Speaking and Writing Seminars (SWS)

Notes for Student Still Needs FS 102 or FS 201

Philosophy

The SWS program represents a first opportunity to achieve the Institutional Learning Outcomes as specified in the Allegheny College catalogue:

Allegheny’s educational program is designed so that its graduates are able to:

• Think critically and creatively;
• Communicate clearly and persuasively as speakers and writers;
• Invoke multiple ways of understanding to organize and evaluate evidence, and to interpret and make sense of their experiences and the experiences of others;
• ​Apply their knowledge and learning to engage in informed debate, and to analyze and solve problems.

The elements of Allegheny’s curriculum work together to provide students with a cohesive program in which all four Institutional Learning Outcomes may be achieved. In particular, the SWSS program, the Junior Seminar, and Senior Project progressively develop students’ abilities to read and listen critically, formulate their ideas, and become more effective writers and speakers.

The two courses in the SWS program,, typically taken in the first two years, connect with the upper-level Junior Seminar and Senior Project to form a  continuum that moves from general to discipline-specific communication.The SWS courses prepare students to effectively communicate complex ideas and arguments to a variety of audiences in written and spoken form. All SWS courses emphasize attention to audience and the importance of understanding conventions of communication within a particular context.

To enhance the development of students’ communication skills through the two SWS courses and to encourage consistency of expectations across sections of the same course, we present the following list of SWS Learning Outcomes.

SWS Program Learning Outcomes:

1. To demonstrate, as readers, writers, speakers, and listeners, an awareness of audience, purpose, occasion, and genre conventions and their effects on the creation and delivery of ideas.
2. To use the ideas of others to advance thinking.
3. To use iterative composing processes to discover and reconsider ideas and their expression.
4. To engage in reading, writing, speaking, and listening as acts of critical thinking

Learning Outcomes Specific to SWS 105

1. To craft effectively organized messages for specific purposes, occasions, and audiences.
2. To develop genre-appropriate strategies for revising and reorganizing based on feedback received.
3. To engage in reading and listening as acts of critical thinking.
4. To summarize, analyze, and create thesis-driven oral and written texts.

Students in SWS 105 can expect to complete at least two major assignments involving written communication, and two major assignments involving oral communication. Additional smaller assignments will, by section, vary in number and weight. 

Learning Outcomes Specific to SWS 205

1. To engage in reading and listening to academic texts as acts of critical thinking.
2. To use a variety of research strategies to find, evaluate, and synthesize a range of sources when composing oral and written texts that respond to academic purposes, occasions, and audiences 
3. To contribute to academic research through building on others’ ideas and integrating one’s own
4. To develop strategies for revising and reorganizing academic research based on feedback received.

Notes for Students Still Needing FS 102 or FS 201

• Students who need to take FS 102 should take SWS 105
• Students who need FS 201 should follow the chart below: