HU 5931: Practicum in Pedagogy: Written, Visual,
And Oral Communication
Fall 2003Instructor: Randy Freisinger

305 Walker 482-8046 (home) 7-3229 (office)
Graduate Assistants: Kristin Arola and Alex Ilyasova
Office Hours: Randy: 8:30-9:30 MWF; 3:30-4:15 Th

Course Description & Goals: The primary goals of this class are to encourage you to be thoughtful and reflective teachers and to offer ongoing support for GTI instruction in the teaching of UN 2110 (Revisions). “Support “ in this context means continued assistance in the day-to-day teaching of Revisions, including follow-up work on concepts and issues introduced during the GTI Fall Orientation Workshop. “Support” also means explorations of selected theoretical issues relevant to the teaching of a sophomore-level writing course that also offers students additional instruction in visual and oral communication.
Required Texts:
Design Writing Research: Writing on Graphic Design, Ellen Lupton and J. Abbot Miller (Phaidon, 1999)
Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures, eds. Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis (Routledge, 2000).
A Guide to Composition Pedagogies, Gary Tate and others, eds. (Oxford University Press, 2001)
Course Approach and Content: The emphasis in this class will be discussion and guest presentations. You will be assigned readings from the above texts (and additional readings when necessary). Our weekly sessions will, for the most part, focus on your experiences in the classroom and your questions about pedagogical matters as well as on discussing selected assigned readings. Guests will elaborate on ideas introduced during the orientation workshop or explore new areas of interest for teachers of Revisions. Assigned readings will introduce theoretical concerns in order to help you shape and refine your own pedagogical values. We have created a class E-list that we hope you will all use to supplement and extend our classroom discussion.
NB: We have not attached a schedule of weekly readings or activities since much of both still remains to be determined. We will keep you posted on when and what to read as well as who will be visiting us for follow-up sessions.
Assignments: The main assignments are 1) A Reflective Journal which you will keep throughout the term to explore your thoughts about and your experiences in the classroom; 2) A Reflective Portfolio of teaching materials to be submitted at term’s end. This portfolio should contain your syllabus and sample writing and group assignments, handouts, overheads, student writing, and whatever else you wish to include that you believe represents your efforts as a teacher. This portfolio should include a 1-page cover letter or retrospective assessment of your work in your Revisions class. At the end of the second semester you will be required to submit a relatively short position paper which articulates the composition/ communication philosophy informing your teaching. The reflective journal and portfolio you keep this semester should supply you with the raw material for that position paper, and it wouldn’t hurt to think about that assignment throughout the year.
Conferences: You will meet with Randy for 2 half-hour conferences during the semester, one fairly early, the other toward the end of the term. Beyond this minimal requirement, we encourage you to schedule a conference with any one of the three of us whenever the need arises.
ClassVisits/Mentoring: Randy will visit your class at least once during the semester. The three of us will also serve as mentors to you, and we will provide more details about how that mentoring will work in the coming weeks.
Attendance: HU 5931 is an important component of your first year GTI experience, and we expect you to attend the class regularly. We will regard your presence as a form of professional obligation; so should you.
NOTE: MTU’s Affirmative Action Officer has asked that all faculty include the following statement on each course syllabus:
MTU complies with all federal and state laws and regulations regarding discrimination, including the Americans with Disability Act of 1990 (ADA). If you have a disability and need a reasonable accommodation for equal access to education or services at MTU, please call Dr. Gloria Melton, Associate Dean of Students, (2212). For other concerns about discrimination, you may contact your advisor, department head, or the Affirmative Action Office (3310).