Escritura para la preparación universitaria: semestre II: pensamiento crítico y escritura argumentativa

 In the first week of the course, students will start with an overview of the classroom rules and expectations, as well as the weekly schedule and upcoming assignments, to ensure everyone is prepared for the upcoming course. Students will spend the majority of class going over the overall research project assignment, what the requirements are, and how to choose an appropriate topic for their project. 

 In this first of two weeks on source selection, students will begin with an overview of how to evaluate a source's credibility, including author or organization evaluation, determining potential bias, and using up-to-date information. This will be built upon over the following  weeks when we discuss specific source materials. Today's focus will be print materials, like books and academic journals, why they are important, and where to access them 

 This class focuses entirely on using the internet responsibly for academic research projects! First, students will cover the basics of identifying credible source materials on the web, including how to identify the sponsor of a website, how to identify biased sources, and using Wikipedia effectively and appropriately. Students will be provided with a rubric they can use when engaging with websites to identify if they are credible resources. 

 This week, students will work on developing the thesis statement and introduction to their paper. Students will discuss how to develop a clear thesis statement that guides their readers through their research project. They will also think about the organization for their paper and be introduced to several styles of organization for argumentative papers that may help them to communicate their views to their audience effectively.