English 104: Critical Thinking and Argumentation

English 104 is a 3 unit course designed to be a continuation of English 101. Consequently, the primary focus of the course is instruction in writing. In addition, students learn to read and think critically and to develop their analytical and argumentative writing skills. The course takes students beyond the level of English 101 by providing a more advanced understanding of the relationship of language to logic and by further promoting the ability to reason effectively and reach valid conclusions. Writing forms and strategies are taught within the contexts of contemporary ideas and cultural diversity as reflected in selected readings.

Reflection on Instructional Change:

The Faculty Learning Community module series was an excellent collection of lessons and activities. Truly, each section offered many wonderful ideas for my future classes. One module that particularly struck me was the one on Growth Mindset. In truth, the concept of Growth Mindset is not new to me, as I have had exposure through various readings, videos and colleagues who are experts in the field. In the past, I have found success in offering the workshops for extra credit and as required assignments. I do believe that people with a Growth Mindset tend to reach higher levels of achievement. Accordingly, there are some new ideas I want to incorporate next semester. Specifically, I was intrigued with "The Power of Yet." I really like this concept as it will clearly help instill confidence and encouragement in our students. I want to incorporate this concept slowly, and will start by using it to grade my discussion posts. Offering the power of a "yet" grade will encourage students to revise and make certain that they have fulfilled all required sections. There is, however, one part in the the Growth Mindset module with which I was a bit uncomfortable, and that is the concept of "grit." I explained in my discussion post that I appreciate the essence of the argument: one needs grit to succeed. Nevertheless, there are instances when telling a student that they must be "grittier" in order to succeed is not only hurtful, but it is also insulting. I know many students who tried their absolute hardest to use their grit to succeed. Yet, they were met with obstacles that weren't in their control. Take a student who is dealing with issues of mental health - I wouldn't dare tell this student that they are being unsuccessful because they lack grit. The grit is there, yet so are the emotional hurdles that they must overcome in order to find conventional success. The power of yet does the opposite. It allows the student to know there are various paths and opportunities to success.

I believe that incorporating the power of yet will be very beneficial for my students' mental health. Of course there are certain outcomes that we hope the student to achieve in order to pass the class. Yet, there is so much focus on the grade that it is hard to remember the actual goal, which is learning the material. I recently attended an "un-grading" workshop where we discussed the power that grades have over students. Ironically, the grade seems to take precedence over whether the student has actually learned the content. In my experience, if a student does well, they move on and ask very few questions about the assignment. If they have not done as well as they hoped, they typically first ask how they can improve their grade. Rarely do students ask how they can better learn the material. With the power of "yet," we can emphasize the importance of learning and release the power of the grade. Earlier, I mentioned that I hope to incorporate the "yet" grading system into my discussions. This would work well for my classes as the discussions eventually unfold into longer and more heavily graded works. The power of yet would encourage students to understand the less successful portions of their assignment and change them without feeling like they have already "failed" or not done well. I believe students will do very well with this process.

My interaction with the FLC modules was very inspiring. I really enjoy the ability to stand back and look at my work objectively. I also loved reading all of the posts from my colleagues. The learning activity that encouraged me to think about the most changes I would make was The Growth Mindset and How It Can Help Your Students Succeed discussion post. I shared:

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Like I mentioned before, I really enjoyed all the modules, and I am excited to attempt the new Growth Mindset strategies!

Faculty Biography

My name is Lara Kartalian and I have been teaching in the English Department at Glendale College since 2003. I was a part-time instructor until 2007 when I was hired full-time. I love Glendale College and feel very lucky to work at such an amazing school. Our entire campus community – especially our students – are some of the most intelligent and most admirable people I have ever met. Some fun facts about me:

- School: Prior to transferring to UCLA, I was a student at PCC. I can relate to the experiences our students are having at GCC!
- Oh, baby!: I was scheduled to interview for my full-time position at GCC the same day my daughter was born. Luckily, I was able to push my interview for a few days!
- History: I am of Armenian descent, and my birthday is April 24, which is the day Armenians commemorate the genocide of 1915. It has always been a bittersweet day for me and my family.
- Travel: Our family, along with ten other families, travel to two state parks every summer. There is so much beauty in our country!

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This work was supported by the Title V Hispanic-Serving Institutions Grant, Adelante GCC, and the Innovation Grant.