Course Design for AU's Online First-Year Composition Praised in Inside Higher Ed

In early June, an article by Lee Skallerup Bessette in Inside Higher Ed praised the course design of our online version of English 101 that is taught in Ashland’s Correctional Education platform. Bessette, a learning design specialist at the Center for New Directions in Learning and Scholarship at Georgetown University, also teaches AU English courses to incarcerated students. Citing the “less than ideal situation” of teaching a class built by another person, with the logistical challenges of the correctional environment, Bessette finds that “even with the odds stacked against us, the course is nonetheless a meaningful learning (and teaching!) experience because of the care put into designing, and then delivering, the course.”

Curtis Allen

The primary designer of the course is Curtis Allen, a part-time faculty member who has been teaching for Ashland since 2003. Allen collaborated with Dr. Maura Grady, Director of Composition, and several instructional designers on the Learn AU team, including Charles Piscatello and Emily Weller. The course design that Bessette calls “top-notch,” and “carefully designed with the learner population at the forefront of any and all pedagogical decisions,” is a result of the team’s sensitivity to the personal experiences and backgrounds of the students, as well as Allen’s long track record of teaching writing to diverse groups of students. Allen describes his approach below:

When I begin working on a course, I begin with two questions (and these are questions I keep emphasizing to my students when they write too): Who are these people and what do I want to do to them? The "who" for incarcerated students meant that a LOT of them speak AAVE (African American Vernacular English) as their first language (which really impacted the design of the grammar lessons) and many Black or Latino students had not really seen "respectable" essays from anyone but white guys, so the assigned readings included a LOT of people of color. The "what do I want to do to them" includes giving them a sense of their own ability and moving them toward fitting in with the academic culture (without losing the core of their own identity).

From Bessette’s perspective as an instructor, such an approach helps students find their voices as writers: “The writing prompts explicitly asked them to draw from their own experiences in order to engage more critically and fully with the texts, which, in their final reflections, they all appreciated: some had never before thought that they had anything worthwhile or meaningful to say or share.”

When asked about his favorite part of teaching and course design, Allen explains how he is always looking for new and better ways to reach students:

I really enjoy finding new material and bringing it to students--which means that a course preparation is rarely "done." After years as a professional typesetter, I take great pleasure in pulling things together into a neat, well-designed package on Blackboard. I do enjoy the human contact side too: every semester there are a few students who really shine, and I love being part of that process, even when their "Aha!" moment is something fairly trivial.

Dr. Maura Grady reflects on Allen's strengths and accomplishments in teaching and course design:

I approached Curt as the best instructor to lead the design of this course because of his attention to detail in his teaching. Having observed Curt’s teaching a number of times over the years, I knew that we could work together to create something meaningful and appropriate for this student population. The correctional environment carries with it a number of constraints, so we all worked together to figure out the best way to help the students meet the course outcomes. One thing I really admire about Curt’s teaching is his encouraging attitude combined with his determination that all students can complete the course and make improvements to their writing, no matter where they are at the start of the class. His attitude and philosophy is inspiring to those who are teaching the course we designed.

We appreciate Curtis Allen’s work and congratulate him and the team on this recognition in a national forum.