Student Assessment of Instruction
ENC 1101 COMPOSITION I FALL 2013 SAI'S
ENC 3250 PROFESSIONAL WRITING FALL 2013
SYLLABI
ENC 3250 PROFESSIONAL WRITING SUMMER 2013 SYLLABUS
ENC 3250 PROFESSIONAL WRITING FALL 2013 SYLLABUS
ENC 1101 COMPOSITION I FALL 2013
ENC 1102 COMPOSITION II SPRING 2014
ENC 1101 Fall 2013 Sample Student Electronic Portfolios
These are three examples of student work done in ENC 1101 Fall 2013. The students put an electronic portfolio together that included blog posts, final paper assignments, a midterm reflection in text and in multimodal form, and their group project on Darin Strauss' book A Half a Life.
http://jessicabretton.weebly.com/
http://mpkennedy.weebly.com/
http://stephaniepal.weebly.com/
http://jessicabretton.weebly.com/
http://mpkennedy.weebly.com/
http://stephaniepal.weebly.com/
ENC 3250 Professional Writing Fall 2013 Sample Electronic Portfolios
Students in ENC 3250 used the Canvas portfolio feature to showcase their best work. Click on the links below to access the students' electronic portfolios.
https://fgcu.instructure.com/eportfolios/3233/Home/Welcome
https://fgcu.instructure.com/eportfolios/3555/Home/Welcome
https://fgcu.instructure.com/eportfolios/3370/Home/Welcome
https://fgcu.instructure.com/eportfolios/3233/Home/Welcome
https://fgcu.instructure.com/eportfolios/3555/Home/Welcome
https://fgcu.instructure.com/eportfolios/3370/Home/Welcome
ENC 1102 Composition II Spring 2014 Sample Student Work
Midterm Reflections
Dear Professor Bolduc-Simpson,
At this point in the semester I have learned so much and acquired numerous skills that will prove to be invaluable later on down the road in pursuing my career and life goals.
I gained an understanding of rhetoric and its significance in our daily lives. I made the realization that rhetoric is an important skill to have and utilize. The ability to effectively persuade using the rhetorical techniques, both in writing and by verbal communication, is critical in portraying my perspective and/or establishing my opinions. I have also come to accept and actually prefer visual and multimedia literacy to the traditional text in terms of learning for comprehension. Our “Understanding Rhetoric” textbook is a prime example of why I feel this way. When I am studying for math or biology, I dread rummaging through the text to find what I need. When I read our assigned text in “Understanding Rhetoric”, I am engaged. My interest is sparked and maintained through the visuals and artwork. I feel this is the most effective way to convey material and ensure retention because students don’t see it as work, but as a story. The writing process was refreshed and I learned to integrate pathos, logos, and ethos accordingly into my classical argument. In learning this material, I also came to understand how important knowing your target audience was in persuasion. It was also significant to learn different types of persuasion for different types of situations. In delicate situations and topics, we learned to use a Rogerian argument in which both sides opinions are understood and a consensus is attempted to be made. And of course, we learned to conduct our research and gather legitimate sources. Over the course of the first half of the semester, the class and I, have learned so much.
What is more remarkable is the process in which we learned this material. Throughout my academic career I have come to understand that its not about the result, but rather, the process. In class we have conducted activities that operate much like a company in the sense that we are all assigned roles and are responsible for them. I feel this technique is a fantastic method of teaching. We are all involved with hands on activities and it is because of this, that we retain so much of the material and are doing so well in the class. One of my favorite activities that effectively engraved key concepts into our brains, was the Rogerian argument activity involving the dispute within Hershey’s. We had a “debate” in which we constructed a Rogerian argument and presented reasoning for both sides. I had a crystal clear understanding of the structure and use of this kind of argument after this activity.
Again, this kind of learning is critical. It is significant in every aspect of our lives because we use this knowledge every day to make smart decisions. Knowing this, I will use what I have learned and apply it in and out of the classroom. I will apply it to future classes, setting my priorities, and managing my ever so precious time. I will use this knowledge to mature and evolve as a student and a human being. So far, I have had an incredible and enjoyable experience in your composition two class.
-Ian Amistoso
At this point in the semester I have learned so much and acquired numerous skills that will prove to be invaluable later on down the road in pursuing my career and life goals.
