Chabot College
Distance Education Curriculum Support Committee

Course Proposal Form
(Send as an email attachment to DECSC chair)

2004-2005

These questions are meant to provide you, our faculty colleagues, a framework for your Distance Education Curriculum Proposal. These are guidelines, not mandates. Much of this emerged from an Academic Senate for California Community Colleges white paper, available in our resource area. We believe careful and thorough consideration of these issues will improve not just your proposal, but also your entire course design. Please feel free to elaborate where you think most important. Note: Please click on File, Save As to save this form as a document, so you can work on it and submit it electronically to the DE Curriculum Support Committee chair. 

Each proposal or existing course, if delivered by distance education, shall be separately reviewed and approved  by the curriculum committee prior to being offered. (Ed Code 55378) 
  
Course Title & Number: English 1A - Critical Reading and Composition

Faculty Name: Teresa J. Bonham

1.	Need/Justification 

The intent in offering the course by distance education is to
•	offer a transfer-level, CSU and UC required course to students who may not otherwise be able to regularly attend a traditional face to face class
•	create an active, student-centered, learning community where the web is the limit to what students can learn
•	improve students’ reading, writing, and critical thinking skills.

2.	Course Content Delivery 

The distance education modalities used to deliver the course content is the World Wide Web, more specifically, the CMS Blackboard.  The entire class will be contained on Blackboard and will consist of “in class activities” that take approximately three hours per week to complete depending on a student’s internet connection speed.  The “in class activities” include
•	teacher generated lectures
•	PowerPoint presentations (teacher and student created)
•	threaded discussions
•	group work (collaborative work in designated areas)
•	email exchanges.

Finally, there are three mandatory face to face meetings with the class, one at the start of the semester to make sure that the students understand the concept of online learning (that it is an active learning process and not a passive class).  The second meeting will be held during the middle of the term to help with retention.  The third meeting will be held at the end of the term to close the class.  I will also use the three meetings to gather writing samples.  

3. 	Nature and Frequency of Instructor-Student Interactions

At Chabot Community College, the potential students for English 1A are a diverse student body with various levels of life experiences, student skills and writing skills.  The class is the first college-level English composition course that students must take in order to receive an AA degree and to transfer to a four-year university or college.  The purpose of the class is to teach students how to enter the academic discourse through their writing.  The following objectives are basic skills to help students become college-level readers, writers and critical thinkers.  The teaching methods are constructivist-based activities that foster a student-centered classroom.
	
Asynchronous discussions are also an important factor in the online classroom.  These discussion forums are basically like posting messages on a bulletin board for all members of the class to see.  Students will have an on-going dialogue with me and each other.  We will have a community of learners and I will provide feedback in all formal writing assignments, threaded discussions and in group work activities.  I also will also maintain a strong presence while encouraging students to lead the discussions.  

The number and frequency of interaction for students making satisfactory progress will vary according to the assignment.  For example, I may ask students to write a summary and to give critical feedback to three peers, or I may ask students to debate an issue using a persona and post at least five times during the debate.  On average, students will have to contribute two discussion board postings and will have to critically respond to two of their peers’ postings.
 
I would email students who are at-risk of dropping or failing due to poor participation.  If a student was failing due to poor performance, I would tell that student to meet with me during office hours and I would recommend that the student seek tutoring services

4. 	Assignments & Methods of Evaluation

The “in class activities” include
•	teacher generated lectures
•	PowerPoint presentations (teacher and student created)
•	threaded discussions
•	group work (collaborative work in designated areas)
•	email exchanges.

In addition, students will also have an equal amount of homework as their face to face counterparts.
•	essay writing with multiple drafts and prewriting techniques
o	essay 1 summary/analysis, 3-4 pages in length
o	essay 2 critique, 4-5 pages in length
o	essay 3 argumentative synthesis, 5-6 pages in length
o	essay 4 argumentative research paper 6-8 pages in length
•	reading assignments from textbooks
•	online journals and/or blogging 
•	essay exchanges and peer editing.

I would use Primary Traits Analysis (PTA) to evaluate students and my lessons.  The most common forms of PTA that I would use are
•	grading rubrics
•	peer editing forms
•	written self-evaluations
•	student assessment of teaching material through writing prompts.

Because of the availability of essays to pilfer or purchase, when assigning essays to be written, it is important to get a sample of student writing.  This is why I have planned three face-to-face sessions where the students will participate in generating a writing sample.  This writing sample shows how students organize their thoughts, how they plan their essay and how they write.  It also shows their problems with grammar that computers may correct for them when they compose online. 

The other important precaution for preventing cheating when assigning essay writing is to create essay topics that are fresh and new, so there are not too many essays on the topic floating around the web. For example, students can do a rhetorical analysis of President Bush’s most recent speech.   And, the most important aspect of a process-driven writing course, instructors must require multiple drafts of essays with revisions.  If a teacher can see a student actually revise their thoughts and ideas in a paper as they compose it, there is no doubt that the paper was written to meet the needs and requirements of that particular assignment; unless the student buys multi-draft essays on the web.

5. 	Technical Support

Students need access to a computer with internet access and a web browser. Students also need a word processing program, preferably MS Word.  Students need to have an email account.  

In addition, students should possess basic computer skills such as email skills and the ability to attach documents to emails.  Students who have technical difficulties have access to a Blackboard help desk.

6. 	Student Services

Students might access services such as tutoring, counseling, financial aid, and supporting course materials, library materials, learning resources, etc through the same means that any other face to face student could.  In addition, I would link many excellent sources to my web page.  

7. 	Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Blackboard is not currently 508 compliant.  I will add a section on my syllabus asking for students who have disabilities to contact me so I can help them make arrangements for accommodations.  For example, a vision impaired student may need access to a screen reader.  I will try to create a user-friendly classroom that is accessible to most; I will use appropriate contrasting colors, I will try to put text with any pictures that I add, and I will try my best to be clear and concise in my writing.  In addition, I will also try to appeal to different learning styles and different intelligences. 

8. 	Class Size & First Term to be offered

I hope to teach this class online in the Spring of 2005.  The class size will be limited to 27 students.

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