General Education Goals for ENG 101 and 102

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Student Learning Goals for College Composition - Introduction

Writing can be taught in many different ways. Despite these differences, students taking one section of a course deserve the same learning opportunities as students in other sections, and students who have one instructor for ENG 101 should be able to take ENG 102 from another instructor without repeating material covered in 101.

To provide that consistent base, learning goals have been developed by the programís lecturers, teaching assistants, instructors, and me. These have been revised to incorporate goals identified as central to the goals of the universityís General Education Program, and they also reflect national goals defined in the "Writing Programs Administrators' Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition," a project of the National Council of Writing Program Administrators.


Dr. Richard Bullock
Director of Writing Programs  

 

 

   

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General Education Goals for ENG 101 and 102 Courses

The university's General Education program has several goals, including cultivating your awareness of moral and ethical insight, increasing your knowledge and understanding, and enhancing your abilities to think critically, solve problems, and communicate effectively.  ENG 101 and 102 are part of the General Education program and so address these goals in the following ways:

Sharpening Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Communication Skills

Writing is itself a way of thinking; so the activity of writing sharpens critical thinking abilities as you write, read, revise, and critique your own and others' work. Solving problems is also inherent in writing, presenting you, as the writer, with new tasks and challenges.  The ultimate aim of the program is to improve your communication skills in writing, but through considerable group work, peer response activities, and class discussion, your oral communication skills--speaking, listening, and engaging in focused discussion--are developed as well. To achieve these goals you must:

  • Display knowledge of writing processes (invention, drafting, revision)

  • Write clearly and effectively in general

  • Use appropriate organizational structures

  • Argue appropriately

  • Use source material accurately and appropriately (quotations, paraphrases, summaries)

  • Cite sources accurately

  • Write correctly, with minimal errors

  • Assess your own work accurately and fairly

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Cultivating an Awareness of Moral and Ethical Insight

Writers have moral and ethical obligations to their readers to be accurate, fair, and truthful, and to uphold cultural and academic norms of written discourse.  Writers have similar obligations to use the work of others fairly, to use it with proper acknowledgment, and to avoid distorting it.  Writers need to understand the positions and points of view of others, to find common ground in order to communicate effectively with others. And, finally, writers working in groups need to learn to cooperate with others, compromise, accept criticism gracefully, and learn to respect the opinions of others, whether or not they agree. These goals are part of the teaching of writing throughout ENG 101 and 102.  To achieve these goals you must:


Use Academic Language

  • By defining key terms

  • By writing with precise statements

  • By employing accurate language


    • Treat Other Writers with Respect

  • By considering them as intelligent as yourself (tone and respect)

  • By presenting the views of other writers fairly (balanced perspective)

  • By attributing ideas to the original authors (documentation)


    • Treat the Subject Responsibly

  • By gathering sufficient information on your topic

  • By using relevant information of the best available quality

  • By providing adequate evidence for your assertions

  • By using facts accurately

  • By avoiding blanket generalizations

  • By avoiding fallacies in your arguments (misleading or manipulating the reader)

  • By creating coherent texts

    •  
    Regard the Integrity of the Reader

  • By assuming a real and open-minded reader

  • By using affectively balanced terms (not using inflammatory or biased language)

  • By avoiding stereotyping possible readers

    • On Increasing Knowledge and Understanding 

    ENG 101 and 102 seek to help you understand the ways writers write, dispelling notions about lonely writers in their garrets awaiting inspiration and then, in a single sitting, creating a developed, error-free piece of writing.  The courses should help you learn:

    • The many facets and procedures that may be used in various writing circumstances.

    • A variety of tools for developing, drafting, revising, and editing writing of various kinds.

    • That texts must be read critically, with an eye to the rhetorical situation of the writer, and analyzed, not accepted as fact because they are published.

    Ultimately, though, the courses seek to help you see writing as a valuable way of reflecting on your life, as a means of gaining understanding, and as a way of identifying and measuring your progress toward your goals as a writer. 

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