During their undergraduate education, students should encounter diverse perspectives, try new experiences, delve into unfamiliar topics, challenge their beliefs and question long-held assumptions. In a word: students should explore. With this philosophy in mind, the LEC provides both courses that focus on technical science and research genres and courses that develop foundational rhetorical skills which encourage critical thinking and creativity. Ultimately, we hope that students can see the connection between these two types of skills, that they can value the interplay between the arts and the sciences. With this experience, graduates will be able to understand how their science research impacts their community and the broader global society.
Undergraduate students must complete two English requirements. The first requirement should be completed during their freshman year by taking GS1607: English I. Academic Discourse. Students who take Academic Discourse will engage in critical thinking activities as well as organize and conduct their own research experiment. And students increase fluency and confidence in English speaking through the lens of scientific investigation. The second requirement, recommended to be completed during the sophomore year, is GS2652: English II. Introduction to Academic Writing in Science and Engineering.
Beyond the compulsory courses, students may choose to enroll in a variety of elective courses which cover a range of specific English skills such as conversation, debate, creative writing, and research reading and writing.
The regular English language classes involve 48 hours of coursework in the spring and fall semesters for enrolled GIST students.
GS1607 - English I. Academic Discourse (Note: Replaces both GS1601 and GS1603)
Welcome to your first English course at GIST College! This is an integrated skills course designed to provide students with a strong foundation to develop and improve their English communication skills at GIST, with particular emphasis on both academic writing and presentations. The focus of this course is to help prepare students for more advanced English courses at GIST as well as the science and engineering courses taught in English.
This course aims to help students:
• Understand the steps of the writing process
• Develop basic writing skills, such as summarizing and paraphrasing
• Develop speaking confidence through discussions and presentations
• Develop critical-thinking and reasoning skills
• Develop listening and note-taking skills
• Understand and avoid plagiarism
GS1605 - Practical Discourse
This course provides the foundation for verbal communication in order to effectively maneuver within an English environment. Key components of discourse such as asking questions, expressing opinions, compromising, contradicting, and generally navigating through English conversation will be introduced and further developed.
This course aims to help students:
· Lead communication in an effective way
· Use more natural English vocabulary and expressions
· Clearly understand connotation of common words
· Recognize and improve upon pronunciation difficulties
· Improve flow in English communication
· Become more comfortable and confident when using English
GS1606 - Research Reading in English
As students at a science and engineering research institute, GIST undergraduates will certainly encounter peer-reviewed research articles. This course is designed to prepare them for these advanced reading experiences and to give them confidence and familiarity with science article genres. The first half of the course focuses on articles from popular science magazines, emphasizing the structures that will be used in GS2652. The second half of the course introduces abstracts and IMRD, giving students tools to break-down and understand complex peer-reviewed articles. This work will prepare students for future lab research as juniors and seniors.
This course aims to help students:
· Improve their reading fluency and comprehension
· Become familiar with advanced science vocabulary and track their own vocabulary learning
· Understand common structures used in essays and research articles
GS2651 - Debate and Argumentation for Scientists
From the birth of democracy in Western civilization to the attainment of enlightenment in Tibetan Buddhism, debate plays an important role in shaping societies and in providing people with a better understanding of the world around them. By combining critical thinking with effective communication (both spoken and written), the focus of this course is to help students improve these critical skills by engaging in Tibetan debates, public forum debates, and congressional debates.
This course aims to help students:
· Understand the basic structure of arguments
· Recognize, avoid, and defend against logical fallacies
· Implement rhetorical strategies to create more persuasive arguments
· Understand and assume the role of "devil's advocate" during debates
· Develop a broader perspective of governmental policy considerations
· Gain more experience with public speaking
GS2652 - English II. Introduction to Academic Writing in Science and Engineering
Essays are the foundational genre of written academic discourse; therefore, they are the focus of this course. Through the use of group and individual work, students will be guided through the more basic steps of creating academic essays before developing more advanced skills. Students will practice summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting; they will also incorporate source materials using formal citation standards. Finally, students will understand the importance of pre-writing, drafting, revision, and editing as essential steps in the writing process.
This course aims to help students:
· Write structured prose
· Expand beyond basic structures and explore alternate essay forms such as cause/effect, compare/contrast, and argumentative
· Integrate outside sources into a researched essay, being mindful of plagiarism and citation standards
GS2653 - Research Ethics: R&D (Reading & Discussion)
This course will provide a foundation to help students understand the various ethical issues affecting scientific research by: 1) surveying the historical origins of modern research ethics, 2) examining current issues and trends related to research ethics, and 3) reviewing case-studies of research misconduct. The purpose of the course is to provide a framework for students to make informed ethical decisions regarding their own research.
This course aims to help students:
· Understand the modern origins of research ethics
· Understand the basic structure and weakness of the scientific method
· Understand the societal and legislative trends affecting research ethics
· Understand the enormous difficulties and nuances of enforcing research ethics
· Understand the professional dangers of failing to adhere to ethical standards
· Understand various trends related to research ethics
· Develop their own ethical code for research
GS2654 - Creative Expression in English
The purpose of this elective course is to expose students to the diversity of written perspectives outside the sciences. Students will learn and practice various kinds of English prose, poetry, and creative writing techniques, as well as review fundamental grammar skills. For each major assessment, students will have a choice between two diverse tasks. This is an opportunity to improve student writing and learn the nuances of grammar in a more informal and fun setting.
This course aims to help students:
· Be able to produce short and long-form pieces of writing in a variety of styles, including short story, poem, and scripts
· Identify common mistakes in writing and improve their own writing through peer-editing and self-reflection
· Appreciate the complexities of English writing and recognize ways to incorporate these skills in their own creative expressions
GS2655 - Journalism and News Reporting in the Digital Age
Journalism and News Reporting in the Digital Age is designed to help students share their scientific expertise and opinions by developing their journalistic skills in writing various science-related news articles for online digital media.
This course aims to help students:
· Understand the role and importance of news in democratic societies
· Understand how the internet has changed the way information is shared
· Recognize the structure and elements of various news articles
· Identify, interpret, and critique newsworthy information
· Create a writing portfolio
GS3651 - English III. Undergraduate Research Writing in Science and Engineering
Undergraduate students have the opportunity to gather their knowledge and skills into a final thesis. Over the duration of the course, students will hone the skills used to write a basic academic research paper. This course will cover methods ranging from choosing research questions to self- and peer-editing. Students who participate in this course will be assisted in completing their own short paper by the end of the course.
This course aims to help students:
· Increase academic writing vocabulary
· Identify and recreate components of quality research writing
· Gain insight on self-grammatical and coherence error correction strategies
· Gain confidence in communicating scientific knowledge via written English
