Teaching

Teaching Philosophy

Graduate Rhetoric & Writing

◀ ENGL 629: Writing Transfer Theory & Practice ▶

ENGL 629 is a graduate course which focuses on understanding learning transfer and its application to teaching in writing classes. The course focuses on theories of learning transfer, scholarly perspectives on various aspects of transfer, and practical applications of learning transfer theory. Students build toward creating their own theories of transfer and applying those theories to their teaching. This course is crosslisted as a doctoral seminar as ENGL 703.

Spring 2024

This section of ENGL 629 is my first at NIU, but it adapts and updates the curriculum from ENG 7800, taught at Ohio University in Spring 2020.

◀ ENGL 600: Internship in the College Teaching of English ▶

ENGL 600 is a course in practical and theoretical aspects of teaching first-year composition for graduate teaching assistants new to Northern Illinois University. The course focuses on practial aspects of teaching, such as classroom management, responding to student writing, grading, and designing assignments, as well as important theoretical approaches to teaching composition, such as anti-racism, learning transfer, and composition philosophies.

Fall 2024

This section of ENGL 600 adapts, updates, and simplifies the curriculum below. In particular, readings have been changed and simplified. Most other content remains the same.

Fall 2023

This section of ENGL 600 adapts, updates, and simplifies the curriculum below.

Fall 2022

This section of ENGL 600 is my first at NIU. The class adapts approaches from the previous director, Michael Day, and co-directors, Eric Hoffman and Ellen Franklin. It updates the curriculum to include significantly more on multimodality and cultural aspects of teaching writing.

◀ ENG 7980: History & Theories of Composition ▶

ENG 7980 provides an overview of historical perspectives on composition studies as well as current theories. Students are asked to put theories into conversation with current trends in the field and into conversation with their own teaching and research practices. Areas of study will include process, the social turn, transfer of learning, threshold concepts, and multimodality.

Spring 2022

This section of ENG 7980 builds from the curriculum built below, with some changes based on research done for my articles "Beyond Osmosis" and "ENG 7980." The Context Project has been removed, and the Gap and Expansion Projects have been simplified. The Final Project has been renamed as the Theory of Composition Studies and has been tweaked for clarity. Some readings have been swapped out, including a greater emphasis on antiracist pedagogy. The main goal of the course remains to get students to mindfully consider the stances they are taking on how they teach and research.

Projects:

Fall 2017

This section of ENG 7980 was designed to introduce students to the history of the field, introduce them to current theories in the field, and contextualize how various theories and events are connected. One of the main goals of the class is to get students to mindfully consider the stances they are taking on how they teach and research.

◀ ENG 7970: New Media Composition in English Studies ▶

ENG 7970 is a graduate course that focuses on breaking down and creating multimodal texts in digital environments and exploring how to effectively incorporate these texts into undergraduate writing courses.

Spring 2021

This section of the course is an updated version of the curriculum from Fall 2018. The biggest change is that reflection is a more central part of all class projects. The Connection Project is also given a more central role. This version of the class was taught 100% online due to COVID-19. The course met on Mondays and Wednesdays synchronously and Fridays asynchronously.

Projects:

Fall 2018

This section of the course is a revised version of the curriculum below. Multimodal projects are lower stakes and allow more choice from students. Readings are more varied to cover a larger range of topics. The final project has been renamed the "Application Project" and offers clearer options for students. Overall, the course has been designed to be more manageable for students and allows them to get more out of the content.

Projects:

Spring 2016

This section of the course is designed with two main goals in mind: to introduce graduate students to composing in digital media formats and to consider how these composing practices might enhance undergraduate writing courses. Students are able to focus a final project on either creating a multimodal scholarly text or creating a multimodal assignment for a class that they teach or hope to teach.

Sample Media:

◀ ENG 7800: Learning Transfer ▶

ENG 7800 is a graduate-level course with shifting topics related to rhetoric & composition.

Spring 2020

This section of ENG 7800 focused on learning transfer in rhetoric & composition teaching and scholarship. Students explored missed opportunities for learning transfer and designed assignments to facilitate transfer. Final projects offered options for students to continue to develop pedagogy or to work on theory and scholarship.

Because this class took place during the COVID-19 outbreak, the class shifted to online instruction halfway through the semester. This meant there was an adjustment to the schedule and two of the major assignments in mid-March. After this shift, the course continued on asynchronously, with class discussions taking place online and daily online activities added to the discussions. Included below are the original documents as well as the updates to some documents after the course shifted online. I am also including an additional screen capture of the Schoology site and a link to videos created once the class transitioned online.

