Composition and Communication I & II (Written, Oral and Visual Communication)
Course Templates
While in many universities first-year composition and oral communication are taught as separate courses, the UK Core curriculum recognizes that speaking, writing, and using visuals effectively are interrelated skills. The Composition and Communication I and II courses are designed to engage students in composing and communicating ideas using speech, writing, and visuals in an active learning environment. Both courses participate in the broad learning objectives of developing critical thinking and information literacy skills within an academic context that emphasizes the problems students will confront as educated citizens of the twenty-first century. Students will practice composing, critiquing, and revising ideas for audiences and in developing public speaking and interpersonal communication skills. Cultivating life-long habits of writing and speaking for personal expression and community participation is an important goal of this curriculum. The proficiencies demonstrated in these courses will then be reinforced throughout the students’ major course of study.
Composition and Communication I
In this course, students will demonstrate the ability to
- Compose written texts and deliver oral presentations that represent relevant and informed points of view appropriate for the audience, purpose, and occasion.
- Analyze, create, and use visuals as a form of communication.
- Demonstrate an awareness of appropriate strategies used to communicate effectively in different situations (e.g., large-group, small-group, interpersonal) and contexts (e.g., face-to-face, digital).
- Find, analyze, evaluate, and properly cite pertinent primary and secondary sources, using relevant discovery tools, as part of the process of preparing speeches, composing texts, and creating visuals.
- Develop flexible and effective strategies for organizing, revising, practicing/rehearsing, editing, and proofreading (for grammar and mechanics) to improve the development and clarity of their ideas.
- Define revision strategies for essays, speeches, and visuals, set goals for improving them, and devise effective plans for achieving those goals, in collaboration with peers, instructor, and librarians.
- Engage in a range of small group activities to explore and express experiences and perspectives on issues under discussion.
Composition and Communication II
In this course, students will demonstrate the ability to
- Compose in writing and deliver orally with visuals (in a face-to-face or digital environment) at least one major project grounded in scholarly research in a manner that is appropriate and effective for the audience, purpose, and occasion. (The development of one or more major research projects is the course’s primary educational focus.)
- Conduct significant research on a subject, using the resources of the UK Libraries
- Employ advanced strategies for developing ideas and analyzing arguments, with greater emphasis on addressing and mediating issues of public interest, and with evidence of critical thinking in both the conception and the development of the thesis.
- Refine their speaking, writing, and visual communication skills, focusing on matters of construction, design, and delivery style.
- Critique the work of peers and professionals.
- Revise their written and oral presentations, in collaboration with peers, instructor, librarians, and pertinent members of the public.
- Employ and evaluate interpersonal and small group communication skills..
Guidelines for Course Designers
Students should compose multiple drafts of their major assignments, and instructors should review at least one draft, before the final version is presented for a grade. Small- group discussion, practice-based activities, and peer review are critical to the success of these courses. Course readings and assignments can be organized around disciplinary and professional contexts or broad interdisciplinary topics, as long as the course focuses on developing proficiency in oral, written, and visual communication (as outlined in the learning outcomes) that can be applied to other disciplines and to contexts beyond the university.
Curriculum-Embedded, Performance-Based Assessable Products
- Formal written texts
- Recorded presentations (e.g., individual speeches, symposiums, panels, audiovisual presentations)
- Revision plans and/or peer reviews
- Written documentation (e.g., self and peer evaluations, application and reflection papers, formal outlines, flowcharts, cluster diagrams, generative lists, or other artifacts of planning and shaping messages)
- Visual products (e.g., slide presentations, Web sites, posters, documents incorporating digital images)
- Peer and group reviews of interpersonal interactions/simulations/role plays
- Interpersonal and small group dynamics reflection papers