25 1020: Course Objectives & Curriculum Summary

ENGL1020: RESEARCH AND ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING

Research and Argumentative Writing focuses on writing and analyzing arguments, research process, information literacy, as well as locating, organizing, and using library resource materials. ENGL 1020 builds on ENGL1010’s rhetorical focus and primary research opportunities, inviting students to see themselves as knowledge creators participating in important and exciting research. Students spend the semester developing a research project, targeting an appropriate venue for their research, modeling attendant genre conventions, and sharing their research with colleagues.

Course Objectives and Textbooks

Conduct secondary research that relies on recursive relationships between reading, writing, and reflection (Composing Processes);

Practice flexibility and awareness of effective delivery across different audiences, contexts, and genres (Rhetorical Knowledge);

Locate sources and analyze their relevance and credibility (Genre Conventions);

Demonstrate rhetorical understanding of source attribution (Information Literacy).

Interpret and respond to complex ideas in secondary sources (Reading);

Identify connections between coursework and other academic and external contexts (Integrative Thinking);

The textbooks for ENGL 1020 are MTSU’s Custom OER, The Ask: A More Beautiful Question, available for free digitally, and THE GEM, the MTSU English General Education Magazine, available for a small fee at the MTSU bookstore. Students must purchase a print version of the GEM, and they can either access the OER digitally or print a paper copy of the optimized PDF. Because this is a very long document, we ask that if you choose to  print the text, please only print what you need, print double-sided, and make sure to keep track of your print job.

In what follows, we offer a description of the purpose of each writing project (the exigency), the primary learning objectives for the project (derived from course objectives), genre opportunities for the project (delivery), course reading suggestions (content), and scaffolding assignments (invention).

Project 1 Exigency: Pose a Research Question

The purpose of this assignment is to engage students in an authentic, exciting research project that draws their attention to related research processes such as asking questions, selecting appropriate methods, identifying critical conversations, and proposing a project. Faculty are encouraged to give students the opportunity to select a research project important to them. However, faculty may want to provide feedback on the proposed projects such that students research questions to which they do not already know the answer.

Objectives Emphasized:

• Conduct secondary research that relies on recursive relationships between reading, writing, and reflection (Composing Processes)
• Practice flexibility and awareness of effective delivery across different audiences, contexts, and genres (Rhetorical Knowledge)

Deliverable Variations:

• Research Proposal
• Rhetorical Analysis of Target Publication

Project 2 Exigency: Engage Source Work

In this project, students are asked to deeply read, reflect on, integrate, and cite secondary research. Most students are familiar with citation broadly, particularly as a method to prevent plagiarism, but they are often not aware of the rhetorical and research purposes of citation and ethical source work.

Our challenge is to engage students in conversations about secondary research that go beyond defensive concerns regarding academic integrity. Many students misunderstand the role of opinion in research, often finding that a source is not credible because it expresses an opinion or a bias. Our role is to complicate and deepen student understanding of credibility and the purpose of attribution.

Objectives Emphasized:

• Locate sources and analyze their relevance and credibility (Genre Conventions)
• Demonstrate rhetorical understanding of source attribution (Information Literacy)

Deliverable Variations:

• Annotated Bibliography
• Worknet Essay
• Literature Review

Project 3 Exigency: Integrate Research

In this project, students are invited to put all of their work thus far together in a research essay. This integration asks students to attend to effective rhetorical argumentation, ethical citation conventions, and engaging in scholarly conversations. This usefully applies the focus on rhetorical genre developed in ENGL1010 and transferable to contexts beyond the English classroom.

Objectives Emphasized:

• Practice flexibility and awareness of effective delivery across different audiences, contexts, and genres (Rhetorical Knowledge)
• Interpret and respond to complex ideas in secondary sources (Reading)

Deliverable Variations:

• MTSU CLA Magazine Article
• Everything’s An Argument Missing Textbook Chapter
• Target Publication Researched Project and Reflection

Project 4 Exigency: Remediate and Present Research

Research is meant to be shared! For this final project of the semester, students share their research findings in a remediated presentation of their Project 3 work. Students might create a tangible artifact, poster, film, or podcast that shares their work in an accessible form meant to engage an audience of their peers. Students might share their work at the Celebration of Student Writing.

Objectives Emphasized:

• Identify connections between coursework and other academic and external contexts (Integrative Thinking)

Deliverable Variations:

• Short-form presentation (Ignite, Pecha Kucha)
• Research Poster and/or Presentation at Celebration of Student Writing (highly encouraged!)
• E-Portfolio and Reflection