Projects:

◀ ENG 5900: Digital Literacies ▶

ENG 5900 focuses on what it means to be literate in digital spaces and what that means for how we teach writing in the 21st century. Students focus on how people write and learn on social network sites, wikipedia, and other digital platforms. Students then craft assignments for their own classrooms that attempt to use digital literacies to reach classroom goals. ENG 5900 was designed specifically for the Master of Arts in Education Online (MAE Online) program in the English Department at Ohio University. This allows in-service middle and high school teachers to persue a master's degree online while continuing to teach.

Spring 2022

This section again follows the curriculum from Summer 2020 with only minor updates and tweaks.

Projects:

Fall 2021

This section follows the curriculum from Summer 2020 with only minor updates and tweaks.

Projects:

Summer 2020

This section follows a similar curriculum to Spring 2020 but with a few changes. The readings have been changed to prioritize newer texts. Understanding Digital Literacies has been replaced with a few articles that focus on literacy, digital literacy, and multimodality. In addition, a greater emphasis has been placed on practice, including several "activities" that require students to use what they have learned in real digital spaces. These were in previous versions of the class as well, but in this version, they are emphasized more and account for more of the grade. While the Digital Pedagogy Project has only minor changes, the Space Critique assignment has been changed to focus on smaller digital spaces. This was to encourage digging into actual communities of practice instead of making broad generalizations. Finally, the organization and structure of the LMS has been shifted: instead of weekly folders, there are now daily folders that focus on each individual class period, and each class period also now has a checklist of activities to complete and an individual set of outcomes.

Projects:

Spring 2020

This section follows the curriculum of the section below with only minor changes.

Projects:

Summer 2019

This section continues to use the curriculum below with a few changes. Readings on wikis and social network sites have been updated. One text has been removed and replaced with a section on video games. Readings from Understanding Digital Literacies have been spread out. And finally, the Digital Pedagogy project has been changed to make things clearer for students.

Projects:

Fall 2018

This section of the course updates the curriculum below. Most of the readings are changed this time around to focus more specifically on the teaching contexts of students in the MAE program. The major assignments are streamlined to be clearer as well. Both the Space Critique and the Digital Pedagogy Project are very similar to the originals below, but the language of the assignments and the grading has been updated to offer students a clearer picture of expectations. PDFs have been created of documents this time around to allow students to download and keep class documents.

Projects:

Spring 2018

This section of the course was my first semester teaching ENG 5900, my first time teaching in the MAE Online, and my first time teaching a graduate course online. You may notice that this course, unlike my other courses, uses Blackboard. This is a requirement of the MAE Online program. Because of this, all of the documents are designed differently. Screen captures are provided here instead of the usual PDFs.

Upper-Level Undergraduate Rhetoric & Writing

◀ ENG 3860: Composing in New Media ▶

ENG 3860 is a junior-level course for English majors and non-majors that focuses on analyzing and creating multimodal texts in digital environments.

Spring 2021

This version of the class updated the version from Spring 2018 in a few major ways. The first is that the course uses the new, expanded version of the textbook Writer/Designer. The course also focused much more heavily on reflection. The Analysis Project was added to start off by reflecting on digital texts, and each of the Media Projects includes a reflective element. The former Hypertext Project, Audio Project, and Video Project have been lumped together as Media Projects with a shared set of grading criteria. And finally, the Final Project has been renamed the Creation Project and has been streamlined. This section of the class as taught entirely online due to COVID-19. The course met synchronously on Mondays and Wednesdays and asynchronously on Fridays.

Projects:

Spring 2018

This version of the class has a few major changes. The largest change is the addition of the Hypertext Project, which was added to give students a chance to learn to build websites and introduce them to simple design earlier in the semester. The Audio Project (previoulsy Digital Literacy Narrative) and Video Project (previously Concept Video) have also both been updated in this version of the class. The Final Project remains mostly the same with some minor tweaks, mostly revolving around timing of the readings. Additional readings, videos, and audio have been added to supplement the textbook.

Projects:

Sample Media

Spring 2017

The structure and assignments for this section have largely been carried over from Spring 2016 with a few changes. The Final Project is introduced sooner and spread more evenly throughout the semester, the "Field Video" has been replaced with a similar but broader "Concept Video," and multimodal workshops throughout the semester are now more open ended. In Spring 2016, all students worked in the same programs and on the same skills. In Spring 2017, students will break into groups that will focus on different programs and/or skills based on their skill levels and areas of interest.

