Posts related to the ISUcomm program.
ENGL 150: Modeling an interview To help students prepare for the profile assignment, Ginnia Kovach arranges guests to come to the classroom to be interviewed about their work. The activity’s purpose is to help students understand interview etiquette, craft solid interview questions, approach recording the interview, and take substantial notes. Kovach recommends focusing on … Continue reading UP NEXT IN ENGL 150
ENGL 250 – Research Project For the research project, Kelli Fitzpatrick, Shalini Singh, and Elizabeth Wenger recommend an activity focusing on the process of choosing a strong research topic. The purpose of this activity is to help students learn brainstorming techniques for exploring topics of … Continue reading UP NEXT IN ENGL 250
1. What do you wish your students knew about you? Caitlin Moran, MA, RCPC: I wish students knew that I’m learning as much from them as they are from me. Kristen Neumann, PhD, RPC: I wish they knew how much … Continue reading NEW TA Q&A with Caitlin Moran and Kristen Neumann
Dear all, Welcome to a new semester! Over the summer, the ISUComm Foundation Courses team made some changes. If you are teaching face-to-face, your Canvas shell looks different. The concept of invitation informed our revision process. If we think of the Canvas shell as an invitation to teaching and learning in our courses, what does … Continue reading Director’s Letter
Geneva Toland, MFA, CWE & Wren Bouwman, PhD, ALT What do you wish your students knew about you? Wren: I actually really love when they ask me questions about Iowa State or for help navigating student life. Geneva: I am trained as an … Continue reading NEW TA Q&A
Based on feedback from the instructor and student surveys conducted at the end of last semester, the ISUComm Foundation Courses team has made some changes to the structure of ENGL 150/ENGL 250 face-to-face courses: Streamlining the face-to-face Canvas shells for ENGL 150 and 250. The shells include the syllabus, major assignment descriptions with due dates, … Continue reading CHANGES TO ENGL 150 AND ENGL 250 FACE-TO-FACE COURSE SHELLS
To introduce the rhetorical analysis assignment, Lesley Bartlett recommends a learning activity that helps students understand “everything’s an argument.” The activity also aims to help students see they already read rhetorically in their everyday lives, and the rhetorical analysis unit builds on those skills. After ENGL 250 students have read the first chapter of Everything’s … Continue reading ENGL 250 – Rhetorical Analysis
For the Personal Narrative assignment, lecturer Jane DuPuis recommends a collaborative exercise for preparing students to develop their drafts and ideas. In preparation for the Personal Narrative peer review, DuPuis presents a slide presentation. By this point in the course, students have read and discussed chapter 2 in The Concise St. Martin’s Guide to Writing … Continue reading ENGL 150 – Personal Narrative
The assistant director of ISUComm Foundation courses and an associate teaching professor, Amy Walton’s career in education has taken many different forms since her undergraduate years. Walton graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English and French Education from the University of Northern Iowa, where she discovered an interest in linguistics and rhetoric alongside literary … Continue reading Instructor Spotlight: Amy Walton Teaches and Learns Through the Process
What do you wish your students knew about you? Burak: That what they see me doing in class is 10% of what I do as an instructor. Jessica: I am designing a board game as a creative component for my master’s … Continue reading New TA Q&A