A Return to Basics to Build Comfort and Capability within College Courses

When contemplating the creation of a remedial course syllabus, my instinct is to return to basics. Solid foundations of understanding allow students to move onto more complex work, but only after they have fully developed basic skills, such as active reading, critical thinking, researching, thesis building, outlining, paragraphing, citing, editing, and proofreading. The course's goal would be for students to develop solid understanding of these basic skills, allowing them to comfortable and capably engage with various areas of academia and research.

The Look and Books

I would structure the course around the student's needs. For the first day, I would have the students tell me what they know about each of the aforementioned concepts, either as a class or in small groups. This gives them a chance to share their collective knowledge. Based on their response, I would spend more time on more challenging skills as the course progressed. 

I would structure the class around a very general theme, such as growing up. Providing them with some examples of coming of age journeys: a bildungsroman novel (perhaps My Antonia or Great Expectations, depending on course length), at least one poem (perhaps "The Shoe Box" by W.S. Di Piero), and a few articles and essays (such as a psychology research article on adolescence, maybe an education or composition article on how young people learn, or a current news article/think-piece about youth culture). I would have their compositions engage at least one literary text and article we read with a source they find themselves.

The Skills

I would cover all the basic concepts I listed in the introduction. I would start with critical thinking and active reading, work in researching outside sources when composing essays, brainstorm strong and specific thesis statements, discuss the importance of organizing by using outlines, and then detail and model the writing process (paragraph structure, correct citations, when/how to edit and then proofread, including explanation and exercises on strong grammar practices).

The Atmosphere

I would try to encourage a collaborative and open atmosphere. Students will be challenged to think critically as they encounter new materials and decide how they can relate it to their life experience and relay the information to others. A class where questions are required, discussions a daily practice, writing a habit (either in notes or short responses, online and in-class), and students are encouraged to develop an academically oriented mindset.