Projects:

Sample Media:

Spring 2016

The goal of this class is to not only allow students to create multimodal, digital texts but also to encourage students to reflect on the rhetorical choices they are making when creating those texts. The first half of the class is focused on learning basic tools and reflecting on digital production. The second half is focused on a single large project that the students create themselves. Students must create a detailed proposal for this project, create the project, and justify their rhetorical choices in creating it.

Sample Media:

◀ ENG 3850: Writing about Culture & Society ▶

ENG 3850 is a junior-level course for English majors and non-majors. While there is not a set curriculum or set assignments, instructors structure content around learning and writing about culture and society. The sections of ENG 3850 below focus on pop culture and social media as a lenses through which to explore cultural issues of identity, globalization, and prosumer culture.

Fall 2019

This section continues the focus on pop culture and social media. The prosumer project is largely the same from the previous versions of the class, but the analysis project has been revised. The homework is significantly different as well. There is a greater focus on getting practice that will help with the major projects.

Major Projects:

Spring 2017

This section borrows the focus on pop culture and social media from the Fall 2016 section below. Many of the projects and assignments are the same, but there have been a number of tweaks made to the curriculum. The Final Project has been clarified and focused on a smaller segment of content. "Mini-projects" have been replaced with "application projects," which are largely the same in content but more clearly focused on specific points. They are now worth a larger percentage of the grade. The final weeks of the semester are now more clearly focused on the Final Project.

Smaller Projects:

Major Projects:

Fall 2016

This section of the course focuses on pop culture and social media. Major topics of discussion include identity, globalization, and prosumer culture. Multimodal texts are incorporated throughout the course, including a requirement for several mini-projects to be multimodal, and a multimodal Group Prosumer Project.

Smaller Projects:

Major Projects:

◀ ENG 394: Special Topics ▶

ENG 394 is an upper-level course designed for single-semester special topics courses at Arizona State University. All ranks of English teachers can submit proposals for courses, but acceptance of proposals by TAs is especially competitive. The proposals are reviewed by the Special Sections Committee, and two are added to the schedule each semester.

Passionate Affinity Spaces and Online Ethnography

The idea for this course came out of my own work with online ethnography and passionate affinity spaces. Not only had I studied a great deal on these two topics, but I had also experimented with using them in first-year composition courses: the Fall 2012 section of ENG 107 and, to a lesser extent, the Fall 2011 section of ENG 101. The course was to be focused on finding an online passionate affinity space and then entering that space as a participant-observer to learn about the space. Students would learn ethnographic research methods and write up a field report at the end fo the semester.

This course was accepted by the Special Topics Committee and added to the schedule for the English Department for the Fall 2013 semester but was never taught.

Given the opportunity, I would be interested in teaching a similar course. I am deeply interested in the subject matter and believe students could benefit from learning ethnographic research methods.

Syllabus

First-Year & Junior-Level Composition

◀ ENGL 103: Rhetoric & Composition I▶

ENGL 103 is the first course in a two-course sequence in the first-year composition program. The course focuses on writing practices, writing processes, rhetorical knowledge, reflection, and application beyond the classroom. The goal of the course is to introduce students to important ideas in the study and practice of writing, such as literacy, rhetorical purpose, audience, genre, and discourse. Students create both traditional and non-traditional texts for both academic and non-academic audiences. Reflection on writing purposes and strategies is a central component of the course.

Fall 2024

This section of ENGL 103 adapts last year's course. Major changes include simplified readings, more explanation of reflection (including WP0), and clarification in WP2.

Fall 2023

This section of ENGL 103 is updated based on the pilot below and used by the new GTAs. The largest change is the percentage of class that focuses on reflection.

Spring 2023

This section of ENGL 103 is a further modified version of the curriculum below. With the help of Eric Hoffman, the assignments were further updated to emphasize writing processes, rhetorical throught, reflection, and connection to other writing projects. This course was taught by Justina Clayburn with regular meetings and observations by me. This pilot will further be updated for roll out in Fall 2023.

Fall 2022

This section of ENGL 103 modifies the curriculum previously used at NIU that was developed by Eric Hoffman. The curriculum redesign was also developed with Hoffman and with feedback from Ellen Franklin. While I did not have time to make big changes, some smaller changes include: a more direct focus on literacy and discourse, more integration of multimodal texts, more focus on local issues, and, most importantly, a much greater emphasis on reflection. Further adaptation of ENGL 103 is planned to be piloted in Spring 2023 for roll out in Fall 2023. While I did not teach this course myself, I adapted the course to be used with new graduate teaching assistants taking ENGL 600.

