First-Year Composition: Course Goals, Student Accomplishments
Kamila Kiyon

Facilitator: Kamila Kinyon
Panelists: Alba Newmann, Geoffrey Bateman, Jeff Ludwig, David Daniels, Blake Sanz

The panel First-Year Composition: Course Goals, Student Accomplishments was well attended; members of the audience included DU faculty members from departments such as English, Business, and Chemistry. Panel facilitator Kamila Kinyon, a faculty member in the Writing Program, introduced the audience to the basic features of WRIT 1122 and WRIT 1133, tying these in to issues of transferability. Productive areas of transfer include knowledge of rhetorical situations and of research traditions. Skills of meta-analysis, as learned through reflective essays, are also maximally transferable. Panelists Alba Newmann, Geoffrey Bateman, Jeff Ludwig, David Daniels, and Blake Sanz -- all of whom are faculty in the Writing Program -- then discussed specific features of transferability as related to first year composition. Newmann discussed the bridge between First Year Seminars and WRIT 1122. Bateman illustrated how he sequences assignments in his WRIT 1122 courses, which focus heavily on the rhetoric of the public good. Ludwig addressed the transferability between WRIT 1122 and WRIT 1133, outlining the links between the two courses. Daniels explained the importance of the WRIT 1133 lecture series that he designed and organized last year. Finally, Sanz discussed the role of reflective portfolios in directing students to transferable skills of meta-analysis.

Audience members were interested in issues of transfer, and a lively discussion followed. One question linked to Daniels' discussion of the WRIT 1133 lecture series. A member of the Department of English wanted to know whether English was the main department to teach research to undergraduates or whether teachers from other disciplines saw this as their responsibility as well. Newmann asked audience members from other departments to comment on their teaching of research, and this led to a productive discussion, showing the importance, for example, of undergraduate research in Chemistry. Kinyon mentioned other examples across campus based on her newsletter profiles of Donald Stedman, Christina Foust, and Matthew Taylor, who have diverse approaches to the teaching of research in Chemistry, Human Communications Studies, and Geography.

After the discussion of these larger issues of research traditions, one audience member addressed the issue of grammar, which he saw as a basic and essential role for a writing class. Panelists responded by outlining some of the ways in which the writing program teaches grammar. In addition to the role of grammar in WRIT 1122 and WRIT 1133, Jeff mentioned the study underway in assessing the grammar levels and needs of DU students. According to this study, DU students average about two errors per page. Kinyon and Bateman then discussed ways in which the writing center aids students in improving their grammatical abilities.

A follow-up question concerned the role of English as a Second Language (ESL) students in WRIT 1122 and WRIT 1133. Khutso Madubanya and Alissa Nostas, who prepare ESL students for entry into mainstream DU courses, asked how the skills that they teach transfer and how composition instructors help ESL students to succeed in 1122 and WRIT 1133. Kinyon mentioned the ESL initiative that she and Daniels are currently involved in, which involves determining and outlining the needs of international students at DU. Teachers and tutors need to consider a number of elements when dealing with ESL students. It is important to look at global errors first and to consider the ways in which students of diverse cultural backgrounds tend to develop essays differently. In addition to writing, instructors should be aware of the ways in which speech styles differ.

Overall, the panel was productive in addressing issues of transferability as this relates to the teaching of rhetoric, research, and meta-analysis. In addition, the discussion that followed helped spread knowledge about DUs first-year composition sequence. Faculty members from across campus were able to get answers to their specific concerns about WRIT 1122 and WRIT 1133, especially as this relates to preparing students for courses in their disciplines.

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