Specific Composition Outcomes For All Discovery Core Composition Courses

The following learning outcomes have been adopted by all instructors teaching composition in the UWB Discovery Core I courses. Students will be provided with the opportunity to learn all of the skills, abilities and habits of mind necessary to demonstrate command of these outcomes by the end of the quarter. Students will receive extensive feedback throughout the course and will be expected to respond positively and imaginatively to the feedback as part of the portfolio process. Although the list may seem overwhelming at first, we will be introducing them in stages.

Reading Processes:

Identify, comprehend and describe the major components of a wide variety of texts.

• Question the meaning of texts, and assess text based on a variety of criteria.
• Examine the way texts are created and read in a variety of cultural traditions/social contexts.
• Examine personal position on a topic or a text; perform comparison of new and prior knowledge.
• Identify, comprehend and describe the main thesis and sub-arguments used in analytical, persuasive and interpretive writing.
• Identify, comprehend and describe the evidence used.
• Identify, comprehend and describe the main points used in reports.
• Identify, comprehend and describe the intellectual context in which the source's author(s) places it, including scholarly and other debates within and across disciplines.
• Identify, comprehend and describe any conclusions made.
• Establish interrelationships among ideas within different texts and produce inter-textual writing.
• Use active reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communication--learn how to read more precisely and evocatively, to make sense of difficult texts, both linguistic and visual.

Identify, assess and evaluate sources used in the communication process (so that the sources best serve the needs of the communication task at hand).

• Integrate information literacy goals with writing goals.
• Understand how knowledge is produced through scholarly and research-based modes of inquiry.
• Engage in multiple approaches to conducting research; choose and effectively use the best finding aid for the purpose, including proprietary and non-proprietary databases, online and print bibliographies, citations and indexes, etc.
• Assess the value of digital and print sources for the purpose at hand, including providing background, generating ideas, and providing data and scholarly evidence.  
• Generate the information and demonstrate the analytical tools and technical skills needed to assess the ideology, assumptions and academic perspectives of sources.
• Employ the analytical tools and technical skills needed to contextualize sources within scholarly discussions; appraise and articulate unique characteristics, audience, and purpose.
• Articulate and apply evaluation criteria to many sources of information.
• Articulate personal biases and assumptions in relationship to the sources.
• Use appropriate technologies to discover sources of information; apply new information seeking strategies and/or methods to modify, update or learn about a research question/topic.
• Appreciate legal or ethical standards for appropriate and responsible information use; apply citation formats such as MLA, Chicago, or APA; cite sources appropriately.

Composition Processes

Use the entire writing process to create effective prose for the appropriate context.

• Understand the relationships among language, knowledge, and power.
• Understand a writing assignment as a series of tasks, including finding, evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing appropriate primary and secondary sources.
• Employ the tools and approaches associated with pre-writing, drafts and revision, including careful consideration of the comments of the instructor(s) and peers.
• Develop flexible writing strategies; practice stylistic exploration and risk-taking in writing.  
• Make use of appropriate technologies to draft and revise text.
• Practice substantial and successful revision (re-thinking, re-inventing) and distinguish from editing and proofreading.
• Edit with care so that choices regarding grammar, punctuation, style, spelling and mechanics enhance rather than detract from the writing's meaning and effect.

Understand the collaborative and social aspects of the writing process.

• Collaborate with others to interpret texts.
• Collaborate with others to develop texts; integrate personal ideas with those of others.
• Balance the advantages of relying on others with personal accountability.
• Provide productive feedback to others writers.
• Comprehend and make use of feedback from other writers.
• Develop dialogical skills that include listening actively to alternative perspectives and formulating a considered response; respond to substantive issues raised by instructor and peers.

Understand the reflective aspects of the writing process.

• Reflect upon and practice the relation between "content" and "form," and think about the power and purpose of writing in both the university and the larger society.
• Articulate and assess the effects of individual writing choices; critique own and others' work.
• Reflect on and evaluate multiple ideas, points of view, and arguments.
• Reflect on the effectiveness of practices as readers and writers.

Rhetorical Principles

Identify and apply strategies used by writers in different writing contexts.

• Recognize common formats for different kinds of texts and contexts.
• Focus on purpose to distinguish different kinds of rhetorical situations.
• Understand how genres shape reading and writing; select effective genres for audience/purpose.
• Use a variety of technologies to address a range of audiences.
• Employ the style, tone, and conventions appropriate to the demands of a particular genre, situation and audience, including scholarly and non-scholarly contexts.
• Discover and refine focus through extended inquiry.
• Write captivating introductions/leads and conclusions; select compelling support.
• Write with precision--employ adequate details, definition, and context.
• Write with risk--pursue complications within personal response and other sources.

Produce complex, persuasive argument within a scholarly context

• Select and define a research topic or question; identify key concepts within the topic or question.
• Advance, reflect on, and develop claims that emerge from and explore a line of inquiry.
• Develop a focused thesis that allows for appropriate depth and complexity.
• Argue from published evidence--use different disciplinary perspectives to generate questions, formulate responses, and draw appropriate evidence-based conclusions.
• Assess counter-claims and multiple points of view in generating persuasive arguments.
• Assess evidence and assumptions in support of a larger set of ideas.
• Produce arguments that matter within a scholarly context, and articulate the importance of the arguments (the "so what?" question); persuade readers as to the stakes of an argument.
• Create an integrated organizational structure that guides the reader through the argument using transitions, topic sentences and coherent paragraphs; provide a conclusion that demonstrates the importance of the argument and lessons learned, rather than restating the thesis.

Develop knowledge of genre conventions ranging from structure and paragraphing to tone and mechanics.

• Shape well-developed paragraphs with effective transitions leading to an integrated text.
• Utilize clear organizational strategies to develop lines of inquiry.
• Adopt appropriate and genuine voice, tone, and level of formality.
• Make thoughtful choices about diction and syntax; distinguish correct from captivating.
• Build habits of proofreading; control such surface features as sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and mechanics consistently throughout written products.

Curriculum-wide Principles

Employ communication and learning skills required in classrooms across the curriculum.

• Understand and effectively respond to assignments as given.
• Seek clarification for questions about assignments when necessary.
• Listen and contribute in group situations; become aware of positions held by others.
• Use the assessment process to learn from past mistakes.
• Engage the instructor constructively regarding questions about assessment.
• Utilize various forms of media communication effectively.
• Create and deliver clear, persuasive multimedia presentations.

Create, apply and transmit knowledge responsibly and ethically.

• Practice academic integrity, adhering to all rules of academic honesty.
• Provide citations in the format required by the specific context.
• Value and practice genuine intellectual exploration and risk-taking.

These outcomes were developed using the following rubrics:

• CUSP learning goals
• UW EWP writing course outcomes
• Writing Program Administration (WPA)
• CCC composition sequence outcomes and information literacy skills and processes.

The common handbook for the CUSP Discovery Core I Composition Courses is the New McGraw-Hill Handbook.