◀ ENGL 203: Rhetoric & Composition II▶

ENGL 203 is the second course in a two-course sequence in the first-year composition program. The course focuses on reflecting on writing across the university, writing collaboratively, and reflecting on writing connections. The students build on rhetorical knowledge acquired in ENGL 103 to continue to build sound writing practices.

Spring 2023

This section of ENGL 203 was developed by Eric Hoffman and includes only very minor updates. The goal is to pilot an updated version of this course in Fall 2023 for roll out in Spring 2024.

◀ ENG 3080J: Writing & Rhetoric II ▶

ENG 3080J is a junior-level course in writing and rhetoric. The goal of the course is to build on students' rhetorical knowledge in important areas such as literacy, rhetorical purpose, audience, genre, and discourse. Students in this course will use writing to better understand, to build upon, and to create knowledge. Students are expected to write using both traditional alphabetic text and digital texts (such as hyperlinks, images, video, audio, and code).

Fall 2021

This section modifies the curriculum from Fall 2020. WP3 previously compared each student's discipline to another. That's been removed and made a part of in-class activities. Instead, the students start out the semester with a new WP1 in which they analyze student writing, either their own or the writing of a peer. The previous WP1 and WP2 assignments are now WP2 and WP3, respectively. Other minor tweaks have been made to all of the assignment, such as shifting grading criteria to better focus on what we're learning. Unlike Fall 2020, this course was taught in person.

Projects:

Fall 2020

This section of ENG 3080J has been completely rebuilt from the ground up. The content focuses on writing in students' individual fields and builds up to a "theory of writing" about their field as the final project. Projects along the way include an analysis of a professional article, an interview with an expert, and a comparison to another field. All of the assignments are completely new and designed from the ground up. The textbook used is Writing in Transit, a book that focuses on learning transfer. Due to COVID-19, this class was held entirely online, even though it was originally designed to be in person.

Projects:

Fall 2015

This section of ENG 3080J focuses on digital literacies: writing, reading, and making meaning in digital spaces. Students analyze their own digital writing and the writing of others to build on their understanding of writing in digital spaces. Students then create writing for these spaces that makes use of the means available to them to make effective and appropriate projects.

This course is part of my first semester at Ohio University. The curriculum is broken into three larger "Writing Projects" (WP1, WP2, & WP3) and three smaller "Writing Tasks" (WT1, WT2, & WT3). Many of the assignments are either entirely new (such as WT1 & WT2) or substantially revised (such as all three Writing Projects). The focus here has shifted to much more digitally-focused writing and more collaboration.

This version of the course was entirely online in an asynchronous format. Videos were created as one method of making me more real and present for the students. These are included in the "Course Video Playlist" below.

Smaller Projects:

Major Projects:

◀ ENG 1510: Writing & Rhetoric I ▶

ENG 1510 is an introductory course in writing and rhetoric. The goal of the course is to introduce students to basic ideas important to writing, such as literacy, rhetorical purpose, audience, genre, and discourse. Students will analyze and produce both traditional written texts and multimodal texts for various audiences and for various purposes in order to develop critical literacy. The following sections are designed with multimodality and transfer in mind.

Fall 2020

This section follows the format of the Fall 2019 class, but it was updated to be run fully online due to COVID-19. Other changes are minor, inluding an update to the second edition of In Conversation.

Projects:

Fall 2019

This section follows the format of the Fall 2017 class. Both sections use the textbook Understanding Rhetoric, but this section uses the additional book In Conversation instead of Writing and Revising.

Projects:

Fall 2017

This section follows the basic curriculum below, but with some minor tweaks. The course is now designed to focus on discourse earlier, assignments sheets and course documents have been updated with new designs, and multimodality is encouraged more in all writing projects.

Fall 2016

The major assignments and readings are based on the curriculum for ENG 1510 developed below with a few minor changes. All of the major writing projects have been updated to encourage more multimodal composing. Greater emphasis has been placed on teaching about literacy in WP1 and on the justifying rhetorical choices in WP3. Assignment sheets have also been updated for a more consistent design.

Projects:

Fall 2015

This course is part of my first semester at Ohio University. The curriculum is changed substantially from ENG 101 at Arizona State University: All three writing projects are updated. In particular, WP1 is more focused on specific literacy practices, and WP3 is entirely new. Both textbooks used this semester are different as well.

Projects:

◀ ENG 194: Academic Writing in English ▶

Like WPC 194 below, ENG 194 is a special course designed for second-language writers majoring in business. The course is designed as a "walkalong," that is to say that students are expected to take the course at the same time as a WAC 107 section of first-year composition. The purpose of the course is to give students additional writing practice specifically focused on the needs of second-language writers through genres related to business.

Spring 2015

The curriculum for this course is based on the curriculum I designed for WPC 194 below. A few changes were made to give students more time to focus on the major writing tasks. More time was scheduled for discussions of plagiarism and presentation design.

Projects:

◀ WPC 194: English Writing for Business ▶

WPC 194 is a special course designed for second-language writers majoring in business. The course is designed as a "walkalong," that is to say that students are expected to take the course at the same time as a WAC 107 section of first-year composition. The purpose of the course is to give students additional writing practice specifically focused on the needs of second-language writers through genres related to business.

Fall 2015

This course was first offered at Arizona State University in the Fall of 2014. Updated sections for business were first offered in the Fall of 2015. I designed the curriculum at the request of the English and Business departments, implemented the curriculum, and assessed its effectiveness.

Projects:

◀ ENG 101: First-Year Composition ▶

ENG 101 is the first part of a two-part first-year composition sequence at Arizona State University. This course primarily focuses on expository and analytical writing.

Summer 2014

This section is an adapted and updated version of the section below. The Fall 2013 section included an increased emphasis on reflection. This section expands that emphasis and includes explicit discussions of learning transfer, both backward-reaching and forward-reaching high-road transfer. In this section, the syllabus has also been significantly redesigned to be more visually appealing and student-friendly.

Projects:

Fall 2013

In this section, there are a number of changes over previous sections. First of all, this section was fully online. This is the first section of first-year composition that I taught in this format. The assignments used for this section were adapted from the Summer 2012 section of ENG 101 and the Fall 2012 section of ENG 107. The assignments were updated, however, and the assignment sheets were fully rewritten. The most significant change in this class is an increased emphasis on reflection. While reflection has been a part of my first-year composition classes for a number of semesters, there is significantly more reflection in this class compared to previous ones. There is a written reflection after each major draft (first drafts, revised drafts, and final drafts) as well as an updated overall reflection at the end of the semester.

This section was also part of a Digication pilot. ASU Writing Programs decided to test using Digication as a way to archive student writing. I was part of the tentative tests in the summer semesters of 2013 and decided to use Digication to fully replace Google Drive in my curriculum in the fall. All major drafts and the final reflection were submitted through Digication and became part of the ASU Digital Archive. Students were also encouraged to create public e-portfolios to showcase their writing through Digication.

Projects:

Summer 2012

This section of ENG 101 was set up as a special section for incoming freshman athletes. ASU Athletics set up a program similar to University Bridge when that program was discontinued. This section was taught in conjunction with two university success classes. As with University Bridge, I felt that meeting daily and allowing for extra time for extra help contributed to making this class successful.

Projects:

Fall 2011

This hybrid section of ENG 101 was an experimental section focusing on online writing. While the curriculum was not entirely successful, the assignments used in this section helped to inform future first-year composition classes. In particular, the assignments used in this section of ENG 101 helped to develop the assignments focused on online ethnography used in the section of ENG 107 below.

While many students enjoyed the class as a whole and evaluations were positive overall, certain aspects of this class were not successful. For example, students found using Facebook as an LMS difficult and were concerned about privacy. Because of the problems in this sections of ENG 101, I switched to using Schoology as an LMS. Schoology has many of the features that I liked about using Facebook as an LMS (profiles, pictures, the ability to "like" comments, and so on), but it is separate and not connected to a Facebook profile. This helps to overcome some of the privacy concerns several students had with using Facebook as an LMS. It also helps to avoid some of the confusion. Credit for posts made on Facebook was given in the Blackboard gradebook. Students didn't like flipping back and forth. Schoology has an integrated gradebook that minimizes confusion about getting credit for participation.

The final writing project in this section was "Analyzing an Online Artifact." This involved finding a "chain" of remixed or repurposed media online and trying to add another link to the chain. While a few students really enjoyed the assignment and got really into it, several students struggled and didn't enjoy making their "link in the chain." Because of this, I developed a new assignment focused on discourse when I revised this curriculum for ENG 107.

Learning Management System
Facebook

Projects:

Summer 2011

This section of ENG 101 was part of a special program called University Bridge. This program was designed to give students deemed "at risk" by the university a headstart on their first semester of college. I believe that this course was extremely beneficial for the students involved.

Fall 2010

This curriculum was given to new TAs as part of TA seminar. Individual teachers could modify assignments, but the assignment sequence as a whole was determined by the directors of TA seminar. While I did not continue to use the pop culture theme of the class, many of these assignments informed assignments in later ENG 101 sections.

◀ ENG 102: First-Year Composition ▶

ENG 102 is the second part of a two-part first-year composition sequence at Arizona State University. This course primarily focuses on argumentation.

