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Capstone Experience in the Writing Lab

Syllabus

WRITING LAB INTERNSHIP

A CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE COURSE

COURSE PREFIX/NUMBER: ENC 3905, ENC 4905, ENC 5905
COURSE TITLE: Writing Lab Internship
COURSE CREDIT HOURS: 3
COURSE SCHEDULE: Arranged
INSTRUCTOR NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION:

Mamie Webb Hixon, Assistant Professor of English, Writing Lab Director
Building/Room: 51/163
Email:  mhixon@uwf.edu
Bio Page
Writing Lab’s Webpage:  uwf.edu/writelab
Office Phone: 474-2987
Lab Phone: 474-2129
Home Phone: 433-3324

COURSE DESCRIPTION: ENC 3905 Writing Lab Internship (aka Applied Grammar and Composition) is a one-, two-, or three-semester hour upper-division course which provides training for prospective English teachers not only in the concepts of grammar, usage, mechanics, and writing but also in the methodology of teaching them.  The course is also designed to train prospective editors and technical writers in the areas of grammar and mechanics.  Coursework includes but is not limited to developing tests and study aids, administering and grading tests, giving presentations on documentation styles as well as grammatical and writing concepts, researching and answering questions related to writing skills (grammar, mechanics, formatting, and style), tutoring students in grammar and usage, teaching basic composition skills, holistic scoring of essays, and reading students' papers for content, correctness of expression, manuscript format, and documentation style.

Although you will be enrolled as a student, the nature of your appointment requires that you demonstrate and fulfill the duties and responsibilities of both a student and an employee; therefore, one-half of your grade will be based on your performance as a labbie, including your satisfactory completion of all assignments listed under "course requirements."

The course also includes the following:

  • Opportunities for the student to observe and teach in a clinical one-on-one or group setting
  • Successful methods of teaching grammar through individualized instruction and through composition
  • Assessing and responding to student writing
  • Formal instruction in computer technology associated with the intern’s disciplinary learning
  • Managerial and leadership training
  • Training in online and face-to-face writing instruction
  • Training in maintaining professional appearance, composure, demeanor, and discipline
  • Practical application of theory and methodology
  • Formal instruction in coping with ethical challenges
  • Training in self-regulating skills: setting deadlines, juggling student appointments, tracking and recording Writing Lab statistical data, tracking, recording, and reporting student data, initiating projects, training other lab assistants
  • Interaction with faculty

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Prerequisites: 

  • Approval of the Writing Lab director, a score of 80 or above on the Writing Lab’s Diagnostic Test and/or one of the following:
    • An A in LIN 3341 Modern Grammar and Usage
    • An A in ENC 2080 Practical Grammar
  • Availability for mandatory training the week before classes start during fall semester
  • Availability for mandatory training two to three days before classes start during spring semester
  • Availability for internship in blocks of no fewer than three consecutive hours
  • Availability every Monday morning from 8:00 a.m. till 10:00 a.m. during fall and spring semesters for mandatory follow-up training

Other Requirements

  • Variable supervised Lab hours
    • One-hour credit course = 5 hours in the Lab
    • Two-hour credit course = 7 hours in the Lab
    • Three-hour credit course = 9 hours in the Lab
  • Mandatory pre-service training during the week preceding the first week of classes
  • A two-hour weekly class (for Weeks 1 to 10) conducted by the Writing Lab director:
  • Attendance at and participation in these weekly grammar sessions and other follow-up training sessions
  • A grammar survey requiring you to provide analytical explanations for errors in grammar, usage, mechanics, and syntax
  • A Capstone Experience project
  • Completion of Writing Lab training modules                              
  • Supervised tutoring for Skill-of-the-Week Tutoring Sessions, including submitting lesson plans supervised and unsupervised paper reading           
  • Submission of responses to email and telephone Grammar Hotline questions    

Course Limit:  5

 

RECOMMENDED TEXT

Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon

 

COURSE COMPONENTS

  • Mandatory training
  • Entry level tutoring: Skill-of-the-Week Sessions
  • Paper reading training:
    • Stage 1 – Simulations
    • Stage 2 – Observations
    • Stage 3 – Shadowing I
    • Stage 4 – Shadowing II
    • Stage 5 – Supervised/monitored readings
    • Stage 6 – Unsupervised readings

CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE PROJECTS

Each intern will be assigned one or more of the following projects:

  • Development of an Online Item Analysis Lab Work Form for the Diagnostic Test
  • Comparative analysis of writing labs across the country: staffing, funding, hours of operation, online and in-lab services, student utilization, grammar hotline, tutoring, paper reading
  • Development of a Write @Vice Newsletter
  • Development of a Documentation/Citation Grid for in-Lab and Online Access:  a chart summarizing citation methods for MLA, APA, and Turabian
  • Compilation of Grammar Hotline questions by subject
  • Editing Articles for Ballinger Publishing: Pensacola Magazine and Business Climate

