Design Document for

EDUC 767: Freshman Composition

By Nicole Beveridge
The goal of the course is to improve student reading, writing and critical
Purpose of the Course
literacy competencies. Learners will determine the difference between facts

and opinions. They will reflect on both the positive and negative

consequences and why many people prefer opinions more than facts.

Learners will engage in practical exercises to determine the difference

between facts and opinions and to discover the power of critical thinking

and writing.

Freshman Composition students

Audience Description
The primary audience is composed of students. The college enrolls

approximately 14,000 degree seeking students on campus. The student body

is racially and ethnically diverse. More than half of KCC’s students were

born outside the U.S., representing 142 different countries and 73 different

native languages. Sixty percent are the first generation in their families to

attend college. Fifty-eight percent are full time students, over one-fifth are

25 years old or older and more than 40% come from households with annual

incomes of under $20,000. Half of the students work full-time or part-time

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 while attending college, and one in five supports children. A broad array of

student services permits all students to succeed to the maximum of their

abilities.

The target audience for this course will be the following:

● College students enrolled in Freshman Composition courses.

● High school students who are taking college courses.

● Students enrolled in the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP)- these

students have not passed the pre-requisite course or the placement

exam to enroll in Freshman Composition I, so they are required to

take an additional 2- hours of instruction per week.

● A few students are employed full-time.

● The ages range from 18-27 and some non-traditional students who

range from 35 to 66 years.

Major Course TO1- Learners will distinguish between credible/supported and superficial
Objectives (Terminal) arguments in a variety of texts, verbally and in writing.
TO2- Learners will critically review and edit writing for accuracy and
clarity.
TO3- Learners will take compositional and intellectual risks.
TO4- Learners will gain confidence in writing

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Course Enabling 1.1 Students will differentiate between facts and opinions in assigned
Objectives readings with 100% accuracy.
1.2 Student recognizes the author’s use of rhetorical appeals and is able to
describe common fallacies with a 90% accuracy.
1.3 Student will describe what constitutes a credible and supported
argument based on assigned course readings.
2.1 Students will apply the rules of grammar and style to correct errors in
writing.
2.2 Student will clearly express their arguments verbally or in writing based
on evidence of research and assigned readings.
2.3 Students will evaluate their own arguments based on the evidence or
experience of applying new knowledge verbally or in writing.
3.1 Learners will write fluent, unified, coherent, and well-developed essays
with vivid, explicit and effective details.
3.2 Synthesize information from several sources to support a written thesis
statement.
4.1 Learners will incorporate textual evidence, using summaries,
paraphrasing and quotations.
4.2 Learners will write clearly focused, logically organized, and effectively
developed essays.
4.3 Learners will employ MLA conventions, mechanics, and grammar in
their writing

RLO Enabling Determine the difference between facts and opinions in assigned readings.
Objective

Learning Assessment The learner will be assessed via activities throughout the units in the course
and will be assigned a standard letter grade (A, B, C, D etc.) Assignments

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for Course will be outlined on the course syllabus and also on the (LMS). There are
various weightings for each assignment to derive the final grade for the
course.

Learning Assessment This RLO will have 3 learning assessments:

for RLO
1. True/False Pre-test summative assessment about facts and opinions.
2. End of Unit formative assessment: multiple choice mastery quiz.
3. Arguments and Counterarguments: Select opinions and facts from
assigned articles.

Instructional Delivery This course will be offered as a blended or partially online course- student
method for Course centered. Asynchronous and face to face (f2f)-this course is not self-paced
(overall) or self-guided.

Instructional Strategy This instructional strategy for the RLO will be direct instruction/ tutorial.
for RLO
Mini Lecture/ Structured Overview: It will introduce the concepts of
Facts and Opinions in a Powerpoint Presentation and provide a brief
overview
Case-based learning (assessment scenario)

Media Media utilized in this RLO will include:

Texts and graphics will be the main components of media used in the
course. There will be animation/video and audio narration of the text
content.

508 Accommodations RLO will reflect best practices for accessibility including but not limited to:
● Contrast with background and text will be taken into consideration.
● Text only versions of slide presentations where applicable
● Audio narration available for text.
● Simple and clear language

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 ● Captioning and transcripts will be available for video content if
needed.
● Images will have text descriptions
● Pace of the presentation will be controlled by the viewer.
● There will be the option to skip through repetitive screens, or if user
feels knowledge for material is sufficient.
● Images will have alt text descriptions
● Transcript for the entire RLO will be provided for download

Course Structure This is a 7-week undergraduate level course. Each week is a separate
Description module/unit, covering different key topics/concepts.
The information will be delivered through computer-based lessons and 1
face-to-face (f2f) lesson per week.
The course will include:
Week 1- Identifying the difference between facts and opinions
Week 2- Week - Defining Terms: Factual Statements
Week 3- Defining Terms: Opinions
Week 4- Blending Facts and Opinions
Week 5- Recognizing statements that blend (mix) facts with opinions
Week 6- - Defining Informed and Uninformed
Week 7- Distinguish between Informed and Uninformed Opinions

Seat Time of Course 7 weeks for the entire course, 1 week per module

Seat Time of RLO 30 mins.

RLO Outline Welcome, Bienvenida, Bienvenue, Ben arrivata to Freshman Composition

I. I am Professor Nicole Beveridge and I will be your facilitator this Spring

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 semester for Freshman Composition I.
RLO Title: Understanding the difference between facts and opinions.
Introduction: What is factual statement?
Facts and Opinions graphic organizer
Lesson Overview: How facts and opinions differ; how to spot when and
where opinions have been slipped in with facts; how to distinguish between
informed and uninformed opinions.
Lesson Objective: Learners will distinguish between facts and opinions.
Order of Topics:
Identifying the difference between facts and opinions
Defining Terms: Factual Statements
Defining Terms: Opinions
Blending Facts and Opinions
Recognizing statements that blend (mix) facts with opinions
Defining Informed and Uninformed
Distinguish between Informed and Uninformed Opinions

Knowledge Check: Summative assessment, self-checks

Major Lesson Task: Distinguish the use of facts and opinions using
analytical tools
Demonstration: Instructor provides best practice examples
Task Practice: Simulation-branching scenarios with key best practices
Lesson Review: Summary/Wrap-up and call to adopt critical reading and
writing skills and the use of analytical tools to distinguish facts and opinions

RLO Flowchart Please see flow chart in Appendix A

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Screens/Pages in RLO 17 screens

Knowledge Checks or Dichotomous (True/ False)

Other Assessments or Phrase Matching
Practices for RLO
Drag and Drop

Rollovers/click events These are the approximate numbers.

10 Click events

RLO Navigation The following navigation approaches will be employed:

a. Paging buttons (Next, Back, Home)
b. Course map
c. Glossary
d. Refresh
Exit- Option on the screen to switch back and forth

Screen Layouts for Title

RLO

Content/Instructional

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 Knowledge Check

Interactive

Development Tools ● MS Word

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for RLO ● Udutu
● Pixabay
● Power Point
● Google Images
Ownership Nicole Beveridge will develop the initial course, in collaboration with the
curriculum developer who will maintain the course. The course is being
developed for the City University of New York- Kingsborough Community
College.

Development Time of Development time for the entire course is course is 7 weeks. Development
entire course and time of the RLO is roughly 50-70 hours
RLO

Support requirements Low-Level requirements. The Instructional Designer and the curriculum
for RLO and course developer will create graphics and audio recordings.

Project Please sign below indicating agreement with the proposed course plan and
Sign-off [optional] approving start-up of the storyboard and development phases.

Dr. Nicole Beveridge

Instructional Designer Date

Project Manager/ Sponsor Date

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