I gained an understanding of rhetoric and its significance in our daily lives. I made the realization that rhetoric is an important skill to have and utilize. The ability to effectively persuade using the rhetorical techniques, both in writing and by verbal communication, is critical in portraying my perspective and/or establishing my opinions. I have also come to accept and actually prefer visual and multimedia literacy to the traditional text in terms of learning for comprehension. Our “Understanding Rhetoric” textbook is a prime example of why I feel this way. When I am studying for math or biology, I dread rummaging through the text to find what I need. When I read our assigned text in “Understanding Rhetoric”, I am engaged. My interest is sparked and maintained through the visuals and artwork. I feel this is the most effective way to convey material and ensure retention because students don’t see it as work, but as a story. The writing process was refreshed and I learned to integrate pathos, logos, and ethos accordingly into my classical argument. In learning this material, I also came to understand how important knowing your target audience was in persuasion. It was also significant to learn different types of persuasion for different types of situations. In delicate situations and topics, we learned to use a Rogerian argument in which both sides opinions are understood and a consensus is attempted to be made. And of course, we learned to conduct our research and gather legitimate sources. Over the course of the first half of the semester, the class and I, have learned so much.
What is more remarkable is the process in which we learned this material. Throughout my academic career I have come to understand that its not about the result, but rather, the process. In class we have conducted activities that operate much like a company in the sense that we are all assigned roles and are responsible for them. I feel this technique is a fantastic method of teaching. We are all involved with hands on activities and it is because of this, that we retain so much of the material and are doing so well in the class. One of my favorite activities that effectively engraved key concepts into our brains, was the Rogerian argument activity involving the dispute within Hershey’s. We had a “debate” in which we constructed a Rogerian argument and presented reasoning for both sides. I had a crystal clear understanding of the structure and use of this kind of argument after this activity.
Again, this kind of learning is critical. It is significant in every aspect of our lives because we use this knowledge every day to make smart decisions. Knowing this, I will use what I have learned and apply it in and out of the classroom. I will apply it to future classes, setting my priorities, and managing my ever so precious time. I will use this knowledge to mature and evolve as a student and a human being. So far, I have had an incredible and enjoyable experience in your composition two class.
-Ian Amistoso
Midterm Reflection Part 2 on PhotoPeach
February 23, 2014
Dear Professor Bolduc-Simpson,
When I entered college this fall I was filled with apprehension about whether or not I could cut the proverbial mustard. My fears of success were normal to college freshmen and I knew that, but the thing that really bothered me was could I do the writing that would be required in college. I can write very well structured essays and I have a relatively good mastery of the grammar rules and that sort of thing: what worried me was research papers. You see in high school, I wrote only one research paper in all four years of high school, and that paper was during my freshman year. I honestly don’t know if my high school teachers were that bad or if my experience was normal: but either way I was scared.
In my English ENC 1101 class I had no problems, in fact it was a breeze. I got to write the kind of essays that I write very well. Then this semester started, I had heard that you were a very nice professor and were willing to go the extra mile for your students, so I signed up for your class. I will admit to you that I haven’t enjoyed some of the assignments in this class: mainly because I actually had to step out of my comfort and easy zone and work a bit more. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not lazy but we all like what is comfortable to us and your class has made me stretch and actually learn. I appreciate it. I needed it. I will use what I have learned a lot in my future college courses.
First off, let me tell you that I had never even heard of an Argumentative paper. Again, I am not sure if I am typical in regards to this or if I just received a really stinky English education thus far. When the next paper was a Rogerian argument paper I was really flabbergasted that I had never heard of that either. Along with both of these types of papers, I had also not had to put in text citations in a paper since ninth grade, luckily for me, I was smart enough to save that paper so that I could refer to it and refresh my memory on how to do it correctly.
I truly believe that you making us do these papers is probably going to be one of the most important things that I will learn this year. You have taught me by making me do, and experience is the best teacher as they say. In college, I expect to have to write papers with citations and now I know how to do it correctly. You helped me also by teaching me to do comments on my papers using that computer tool for my self assessment. Wow, another thing I didn’t know existed! The live link for citing pictures was still another new thing to me and I know that will really come in handy later in college.
You have given me the keys to successful writing at the college level and I am grateful to you for that. I have much more confidence in my writing ability now that I have been in your class. My mind has been refreshed on doing the things needed such as in text citations and works cited pages when writing papers. This may seem elementary to you but believe me when I tell you that I truly did need your class to be successful in college.
In today’s computer driven world, tracking down sources that are credible and reliable is a very important skill and using the CRAAP test will help a lot with this. I am not really into computers and they aren’t especially my thing, so some of this kind of knowledge is really significant to me because I honestly did not know how to track down this kind of information. My computer knowledge and skills have also improved because of this class and that has helped me in all of my other classes because I am a bit more computer savvy. I never would sit down and play around on my laptop to figure different functions out on my own but since you made things of this nature part of assignments: I was forced to learn them.