TOPICS

  • Knowing Your P’s: Policies and Procedures of the Writing Lab
  • Minding Your P’s: Professionalism, Productivity, Poise, Presence, Punctuality, Etc.
  • Deskside Manners: Problem-solving, Diplomacy, Tact, Professional Etiquette
  • Labbie Personalities
  • The Gretchen Duty Stations
  • What Do Paper Readers Do?
  • Critical Thinking and Writing
  • Research Skills (the Grammar Hotline versus Paper Reading)
  • Interpersonal Communication Skills
  • Conflict Management
  • Time Management
  • Labbie-isms: Attention to Detail and Thoroughness of Tasks
  • Professional Software Skills (Microsoft Office, ScheduleView, Dreamweaver, SmartLite, etc.)
  • The Write @Vice
  • Taking the Grrrr Out of Grammar
  • Tutoring Strategies
  • Lab Managers’ Survival Skills
  • The Faceless OWL Reader
  • Using Rubrics
  • Holistic Scoring
  • Proofreading Versus Editing
  • The Schizophrenic Existence of a Paper Reader: Online Versus Face-to-Face Reading
  • Grammar Hotline Calls
  • Elluminating Versus Reading

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this course, Writing Lab interns will be able to

  • Communicate effectively (and confidently) in small- and large-group settings
  • Help students brainstorm ideas and construct focused, organized, and developed essays
  • Help students edit their papers, revise sentences, and formulate an argument
  • Evaluate and select appropriate materials for tutoring students and for responding to their writing
  • Respond to students’ writing at both the sentence level and the argument level
  • Assess students’ writing for grammar, mechanics, diction, and syntax
  • Analyze students’ writing for manuscript formatting, documentation style, content, and correctness of expression
  • Assess students’ writing both holistically and quantitatively
  • Administer diagnostic tests and represent the Lab and its services
  • Write a tutoring lesson plan for a specific skill and present the lesson to a class of students
  • Organize a one-hour tutoring session into twenty-minute modules of instruction, assessment, and interactive feedback
  • Conduct an interactive one-on-one or group paper reading either face-to-face or online
  • Direct students to credible research sources both electronic and print
  • Assist students with identifying and evaluating reliable research sources
  • Research information on documentation styles, grammar, and mechanics
  • Create and develop PowerPoint presentations
  • Use technology (Powerpoint, ScheduleView, E-Contracts, etc.)
  • Give interesting and engaging oral presentations
  • Develop tests, study aids, and worksheets for student use and public consumption
  • Organize Writing Lab-related projects such as Grammar Night
  • Edit papers and articles for correctness of expression
  • Differentiate between the commonly used citation styles: Turabian, MLA, and APA
  • Organize a two-week summer writing camp
  • Understand the "why’s" behind grammar rules
  • Gain experience with editing various types of writing (business letters, resumes, expository essays, literary analyses, media tool kits, Toulmin arguments, personal statements, industry analyses, case studies, legal documents)
  • Gain experience reading and editing theses and dissertations

WORKLOAD

  • Required attendance at a one- to two-hour grammar session per week
  • Attendance in the Lab during student's assigned hours
  • Completion of a series of training modules with the assistance of a senior labbie and/or the Writing Lab Director or Coordinator
  • Supervised grading of tests and explaining of test items
  • Mandatory attendance at monthly Lab staff meetings
  • Operation of the Grammar Hotline
  • Attendance at training sessions for holistic scoring
  • Supervised and unsupervised paper reading
  • Performance of all other lab-related duties not specified above

GRADING

Your final grade will be based on the following:

200 Points       Mandatory pre-service training
100 Points       Attendance at and participation in weekly grammar sessions and other follow-up training sessions
100 Points       A grammar survey requiring you to provide analytical explanations for errors in grammar, usage, mechanics, and syntax
200 Points       A Capstone Experience project         
100 Points       Completion of Writing Lab training modules                       
100 Points       Skill-of-the-Week Tutoring Sessions, including submitting lesson plans
100 Points       Paper reading 
100 Points       Submission of responses to email and telephone Grammar Hotline question

UWF Writing Lab Capstone Experience

Writing Lab Internship

TRAINING MODULES SCHEDULE

To be completed during the time stipulated on the Gretchen for Capstone Experience or during our “down time” when there are no paper readers or tutors to shadow

Abbreviations:  WL = Writing Lab    MOD = Lab Manager on Duty   PPt = PowerPoint

 

