First Year Instruction: RWS, LING, and GEN S

First Year Experience

The General Studies 100 University Seminar course is one component of a series of academic and student services programs that have been designed to support success as a first year student.  It is offered in three formats: 

A. GENS 100 A- University Seminar: A stand alone option for first year students. Most students participate in this option. It offers a lot of flexibility in your scheduling.

B. GENS 100 B- Learning in Communities- The seminar course linked with a G.E. or academic course such as, Political Science 100 , Economics 101, Psychology 100. This enables students to take an academic course along with students in two or three other seminars supporting your ability to network with additional students. The academic course and seminar instructors work together to support your learning. 

C. GENS 100 C- Living Learning Communities: The seminar course is linked with a G.E. or academic course, a course in your major, and/or theme or affinity based learning community. These seminars are open to residential students (living on campus). This seminar offers students extensive opportunities to build connections and relationships with students that go beyond the course meeting times as they are integrated with your residence hall floor or theme based living experience.

Gen S 100 (A/B/C) 

Prerequisite(s): Only open to freshman

Provides opportunities to interact with faculty and staff in a small group setting. Students acquire study and interpersonal skills for academic and personal success. Special sessions are offered featuring campus resources including library, advising, career, health and wellness services.

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Self-Learning and Development: Explain how taking responsibility for self-learning and development by earning an academic degree is integral to the lives we would love living and the communities we would love to create and strengthen (MICs: Positive Future Self, Planning) (GE Area E Goals 2, 3, 4)
• Leadership: Identify our leadership style and cultural strengths and explain how they are relevant to the vision we have for the lives we would love living and the communities we would love to create and strengthen (MICs: Positive Future Self; Conscientiousness, Reflective Learning, Yosso Cultural Wealth; Cultural Mis-Match) (GE Area E Goals 2, 3, 4)
• Help Seeking: Describe the importance of the role of the academic advisor(s), student success coaches, and other academic and student support mentors to my academic success and identify two strategies for leveraging the expertise of the people in those roles (MICs: Academic Self-Efficacy, Persistence, Reflective Learning, Deliberate Problem Solving, Planning) (GE Area E Goals 2, 3, 4)
• Academic Success Strategies: Explain how we have implemented six academic success skills (reading comprehension, note-taking, activity management (aka time management), academic honesty, credible source identification, and test preparation) into our day-to-day SDSU living (MICs: Academic Self-Efficacy, Persistence, Reflective Learning, Deliberate Problem Solving, Planning) (GE Area E Goals 2, 3, 4).
• University Engagement: Describe how we our engaging academically, socially, and responsibly with the SDSU community and the resources  (e.g., academic advisors, mentors if applicable, Writing Center, Math Center, Calpulli, Health Promotions, etc.) it offers is integral to our being able to live the lives we would love living (MICs: Engagement; Responsible utilization of campus resources, Sense of Belonging; Ethnic Identity Development; Planning, Persistence, Self-Control, Reflective Learning) (GE Area E Goals 2, 3, 4)
• Well-Being: Identify well-being strategies that can reduce the natural stress and anxiety that emerges during transitions and when learning new strategies in a new learning environment. (MICs: Psychological Well-Being; Compassion; Resilience) (GE Area E Goals 2, 3, 4)

RWS 100

Prerequisite(s): Satisfaction of the SDSU Written Communication Assessment requirement. (See Graduation Requirements section of catalog.) Proof of completion of prerequisite(s) required.

Writing and reading as critical inquiry, designed to help students undertake university-level writing projects. Focus on rhetoric of written arguments. Students learn to use sources in their writing and make appropriate decisions about structure, cohesion, and rhetorical conventions.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Analyze a variety of texts to demonstrate rhetorical knowledge of an argument’s project, claim, audience, genre, rhetorical appeals, rhetorical strategies (including evidence), and assumptions. 
• Evaluate arguments and their evidence through a process of critical inquiry.
• Locate, evaluate, and incorporate material from sources into their writing projects.
• Compose a variety of texts, employing flexible composing strategies and processes for invention, structure, drafting, reflection, collaboration, feedback, revision, and editing.
• Apply conventions of academic writing, including genre choices, grammar, spelling, mechanics, and citation practices.

Sample assignments:

• RWS 100/200 (2021-2022) [Hiebert]
• RWS 100 (2021-2022)
• RWS 100 (2021-2022)

RWS 200

Prerequisite(s): Satisfaction of the SDSU Written Communication Assessment requirement and RWS 100 [or ENGL 100 or POL S 100] or RWS 105B, or AFRAS 120 or AMIND 120 or CCS 111B or LING 100B. Proof of completion of prerequisite(s) required: Test scores or verification of exemption; copy of transcript.

Further practice in writing, reading, and critical thinking. Emphasis on rhetoric of written arguments in context and using multiple sources in writing. Continued attention to structure, cohesion, and rhetorical conventions.

Student Learning Outcomes: 

• Analyze a variety of print and digital texts to articulate relationships between an argument’s elements and the contexts within which the argument was created.
• Evaluate both print and digital arguments through a process of critical inquiry, examining the arguments in their original contexts and in the context of other arguments in order to discover relationships between texts.
• Locate, evaluate, and synthesize material from sources related to a public discussion in order to generate and support arguments.
• Contribute an informed argument to an ongoing public discussion by identifying and assessing the rhetorical context for an issue.
• Compose a variety of texts, including elements of digital and/or non-print text, through a multi-stage recursive process.
• Employ conventions of academic writing in rhetorically purposeful ways.

Sample assignments:

• RWS 200 (2021-2022)
• RWS 200 (2021-2022)
• RWS 200 (2022-2023)

RWS 305W

Prerequisite(s): Satisfies Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement for students who have completed 60 units; completed Writing Placement Assessment with a score of 8 or higher (or earned a grade of C (2.0) or better in RWS 280, RWS 281 [or LING 281] if score on WPA was 6 or lower); and completed General Education requirements in Communication and Critical Thinking. Proof of completion of prerequisite(s) required: Test scores or verification of exemption; copy of transcript.

Composing effective texts for a wide range of situations in and out of the university. Learning to adjust textual elements for specific purposes, audiences, and settings. Enhances critical reading and writing skills by exploring how content contributes to meaning and effectiveness.

Sample assignments:

• RWS 305W

LING 200

Prerequisite(s): Satisfaction of the SDSU Written Communication Assessment requirement; and LING 100B. Proof of completion of prerequisite(s) required: Test scores or verification of exemption; copy of transcript.

Further practice in mastering conventions of standard academic writing, with emphasis on strategies for research in writing papers. Focus on language issues specific to non-native speakers of English.