ECPAP: ENG 101 Goals and Objectives

Learning to write well at the college level is a complex endeavor. Building upon what students learned in high school, the first year writing sequence at SIUE is designed to help students in that complex endeavor of becoming college writers by providing quality instruction in a theoretically grounded program. In that regard, we maintain six goals that should be met in English 101, the first course in that sequence. Students who participate actively in their own education, invest in the writing process, and engage in dialogue about their writing can expect to meet the following goals with some measure of success.

This document is designed to communicate those goals to students, parents, faculty, administrators, and others interested in the first year writing program at SIUE. While we have tried to make these goals accessible to the general reader, terms such as "rhetorical strategies" and "discourse community" have rich and complex meanings to professional writing teachers, meanings that cannot necessarily be fully articulated to the general public in this brief document.

Underneath each goal, we offer objectives—or strategies—that individual teachers may use to facilitate students in reaching these goals. Instructors may employ additional pedagogically sound objectives as they see fit.

In addition, each goal is designed to foster one or more of SIUE's College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) "Desired Characteristics and Capabilities of Graduates." These desired characteristics reflect the college's and university's commitment to the intrinsic value of a well-rounded undergraduate education.

Goal #1: Students will gain an understanding of rhetorical strategies and processes of analyzing and composing a variety of print, visual, and digital media.

Related Objectives:

	Work with texts and learn to interpret, incorporate, and evaluate them
	Explore the multiple facets (ideological, social, cultural, political, economic, historical) of issues and use writing to construct informed, critical positions about these topics
	Use various technological tools to explore texts
	Encourage the use of multi-sensory engagement in [sic?] texts [and in writing assignments?]

This goal and its related objectives are designed to foster the development of the following "Desired Characteristics and Capabilities of Graduates":

communication		critical thinking
problem solving and framing		knowledge
citizenship		life-long learning

Goal #2: Students will gain a meta-awareness of their own development as writers

Related Objectives:

	Engage in peer-reviewing activities
	Participate in self-assessment activities, i.e. evaluate individual's own writing assignments based upon assignment criteria

This goal fosters this CAS "Desired Characteristic":

self-development

Goal #3: Students will use writing as a way of thinking through topics and ideas.

Related Objectives:

	Engage in prewriting, journal writing, and class discussion techniques, such as traditional group discussions, listservs, chats, [electronic] bulletin boards, and email
	Write multiple drafts

This goal fosters these CAS "Desired Characteristics":

problem-framing and solving

integration and application of knowledge

Goal #4: Students will understand and use writing strategies and processes to analyze and write about issues that are important to specific audiences and specific purposes.

Related Objectives:

	Read, discuss, and write about texts
	Revise to accommodate specific audience and purpose
	Articulate and respond to opposing viewpoints
	Explore the writing situation as a tool of personal and civic empowerment

This goal fosters these CAS "Desired Characteristics":

communication		integration and application of knowledge
critical thinking		citizenship

Goal #5: Students will analyze the conventions of and write effectively in the university discourse community.

Related Objectives:

	Read, analyze, and write about texts from various academic discourses
	Investigate the principles of evidence used in academic writing, examining the characteristics of academic discourses

This goal fosters these CAS "Desired Characteristics":

knowledge

integration and application of knowledge

Goal #6: Students will gain opportunities to collaborate effectively.

Related Objectives:

	Conferencing
	Collaborate in group writing projects
	Use OWL's and Writing Centers
	Participate in teacher conferences
	Collaborate on writing projects with students from other schools

This goal fosters these CAS "Desired Characteristics":

communication		critical thinking
self-development

[ Approved 1.18.02 ]

ENG 102 goals & objectives

ENG 101 grading rubric | ENG 102 Grading Rubric

eng 101 desired outcomes | eng 102 desired outcomes