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Clark English Department—Standard Learning Outcomes for Composition Courses

At each level of composition, it is assumed students possess and will apply skills from all previous levels.

SLO

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SLO 1

Design and execute thorough searches for information

Students should be able to complete the library self-guided tour, obtain a library card, and locate current magazines, newspapers, and books in the stacks.

Students should be able to use the book catalog to find specialized encyclopedias, atlases, almanacs, and dictionaries.

Students should continue to develop skills related to using the book catalog and locating library reference materials.

Students should be able to use Infotrac and the World Wide Web to find sources relevant to a particular topic. They should evaluate and consider reliability (including considerations of academic vs. popular sources) when deciding how to use sources in a paper.

Students should be able to design and execute a thorough search, choosing appropriate tools to find information for a specific, complex project. They should know when and how to seek help from librarians as well as be able to use Clark’s library to access other library collections, trade publications, subject-specific databases, and initiate interlibrary loans.

SLO 2

Describe, paraphrase, and summarize college-level material accurately.

Students should be able to summarize a magazine article of several paragraphs, giving appropriate credit.

Students should be able to summarize the main points college level material, using their own words and giving appropriate credit..

Students should be able to summarize increasingly complex material, using their own words and giving appropriate credit.

Students should be able to summarize the main points from an academic or professional essay. They should be able to paraphrase 3-5 sentences from an academic or professional essay. They should be able to apply MLA documentation standards.

Students should be able to summarize and paraphrase a range of materials, including academic or professional articles, within a single essay. Formal documentation standards apply.

SLO 3

Analyze and use a variety of college-level material to both identify areas for investigation and to develop ideas to communicate

Students should be able to write a paragraph answering questions about the content of a variety of material, including two to three-page articles.

Students should be able to critically engage with a college-level text, answer questions about it, and discuss it

Students should be able to analyze and raise questions about a variety of complex printed, oral,, and visual material

Students should be able to pose questions and develop critical responses to academic and professional essays. They should be able to use their own questions and responses to develop a thesis for an essay using three or more sources

Students should be able to use a range of sources and references to generate topics, create questions to focus research, develop an effective note-taking system, and ultimately write research papers that use at least 10 sources. They should be able to integrate researched material smoothly into the essay, subordinating sources to a thesis

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SLO 5

Understand and apply the principles of effective communication when writing and speaking:

a) develop and organize around one central idea

b) support central and related ideas with detail and evidence

c) create an easy to follow organization

d) use verbal skills such as precise word choice and correct grammar

Students should be able to:

	Develop and organize paragraphs to support clearly focused topic sentences.
	Distinguish between general ideas and supporting detail and write well supported paragraphs.
	In a paragraph, tie development to a topic sentence and use transitions to keep paragraph unified.
	Demonstrate an understanding of what makes a sentence. Simple and compound sentences should be easy to read and understand. Word choices should be accurate. Students should have demonstrated clear improvement in this area during the class.

Students should be able to:

	Develop and organize 500 - 750 word essays unified by a central idea.
	Support the ideas in short essays with sufficient detail and evidence.
	Use introductions, conclusions, and transition words and sentences to maintain clarity and connection to the thesis.
	Write complete sentences consistently with few fragments and run-ons; maintain a consistent point of view and tense; write complex and well as simple and compound sentences; choose language that is accurate and free from slang and cliché. Remaining problems should be manageable enough for a 101 teacher’s comments and advice to be helpful. Students should demonstrate clear improvement in this area during the class.

Students should be able to:

	Develop and organize 750 - 1000 word essays unified by a central idea.
	Support ideas in short essays with sufficient detail and evidence.
	Use introductions, conclusions, and transition words and sentences to maintain clarity and connection to the thesis.
	Write complete sentences consistently with few fragments and run-ons; maintain a consistent point of view and tense; write complex and well as simple and compound sentences; choose language that is accurate and free from slang and cliché. Remaining problems should be manageable enough for a 101 teacher’s comments and advice to be helpful. Students should demonstrate clear improvement in this area during the class.

Students should be able to:

	Develop and organize 1000 -- 1500 word essays unified by a central idea.
	Support ideas with sufficient detail and evidence. In at least one essay, show ability to provide evidence from multiple sources (evidence that goes beyond personal experience). Students should be able to identify and defend the assumptions that underlie their positions and use rhetorical strategies in their writing.
	Make the purpose, main idea, and direction of thought clear to a reader, using a variety of methods in several types of writing.
	Show increased ability to edit and proofread; there may be occasional problems in syntax, grammar, and punctuation but no multiple or or chronic errors should occur.

Students should be able to:

	Develop and organize a 2500-3000 word essay unified by a central idea requiring systematic, substantial research (10 or more authoritative sources).
	Support ideas with sufficient detail and evidence based on extensive research.
	Create an effective essay organization, subordinating sources to a thesis.
	Edit and proofread to follow the conventions of standard English.

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SLO 6

Adapt to a variety of audiences and occasions

Students should be able to understand what audience and voice mean.

Students should be able to:

Adapt their writing in voice and tone and edit essays to make the language appropriate to a particular audience.

Students should continue to develop the ability to adapt their writing in voice and tone and edit essays to make the language appropriate to a particular audience.

Students should be able to adapt diction, voice, tone, and evidence to various audiences

Students should be able to direct diction, voice, tone, and evidence to an academic audience. They should be able to create a consistent voice when using a variety of sources.

SLO 7

Communicate in ethical ways (documentation, avoid deceptive language, expect this from others.

Students should be able to use basic signal phrases and quotation marks as techniques for using resource material ethically and accurately.

Students should be able to:

	Use basic signal phrases and quotation marks, as well as in-text citation and Works Cited in essays using a source.
	write without deceptive or inflammatory language.

Students should be able to:

	use basic signal phrases and quotation marks, as well as in-text citation and Works Cited in essays using a source.
	write without deceptive or inflammatory language.

Students should be able to:

	use accurate MLA documentation in completed essays
	present a reasoned and fair argument without deceptive or inflammatory language.

Students should be able to:

	synthesize MLA citation techniques in lengthy manuscripts
	present a reasoned and fair argument without deceptive or inflammatory language.
	evaluate other writers’ credibility and authority.

SLO 8: (Work collaboratively by expressing opinions with tact, listening to others, and shouldering an appropriate share of the workload) Students should be able to:

a. Listen and contribute pertinent comments to class discussion without dominating the conversations

b. Prepare for peer response activities

c. In peer response, use the language of academic writing to talk about papers (thesis, organization, transitions, etc.) and articulate strengths and weaknesses in peers’ writing with specific references to peers’ papers.

d. In small groups, stay focused on work at hand, offer input that is helpful and insightful, not distract by socializing, and occasionally record and report.

SLO 9: (Improve communication by practicing self-assessment, set goals, seek and use feedback, revise and edit for excellence, practice self-discipline and persistence, and apply skills in new contexts) Students should be able to:

a. Consistently work to meet deadlines.

b. Seek out instructor feedback and advice or seek out assistance at the College Writing Center.

c. Come prepared for conferences or tutoring sessions

d. Use instructor and peer feedback to make improvement in writing.

e. Experiment with the different stages of the process.

f. Use revision to strengthen elements such as thesis, organization, and supporting evidence.

g. Use editing to eliminate grammatical errors.

h. Assess own papers for revision and editing.

i. Apply learned skills to each new assignment as the quarter progresses