Course Syllabus

The North Central Texas College (NCTC) Course Syllabus provides the following as required by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB): (1) a brief description of the course including each major course requirement, assignment and examination; (2) the learning objectives for the course; (3) a general description of the subject matter of each lecture or discussion; and (4) any required or recommended readings.  Contact information for the instructor is also provided. The Course Syllabus also provides institutional information to indicate how this course supports NCTC’s purpose and mission. Information specific to a particular section of the course will be included in the Class Syllabus and distributed to enrolled students.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS, EVALUATION METHODS AND GRADING CRITERIA

 NSTITUTIONAL LEARNING GOALS

 x  A quality general education curriculum in all associate degree programs.

o  Quality freshman and sophomore level courses in arts and sciences which parallel the lower division offerings of four-year colleges and universities.

o  Quality technical programs leading directly to careers in semi-skilled and skilled occupations, and quality technical education programs up to two years in length leading to certificates and associate degrees.

o  Quality programs and services in support of adult literacy and basic skills development as a mean of workforce enhancement and expanding access to higher education.

PROGRAM PURPOSE STATEMENT: CORE CURRICULUM

NCTC seeks to implement its goal of offering quality general education curriculum in all associate degrees by offering a core of general education courses designed to help students achieve academic, career and lifelong goals.  Acquiring knowledge, thinking critically, and utilizing the methodologies of various disciplines exposed students to experiences that serve to advance their personal growth.  The chief focus of the General Education Core Curriculum at NCTC is to emphasize Exemplary Educational Objectives and Basic Intellectual Competencies.

DEPARTMENTAL PURPOSE STATEMENT

The Department of English, Speech, and Foreign Language provides quality instruction to students pursuing their academic and career goals.

STATEMENT OF SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE EXPECTED OF NCTC GRADUATES

NCTC seeks to implement its goal of offering a core of general education courses designed to help students achieve academic, career and lifelong goals. The chief focus of the General Education Core Courses at NCTC is to emphasize basic intellectual competencies and broad intellectual perspectives.

CORE CURRICULUM COMPONENT AREA: COMMUNICATION

The overall objective of the Communication component area is to enable the student to communicate effectively in clear and correct prose in a style appropriate to the subject, occasion, and audience.

COMMUNICATION: EXEMPLARY EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES (EEOs)

x  (C1)  To understand and demonstrate writing and speaking processes through invention, organization, drafting, revision, editing and presentation.

x (C2)  To understand the importance of specifying audience and purpose and to select appropriate communication choices.

o  (C3)  To understand and appropriately apply modes of expression, i.e. descriptive, expositive, narrative, scientific, and self-expressive, in written, visual and oral communication.

o  (C4)  To participate effectively in groups with emphasis on listening, critical and reflective thinking and responding.

x  (C5)  To understand and apply basic principles of critical thinking, problem solving, and technical proficiency in the development of exposition and argument.

x  (C6)  To develop the ability to research and write a documented paper and/or to give an oral presentation.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF SUBJECT MATTER FOR EACH LECTURE/DISCUSSION

Attendance Policy

 A 30 point credit is provided for students who regularly attend. A student can miss three classes. After that, 10 points will be deducted from the attendance score for each additional absence until the 30 points is gone.

Late Policy and Disclaimer

Late speeches will incur a 20 percent overall reduction without a valid excused absence from the college. The professor reserves the right to make any necessary changes in the syllabus s/he sees fit in order to properly accomplish class goals.

BASIC INTELLECTUAL COMPETENCIES FOR THIS COURSE

 o  READING – Reading at the college level means the ability to analyze and interpret a variety of printed materials – books, articles and documents.  A core curriculum should offer student the opportunity to master both general methods of analyzing printed materials and specific methods for analyzing the subject matter of individual disciplines.

o WRITING – Competency in writing is the ability to produce clear, correct, and coherent prose adapted to purpose, occasion, and audience.  Although correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation are each a sine qua non in any composition, they do not automatically ensure that the composition itself makes sense or that the writer has much of anything to say.  Students need to be familiar with the writing process including how to discover a topic and how to develop and organize it, how to phrase it effectively for their audience.  These abilities can be acquired only through practice and reflection.

x  SPEAKING – Competence in speaking is the ability to communicate orally in clear, coherent, and persuasive language appropriate to purpose, occasion, and audience.  Developing this competency includes acquiring poise and developing control of the language through experience in making presentations to small groups, to large groups, and through the media.

x LISTENING – Listening at the college level means the ability to analyze and interpret various forms of spoken communication.

o CRITICAL THINKING – Critical thinking embraces methods for applying both qualitative and quantitative skills analytically and creatively to subject matter in order to evaluate arguments and to construct alternative strategies.  Problem solving is one of the applications of critical thinking, used to address an identified task.

o COMPUTER LITERACY – Computer literacy at the college level means the ability to use computer-based technology in communicating, solving problems, and acquiring information.  Core-educated students should have an understanding of the limits, problems, and possibilities associated with the use of technology, and should have the tools necessary to evaluate and learn new technologies as they become available.