All in all, so far in this short half of the semester, I have learned a lot from your class. I know that the second half will enlighten me on more things that I will need for my future learning experiences. I appreciate how supportive your are in helping when I do not understand something and how easy you are to communicate with when I have an issue. Thank you for teaching this class.
Very truly yours,
Doug Spencer
Dear Professor Bolduc-Simpson,
When I entered college this fall I was filled with apprehension about whether or not I could cut the proverbial mustard. My fears of success were normal to college freshmen and I knew that, but the thing that really bothered me was could I do the writing that would be required in college. I can write very well structured essays and I have a relatively good mastery of the grammar rules and that sort of thing: what worried me was research papers. You see in high school, I wrote only one research paper in all four years of high school, and that paper was during my freshman year. I honestly don’t know if my high school teachers were that bad or if my experience was normal: but either way I was scared.
In my English ENC 1101 class I had no problems, in fact it was a breeze. I got to write the kind of essays that I write very well. Then this semester started, I had heard that you were a very nice professor and were willing to go the extra mile for your students, so I signed up for your class. I will admit to you that I haven’t enjoyed some of the assignments in this class: mainly because I actually had to step out of my comfort and easy zone and work a bit more. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not lazy but we all like what is comfortable to us and your class has made me stretch and actually learn. I appreciate it. I needed it. I will use what I have learned a lot in my future college courses.
First off, let me tell you that I had never even heard of an Argumentative paper. Again, I am not sure if I am typical in regards to this or if I just received a really stinky English education thus far. When the next paper was a Rogerian argument paper I was really flabbergasted that I had never heard of that either. Along with both of these types of papers, I had also not had to put in text citations in a paper since ninth grade, luckily for me, I was smart enough to save that paper so that I could refer to it and refresh my memory on how to do it correctly.
I truly believe that you making us do these papers is probably going to be one of the most important things that I will learn this year. You have taught me by making me do, and experience is the best teacher as they say. In college, I expect to have to write papers with citations and now I know how to do it correctly. You helped me also by teaching me to do comments on my papers using that computer tool for my self assessment. Wow, another thing I didn’t know existed! The live link for citing pictures was still another new thing to me and I know that will really come in handy later in college.
You have given me the keys to successful writing at the college level and I am grateful to you for that. I have much more confidence in my writing ability now that I have been in your class. My mind has been refreshed on doing the things needed such as in text citations and works cited pages when writing papers. This may seem elementary to you but believe me when I tell you that I truly did need your class to be successful in college.
In today’s computer driven world, tracking down sources that are credible and reliable is a very important skill and using the CRAAP test will help a lot with this. I am not really into computers and they aren’t especially my thing, so some of this kind of knowledge is really significant to me because I honestly did not know how to track down this kind of information. My computer knowledge and skills have also improved because of this class and that has helped me in all of my other classes because I am a bit more computer savvy. I never would sit down and play around on my laptop to figure different functions out on my own but since you made things of this nature part of assignments: I was forced to learn them.
All in all, so far in this short half of the semester, I have learned a lot from your class. I know that the second half will enlighten me on more things that I will need for my future learning experiences. I appreciate how supportive your are in helping when I do not understand something and how easy you are to communicate with when I have an issue. Thank you for teaching this class.
Very truly yours,
Doug Spencer
Paper 2 Final Draft Sample
Doug Spencer
Professor Sheila Bolduc-Simpson
ENC 1102 CRN 11524
15 February 2014
American Jobs Sail Across Seas
There is a new trend in the business community of the United States. Simply put, it is the sending of work or jobs usually done by American workers to foregin countries to be done at a lower cost. This practice is growing daily and many American companies are looking to send even more work and jobs to other countries to be done. This practice is called outsourcing and the costs of doing it are not just measured by the bottom line. Although many top business professionals feel that outsourcing jobs to other countries can be a wise economic decision, it may in fact be taking jobs away from hard-working Americans.
Some say that outsourcing provides lower production costs that is in turn passed down to consumers in lower costs for products. Foreign workers are willing to work for much lower wages than American workers. For example, almost half of the sweatshop workers in the country of Honduras make less than two American dollars per day (Powell). When companies spend less on labor, it frees up more of their funds to spend on things like marketing, research, and advertising which many companies think help to fuel the American economy (Hargeaves). Another positive aspect of outsourcing is that with India being ten hours ahead of the east coast, work sent overnight can be returned the next morning; creating much quicker turn around time for customers and clients (Keenan). Along with outsourcing some of the routine and meanial tasks of business comes the ability for skilled American workers to be elevated as they are left more complicated and intellectually stimulaing work to do (Reed).
