Program Learning Objectives (PLOs) for
First-Year Writing
The following eight program learning objectives (PLOs) are a result
of a collaborative effort of a group of founding IWS faculty who
worked diligently on issues of assessment during the 2006-2007 and
2007-2008 academic calendars. These PLOs represent both a
commitment to faculty authorship of the first-year writing (FYW)
program as well as a desire to have a larger, cohesive
vision. Because we are all officially teaching the same
course, we must provide a collective philosophic approach and
praxis for our students’ writing. The PLOs are, thus, used a
lens for how IWS defines FYW and communicates to outside
audiences.
The eight objectives that are printed in boldface are the original
articulations from the founding writers and should appear on all
FYW syllabi. The indented prose was written by faculty as a
student-friendly discourse at the fall 2008 orientation and appear
on the IWS website (faculty can chose to copy these passages onto
syllabi or not since this is available at the website).
These eight PLOs are not meant to simply be cut and pasted onto
existing syllabi templates but, instead, should be seen as way for
us to communicate an overarching philosophy that we each represent
as part of our membership in IWS.
In addition to the eight objectives that are printed in boldface,
faculty should communicate how each PLO is realized in the course
of the semester. The eight bold-faced PLOs should be on each
syllabus and a short statement or bullet that explains each PLO
should also be provided in the context of the syllabus’s
goals.
These are our PLOs:
After taking first year writing, students will be able to:
1. Recognize that writing is a mode of
communication and a social activity, a matter of negotiating the
expectations of different audiences and rhetorical conventions of
different genres.
Writers achieve their purposes more
successfully when they consider the needs and expectations of their
audiences. Writing has a long history. We often choose to use the
conventions of pre-existing forms, called genres, that have arisen
during this history. Knowing the conventions of these genres lets
writers either accept or reject them based on what they are trying
to achieve.
2. Know that writing is a recursive
process.
Writing is a complex process that
involves a great deal of thinking, drafting, reconstructing,
rethinking, and revising. Revision isn’t simply top-down, but often
requires the radical reworking of our drafts. For the sake of
convenience, we speak of pre-writing (preparation), “writing”, and
“revising”. However, it is important to realize that these stages
intermingle, that when we are pre-writing, we are also writing and
revising; when we are writing, we are also pre-writing and
revising; and when we are revising, we are also pre-writing and
writing.
3. Make inferences, take mental risks,
and develop complex ideas through abstract and critical thinking,
reading, and writing.
Writers understand that the language
they use to express themselves shapes what they know and how they
know. How does the language we use shape our reality? What does it
mean to use our own voices? To take mental risks in our writing
means to push the boundaries of what we know. It is to move out of
our comfort zone so that we can find deeper meaning in our
experience of the world.
4. Analyze and produce texts from a
variety of contexts and media.
Writers are influenced by a variety
of oral, written, and visual media (pictures, photographs, and
multimodal texts like blogs, webpages, or social networks sites).
We explain connections or ideas across the variety of such texts
and understand how those connections can lead us to more complex
and multiple points of view. We integrate varied modes of
communication and expression to enhance and transform the meaning
of our work.
5. Use the basic elements of effective
arguments (claims, defining terms, evidence, counter-arguments) and
demonstrate how logical fallacies can undermine
positions.
Writers do not simply accept
propositions as valid, we critically evaluate them. We listen
respectfully and critically to other people's ideas in order to
examine our own and others' positions carefully. We state our
thoughts clearly, accurately, and honestly when we make claims in
our work and we support those claims.
6. When conducting research, summarize
complex readings and ideas gathered succinctly in order to show
audiences that they understand the context of such source material
and are working to place themselves in conversation with those
other perspectives.
All research arises out of the need
for writers to answer questions. Research requires that we think
about the questions we have and use reading and writing in an
attempt to answer these questions. Since our questions are large
and complex, we may not find “simple” answers. That is, the result
of our research is not to find THE answer but to acknowledge and
engage audience(s) in an attempt to discuss the complexities of a
given issue.
7. Understand the need to negotiate,
analyze and problem-solve technological interfaces for a variety of
disciplinary, rhetorical, and writing needs.
Writers acquire information and
present concepts in many ways: we compose at computer screens,
using word processing for print and varied formatting conventions;
we participate in online discussions; we create compositions with
presentation software; we also create and view webpages, digital
portfolios, audio and video files. As writers, we use these digital
technologies to create new genres and solve problems common to our
academic, professional, civic, and/or personal lives.
8. Expand and experiment with writing
style through variation of rhythm, syntax, sentence length,
punctuation, and vocabulary.
Writers explore their relationships
to language (rhyme, emotion, habits, and meaning) in order to
develop a distinct writing style. Through close reading of
scholarly and lyrical texts, we strategize ways to bridge our own
specific speech communities and the demands of academic
writing.
Last faculty revision: August 22, 2008
For comments and questions, please contact the director of
First-Year Writing, Dr. Carmen Kynard, at kynardc@stjohns.edu