Spring 2026
Composition I
ENGL 1301_2D1 CREDIT 3 Semester Credit Hours (3 Lec hours lecture, 0 Lab hours lab) MODE OF INSTRUCTION Online PREREQUISITE/CO-REQUISITE: TSI Complete in Reading and Writing COURSE DESCRIPTION Intensive study of and practice in writing processes, from invention and researching to drafting, revising, and editing, both individually and collaboratively. Emphasis on effective rhetorical choices, including audience, purpose, arrangement, and style. Focus on writing the academic essay as a vehicle for learning, communicating, and critical analysis. COURSE OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to: 1. Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative writing processes. 2. Develop ideas with appropriate support and attribution. 3. Write in a style appropriate to audience and purpose. 4. Read, reflect, and respond critically to a variety of texts. 5. Use Edited American English in academic essays. CORE OBJECTIVES 1. Critical Thinking Skills: To include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information. 2. Communication Skills: To include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication. 3. Personal Responsibility: To include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making INSTRUCTOR CONTACT INFORMATION Instructor: Kimberly Schexnider Email: kschexnider@lit.edu Office Phone: N/A Office Location: Remote – by virtual appointment only Office Hours: By appointment REQUIRED TEXTBOOK AND MATERIALS An electronic device with access to the Internet ATTENDANCE POLICY This is a virtual class. Students are required to attend and engage remotely. There are no in-person class meeting times for this class. Additionally, students are expected to check Blackboard and their LIT e-mail daily. Students are required to engage in class and participate in regular discussions and assignments to receive full credit. Students who do not engage with the class daily will fall behind. DROP POLICY If you wish to drop a course, you are responsible for initiating and completing the drop process by the specified date as listed in the College Calendar on the Student Success web page. If you stop coming to class and fail to drop the course, you will earn an “F” in the course. COURSE CALENDAR DATE TOPIC READINGS (Due on this Date) ASSIGNMENTS (Due on this Date) Week One: Jan 20-25 JAN 19 MLK DAY HOLIDAY Professional Introduction Lecture 1: Course Orientation, Plagiarism and Syllabus overview MLA Formatting Email Etiquette Grammar: overview Parts of Speech Read syllabus and intro material Textbook: Successful College Composition (SCC) Ch 1 (1.1 and 1.2 reading only) pg 6-16 -Professional Introduction Discussion -Plagiarism Statement and Quiz All due 1/26 -Email Etiquette Assignment All due 1/26 Week Two: Week 2 Lectures and Notes • MLA Formatting MLA Writing Assignment Textbook: Successful College Composition (SCC) Ch 1 (1.1 and 1.2 reading only) pg. 6-16 - Format and Upload (MLA) Assignment Jan. 26 – Feb. 1 Grammar: Parts of Speech “The Value of Grammar in the Workplace” MLA Samples Preview Informative Essay (Essay 1) -Grammar Quiz 1 All due 2/2 Week Three: Feb 2-8 Week 3 Lectures Notes • The Writing Process • Rough Draft Notes • Descriptive Essays Grammar: • Comma Splices. • Commonly confused words Req’d Textbook: Successful College Composition (SCC) Ch 3 (3.1) pg 88-93, Ch 1 (1.6 pg 27-44) (optional) Textbook: Successful College Composition (SCC) Ch 2 (pg 44-71) - Informative Essay Writing Discussion -Brainstorming - Informative Prewriting All Due 2/9 -Informative Essay Rough Draft 2/12 Week Four: Feb 9-15 Week 4 Lectures • Introductions and Conclusions • Peer Review Grammar: • Comma Splices. • Commonly confused words 2 BB- Descriptive Examples Textbook: Successful College Composition (SCC) Ch 2 (2.4 pg 71-87) -Peer Review due -Grammar Quiz 2 due 2/16 Week Five: Feb 16-22 Week 5 Lectures • Proofreading • Intro to Research Sample MLA Essays Textbook: Successful College Composition (SCC) Ch 3 (3.2) pg 94-97 Final Draft Essay 1 (Informative Essay) -Reflect on Essay 1 --Grammar Quiz 3 -Remediation as needed All due 2/23 Week Six: Feb 23-Mar 1 Week 6 Lectures - Evaluating Sources -Summaries/Paraphrase -Thesis Writing Brainstorming Textbook: Successful College Composition (SCC) 1.3 Pg 17-19, 1.4 pg 20-23 and Ch 4 (4.1-4.4) pg 134-158 -Professional Research Topic Proposal -What’s the Best Thesis -Prof Research and Writing Discuss Question Due 2/27 (Friday) -Essay 2 Outline with citations Due 3/2 (Friday) Week Seven: Mar 2-8 Week 7 Lectures -Intext Citations - Direct Quotes - Works Cited Grammar Focus: Active and Passive Voice Second Person Textbook: Successful College Composition (SCC) Ch 4 (4.4-4.5) pg 145-164 and Ch 4 (4.8) pg 179-181 and Ch 5 (5.4 -5.5) pg 240-251 -Grammar Quiz 4 Due 3/16 -Essay 2 Rough Draft Due 3/18 SPRING BREAK March 9-13 Week Eight: Mar 16- 22 Week 8 Lectures • Fallacies in Writing Grammar Focus: -Comma Usage BB - “Name the Logical Fallacy: COVID-19 Edition” by