Overall, the main reason against outsourcing is that the American labor force and therefore the American economy is hurt by it. However, there are many other negative outcomes that outsourcing brings to the table. Some of these include that work that is off shored is beyond the training skills and experience of the people that it is off shored to (Aubin & Chatterjee). Another downside to outsourcing are potential data security issues (Reed). Social Security numbers, bank account information and credit card numbers are at risk when being handled by foreign workers. A majority of customers are uneasy that identity theft will occur from such practices. It may only be company policy that employees are prohibited from stealing personal information but this is hard enough to police in the domestic arena much less when data is flowing internationally (Reed). Working with an employee or company that one would have to interact with many times a day would be very difficult when their time zone is ten hours ahead of one’s own (Helyar).
As one example, Ernst and Young employs more than one thousand workers in Bangalore and will prepare 15,000 of 100,000 tax returns abroad. That amounts to 15% of their tax returns being prepared outside of the US. Privacy advocates cringe at the notion of tax preparers scanning and transmitting w-2 forms along with social security numbers and salary information on them across about a dozen time zones. Some accounting firms worry that rampant outsourcing will limit the experience of American accounts and jepardize the profession (Shared Xpertise). Pricewaterhouse Coopers has plans to eventually send about 20% of its audit work to overseas delivery centers (Aubin & Chatterjee).
Both positions on outsourcing agree that there will be a benefit in the reduced costs to companies and a portion of that benefit will be passed on to customers. There is also agreement on both sides that outsourcing saves companies from having to move to new facilities as well as having to add computers and staff that would result if they had to hire new employees instead of outsourcing (Keenan). Another area of agreement is that when a company outsources work, one of the hidden benefits is that processes become more streamlined by necessity.
Some common ground to this issue might be that industries like clothing manufacturing be outsourced while industries with data security issues continue to remain in the domestic arena. Nearshoring is another alternative that might be a compromise between the two sides. Examples would include American companies outsourcing to their neighbors ie., Mexico and Canada and Western European companies outsourcing to Eastern Europe. This “nearshoring” allows companies to have much control over the work product because travel times are much less and because the outsourcing is being done in the same or close to the same time zones as the home country (Helyar). An example of the benefits of nearshoring are cities such as Soa Paulo which has large groups of young people with engineering and business school degrees, who speak English and are capable of doing everything from developing video games to analyzing mortgage defaults for US companies. Soa Paulo has a labor pool that many other outsourcing locations cannot provide. Therefore, it is going to play a large role in the new outsourcing trend.
Works Cited
Aubin, Dena, and Sumeet Chatterjee. "Analysis: As More U.S. Audit Work Moves to India, Concerns Arise." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 16 Oct. 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
Hargreaves, Steve. "The Case for Outsourcing Jobs." CNNMoney. Cable News Network,
14 Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
Helyar, John. "Outsourcing: A Passage Out of India." Bloomberg Business Week.
Bloomberg, 15 Mar. 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
Keenan, Glen. "Top 7 Reasons for Accounting Firms to Outsource." CPA Trendlines.
Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
"Newest Outsourcing Wave: Your Tax Returns." SharedXpertise. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
Powell, Benjamin. "In Defense of "Sweatshops"" Library of Economics and Liberty. 02
June 2008. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Reed, Elizabeth. "The Truth About Accounting Outsourcing to India." Yahoo Voices –
Voices.yahoo.com. 6 May 2010. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
Professor Sheila Bolduc-Simpson
ENC 1102 CRN 11524
15 February 2014
American Jobs Sail Across Seas
There is a new trend in the business community of the United States. Simply put, it is the sending of work or jobs usually done by American workers to foregin countries to be done at a lower cost. This practice is growing daily and many American companies are looking to send even more work and jobs to other countries to be done. This practice is called outsourcing and the costs of doing it are not just measured by the bottom line. Although many top business professionals feel that outsourcing jobs to other countries can be a wise economic decision, it may in fact be taking jobs away from hard-working Americans.
Some say that outsourcing provides lower production costs that is in turn passed down to consumers in lower costs for products. Foreign workers are willing to work for much lower wages than American workers. For example, almost half of the sweatshop workers in the country of Honduras make less than two American dollars per day (Powell). When companies spend less on labor, it frees up more of their funds to spend on things like marketing, research, and advertising which many companies think help to fuel the American economy (Hargeaves). Another positive aspect of outsourcing is that with India being ten hours ahead of the east coast, work sent overnight can be returned the next morning; creating much quicker turn around time for customers and clients (Keenan). Along with outsourcing some of the routine and meanial tasks of business comes the ability for skilled American workers to be elevated as they are left more complicated and intellectually stimulaing work to do (Reed).