Week 1 – MODULE I: WL Overview

  • Staff Meeting
  • View the WL’s virtual tour PPt: http://www.uwf.edu/writelab/virtual/
  • Diagnostic Testing – Accompany Labbie Test Proctor to a Test Administration and assist with grading
  • and recording
  • Read Grammar Reviews: http://www.uwf.edu/writelab/reviews/
  • Take Online Practice Tests – Self-Scoring (Go over missed items with MOD)
  • View these PowerPoints at the LabbieOnly link on the WL’s webpage: ScheduleView Procedures,
  • Appointment Desk
  • ScheduleView Training – See MOD
  • Read the WL’s Write Advice newsletters at this link: http://www.uwf.edu/writelab/advice/

Week 2 – MODULE II: Becoming a Grammar Hotline Operator

  • CLOSED: MLK Day
  • Diagnostic Testing – Accompany Labbie Test Proctor to a Test Administration and assist with grading
  • and recording
  • View this PowerPoint at the LabbieOnly link on the WL’s webpage: Grammar Hotline Operator
  • Read Writing Lab’s Website Link about Grammar Hotline: http://www.uwf.edu/writelab/grammar/
  • Read Grammar Hotline Manual – See Hixon, MOD, or Grammar Hotline Manager (Rebekah)
  • Grammar Hotline – Respond to three (3) sample emailed and/or recently emailed Grammar Questions –
  • See Grammar Hotline Manager
  • Read the WL’s Writing Aids at this link: http://www.uwf.edu/writelab/aids/
  • ScheduleView Training – See MOD

Week 3 – MODULE III: Teaching Grammar

 Week 4 – MODULE IV: Becoming a Paper Reader

  • Grammar Sessions: Sentence Errors and Subject-Verb Agreement
  • Skills-of-the-Week: Semicolons & Colons and Sentence Errors
  • View these PowerPoints at the LabbieOnly link on the WL’s webpage: Paper Reading, How to Read a
  • Paper, Paper Reading Training [Chickens]
  • Paper Reading Shadowing
  • Grammar @ 5 on Elluminate Live! Observations and Online Tutoring

 Week 5 – MODULE V: Doing Paperwork

  • Grammar Sessions: Pronoun Reference & Antecedent Agreement and Pronoun Case
  • Skill-of-the-Week: Subject-Verb Agreement
  • View this PowerPoint at the LabbieOnly link on the WL’s webpage: Paper Reading Contracts [Star Trek]
  • Paper Reading Shadowing
  • Grammar @ 5 on Elluminate Live! Observations and Online Tutoring
  • ScheduleView Training – See MOD

 Week 6 – MODULE VI: Face-to-Face Paper Reading

  • Staff Meeting
  • Skill-of-the-Week: Pronoun Reference & Antecedent Agreement
  • View this PowerPoint at the LabbieOnly link on the WL’s webpage: Paper Reading and Contract Problems
  • Paper Reading Shadowing

 Week 7 – MODULE VII: Virtual Paper Reading

  • Grammar Sessions: Diction and Possessives
  • Skill-of-the-Week: Pronoun Case
  • View this PowerPoint at the LabbieOnly link on the WL’s webpage: OWL and Elluminate Procedures
  • Paper Reading Shadowing

 Week 8 – MODULE VIII: 101 Mini-Lessons

  • Grammar Sessions: Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers and Verb Forms & Tenses
  • Skill-of-the-Week: Diction
  • View Mini-Lesson PowerPoints on the WL’s webpage or on the computer desktops in the Paper Reading Room
  • Paper Reading Shadowing

 Week 9 – MODULE IX: 101 Mini-Lessons

  • Grammar Sessions: Faulty Comparisons and Parallelism
  • Skill-of-the-Week: Possessives
  • View Mini-Lesson PowerPoints on the WL’s webpage or on the computer desktops in the Paper Reading Room
  • Paper Reading Shadowing

 Week 10 – MODULE X: Developing Teaching Materials

  • Grammar Sessions: Adjective & Adverb Use and Capitalization
  • Skills-of-the-Week: Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers and Verb Forms and Tenses
  • Paper Reading Shadowing
  • Work on Your Capstone Project

 Week 11 – MODULE XI: Teaching Students to Write

  • Grammar Session: The Toulmin Argument – Rus
  • Skills-of-the-Week: Faulty Comparisons and Parallelism
  • Paper Reading Shadowing
  • Work on Your Capstone Project

 Week 12 – MODULE XII: Documentation Skills

  • Grammar Session: MLA Documentation –
  • Skills-of-the-Week: Adjective & Adverb Use and Capitalization, Etc.
  • Paper Reading Shadowing
  • Work on Your Capstone Project

 Week 13 – MODULE XIII: Assessing Students’ Writing 1

  • Staff Meeting
  • Paper Reading Shadowing
  • Work on Your Capstone Project

Week 14 – MODULE XIV: Grammar Review

  • Grammar Session: Grammar Survey
  • Paper Reading Shadowing
  • Work on Your Capstone Project

Week 15 – MODULE XV: Assessing Students’ Writing 2

  • Grammar Session: Paper Reader Alerts
  • Paper Reading Shadowing
  • Work on Your Capstone Project