August 7, 2015

To: Tenure Committee for Kate Perkins

From: Kay Ostberg
Re: Assessment of Kates Summer 2015 English 122 Hybrid Class
Kate Perkins taught an eight week hybrid English 122 class this summer. The class was
listed as a hybrid class, and while students were required to attend the first class and had the
opportunity to attend a weekly class, in fact, according to Kate, most students opted to take the
class online. She was fully prepared for this possibility and all assignments except one optional
task could be completed online.
The primary goal of English 122 is to teach students how to write an eight page
persuasive research paper that is fully documented and formatted using MLA style and is well
supported by research of primary and secondary sources. This is the final class in Highlands
writing series, and providing the student receives a C grade or higher is transferable to fulfill
the general education English requirements of most four years colleges.
Overall, I thought Kates class was excellent. It was clear, thorough, directed to the
questions and needs of online students, and had an easily accessible format. It provided some
opportunities for students to learn from one another and was well supported by regular student
self-reflections on specific assignments which could help with writing and critical thinking as well
as allow them to alert Kate about any problems they may encounter that they know of or which
Kate can spot in their reflections.
In Kates welcoming introductory material on Moodle, she clearly outlines what will be
expected of students in the class. In addition to being specific about the amount of time the
class will take (down to the number of times they should work on Moodle each week), she lists
10 ways to earn the grade that you want in the class, summarizes the point system in a short
chart and then breaks out the chart into individual assignments with grade points for each
assignment by week. This is followed by a paragraph breakdown of each weeks goals showing
clearly how the work is leading up to the final research paper.
In this section she also provides information in different formats about the requirements
and expectations of the class without overtly repeating herself. Even if a student scans this
material, they will know the amount of work the course will require and the timeline for
completing tasks given the many ways the information is presented. She anticipates the most
common questions students have at the beginning of a class as well as making it clear that she
is available to meet or answer any questions online. My observation during the school year is
that students regularly meet with her although I do not know how many of those meetings are
required.
The only addition to the welcoming section that I would suggest is that she discuss the
importance of learning how to write a good research paper. Not only will mastering this skill
help students in their further education and in their work career, but being able to write clearly
while defending a position and countering opposing arguments based on credible sources
advances critical thinking. This point could be made in the introductory material although she
may well make this clear in her introductory face to face class.
The commendable completeness of her welcoming section is consistently maintained
throughout her subsequent class modules for all eight weeks. Each week has a clearly identified
goal such as Starting Research and Identifying Good Sources. After a brief explanation of the
weeks work (which is also emailed to students as well as posted on Moodle), she gives readings
and assignments. At times assigned readings cover the same material, but the material is often
presented in a different format such through an auditory or video format, a power point
presentation, a well laid out summary, or a reading presenting the material in-depth. Most

assigned readings are a substantive presentation on a topic such as writing a conclusion. Most
readings are short pieces prepared by credible sources such as OWL at Purdue University,
Reynolds Library, Keys for Writers, and many other experts.
If a student even reads half the material (although given the length of the pieces, reading
them all would certainly be within a reasonable time frame for this level class), they will have an
in-depth understanding of the basic components of the research paper. They will also know how
long each part of writing the paper will take and have examples of models to follow to do their
work.
Some Highland English teachers use the exact approach Kate does of concentrating solely
on producing the research paper with little to no other writing or reading for the class. So, this
choice is solely hers and provided her students learn how to produce a research paper is a fine
approach. Having said that, I think it is important to have students assess the strengths and
challenges of some argument papers and try producing at least one shorter argument paper
before producing the research paper.
If this happens in the first few weeks, it gives students a chance to become familiar with
argument writing and develop their critical analytic skills as well as produce a writing product for
Kate to assess and give feedback on. This can also identify students who need particular
support as well as provide a dry run for close reading of texts and forming cogent, reasonable
arguments. Having said this, it should be noted that Kate requires a two to three page research
proposal by the third week of class that can fulfill a number of these goals and that since Kates
teaching style seems to be working, this is simply a suggestion.