Spring 2012

This was a hybrid section of ENG 102. Assignments were modified from the assignments used in Spring 2011. This course is the first time that I used Schoology as the primary LMS. There were small problems with Schoology: for example, the gradebook was hard to integrate into the class well (so I used Blackboard for its gradebook this semester). Overall, however, students liked using Schoology, and I found that it met my needs better than LMSs that I had used previously.

Projects:

Spring 2011

This curriculum was developed by new TAs as part of TA seminar. Individual teachers could modify assignments, but the assignment sequence as a whole was determined by the TA seminar cohort. As with the Fall 2010 section of ENG 101 above, I used assignments in this course as models when developing future assignments for ENG 102.

◀ ENG 107: First-Year Composition ▶

ENG 107 is the first part of a two-part first-year composition sequence at Arizona State University. This course primarily focuses on expository and analytical writing. ENG 107 is the direct equivalent of ENG 101 but is designed with non-native English speakers in mind.

Fall 2012

This section of ENG 107 is special for a number of reasons. It was my first time teaching second-language writers since I left South Korea in 2010, it was the first semester that I used grammar contracts as a way of handling the grammar issue in class, and it was the first time that I used a curriculum focused primarily on online ethnography.

The grammar contracts were very successful, allowing students who wanted grammar feedback to get it and allowing those who didn't want feedback to avoid it. The focus on online ethnography had both good and bad points. I maintain that the curriculum was successful overall: students reported in an exit survey that the curriculum gave them additioanl language practice and helped them to improve their writing. However, some students were dissatisfied with the curriculum and expressed concerns in their final teacher evaluations. The primary grievence was that students didn't fully understand the purpose of the online ethnography elements of the class. This was a failure on my part to explain the motivations fully and to reflect during class time on what and how the students were learning. If I were to use this curriculum again, regular explanation of the purposes of assignments and reflection on what had been learned would be a much larger part of the course.

Projects:

◀ WAC 101: Introduction to Academic Writing ▶

WAC 101 is a course designed to prepare students for ENG 101. The course serves as an introduction to writing in university courses.

Summer 2013

Like the Summer 2012 section of ENG 101, this section of WAC 101 was set up for incoming freshman athletes. The curriculum was designed to focus on reflection, making and supporting claims, and organizational strategies.

Projects:

◀ WAC 107: Introduction to Academic Writing ▶

WAC 107 is a course designed to prepare students for ENG 101 or ENG 107. The course serves as an introduction to writing in university courses. WAC 107 is the direct equivalent of WAC 101 but is designed with non-native English speakers in mind.

Spring 2015

The curriculum for these sections of WAC 107 is adapted from the section below but with a greater emphasis on reflection and knowledge transfer.

Projects:

Summer 2013

Much of the curriculum for this section of WAC 107 overlaps with the curriculum for WAC 101 above. However, because this course was designed for non-native speakers of English, certain things were different: grammar contracts were used (much like the Fall 2012 section of ENG 107 above) and more time was spent in class doing revision either with peers' help or my help.

Projects:

◀ ENG 131: Elementary Composition I ▶

ENG 131 is the first part of a two-part first-year composition sequence at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (now Purdue University Fort Wayne). This course primarily focuses on analysis, argumentation, and reflection.

Spring 2004

For this section of ENG 131, I again made several changes. This is the first (and only) time that I gave an essay exam as part of a writing class. You may notice that the final exam is focused on two short stories. In addition to trying to inject creative writing into composition classes (with the alternatives to the memoir started last semester), I was also trying to inject literature into the composition classes. This is something I no longer do in my writing classes.

I continued to gather drafts for instructor comments and peer review separately, but I did instructor commentary before peer review in this section. This is something I have continued to do every since. I find that students are better prepared to do peer review after reading my commentary. Some students would also simply ignore peer review and wait for my comments when they did peer review first.

Fall 2003

I made several substantial changes to my ENG 131 course when I started my second year of teaching. I collected two drafts before the final: first a draft for peer review and then a draft for my comments. I also expanded the assignment sheets for my writing projects substantially, including grading criteria for the first time. I experimented with letting students choose their own grading criteria, but I was disappointed with the results. Most students chose very simple criteria: grammar, "flow," and so forth. I found over the course of the semester, I was encouraging students to choose criteria that I thought were more appropriate, which defeated the purpose of letting students choose.

This was the first semester that I tried experimented with allowing for "altnerative" versions of assignments. In my first and second semesters, I assigned a memoir assignment. This semester, I allowed for students to write poetry or a short story instead of a memoir. Few students took me up on the alternaive assignments.

