Course Description
In this course students will undergo the intensive preparation needed to complete their degree program while learning principles and techniques of critical thinking, research writing, and interactive digital communication in academic and professional environments. This course is required of all Charter Oak State College degree-seeking students and should be taken as soon as possible after matriculation.
Students must earn an overall, final grade of "C" or higher to pass the course.
Prerequisites
- Student must be matriculated (entered into a degree program) at Charter Oak State College.
- ENG 101: English Composition 1
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate critical thinking skills in written reflections and course communications.
- Construct, evaluate and distinguish between regular and research questions.
- Construct logical arguments to support an opinion or take a stance in written discussions, peer review, reflective writing and the research paper.
- Pose an interesting and viable research question and develop a research strategy for answering it.
- Engage in written interactions with peers and the instructor that demonstrate appropriate voice and consideration of audience, context and purpose.
- Demonstrate ability to collaborate with peers on written tasks embedded in an online environment.
- Develop a plan for a logical argument that clearly reports the results, including crafting an effective thesis statement and considering counter-arguments.
- Evaluate and categorize sources to assess types of information to use in the research report.
- Collect research findings, test for confirmation biases, and create an annotated bibliography that addresses the research question proposed.
- Compose a draft of a research paper.
- Engage in the process of peer review to produce a research paper draft and revision in which feedback from others is incorporated in a way that improves the overall quality of the work.
- Incorporate feedback from peers and instructor to revise a research paper.
- Identify plagiarism and understand how and when to summarize, paraphrase, and quote research findings.
- Write a research paper that reflects use of relevant sources, proper citation, critical thinking and logical argument
- Create a digital presentation that demonstrates the ability to reflect on and synthesize learning from the course topics of critical thinking, research writing, and interactive digital communication.
Course Activities and Grading
| Assignments | Weight |
|---|---|
Class Discussions (based on 10 forums) | 8% |
Auto-graded Activities (based on 6 quizzes) | 8% |
Self-Reflection Essay | 8% |
Milestone 1: Research Plan | 3% |
Milestone 2: Annotated Bibliography | 8% |
Draft of the Research Report-Peer Review | 8% |
Making Use of Sources (based on two assignments) | 8% |
Milestone 3: The Final Draft of the Research Paper | 40% |
Research Paper Checklist | 1% |
Milestone 4: The Digital Reflection Presentation | 8% |
Total | 100% |
Required Textbook
- This course uses Open Educational Resources (OER). OER are openly licensed, educational resources that can be used for teaching, learning and research. OER may consist of a variety of resources such as textbooks, videos and software that are at little or no cost for students.
Course Schedule
Note: Readings will be taken from textbooks that will be provided in the course:
| Week | SLOs | Readings and Exercises | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1,2,3 | Thinking for yourself and Evaluating Success and Failure in the New Age of Information Readings:
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2 | 4-7 | Interactive & Collaborative Communication Readings:
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3 | 8 | Research and Types of Sources Readings:
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4 | 9 | Research Strategies and Annotating Sources Readings:
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5 | 5,6,10,11 | Drafting and Peer Review Readings:
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6 | 12,13 | Incorporating Feedback and Improving Your Research Readings:
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7 | 14 | Milestone Three: The Final Draft of The Research Paper Readings:
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8 | 15 | Reflection on the Digital Communication Experience Readings:
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Additional Information
- Creative Commons for Coursework: This course makes use of Creative Commons Materials. Learn more about Creative Commons.
- Note that participation in the discussion board is a critical step in the learning process. Post first discussion response no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday and all other responses no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday of each week. Your original response should have a minimum of 150 words. You should read and respond to at less two of your peers' posts.
- Students must earn an overall, final grade of "C" or better to pass the course.
COSC Accessibility Statement
Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.
COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources
Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.