Charlotte A. Moser -Peer Review for Essay 2 -Grammar Quiz 5 All due 3/23 Week Nine: Mar 23-29 Week 9 Lectures - Bias and Fallacies - Citation continued - The 7 Cs of Effective Writing Grammar Focus: -Quotes and Italics Textbook: Successful College Composition (SCC) Ch 5 (5.1) pg 195-214 -Final Draft Essay 2 due 3/30 (Professional Research and Writing Essay) -Remediation as needed -Persuasive Research Discussion Board Question All due 3/30 Week Ten: Mar 30-Apr 5 April 3- Good Friday Holiday Week 10 Lectures • Library Intro • Persuasive Essay Organization/tips/guidelines • Citation Continue Brainstorming and Research -Practice Citing Assignment -Persuasive Research Prompt Assignment -Topic Proposal - Grammar Assignment and Grammar Quiz 6 -Remediation Opportunity All due 4/6 Week Eleven: Apr 6-12 Week 11 Lectures • Persuasive Essay Tips BB “7 Tips on How to Avoid Bias in Your -Essay 3 Outline All due 4/13 4/2 Library Log in Writing” by Beth Anne Freely Rauch Week Twelve: Apr 13-19 Week 12 Lectures • Rhetorical Elements Essay Workshopping -Essay 3 Rough draft due All due 4/20 Week Thirteen: Apr 20-26 Week 13 Lectures • Rhetorical Elements -Practice Exercise: Research Essay Topic Discussions -Practice: Revising a Research Essay Together -Research Essay Workshop and Tutoring Sessions - Hemingway Activity -Peer Review of Essay 3 due 4/27 Week Fourteen: Apr 27-May 3 Week 14 Lecture • Counterclaim and Rebuttal Grammar Focus: Review -Reflection 14 -Final Draft of Persuasive Research Essay (Essay 3) All Due 5/4 Week Fifteen: May 4-10 Week 15 Lecture Notes • Review of Skills and Organizing -Final Exam Workshop and Tutoring Sessions -Reflect on Essay 3 - Remediation as needed Last day of class (5/11) Final Exam opened Week Sixteen: Finals Week Final Exam Final Exam Due 5/11 midnight COURSE EVALUATION Final grades will be calculated according to the following criteria: • Participation 10% • Short Writing Assignments 15% • Daily Assignments 15% • Essay One 10% • Essay Two 15% • Essay Three- Common Core Research Assignment 20% • Final Exam 15% • Total 100% GRADE SCALE • 90-100 A • 80-89 B • 70-79 C • 60-69 D • 0-59 F TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS For the latest technical requirements, including hardware, compatible browsers, operating systems, etc., review the Minimum Computer and Equipment Requirements on the LIT Online Experience page. A functional broadband internet connection, such as DSL, cable, or WiFi is necessary to maximize the use of online technology and resources. DISABILITIES STATEMENT The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are federal anti-discrimination statutes that provide comprehensive civil rights for persons with disabilities. LIT provides reasonable accommodations as defined in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, to students with a diagnosed disability. The Special Populations Office is located in the Eagles’ Nest Room 129 and helps foster a supportive and inclusive educational environment by maintaining partnerships with faculty and staff, as well as promoting awareness among all members of the Lamar Institute of Technology community. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Special Populations Coordinator at (409)-951-5708 or email specialpopulations@lit.edu. You may also visit the online resource at Special Populations - Lamar Institute of Technology (lit.edu). STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT STATEMENT It is the responsibility of all registered Lamar Institute of Technology students to access, read, understand and abide by all published policies, regulations, and procedures listed in the LIT Catalog and Student Handbook. The LIT Catalog and Student Handbook may be accessed at www.lit.edu. Please note that the online version of the LIT Catalog and Student Handbook supersedes all other versions of the same document. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE STATEMENT Lamar Institute of Technology (LIT) recognizes the recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, have changed the landscape of many career disciplines and will impact many students in and out of the classroom. To prepare students for their selected careers, LIT desires to guide students in the ethical use of these technologies and incorporate AI into classroom instruction and assignments appropriately. Appropriate use of these technologies is at the discretion of the instructor. Students are reminded that all submitted work must be their own original work unless otherwise specified. Students should contact their instructor with any questions as to the acceptable use of AI/ChatGPT in their courses. *The use of AI for this course for anything other than minor grammar aid is prohibited with the consequence of earning a zero on an assignment with no opportunity to resubmit. This is a writing class and course objectives dictate that students must be able to fulfill these objectives without the aid of generative predictive text programs such as