Spring 2026
Composition I
Sands, ENGL 1301-3C1 Syllabus – 1 COMPOSITION 1 ENGL 1301, section 3C1 COURSE INFORMATION Class Location: Technology Center, Room 100 Days/Times: Mon, Wed, 11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION Instructor: Dr. Scott Sands Email: ssands@lit.edu Office Phone: (409) 245-8749 Office Location: TC 206 Office Hours: Mon, Wed, 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Tues, Thurs, 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. CREDIT 3 Semester Credit Hours (3 hours lecture, 0 hours lab). MODE OF INSTRUCTION Face to Face. 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. REQUIRED TEXTBOOK AND MATERIALS Sands, ENGL 1301-3C1 Syllabus – 2 An electronic device with access to the Internet. All other materials will be provided by the instructor. ATTENDANCE POLICY This is an in-person class. Attendance and engagement are crucial to success in any course, including this one. In this class, students may be absent for one week, or two class periods, without penalty. After that, each absence can reduce the student’s grade by half a letter, or 5 percent. Tardiness always counts as an absence, and in-class activities (e.g. peer reviews) cannot be made up. Additionally, 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. Students are expected to check Blackboard and their LIT e-mail regularly (at least twice a week). DROP POLICY If you wish to drop a course, you are responsible for starting and completing the drop process by the specified drop date as listed on the Academic Calendar. If you stop coming to class and fail to drop the course, you will earn an “F” in the course. STUDENT EXPECTED TIME REQUIREMENT For every hour in class (or unit of credit), students should expect to spend at least two to three hours per week studying and completing assignments. For a 3-credit-hour class, students should prepare to allocate approximately six to nine hours per week outside of class in a 16-week session OR approximately twelve to eighteen hours in an 8-week session. Online/Hybrid students should expect to spend at least as much time on this course as in the traditional, face-to-face class. COURSE EVALUATION Final grades will be calculated according to the following criteria: ● Attendance and Participation / Daily Assignments .................... 25% ● Short Writing Assignments ............................................................. 15% ● Writing Project #1: Literacy Narrative ........................................ 10% ● Writing Project #2: Researched Essay ........................................ 20% ● Writing Project #3: Transformation ............................................. 15% ● Writing Project #4: Final Exam / Reflective Synthesis ............. 15% ● Total ................................................................................................. 100% GRADING SCALE 90-100 ................................................................................................................ A 80-89 ................................................................................................................... B 70-79 ................................................................................................................... C 60-69 ................................................................................................................... D 0 – 59 ................................................................................................................. F LIT does not use +/- grading scales Sands, ENGL 1301-3C1 Syllabus – 3 COURSE CALENDAR DATE TOPICS READINGS ASSIGNMENTS Week 1: 1/19 - 1/23 Intro to ENGL 1301, Intro to Writing Project #1 Syllabus Vuong, “Surrendering” Sample literacy narratives Collaborative Storytelling Week 2: 1/26 - 1/30 Intro to Meta Memos, The Writing Process Sommers, J, “Writer’s Memo” Sommers, N, “Responding” Elbow, “Ranking, Evaluating, Liking” NC State, “Rubric Best Practices and Examples” Writing Project #1, First Iteration Meta Memo #1 Week 3: 2/2 - 2/6 Intro to Peer Reviews Harris, “Ecology of Magic” Bruffee, “Conversation” Peer Review #1 Week 4: 2/9 - 2/13 Early-Term 1-on-1 Conferences Writing Project #1, Final Iteration Week 5: 2/16 - 2/20 Intro to Writing Project #2 Purdue OWL, “Writing a Research Paper” Carpenter-Shulman, “Scoundrel’s Journey” Daly, “A Call to Action” Week 6: 2/23 - 2/27 Ethos, Logos, Pathos The Rhetorical Situation St. Louis CC, “Pathos, Logos, and Ethos” Stout, “When I Woke Up” Walton COB, “The Rhetorical Situation” Nafisi, “Reading Lolita in Tehran” Writing Project #2, First Iteration Meta Memo #2 Week 7: 3/2 - 3/6 Academic Format and Citation Wilkins, “Defining Evolution” Armstrong, “God is Hard to Get to Know” Bruffee, “Conversation” Peer Review #2 SPRING BREAK 3/9 - 3/13 NO CLASS Week 8: 3/16 - 3/20 Midterm Check-In Writing Project #2, Final Iteration Week 9: 3/23 - 3/27 Intro to Writing Project #3 Sommers, N, “Revision Strategies” Week 10: 3/30 - 4/3 The Writing Process Redux Prior and Shipka, “Chronotropic Laminations” Writing Project #3, First Iteration Meta Memo #3 Week 11: 4/6 - 4/10 Writing about Learning Bloom’s Taxonomy Course Objectives Peer Review #3 Week 12: 4/13 - 4/17 Late Term 1-on-1 Conferences Writing Project #3, Final Iteration Week 13: 4/20 - 4/24 Intro to Reflective Synthesis John S. Knight Institute, “Reflective Writing” Elbow, Ranking, Evaluating, and Liking” Elbow, “Believing/Doubting Game” RMIT Learning Lab, “How to Use DIEP” Late and Make-Up Work Plan Week 14: 4/27 - 5/1 Citing Yourself SNHU Library, “How Should I Cite My Own Work?” Reflective Synthesis, First Iteration Meta Memo #4 Week 15: 5/4 - 5/6 What If ... Elbow, “Believing and Doubting Game” Peer Review #4 FINALS: 5/7 - 5/13 NO CLASS Reflective Synthesis, Final Iteration Sands, ENGL 1301-3C1 Syllabus – 4 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS The latest technical requirements, including hardware, compatible browsers, operating systems, etc. can be online at https://lit.edu/online-learning/online-learning-minimum-computer-requirements. 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. 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 Sands, ENGL 1301-3C1 Syllabus – 5 ADDITIONAL COURSE POLICIES/INFORMATION Absences. Showing up is an important part of life, and thus, an important part of this course. You may be absent for one week’s worth of course sessions (in this course, 2 sessions) before your grade is affected. Each additional week of absence can lower your grade by 10%, or one letter grade. Individual absences beyond one week’s worth can lower your grade proportionately (i.e., in this class, by 5% per absence). Tardiness always counts as an absence, and in-class activities (e.g. peer reviews) cannot be made up. Due dates. I make every effort to inform students when assignments are due. However, due dates are subject to change. The Assignment Instructions in our course’s Blackboard shell will serve as the official place where due dates will be published and modified. Communication. I will respond to e-mails within 48 hours, except when an email occurs just prior to a weekend or to a holiday during which LIT is scheduled to be closed. Typically, I will only respond to e-mails during my office hours. Late Work and Make-Up Work. Students are permitted to... • submit up to 1 assignment late for no penalty, and • re-submit up to 1 assignment originally submitted on-time for a new grade... ...through Friday, April 24. To receive credit for the re-submitted assignment, the student must submit a completely new Meta Memo along with the re-submitted iteration of the assignment. Use of Artificial Intelligence / Large Language Models. In this class, we will explore the use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Perplexity, CoPilot, etc.) during specific assignments for specific purposes. Any use of AI will require submission of and grading of the prompt (the language provided by the user to the AI tool). No AI tool response language may be used in the draft or final versions of any assignments except where explicitly indicated by the instructor.