Spring 2003

I was still a novice writing teacher at this point, so I made very minor changes to my curriculum the second time that I taught ENG 131. I again used portfolio grading.

Syllabus
Projects:

Fall 2002

This course was the first course that I taught at the university level. Because I went into the course with little training or background knowledge about composition, I based much of the curriculum on my own experiences with composition and sample syllabi that I found online. You'll notice that the writing projects are very simple and do not include grading criteria. Grading was done on a portfolio system, which I had learned from creative writing classes I had taken. I struggled teaching this course, but I also learned a great deal about teaching and writing.

Syllabus
Projects:

English as a Second Language

◀ Advanced English Composition ▶

Advanced English Composition is a course taught in the English Education Department of Pusan National University. It is an upper-level elective course for students who wish to get additional experience with writing after completing English Composition.

Fall 2009

The curriculum that I used this semester was very similar to the curriculum in the fall semester of 2008. The previous curriculum was quite succuessful with the students, so only minor changes were made.

Fall 2008

This semester had far fewer plagiarism problems than the first semester that I taught this course. Dealing with the problem right up front solved a lot of the issues. Additionally, I adjusted the major assignment a great deal. I removed the informative essay and replaced it with creating a resume and cover letter. Many of my students at PNU planned to teach or study abroad, so this was a practical skill that they could learn from. Additionally, I added the essay exam at the end of the course to help prepare them for tests such ad TOEFL and TOEIC. The final change was with informal writing practice. In the 2007 course, I asked students to keep an informal writing jouranl to practice what they had learned in class. In this course, I replaced this activity with regular posts on an online class forum. This allowed for a more structured approach to practice and allowed students to respond to each other's writing.

The assignment sheet for the short story assignment has been lost to time, but it would have been almost identical to the one from the 2009 course above.

Fall 2007

This was my first semester teaching second-language writing. Because of this, there were some minor problems. The most serious of which was overcoming issues with plagiarism with students--something that I struggled with all semester. In future second-language writing courses, I have spent time in the first week of class discussing this issue and how it may be dealt with differently in different cultures.

◀ English Composition ▶

English Composition is a course taught in the English Education Department of Pusan National University. This course is required for all English Education majors, most of whom take the course in their freshman or sophomore years.

Fall 2009

Mostly minor changes were made to the curriculum this semester. The only major change was the addition of an essay exam at the end of the course. This was to give students additional practice for essay exams found on English language tests such as TOEFL or TOEIC.

Fall 2008

As with Advanced English Composition above, there were far fewer problems with plagiarism the second semester I taught this course. This is due to a greater emphasis placed on defining and helping students understand plagiarism early in the semester. A few additional changes were made to the curriculum: the descriptive essay was replaced with a process essay and the class journal was replaced with an online class forum.

Fall 2007

This course was also taught during my first semester teaching second-language writing. As with Advanced English Composition above, there were several problems with plagiarism.

◀ Advanced English Conversation ▶

Advanced English Conversation is a course taught in the English Education Department of Pusan National University. This is an elective course for students wishing to get additional practice in spoken English.

Fall 2009

Again, only minor changes were made to the curriculum in Fall of 2009. By this point, this course had become quite popular among English Education students and drew in some students from other departments.

Fall 2008

The curriculum for Fall 2008 kept all of the major elements from Fall 2007 due to the success of the previous class. Minor changes were made to the schedule to allow for more appropriate practice leading up to the major assignments.

Fall 2007

By 2007, I had 3 years of teaching ESL conversation classes. Much of this first English Education conversation class was modified from that experience. The major assignments, however, were new. The teaching demonstration was included because nearly every student in the English Education Department intended to get a job teaching English after graduation. This was to help them prepare for those jobs and also to prepare for teacher qualifying exams that were required as part of the Korean education system. The Group Vacation Presentation was presented as a fun way to use real-world English. The Debate extended this to more serious topics.

◀ Intermediate English Conversation▶

Intermediate English Conversation is a course taught in the English Education Department of Pusan National University. This is a required course for all English Education majors and is usually taken by students during their sophomore or junior years.

Spring 2009

Only minor changes were made to the curriculum in Sping of 2009.

Spring 2008

Aside from minor changes, much of the curriculum stayed the same between Spring 2007 and Spring 2008. The only additional change was the addition of the Midterm Interview. This was to give students an opportunity to practice speaking about major issues in a less pressured environment before moving into practice for the final Debate.

