English 1/26

Course Engagement and Communication

  • Regular Participation: Students are expected to speak up on a regular basis.

  • Engagement Strategies for Less Confident Students:     * Those who feel less confident are encouraged to post thoughts in the Zoom chat box, which can feel less risky than unmuting.     * Students are encouraged to reach out to the instructor to discuss ways to make participation easier.

  • Synchronous Class Recording Policy: The instructor does not record synchronous classes. This is because students are more likely to participate and speak up when they know they are not being recorded.

  • Instructor Appearance and Accessibility: The instructor describes themselves as a "living, breathing person" who is "reasonably friendly and approachable," humorously noting they are "not five cats in a trench coat."

Course Delivery and Student Support

  • Course Formats: The instructor teaches all course types and generally likes them all, though they personally prefer face-to-face instruction because interpersonal connections are easier to establish without the "awkwardness of Zoom" or the distance of asynchronous learning.

  • Composition II Availability: It was noted that there are relatively few in-person Composition II (Comp Two) classes available this semester, which might be due to logistical constraints or campus availability.

  • Enrollment Trends: Enrollment is up this semester, resulting in classes that feel fuller and more work-heavy than in previous semesters.

  • Student Advice (Padlet):     * The instructor provides a link/QR code to a Padlet containing semesters of data and advice from previous students.     * Current students cannot add to the Padlet until they complete the course, but they are invited to view it for insights.     * Common Themes in Student Advice:         * "Don’t slide on the readings."         * "Don't plagiarize."

Policy on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Plagiarism

  • The Philosophy of Writing: Writing is defined as "thinking." Outsourcing that task to AI is considered problematic because it bypasses the mental processing required for learning. Writing feeling difficult is not a sign of failure; it is a sign that the student is actually thinking.

  • Traditional Plagiarism vs. AI: Traditional plagiarism is "extremely easy to catch." AI plagiarism is a more recent and complex challenge.

  • AI as a Tool (Acceptable Use):     * AI can be used like a "study guide" or a "fast encyclopedia," especially for difficult concepts like literary theory.     * The Instructor's Personal Use Case: The instructor uses AI to reduce "cognitive load" on non-essential tasks, such as describing foot issues and use cases to determine what pair of sneakers to buy.

  • Risks and Hazards of AI:     * Misinformation: AI can simply be wrong.     * Hallucinations: AI frequently generates false information.     * Fake Citations: The instructor cites a study where approximately 95%95\% of bibliographies surveyed in AI-generated content contained hallucinated (non-existent) sources.     * Real-World Example: A lawyer used AI for a case and it cited legal cases that never actually occurred.     * Lack of Nuance: AI has difficulty identifying jokes and lies on the internet, often taking them seriously.

  • Academic Skill Gaps:     * AI Literacy Skill Gap: Completely banning AI prevents students from learning a tool used across many industries.     * Critical Thinking Skill Gap: Over-reliance on AI prevents students from developing essential analytical skills.

  • Prohibited AI Uses:     * Analyzing course texts.     * Generating claims or interpretations (interpretations must be original to the student).     * Drafting the actual prose of the essays.

  • Accountability: Students must be able to explain concepts in their own words. "I didn't know it was wrong" is not a valid defense for AI-generated inaccuracies. Students are responsible for fact-checking everything.

Academic Standards and Personal Anecdotes

  • The Shifting Landscape of Writing Courses: The instructor observes that standards and expectations in writing courses have dropped over time, not because students are less capable, but because instructors have stopped asking as much of them.

  • The "Impossible" Assignment Example:     * The instructor recounts an assignment they received as a student: write a 1010-page researched paper on a 1010-word poem.     * Poem Text: "In the middle of the cat's yawn, a pink tongue."     * Methodology: To reach 1010 pages, the instructor focused on research regarding the author and the specific context behind the poem rather than just the literal content of the text.     * Lesson: While the instructor will give challenging assignments that may feel "impossible" at first, they are all assignments that have been successfully completed by countless students in the past. Support will be provided.

SWOT Analysis Activity

  • Purpose: A personal reflection exercise to identify self-patterns. It serves as a baseline for the end-of-course reflection assignment to measure growth.

  • Components of SWOT:     * Strengths: What helps the student.     * Weaknesses: What hurts the student.     * Opportunities: Things that can help if the student uses them.     * Threats: Anticipated challenges that could derail the student. The instructor notes that students often ignore this section, but ignoring threats does not make them disappear.

  • Logistics: Students were given 77 minutes to brainstorm this on their own (not to be collected or graded).

Logistics and Upcoming Deadlines

  • Attendance: Taken silently by the instructor while students worked on their SWOT analysis.

  • Preferred Names: The instructor is making notes of preferred names that differ from the official roster and encourages students to correct any mispronunciations of their names.

  • Next Reading Assignment:     * Text: A short story by Hurston (found in the "Readings" folder under "H").     * Preparation: Read the story for Thursday’s class. The instructor will also be doing the reading.     * Goal: Come ready to discuss thoughts, questions, and "epiphanies."

  • Syllabus: The instructor intentionally chose not to read the syllabus aloud during class to save time, expecting students to review it independently.

Questions & Discussion

  • Student Question: "Will the classes be recorded?"     * Response: No, to encourage open participation.

  • Student Observation: A student noticed in the Padlet that help is available when needed.     * Response: The instructor confirmed and re-emphasized their accessibility.

  • Student Question regarding the 10-page paper: "When you say research, do you mean research on the poem or the context behind it?"     * Response: The instructor focused on context. They also mentioned that simple filler (like describing the color pink in depth) was not the intended way to complete the assignment.

  • Student Question/Comment: "Are we doing an assignment like this?"     * Response: No, it was only an example. However, students will face challenges that they must overcome with instructor support.

  • Student Feedback on the First Day: Students expressed surprise at the instructor's personality, the high level of encouraged engagement, the transparency about using AI for cognitive load, and the fact that the instructor did not spend the entire first day reading the syllabus.