Student Learning Goals
Below are the departmental learning goals mapped to College-wide goals for student learning.
Goals and Expectations for the English Major (IVa,b,c,d)*
*Our belief is that the work of transformation (IV) can occur at all levels of our curriculum, facilitated by each one of the demarcated goals and expectations that follow here. Thus, this document begins (above) by foregrounding this mapped connection.
EN 105
In this one-semester course, students will be introduced to the following learning objectives to begin their development as college writers. Mastery of these skills, however, is a lifelong process that continues beyond our one-class requirement. Through the practice of writing and engagement with course themes, students will learn how to
- Compose essays that are organized to support a strong thesis.
- Integrate various types of appropriate evidence to frame or support a discussion, claim, or argument.
- Read prose critically and carefully—their own as well as that of classmates—and offer constructive criticism about the choices authors make.
- Develop a range of effective, flexible, and individual techniques to draft, edit, and revise a text.
- Write and revise sentences with particular attention to grammar and style.
- Apply lessons about writing to academic questions and real-world situations beyond the classroom.
EN 110
Students should begin to demonstrate the ability to:
- Frame questions about how we read and write within the discipline of literary studies. (Ia, IIa)
- Read closely and to attend to the complexity of language. (IIa, IIb)
- Formulate questions about an author’s formal choices and draw inferences from patterns (of language, verse, imagery). (Ib, IIa, IIb)
- Craft and support a thesis. (IIa, IIc)
- Recognize historical and cultural contexts and their bearing on literary meanings. (Ib, IId, IIIb)
- Engage with secondary readings pertinent to the texts and questions of the course. (IIb, IIIc)
- Advance class conversation through active listening and appropriately informed contributions. (IIe, IIIc)
and familiarity with:
- The conventions of specific genres. (Ia, IIb)
- Literary terms. (Ia, IIb)
- Critical perspectives, methods, and theories. (Ia, Ic, IIb, possibly IIId)
- The conventions of written literary analysis and documentation. (Ic, IIb)
- Periods of literary history. (Ib, IIb, IIIa, IIIb)
- Library resources. (Ic, IIb, IIIc)
200 Level
In addition to developing greater sophistication in the goals listed at the 100 level, students in literature courses should demonstrate the ability to:
- Situate a text in relation to forms/genres/literary periods. (Ib, IIa, IIIb)
- Read against a text, that is, to question its ideological or social assumptions. (IIa, IIIa, IIIc)
- Define a topic independently. (IIa, IIe, possibly IIIa)
- Engage the work of other critics and scholars, both in class discussion and in written work. (IIa, IIc, IIe)
- Carry out basic research appropriate to literary studies. (Ia, IIb, possibly IIId)
Students in creative writing courses should demonstrate the ability to:
- Critique both professional writing and the work of their peers in workshop settings. (IIa, IId, IIe)
- Write fiction, poems, and essays that demonstrate fluency in the appropriate conventions. (IIa, IIc)
300 Level
In addition to developing still greater sophistication in the goals listed at the 100 and 200 level, students in literature courses should demonstrate the ability to:
- Read and interpret a work of literature independently. (Ic, IIa, IIc)
- Sustain a complex argument. (Ic, IIa, IIc, IIe)
- Conduct research in support of a sustained analytical paper. (Ic, IIb, IIc)
Students in creative writing courses should demonstrate the ability to:
- Write with technical sophistication in relation to formal conventions. (Ic, IIa, IIc, IIe)
Capstone Experience
Students in capstone courses will:
- Take the initiative to plan and organize their projects. (Ic, IIa, IIb, IIc, IId, IIe)
- Work independently to sustain projects through their various stages. (Ic, IIa)
- Produce a major project that synthesizes and reflects back upon work already completed in the major. (IIIa, IIIc)
- Demonstrate awareness of the wider critical or artistic context that informs the project being completed. (Ib, IId, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, possibly IIId)
- Participate in a community of other writers and artists whose work they will be expected to critique in an engaged and constructive way. (IIIc, IIId)
Information Literacy
Our students develop facility with information as they move through the 100, 200, and 300 levels, a developmental arc that culminates with their capstone. We narrate that arc of development thus: Students will be able to differentiate among various classification schemes, literary forms, and aesthetic categories; will develop the ability to evaluate the merit of secondary sources and incorporate sources in written work and oral presentation; will be able to decipher scholarly arguments and enter the “conversation” among scholars on a select topic; will be able to create bibliographies and document properly; will be able to navigate the proliferation of “knowledge” in global and digital contexts. These are our learning outcomes pertaining to information literacy, and various courses within our major introduce our students to these, or reinforce them and permit opportunities for practice; demonstration of mastery is expected at the exit level (aka. the capstone). (Ia, Ic, IIb, IIIc)
Visual Literacy
Our students develop facility with visual materials as they move through the 100, 200, and 300 levels, a developmental arc that culminates with their capstone. We narrate that arc of development thus: Students will be able to close read visual objects in a range of media; will be able to analyze visual objects in relation to differences in medium; will be able to analyze the social and political means of visual objects; will be able to situate visual objects within cultural and historical frameworks; will be able to understand the role that visual material plays in shaping the meanings of written text. These are our learning outcomes pertaining to visual literacy, and various courses within our major introduce our students to these, or reinforce them and permit opportunities for practice; demonstration of mastery is expected at the exit level (aka. the capstone). (Ia, Ib, IIb, IId, IIIc)
Technology Literacy
Our students develop facility with technology as they move through the 100, 200, and 300 levels, a developmental arc that culminates with their capstone. We narrate that arc of development thus: Students will be able to use technology as an aid to research (navigating databases, digital archives, searchable texts, citation software); will be able to assess the credibility of online information; will be able to collaborate and communicate digitally (file-sharing systems, discussion forums, blogs); will be able to distinguish technologies of form (graphic narratives, hypertexts, history of print texts); will be able to manage their digital presence. These are our learning outcomes pertaining to technology literacy, and various courses within our major introduce our students to these, or reinforce them and permit opportunities for practice; demonstration of mastery is expected at the exit level (aka. the capstone). (Ia, Ic, IIb, IIc, IIIc, possibly IIId)
Oral Communication
Our students develop facility with oral communication as they move through the 100, 200, and 300 levels, a developmental arc that culminates with their capstone. We narrate that arc of development thus: Students will be able to make meaningful contributions to class discussions; will be able to hold discussions in smaller groups with minimal guidance of the instructor; will be able to prepare and deliver formal presentations; will be able to respond to questions about their work; will be able to recite portions of a text in class. These are our learning outcomes pertaining to oral communication, and various courses within our major introduce our students to these, or reinforce them and permit opportunities for practice; demonstration of mastery is expected at the exit level (aka. the capstone). (IIc, IId, IIIc, IIId)
Written Communication
As the English Department, we identify written communication as the beating heart of all that we do. We study the written communications of others, of one another, and we write a lot, requiring our students to workshop, to critique their writing, to revise, to polish their grammar and prose styles, and to develop their voices as writers of various kinds (critic, fictionist, nonfictionist, poet, and so forth). When our students aren’t writing themselves, they are studying the writing of others. (Ia, Ic, IIa, IIc, IIe, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IIId — though every single College learning goal could be listed here)
