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Lecture 1 Notes: Introduction, Prewriting & Planning to Write

  • Introduction to the course
    • Rationale: not just mandatory; questions why one would take the course and why writing well matters.
  • Main goals of the course (overview)
    • Writing
    • Process
    • Providing and receiving feedback
  • Course structure and assessment (overview)
    • Engagement (20%)
    • Assignment (20%)
    • Best Writing Exercise (10%)
    • Final Essay (30%)
  • Detailed breakdown: Engagement components
    • Essay Components (ECs): 9 components; cover different parts of writing an essay
    • Mini-Reflections: 10 reflections
    • Writing Exercises: 7 exercises
    • Grading: pass/fail for each subcomponent; on-time submission earns marks
  • Essay Components in depth
    • ECs are based on your final essay topic (a controversial issue in psychology)
    • There are 9 essay components; each worth a single mark
    • Total EC marks: 9
    • Due time policy: each EC due an hour before the lecture slot; no late submissions
    • Structure of the lecture: weekly lecture in the first part; small-group feedback in the second part (from Week 2)
    • Small-group work details: groups of 4–5; each student presents their EC; peers provide feedback; instructor facilitates and answers questions
    • Feedback timeline: TA provides written feedback at two points before the final essay: for the 1-4 bundle and the 1-6 bundle
  • Mini-Reflections
    • Based on learning experience throughout the course
    • 10 mini-reflections; each worth 1 mark
    • Total: 10 marks
    • Grading: pass/fail; on-time submissions only; due by 11:59 p.m. on lecture dates
  • Writing Exercises
    • Based on journal articles posted under Important Course Information on eClass
    • There are 7 writing exercises; each covers different aspects of writing
    • Each writing exercise has 3 parts, each worth 1 mark: (i) First draft, (ii) Peer feedback for another student’s first draft, (iii) Final draft
    • Total writing exercise marks: 21
  • Peer feedback guidelines for Writing Exercises
    • Be cordial
    • Provide constructive feedback to improve the peer’s first draft
    • Grading is pass/fail; submit drafts and feedback on time; no late submissions
    • First draft is posted as a reply to the instructor’s post
  • Writing Exercises (example content)
    • Example shows a typical Writing Exercise 1 post: author, date/time, and instruction to reply with the first draft
    • Detailed submission instructions are posted under Important Course Information
  • Bonus marks for Engagement
    • Up to 3 bonus marks to compensate for missed engagement activities
    • Examples:
    • If final engagement score is 37/40, bonus marks yield 40/40
    • If final engagement score is 32/40, bonus marks yield 35/40
    • If final engagement score is 40/40, it remains 40/40
  • 1-4 Essay Components Bundle Assignment
    • Bundle includes ECs 1–4; submit all ECs as a single document
    • TA marks this assignment and provides written feedback for the next bundle
  • 1-6 Essay Components Bundle Assignment
    • Bundle includes ECs 1–6; submit all ECs as a single document
    • TA marks and provides feedback to help complete the final essay
  • Best Writing Exercise
    • At course end, select your Best Writing Exercise
    • Make final revisions and submit for evaluation
  • Final Essay
    • Builds on work and feedback from the 9 ECs and the 1-4 and 1-6 bundle assignments
  • Choosing an Essay Topic
    • Topic must be argumentative; choose a controversial issue in psychology
    • Examples: Does playing violent video games increase aggression?; Is there a relationship between social media use and depression?
    • Process: work through initial ECs to choose a position and argue that position using logic and empirical evidence
  • Essay Component 1: How to Get Started
    • Think about possible topics for your essay
    • Engage in prewriting
    • Come up with a controversial issue in psychology
  • Prompts for reflection and prewriting (pages 20–21)
    • Questions to consider: What topic in psychology motivated you to become a psychology major? What behaviors observed would you like to understand better? What were your favorite PSYC 1010 topics?
    • Prewriting techniques: Freewriting, Questioning, Clustering (Mind-Mapping), Listing
  • Prewriting techniques explained
    • Freewriting: writing a paragraph about a topic continuously for 10 minutes without editing
    • Questioning: generating questions about the topic
    • Clustering (Mind-Mapping): show relationships between ideas in a visual map
    • Listing: listing statements about a topic without editing
  • Examples of prewriting techniques
    • Example of Questioning (Technology): prompts such as
    • Can we become addicted to technology?
    • Has technology had an impact on time management?
    • Have we become too dependent on technology?
    • Does increased dependence on technology impact other skills?
    • Example of Mind-Mapping: map with branches like Children, Teenagers, Infants; Parenting; Caregiving; Emotional/Nurturance; Abuse/neglect; etc.
  • What to do before next class
    • Review materials under Important Course Information on eClass
    • Complete EC 1 (due on the next lecture date)
    • Essay Component 1: Preliminary thoughts on a controversial issue (~300 words)
    • Demonstrate preliminary thoughts and generate possible essay topics using TWO of the prewriting strategies discussed (freewriting, questioning, clustering, listing)
  • Additional context
    • Focus on argumentative topics, use empirical evidence to support positions
    • Emphasis on feedback loops: peer feedback, TA feedback, and iterative revisions
    • Structure of assessment designed to build toward a polished final essay through incremental components