the barriers to students with disabilities and their assistive technology.
• In examining student retention and persistence data from the CSU Student Success Dashboard and the AHEAD surveys, incoming students have struggled most since the pandemic, and the non-passing rates for this particular course (ENGL 1109) have increased. All of these factors were taken into consideration during this course redesign.

Syllabus from revised course here.

Course Redesign Impact on Teaching and Learning

• This course redesign provided me with multiple new approaches to instruction, giving students additional guidance for assignments. Most importantly, it gave students a free alternative to purchasing the very expensive previous textbook.
• The most significant revision involved in-class workshops. The variety of activities and opportunities for self-reflection included in the eBook allowed for more robust and engaging workshops, some of which students could prepare for in advance. Tips for time management, critical reading, and effective note-taking are especially engaging to practice in collaborative workshops during class meetings.

Student Feedback

• Students greatly appreciated the opportunity to save money by using a free resource. They were able to bookmark the eBook in their browser for quick access, and several used "read-aloud" or "audible" functions to listen to the longer chapters. 

Challenges My Students Encountered

• Students did not encounter any particular challenges; however, adding excessive supplemental material to a course always presents the potential for students to "skim" or "skip" material that they determine to be repetitive or irrelevant. All changes or additions were thoughtfully considered in order to promote student engagement and avoid overwhelming them. I also tried to preview or review chapters during class meetings to point out the key sections and exercises.

Lessons Learned & Redesign Tips

Teaching Tips

• Consult your campus IT and accessibility experts to ensure that you are fully aware of the capabilities and limitations of your institution's adopted LMS, particularly when teaching fully online courses.
• Engage students in discussion and collaboration as much as possible in preparation for assignments. The exchange of ideas increases creative approaches to the assignments and helps to clarify instructor expectations.
• Provide handouts and worksheets in both doc and pdf formats.
• Use a Color-Contrast Analyzer to optimize design for low-vision students and information users. These two are very reliable and can be downloaded:
  • https://www.tpgi.com/cca-download 
  • https://www.downloadcrew.com/article/35257/colour_contrast_analyser 
• This is a good web-based color checker:
  • https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker 

Strategies I Used to Increase Engagement

• Supplemental videos and multimedia allow multiple methods of instructional delivery and are best when interactive.
• Weekly discussion prompts in a course LMS (e.g., Canvas) allow students to communicate and collaborate asynchronously before and after class meetings.
• I randomly distribute sensory tools (e.g., tactile stickers, fidget rings, stress balls) to students to help them focus and encourage creative approaches to assignments.

Instructor Reflection

• This redesign gave me the opportunity to rethink the requirements of my course and consider the most effective strategies for achieving quality student work. The cost of print textbooks continues to increase as does the availability of Open Access online resources. It is prudent and respectful to consider the students' finances when selecting and requiring course materials. It was especially beneficial to find one new resource to replace two previously required resources.
• I have shared about this experience with my colleagues in the CSUB Writing Program and with fellow attendees at recent professional development conferences. Additionally, my participation in recent accessibility conferences and webinars has greatly informed my decisions in revising the existing course materials and ensuring their compliance with assistive technology.
• As noted, this course satisfies a very important requirement in our General Education program, and it is taught by many instructors, several of whom are part-time and/or adjunct faculty members. I regularly share my teaching strategies and course revisions with the other instructors in our Writing Program during our meetings. I am also available to share my experiences and/or provide faculty training workshops upon request.

About the Instructor

• Rebecca Penrose, MA, MLIS
  My research involves the use of instructional technology and tools to increase information literacy and improve student retention and persistence rates in higher education. My current focus is on underperforming student populations and how the academic library can best utilize institutional research to make data-informed decisions for deploying resources.