Spring 2007

Spring 2007 was my first semester in the English Education department at PNU. However, I had had nearly 3 years experience teaching ESL conversion before teaching this course. Much of the curriculum was taken from that previous experience, but the major assignments were new. The debate was designed to give real-world conversation practice about real topics. The teaching demonstration was designed to help English Education majors prepare for their future careers as English teachers.

◀ English Conversation ▶

English Conversation is a course taught in the English Education Department of Pusan National University. This is a required course for all English Education majors and is usually taken by students during their freshman or sophomore years. This course is a pre-requisite for the Intermediate and Advanced English Conversation courses.

Spring 2009

The only major change between the Spring 2008 and the Spring 2009 versions of this course was the removal of the Final Exam. While grammar was certainly still part of the course, I don't believe that the test over it really helped students learn concepts.

Spring 2008

While much of the curriculum stayed the same for Spring 2008, two major changes were made. The first was the addition of the Midterm Interview. This was to give students practice using their conversation skills in a lower-pressure environment before going into the Investor Presentation. The second addition was the Final Exam over grammar points learned throughout the semester. This is the first (and only) time that I gave such a grammar test as part of an ESL conversation class.

Spring 2007

As with Intermediate English Conversation above, much of the curriculum for this course was taken from previous ESL conversation classes. The teaching demonstration was added to give English Education students practice in their future careers, and the Group Investor Presentations were a fun way to practice some of what had been learned during the semester.

◀ English Reading Comprehension II ▶

English Reading Comprehension II is a course taught in the English Education Department of Pusan National University. The course is a continuation of English Reading Comprehension I and is required for all English Education majors at PNU.

Spring 2009

This is the only time that I taught this course. I was offered this course when the professor who regularly taught it went on sabbatical.

◀ MBA Business English ▶

MBA Business English is a course taught in the Business Department of Pusan National University. The course is 1 credit hour and is taught to all MBA students once per week. The course is informal and designed to prepare business majors for interactions with international colleagues and clients.

Spring 2008 to Spring 2009

I taught this course three times: Spring 2008, Fall 2008, and Spring 2009. Due to the informal nature of this course, very few materials remain. Most of the discussion was informal and based on current news.

Syllabus

◀ Practical English ▶

Practical English is a series of five one-credit-hour courses required for all Pusan National University students. The goal of these courses is to practice practical English speaking and writing skills especially for use in business and international travel.

Fall 2005 to Winter 2006

Because of the relatively informal nature of Practical English, not many materials remain. Most of the course was conversation practice and grammar instruction. In PE IV and PE V, some more formal writing was introduced.

◀ PNU Intensive English Program ▶

PIEP is an intensive 6-week course taught during the summer and winter breaks at Pusan National University. The course consists of a speaking section and a writing section, taught separately. Students are assessed at the beginning of the program and placed into beginninger, low-intermediate, high-intermediate, or advanced sections for both speaking and writing.

PIEP Writing: Advanced (2008)

This section also borrows heavily from English Education classes above.

PIEP Writing: Advanced (2007)

At this point, I had begun teaching for the English Education Department. Because of this, the curriculum here resembles a condensed version of English Composition above.

PIEP Writing: Advanced (2006)

This was a particularly advanced section of PIEP Writing. Because of this, we read a novel and and wrote mostly about its subject matter.

Projects:

PIEP Writing: Low-Intermediate (2009)

Because of the relatively low level of the students, all of the writing assignments were informal.

Syllabus

PIEP Speaking: Advanced (2007)

This section was particularly advanced. I borrowed assignments from my English Education classes and created some new ones just for this course.

PIEP Speaking: Beginner (2009)

Because of the low level, no larger assignments were requied as part of this section.

Syllabus

◀ English Conversation (IEEC) ▶

The International Exchange and Education Center at Pusan National University offered several non-credit English courses for students each semester. Most of these courses were very informal and focused on practical English conversation skills.

Fall 2005 to Fall 2009

Because of the informal nature of these conversation classes, few materials remain. Most courses were only one month long and did not even require a syllabus. The two syllabi below are from special sections of these conversation classes. The first was hosted in conjunction with the City of Busan, South Korea. It was a conversation class designed specifically for adult learners of English. Most of the students were retired professionals, although a few students were also stay-at-home mothers. The second class was hosted in conjunction with the Biology Department at Pusan National University. It was designed for biology majors to prepare for international conferences.

◀ Pagoda Adult Language School ▶

Pagoda is a chain of language schools throughout South Korea. The schools focus on adult learners with a variety of needs: business communication, English langauge tests, study abroad, and so forth. The classes range from beginner to advanced.

November 2009 to May 2010

Pagoda English classes followed a set format and curriculum. Syllabi only offered a brief overview of this set up.