Overall, the main reason against outsourcing is that the American labor force and therefore the American economy is hurt by it. However, there are many other negative outcomes that outsourcing brings to the table. Some of these include that work that is off shored is beyond the training skills and experience of the people that it is off shored to (Aubin & Chatterjee). Another downside to outsourcing are potential data security issues (Reed). Social Security numbers, bank account information and credit card numbers are at risk when being handled by foreign workers. A majority of customers are uneasy that identity theft will occur from such practices. It may only be company policy that employees are prohibited from stealing personal information but this is hard enough to police in the domestic arena much less when data is flowing internationally (Reed). Working with an employee or company that one would have to interact with many times a day would be very difficult when their time zone is ten hours ahead of one’s own (Helyar).
As one example, Ernst and Young employs more than one thousand workers in Bangalore and will prepare 15,000 of 100,000 tax returns abroad. That amounts to 15% of their tax returns being prepared outside of the US. Privacy advocates cringe at the notion of tax preparers scanning and transmitting w-2 forms along with social security numbers and salary information on them across about a dozen time zones. Some accounting firms worry that rampant outsourcing will limit the experience of American accounts and jepardize the profession (Shared Xpertise). Pricewaterhouse Coopers has plans to eventually send about 20% of its audit work to overseas delivery centers (Aubin & Chatterjee).
Both positions on outsourcing agree that there will be a benefit in the reduced costs to companies and a portion of that benefit will be passed on to customers. There is also agreement on both sides that outsourcing saves companies from having to move to new facilities as well as having to add computers and staff that would result if they had to hire new employees instead of outsourcing (Keenan). Another area of agreement is that when a company outsources work, one of the hidden benefits is that processes become more streamlined by necessity.
Some common ground to this issue might be that industries like clothing manufacturing be outsourced while industries with data security issues continue to remain in the domestic arena. Nearshoring is another alternative that might be a compromise between the two sides. Examples would include American companies outsourcing to their neighbors ie., Mexico and Canada and Western European companies outsourcing to Eastern Europe. This “nearshoring” allows companies to have much control over the work product because travel times are much less and because the outsourcing is being done in the same or close to the same time zones as the home country (Helyar). An example of the benefits of nearshoring are cities such as Soa Paulo which has large groups of young people with engineering and business school degrees, who speak English and are capable of doing everything from developing video games to analyzing mortgage defaults for US companies. Soa Paulo has a labor pool that many other outsourcing locations cannot provide. Therefore, it is going to play a large role in the new outsourcing trend.
Works Cited
Aubin, Dena, and Sumeet Chatterjee. "Analysis: As More U.S. Audit Work Moves to India, Concerns Arise." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 16 Oct. 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
Hargreaves, Steve. "The Case for Outsourcing Jobs." CNNMoney. Cable News Network,
14 Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
Helyar, John. "Outsourcing: A Passage Out of India." Bloomberg Business Week.
Bloomberg, 15 Mar. 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
Keenan, Glen. "Top 7 Reasons for Accounting Firms to Outsource." CPA Trendlines.
Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
"Newest Outsourcing Wave: Your Tax Returns." SharedXpertise. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
Powell, Benjamin. "In Defense of "Sweatshops"" Library of Economics and Liberty. 02
June 2008. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Reed, Elizabeth. "The Truth About Accounting Outsourcing to India." Yahoo Voices –
Voices.yahoo.com. 6 May 2010. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
ENC 3250 Professional Writing Spring 2014 Sample Student Work
Midterm Reflection Samples
Podcast:
http://daiana200044.podbean.com/2014/03/10/enc-3250-professional-writing-midterm-reflection/?token=93d597b9534e8cb8e7e75eea29e66f82
Prezi:
http://prezi.com/8jajntomljmq/midterm-reflection/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
Slideshare:
http://www.slideshare.net/colleenmhughes5/midterm-course-reflection
WA2 Final Proposal Memo Assignment: One Book, One Campus Book Recommendations
Professional Development
FETC 2014 Conference January 29, 30, 31 Orando, Florida
I attended all the sessions listed above. This conference focused on technology in education. I learned a great deal from the presentations and incorporated some of the free Web 2.0 tools in my composition and professional writing courses.