Writing is the currency of a college education, from the General Education Curriculum right up through coursework in most majors. In preparation for the challenges that academic writing will present, all Ohio State students take a first-year composition course that is housed in the English program and a second-year course that may be taught by English faculty or by faculty in another field such as psychology (such alternative sections of 397 are typically designed for students in that major, so check the course description before enrolling).
The decisions you make about your work in these two writing courses have consequences. For example, deciding to start free-writing or brainstorming about an idea as soon as you get the assignment has as its likely consequence that you will be able to focus your work better and sooner and use feedback from others more effectively. Putting off drafting that essay until a few days before it’s due may result in an end product that isn’t fully realized and isn’t satisfying to write. Similarly, spending the time that you need in order to really understand course readings and assignments can allow you to get maximum benefit out of course activities, while not allowing adequate time can result in work that doesn’t fulfill the assignment and isn’t a good measure of your capabilities.
Everything is in place for you to succeed: dedicated faculty, cost-free support services, up-to-date technology, and the intellectual resources of a major university. You can make the most of these resources by taking control of your own learning: set priorities about the use of your time and energy and follow through even if the work is harder and takes longer than you are accustomed to. Be prepared to change: to think new things, feel new things, do new things.
Quick links to additional features of Ohio State Newark Writing:
- First Year Writing Program
- Second Year Writing Program
- Writing in Your Major
- Promising Writer Award
- Seaton Essay Competition
- The Writer's Studio
Regardless of which first-year writing course you take, all students in first-year writing courses use a common handbook in addition to their core texts or reading packets: The Longman Concise Companion. Students should be aware that our bookstore has a no-buy-back policy for this book. Why? Because we know you’re going to need it as you move through both GEC courses and those in your major. We want you to keep it for all the years of your stay at OSUN; we’ve even found that many students hang onto their handbooks for years after they graduate. This book will be used in 367 as well as 110, and may be used in other courses both inside and outside the English Department. Your teachers know you have it, and expect you to know how to use it. The handbook comes with a code card that will allow you to make use of some online materials at the direction of your writing teacher. Your access to these materials is good for a year, and does not add to the cost of the book.
Do not purchase a used copy of this book. It will not have the card, which is prohibitively expensive to buy separately.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a cornerstone of your success in college and of your credibility as a student and as a professional later in your life and career. Protect your achievements by becoming familiar with the Code of Conduct for students and the plagiarism policies of the University, which you can find at the links below:
http://oaa.osu.edu/coam/ten-suggestions.html “Ten Suggestions for Preserving Academic Integrity”
http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/resource_csc.asp
Code of Student Conduct, regarding academic misconduct
http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/resource_csc.asp3335-23-04
Prohibited conduct
Any student found to have engaged in the following conduct while within the university's jurisdiction, as set forth in section 3335-23-02, will be subject to disciplinary action by the university.
Academic misconduct
Any activity that tends to compromise the academic integrity of the university, or subvert the educational process. Examples of academic misconduct include, but are not limited to:
1. Violation of course rules as contained in the course syllabus or other information provided to the student; violation of program regulations as established by departmental committees and made available to students;
2. Knowingly providing or receiving information during examinations such as course examinations and candidacy examinations; or the possession and/or use of unauthorized materials during those examinations;
3. Knowingly providing or using assistance in the laboratory, on field work, in scholarship or on a course assignment;
4. Submitting plagiarized work for an academic requirement. Plagiarism is the representation of another's work or ideas as one's own; it includes the unacknowledged word-for-word use and/or paraphrasing of another person's work, and/or the inappropriate unacknowledged use of another person's ideas;
5. Submitting substantially the same work to satisfy requirements for one course or academic requirement that has been submitted in satisfaction of requirements for another course or academic requirement, without permission of the instructor of the course for which the work is being submitted or supervising authority for the academic requirement;
6. Falsification, fabrication, or dishonesty in creating or reporting laboratory results, research results, and/or any other assignments;
7. Serving as, or enlisting the assistance of a substitute for a student in the taking of examinations;
8. Alteration of grades or marks by the student in an effort to change the earned grade or credit;
9. Alteration of academically-related university forms or records, or unauthorized use of those forms or records; and
10. Engaging in activities that unfairly place other students at a disadvantage, such as taking, hiding or altering resource material, or manipulating a grading system.
Council of Writing Program Administrators in January, 2003
Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices
http://wpacouncil.org/node/9