UNIV 111 Focused Inquiry I:
Spring 2016
Instructor:
Mary Mullins
Email: [email protected]
Office Location: 5146 Harris Hall
Office Phone:
(804) 828-7209
Office Hours:
MW 1:30-3:30; T 11-noon and by appointment
Course Goals
As the first part of a two-semester course sequence, UNIV 111 will help you build the skills essential for successful
university work. Designed to mirror the thinking and writing challenges that students encounter as they move through
their undergraduate programs, UNIV 111 will lay the foundation for each of the skill areas of the VCU Core Curriculum.
Critical Thinking
: think critically about texts, ideas, and the elements of argument
Writing Proficiency
: create formal and informal pieces of writing in a variety of genres, including reflective,
narrative, summary, analytical, and argumentative
Collaborative Learning
: work with peers on group assignments, projects, and classroom activities
Oral Communication
: build communication skills essential for academic work and life through active
participation in whole class and small group discussions as well as formal presentations
Information Fluency
: critically read and respond to texts
Ethical and Civic Responsibility
: Explore principles of ethical and civic responsibility and analyze ethical
problems and viewpoints
Quantitative Literacy
:
recognize how quantitative information may be used as evidence
The course material provides you with opportunities to learn the skills and practice the strategies that will enhance your
subsequent academic performance in all disciplines, as well as facilitate professional success and lifelong learning.
UNIV
111 applies the notion of the "spiral curriculum" in that you will repeat activities that allow you to revisit analytical
concepts and practices, building upon these until you have grasped and internalized the steps of the analytical process.
Each “level” of this “spiral curriculum” will be more complex and involved, so that you will sharpen your thinking as you
move through the course.
The course is divided into three related units. The units are:
Experience/Culture/Text
Text/Context
Context/Argument
Required Course Materials
You must have all of these materials to be successful in the class.
Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers.
A Writer’s Reference,
Eighth Edition with “Writing in the Disciplines” and
“Multimodal Projects” inserts
Hayden McNeil Custom Reader
: True Stories:
Focused Inquiry, VCU 2015-2016 Edition
Radioactive: A Tale of Love and Fallout
by Lauren Redniss
VCU email account/Blackboard account
and reliable daily access to those accounts.
Core Assignments
Writing:
Students will produce one core writing assignment during each of the three units. Each piece of writing will be
taken through a process of drafting, revision, and/or reflection, which may include preliminary drafts, guided revision,
peer review, and critical self-assessment. Core writing assignments in each unit should grow out of and evidence the
critical thinking and reading that occurs during the unit. Secondary research should be fully documented with in-text
