Welcome to the First-Year Writing Program at UTPA

We're a large group of writing and reading teachers working with over 1800 students each semester. We're invested in student-centered classes where students engage in discussions and inquiry about learning, writing, and a variety of contemporary issues. In our classes, we challenge you to read more, write more, and become a more self-sustaining learner in your college work. We want to give you opportunities to develop writing and reading strategies in feedback-rich environments, helping you recognize and work on your strengths, weaknesses, and potentials as writers worth listening to.

Student Learning Outcomes for the Writing Program
The following statements describe what we want our students to know, think/value, and do when they finish the First-Year Writing Program and successfully complete English 1302 with a "C" or better.

1. The student improves his/her writing by engaging in processes of inventing, drafting, organizing, revising, editing, and presentation (corresponds with THECB Communication Objective #1).
2. The student writes with a purpose and composes texts in genres appropriate to his/her purpose and audience (corresponds with THECB Communication Objectives #2 & 3).
   
3. The student productively interacts with his/her peers, engaging in small group activities regularly and in which students give one another feedback on their writing (corresponds with THECB Communication Objective #4).
   
4. The student thinks critically about his/her position in the context of a larger ongoing conversation about the issue he/she is investigating (corresponds with THECB Communication Objective #5).
   
5. The student is aware of the choices that writers have to make and feels confident in his/her ability to use that awareness to engage in a variety of future writing tasks (corresponds with THECB Communication Objective #5).
   
6. The student finds, evaluates, and uses appropriate sources for research (corresponds with THECB Communication Objective #6).
   
7. The student meaningfully integrates and correctly documents information from sources (corresponds with THECB Communication Objective #6).
8. The student is aware of the ways technology affects writing (corresponds with THECB Communication Objectives #1, 3, 5, & 6).

English 1310-The Art of Reading [Goals . Means]
English 1310 is designed to introduce you to the complex and challenging reading tasks you will encounter throughout your college career, and to help you develop the reading and study strategies necessary for a rewarding college experience in a variety of reading contexts. You will actively participate in class discussions and smaller reading groups, develop reading and study strategies relevant to college assignments and exams, and practice writing purposefully about what you read. We are currently offering English 1310 stand-alone sections and paired English 1310/1301s.
English 1320/1301 or 1310/1301-Rhetoric & Composition I Reading & Writing Studio  [Goals . Means]
English 1320/1301 and 1310/1301 combine English 1301 with a supplemental course, giving you more time and space to work on writing assignments from English 1301. During the extra course time, you'll work with your teacher one on one and spend time working in small writing groups to get additional peer feedback on your writing. The direction of this studio will be driven by your needs, questions, and interests as writers.

English 1301-Rhetoric & Composition I [Goals . Means]
English 1301 is designed to help students become more effective and confident writers as well as more active and engaged readers of complex texts. To do this, students will engage in a variety of writing projects which will help them become more reflective writers who are better able to revise their work to meet the needs of a given writing situation. 

English 1302-Rhetoric & Composition II  [Goals . Means]
English 1302 is designed to teach students how to initiate inquiry, engage in meaningful research, and produce effective researched arguments. To do this, students will get experience with primary and secondary research methods, engage in a variety of writing projects, and create at least one major research project.

Parents' Rights & Responsibilities FAQs (FERPA)

Program Assessment

To look forward, we are always looking back. Through our annual assessment strategies, we learn about what writing program teachers and students want and need, what works and what we can revise. We also learn how the larger program's goals can help to create spaces where individual needs are met, where interactive communities of inquiry emerge, where compelling work is the norm rather than the exception. Below, you'll find links to our annual assessment documents and findings.