Summer I 2026
Composition I
Approved: SC/8-22-24 ENGL 1301 2B3 Online CREDIT 3 Semester Credit Hours (3 hours lecture, 0 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. INSTRUCTOR CONTACT INFORMATION Instructor: Whitney Brandon Email: wbrandon@lit.edu Office Phone: N/A Office Location: Online Office Hours: By Appointment 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. Approved: SC/8-22-24 3. Personal Responsibility: To include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making. REQUIRED TEXTBOOK AND MATERIALS An electronic device with access to the Internet. Readings will be available on Blackboard through a free link ATTENDANCE POLICY This is an online class. Students are required to regularly participate with their peers and actively engage with the course material. Additionally, students are expected to check BlackBoard and their LIT e-mail daily. 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 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 in this course as in the traditional, face-to-face class. COURSE CALENDAR DATE TOPIC READINGS (Due on this Date) ASSIGNMENTS (Due on this Date) Week One: June 1-5 Welcome to LIT Syllabus & Course Overview Introduction to English 1301 Read: Syllabus & Intro Materials Read: ENGL 1301 Orientation Materials Read: Plagiarism and Generative AI Materials Introduction Discussion Syllabus Quiz Plagiarism Quiz Reflective Journal Week Two: June 8-12 Informative/Descriptive Essay Intro to English 1301 (cont.) Read: Grammar: Parts of Speech Materials Read: Informative Essay Overview & Requirements Materials MLA format & upload assignment Parts of Speech Quiz Informative/Descriptive Essay Writing Discussion Approved: SC/8-22-24 Week Three: June 15-19 Informative Essay 1 Read: Informative Essay Overview & Requirements Materials Read: Writing Process: Essay 1 Pre-Writing Read: Writing Process: Essay 1 Drafting (Rough Draft) Essay 1 Brainstorming Journal Informative Prewriting Assignment – Outline Informative Rough Draft Week Four: June 22-26 Informative Essay 1 Read: Grammar Quizzes and Study Material for this Unit Reading: Writing Process: Essay 1 Revising Read: Essay 1 Publishing (Final Draft) Grammar Quiz 2 & 3 Peer Review for Informative Essay Informative/ Descriptive Essay Final Draft (Essay 1) Week Five: June 29- July 3 Professional Research and Writing Essay Essay 2 Read: Essay 1 Editing Read: Professional Research Essay Overview and Requirements Read: Writing Process: Essay 2 Pre-Writing Reflection Essay 1 What’s the Best Thesis? Professional Research and Writing Discussion Question Professional Research and Writing Essay Pre- Writing Outline Assignment Approved: SC/8-22-24 Week Six: July 6-10 Professional Research and Writing Essay Essay 2 Read: Writing Process: Essay 2 Drafting Read: Writing Process: Essay 2 Revising Read: Grammar Quizzes and Study Material for this Unit Professional Research and Writing Rough Draft Peer Review for the Professional Research and Writing Assignment Grammar Quiz Week Seven: July 13-17 Read: Writing Process: Essay 2 Editing Read: Writing Process: Essay 2 Publishing your Final Draft Read: Grammar Quizzes and Study Material for this Unit Final Draft of Professional Research and Writing Essay Essay & Editing Reflection Grammar Quiz 4 & 5 Week Eight: July 20-24 Professional Research and Writing Essay Essay 2 Read: Persuasive Essay Overview and Requirements Read: Writing Process Essay 3 Prewriting (Brainstorming, Research, Outlining) Practice Citing Assignment Persuasive Research Discussion Board Question Persuasive Research Essay Pre- writing/Outline Research & Proposal Week Nine: July 27-31 Persuasive Essay Essay 3 Read: Writing Process Essay 3 Drafting (Rough Draft) Read: Grammar Quizzes and Study Material for this Unit Persuasive Research Essay Rough Draft Peer Review for Persuasive Research Essay Grammar Quiz Week Ten: Persuasive Essay Essay 3 Read: Writing Process: Essay 3 Revising Reflect on Essay 3 (10- 12) Approved: SC/8-22-24 August 3-7 Read: Writing Process Essay 3 Publish (Final Draft Read: Grammar Quizzes and Study Material for this Unit Final Draft of Persuasive Research Essay Grammar Quiz Week Eleven: August 10-14 Conclusion of English 1301 Read: ENGL 1301 Review Sheet & Game Course Reflection Course Evaluation Final Exam 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 20% ● Final Exam 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 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 Approved: SC/8-22-24 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 ADDITIONAL COURSE POLICIES/INFORMATION Personal Responsibility •It is MY responsibility to deliver the information to you concisely that aligns with our course objectives. It is YOUR responsibility to interact with all the material, ask questions as they arise, and turn in assignments in a timely manner. It is your responsibility to reach out via email or Blackboard message if you find that you are o Struggling with material o Having difficulty with accessing your assignments/Blackboard/etc. o Have questions, issues, etc. Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Approved: SC/8-22-24 • Academic Dishonesty can be defined as “a student’s use of unauthorized assistance with the intent to deceive an instructor or other such person who may be assigned to evaluate the student’s work in meeting course and degree requirement” (University of Colorado Denver.) • Academic Dishonesty is a crime that LIT and I take seriously. Please see LIT’s student handbook for more information on academic honesty and the penalty for breaking academic honesty. • Plagiarism is included within academic dishonesty. In addition to disingenuously submitting work that did not come from your own brain, plagiarism includes (but is not limited to): o Using your own work from a previous class to submit as “new material” o Patchworking material together from the internet until it resembles a new piece o Submitting someone else’s work, either published, bought, or borrowed, as your own o Using AI (ChatGPT, any AI bot, or artificial learning tool that can mimic student- produced work) to write any part of the content of your essay o Paraphrasing a source without citing the original source o Directly copying a source into an essay without citing the original source o Making minor changes to an original source while still retaining up to 75% of the structure of the sentence o Taking a quiz or test with another student, giving the answers to a quiz or test to another student, Googling the answers to the quiz or test, etc. •Assignments that are pinged for plagiarism will be graded on the following scale: o 1 st offense- 0 on the assignment o 2 nd offense- 0 on the assignment + you will be unable to turn in additional assignments until you meet with me via office hours Artificial Intelligence (AI) • It is MY responsibility to accurately grade your assignments in a way that reflects your writing process and your thought