ChatGPT. All submissions unless explicitly stated by the instructor must be verifiable and original from the mind of the student. Some assignments may require quotations and proper citation from approved sources. You can read more about appropriate representation of outside sources in the following sections. STARFISH LIT utilizes an early alert system called Starfish. Throughout the semester, you may receive emails from Starfish regarding your course grades, attendance, or academic performance. Faculty members record student attendance, raise flags and kudos to express concern or give praise, and you can make an appointment with faculty and staff all through the Starfish home page. You can also login to Blackboard or MyLIT and click on the Starfish link to view academic alerts and detailed information. It is the responsibility of the student to pay attention to these emails and information in Starfish and consider taking the recommended actions. Starfish is used to help you be a successful student at LIT. ADDITIONAL COURSE POLICIES/INFORMATION Communication: I will respond to e-mails within 24 hours during the week and within 48 hours over the weekend. Typically, I will only respond to e-mails during regular business hours. Plagiarism/Cheating: Academic Dishonesty is an infraction that Lamar Institute of Technology and I take seriously. Most colleges expel cheating students. Examples of academic dishonesty include but are not limited to: Directly copying a source into an essay without citing the original source. Paraphrasing a source without citing the original source. Self-plagiarism: submitting a piece of writing that’s already received credit in another course. Paying someone to complete an assignment, having a friend or family member complete an assignment, or using Artificial Intelligence to write a paper. If a paper has a student’s name on it, I expect to see that student’s original work. Making minor changes to an original source while still retaining up to 75% of the structure of the sentence. Using AI (ChatGPT, any AI bot, or artificial intelligence learning tools that can mimic student-produced work) to write any part of the content of your essay (unless specifically instructed) is considered academic dishonesty and will receive consequences in congruence with plagiarism or academic dishonesty consequences. Taking a quiz or test with another student, giving the answers to a quiz or test to another student, or Googling the answers to the quiz or test. My quizzes are not open-book quizzes. Students are only allowed the notes they have taken over an assignment during a quiz. If I receive a paper that requires a works cited page and in-text citations but does not feature either of those criteria, I will give the paper a zero. How to Know If Something Is Not Plagiarism: Generally, plagiarism only covers things that are not general knowledge. If a student makes the claim that the sky is blue, then they do not have to cite where they got that information, because it is something that 90% of the world already knows. However, if a student describes why the sky is blue, they have to cite their source, since that is not common knowledge. How to Avoid Plagiarism: First, students should practice good paraphrasing and rewrite sentences in their own words. Part of the course will be discussions, assignments, and videos over good paraphrasing. Also, when students turn in their assignments, they should get a visible score from SafeAssign. SafeAssign is not perfect, and I have found plagiarism in papers with as low as a 10% score. If a paper flags anything in SafeAssign, a student must rewrite and resubmit the paper until the percentage is at zero. Late Work: Late work for this class is accepted for 50% penalty. Any assignment turned in late will receive up to a 50%, up to professor’s discretion. In very rare and extreme cases, if you feel that you must request an extension, it must be requested at least 24 hours before the assignment is due in order to be considered, although no guarantees are promised. Be prepared to show documentation if requested. It is important that students not get behind in a class. Typically, if a student gets in the habit of turning in all assignments within the first three weeks, they can build that habit for the rest of the class. No late work will be accepted after the final exam due date for the class. Make-Up Work: I can make accommodations on deadlines for extenuating circumstances (family emergencies, sickness, mental health, chronic health issues, etc.). However, communication is necessary in these circumstances. I need to know at least 24 hours before a deadline if a student cannot complete an assignment on time. Upon evaluation of case by case circumstances, a new deadline may be determined in advance if approved by the instructor. If a student asks for more time on an assignment the day before or the day it is due, I will not grant their request. Be prepared to show documentation if requested.