Curriculum

According to their student demographics website, in August 2021, Marquette University had an undergraduate enrollment of 8,024 and a graduate and professional enrollment of 3,526 (total: 11,550). The class of 2024 included 1,647 undergraduate students. 66% of those students were from out of state, 57% were female, and 43% were male. As a “direct admit institution,” students begin their first year immediately enrolled in their college of study (e.g., nursing, business administration, arts and sciences). In our interviews, the administrators we spoke with described students as being a part of a “traditional” campus (mainly residential, aged 18-22) where the majority of students came to campus as “academic insiders” in their first year and tended to be risk-averse. Administrators also noted that students “take volunteering very seriously” and have crammed calendars with obligations beyond coursework.

During our site visit in December 2018, Marquette University required all students to complete two 3-credit courses in writing as part of “The University Core of Common Studies”: (1) English 1001: Rhetoric & Composition I, Academic Literacies and (2) English 1002: Rhetoric & Composition II, Public Literacies. Program-wide, instructors teach common syllabi. Both ENGL 1001 and ENGL 1002 contain 4 distinct, 3- to 4-week units plus a 5th that focuses on revision. Across sections, students complete the same main assignments, and they engage in regular reflective writing.

In English 1001: Rhetoric & Composition I, Academic Literacies, students learn to:

• Critically engage scholarly communication by identifying and analyzing the main rhetorical features of variously mediated texts used by scholars to express ideas in academic settings;
• Pursue inquiry with rigor and responsibility by formulating feasible and meaningful research questions and revising them while conducting thorough, ethical inquiries using appropriate available resources;
• Understand writing as a purpose-driven, audience-oriented, multimodal activity that involves writers in making continuous ethical and informed choices;
• Develop writing by engaging in overlapping phases of invention, synthesis of ideas and information, and revision undertaken in response to others' feedback and self-critique;
• Deliver writing by making full use of appropriate available media, genres, formats, and styles;
• Write with exigence by addressing issues of importance with the goal of increasing one's own and others' understanding as a foundation for future action of various kinds;
• Develop an appropriate ethos by meeting academic audiences' expectations for credibility, consistency, and integrity.

In English 1002: Rhetoric & Composition II, Public Literacies, students learn to: 

• Critically engage public discourse by identifying and analyzing the main rhetorical features of variously mediated publicly circulating texts;
• Pursue inquiry with rigor and responsibility by formulating feasible and meaningful research questions and revising them while conducting thorough, ethical inquiries using appropriate available resources;
• Understand writing as a purpose-driven, audience-oriented, multimodal activity that involves writers in making continuous ethical and informed choices;
• Develop writing by engaging in overlapping phases of invention, synthesis of ideas and information, and revision undertaken in response to others' feedback and self-critique;
• Deliver writing by making full use of appropriate available media, genres, formats and styles;
• Write with exigence by addressing issues of importance with the goal of increasing one's own and others' understanding as a foundation for future action of various kinds;
• Develop an appropriate ethos by meeting—and exceeding—public audiences' expectations for credibility, consistency, and integrity.

Digital writing was piloted as a part of the 1002 curriculum in spring 2016 and implemented fully in the fall of 2016. When we spoke, Jenn Fishman noted that “I came [to Marquette in 2011] with an interest in integrating digital composing one way or another into first-year writing because it just seems unethical, at this point, not to do that.” At the time of our visit, the curriculum in 1002 included a digital poster assignment and a remix of a white paper project that prompted many students to use digital composing tools and platforms. 

While all students enrolled in 1002 created digital posters and presented them in class, instructors decided if students would work independently, collaboratively, or have a choice between the two. The digital poster and presentation project were scaffolded and themselves served as scaffolding for students' major assignment in the course, a white paper and white paper remix project, including a showcase of student work in the library at the end of the semester.

The description of the digital poster presentation assignment is described this way in the Digital Poster Presentation Unit Plan: 

Digital Poster and Presentation Assignment Description

The main assignment in this unit is a digital poster presentation. It features highlights from your prior rhetorical analysis of texts that contribute to public discourse about a particular hot topic, and it involves a public speaking component.

In some sections of ENGL 1002, students will each design their own digital poster; in some sections, students will work in pairs; and in other sections, instructors will invite students to choose how they would like to work. Whatever the case, each poster will summarize rhetorical analysis of three texts that contribute to public discourse about a hot topic. In class, 3- to 5-minute digital poster presentations will include brief background on the hot topic covered as well as an overview of public discourse about that topic, putting the three texts selected into context. Here, it's important to note: posters will not sum up the texts themselves, like book reports. Instead, posters will summarize your rhetorical analysis of three different public texts about the same hot topic:

• a piece of long-form writing (e.g., in-depth newspaper article, magazine article)
• a non-written text (e.g., video, song, meme, cable or broadcast news segment),
• and one example from social media (e.g., Twitter storm, public Facebook posts).

In class, 3- to 5-minute digital poster presentations will include brief background on the hot topic covered as well as an overview of public discourse about that topic, putting the three texts selected into context. Perhaps of course, presentations will also gloss the content of the posters themselves, and the best presentations will also leave audiences with informed food for thought regarding the hot topic covered and/or public discourse itself.

Key terms: public literacies, academic literacies critical reading, public discourse.

Assignment Scaffolding

FYE asks everyone to dive right into the semester's researching and writing. To succeed, plan to show up, keep up, and contribute actively. This means coming prepared to each class meeting and participating by listening as well as commenting purposefully and responsively. This also means communicating openly and clearly with class colleagues in your rhetorical analysis group, and it means asking for help—from peers, from the librarian who will be paired with our class, and from me—whenever you need it. All minor and scaffolding assignments listed below build toward the main unit assignment. They include:

• Hot Topic Research Log and Inventory: A log of the steps you took to research your hot topic and an inventory of the texts you contributed (via D2L) to your group's hot topic cache along with a rationale for why you selected them.
• Public Discourse Rhetorical Analysis*: Written rhetorical analyses of the three main texts you plan to use for your hot topic.
• Public Discourse Backstory*: A written general overview of your hot topic and public discourse about it.
• Rhetorical Analysis Poster and Talking Points Rough Draft: A rough draft of the digital poster and talking points you are preparing for in-class presentation at the end of this unit.
• Rhetorical Analysis Poster and Talking Points Final Draft
• SLO-J: A reflection on your learning over the course of this unit

Assignments marked with an asterisk (*) are scaffolding assignments. They support the major unit assignment and must be submitted in sequence and with sufficient time for you to receive and respond to instructor feedback or you cannot receive credit for the final rhetorical analysis draft. 

Student Learning Outcomes

The SLOs for this unit align with the SLOs for the course as well as SLOs established by the University Core of Common Studies. As you work on researching and rhetorically analyzing public discourse, you should be striving to learn how to do the following activities well and with confidence:

• Critically engage public discourse by identifying a hot topic and analyzing the texts that represent it;
• Pursuing inquiry with rigor and responsibility while seeking representative examples of public discourse about a hot topic;
• Deliver writing by making full use of appropriate available media, genres, formats and styles;
• ____________________________________________________ (insert one or more personal SLOs here).

Marquette's 1002 also asked students to work on a remix project. Although this assignment did not explicitly require students to engage in digital composing, many students did, creating things like video games. Because of this, materials for the remix project can be found in the gallery below.