process. It is YOUR responsibility, if you are pinged for AI use, to prove otherwise. I highly suggest to: o turn on your Version History o save often o create a logical paper trail I do not suggest to o Write in one document, copy-and-paste into a separate document, and submit the second document o Rely on online generators • I will be running all written assignments through several, online, AI generators, including ChatGPT Zero, Scribbr, and QuillBot. Assignments that receive a significant portion of their assignment pinged for AI will receive a 0 unless proven otherwise. Please see the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism section to determine the effect of continued AI use on your grades Attendance and Participation • This course requires three (3) hours of active learning per week to be successful Approved: SC/8-22-24 • You should be actively engaging with the material, logging into Blackboard, participating in discussion boards/journals/ class discussions for 3 hours per week in addition to completing assignments. Your participation credit will depend on your course engagement, and I will be checking in regularly Technology • It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that you have access to working technology o Please use Chrome or Firefox as your browser. Edge and Safari do not always work well with Blackboard and may cause some disruption to your work • If you are someone who only checks Blackboard on their phone, please check in on a desktop from time to time. Sometimes assignments/instructions/etc. are difficult to open/find/access/submit on cell phones • Not having the correct technology or internet is not a valid excuse for not doing assignments. Please let me know ASAP if you are someone who has difficulty obtaining these resources so we can figure out an alternative solution before assignments are due Communication • The best way to reach me is by email (wbrandon@lit.edu) or by Messages on Blackboard; however, sometimes, Blackboard messages slip through the cracks, so please feel free to send me a follow up email if you don’t hear back by the next morning • I, typically, will respond to emails/messages during my office hours, only, and within 24 hours on a weekday or 48 hours on a weekend. o I do not respond to emails or messages when I am teaching or while I am in meetings. o I do not respond to emails or messages on Saturdays, Sundays, or campus holidays o Please see my office hours at the beginning of the syllabus to determine the best time to reach me • I send out Announcements frequently o sometimes they are just me checking in o sometimes they are about due dates, schedule changes, clarification on instruction, etc. o It is YOUR responsibility to stay current with these updates • You are free, and encouraged, to reach out via email (or come by my office) if you need clarification on an assignment, want to workshop, etc. • Not communicating to me because your LIT email is not working, or you don’t have access to your LIT email or messages, is not a valid reason for not responding to my emails or not reaching out for help. • When you email me, please provide your full name, course number, section number, and a subject line. This will allow me to pinpoint your direct issue quicker and will provide necessary clarification. o Additionally, please remember proper netiquette when sending emails, messages, or responding to others online. All online communication should be respectful, concise, and clear. Approved: SC/8-22-24 Grading • All work will be returned within two (2) weeks of submission with commentary and feedback on your document o Late work will not have commentary • It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that their grades on their assignments match their grades in Blackboard. • If you have a question about your grade, your feedback, necessary revisions, ways to improve, etc., please send me an email so we can work that out in a workshop together. • Most assignments will receive commentary and/or feedback, but all assignments (beyond quizzes or tests) will be graded from a rubric. o I do not mark all errors, content or mechanical, on your document. Correcting one error might not comprehensively correct all your same-type errors. o All your assignments, unless noted otherwise, should be formatted in MLA including, but not limited to, heading, citations, work cited pages, and formatting. Additionally, all your assignments must include the correct academic style, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and usage. • I will provide the resources and documentation on how to properly adhere to these standards • Assignments that require a works cited page and in-text citations but does not feature either will receive a 0 • Online links in lieu of actual documents are not permitted unless noted otherwise. If I do not have full access to your document, I will consider it not turned in. If I don’t receive access within a week of the due date, then your assignment will receive a 0. Please do not submit PDF links for major assignments Late Work • All our assignments have specific due dates o Unless noted otherwise, there is a one-week grace period to turn in an assignment after the due date (baring a verifiable, extenuating circumstance) • Assignments turned in before the one-week mark will be docked ten points; assignments turned in after the one-week mark will receive a 0 • Assignments involving other students (like a discussion board) cannot be made up for any reason o Extenuating circumstances should be communicated prior to the original due date. Extensions will not be approved after the due date passes. • Extenuating circumstances do not include going out of town, internet/technological issues that can be quickly solved by IT, time management issues, etc. • Late work goes to the end of my grading stack, and, thus, might be graded later than my grading policy states Approved: SC/8-22-24 • Late work will not include feedback • Assignments dependent on other students (like discussion boards or peer reviews) cannot be made up • The last day to turn in any late work will be the Friday before the final exam. Student Behavior Expectations • Be mindful that each student that enters our classroom space may come from a different background from you and may bring a different set of beliefs, values, or ideas into our conversations. As a result, students may agree or disagree on different topics to varying degrees. Disagreements can lead to critical thinking, scholarly debate, and active learning when all participants are respectful and mindful of the different opinions of others. • Disrespect, a disruptive unwillingness to listen to others, and/or harmful, hateful rhetoric will not be tolerated for any reason Other • I reserve the right to modify our syllabus at any point in the semester • Due dates for Dual Credit students will adhere to the LIT academic calendar, including dates for breaks, holidays, etc.