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September 1, 2006 > News > Four ENGL 103 sections added

Four ENGL 103 sections added

By David Brown | Thresher Editorial Staff

Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman and Director of Managerial Communication Deborah Barrett both suspected the difficulty of this year’s English Composition Exam — available for new students to take online this summer — could increase the number of failures. But neither of them expected a third of incoming students to fail, a rate twice as high as usual.

So when grade results become apparent two weeks before Orientation Week, Barrett, who directed the exam, and Forman had to scramble to find enough instructors and classrooms to add four additional sections of ENGL 103: Argumentation and Writing, the course required for students who fail the exam.

Three Rice graduate students, all of whom helped grade the exams, and one University of Houston professor have been hired to teach the additional sections, for a total of eight sections this semester. With seven sections expected to be offered in the spring, all students who failed the exam should be able to complete the course this year. In most recent years, the English department offered three sections of ENGL 103 in the fall and two in the spring.

This year was the second time Rice has offered the writing exam online during the summer through an MIT-based consortium, rather than on campus during O-Week. Different from last year, however, was an additional, second essay and more complex topics. Students were able to choose from three different weeklong timeframes to take the exam: one in June, one in July and one in August. About a third of students failed, about 55 percent received a “low pass,” and about 15 percent received a “pass,” Forman said.

When Barrett observed additional ENGL 103 sections would be needed, she notified Forman, who got approval from Provost Eugene Levy to hire the instructors, some of whom Barrett recommended from having worked with them grading the exams.

Forman said he was surprised by the number of failures but still pleased with the quality of grading.

“I talked to [Barrett] to be sure these exams were graded conscientiously,” Forman said. “I took a look at a few of the essays to see what the grading standards were, and I was very comfortable with them.”

English Department Administrator Marcia Carter said the little time available to arrange for the extra sections proved difficult for the English department. About three-quarters of students took the exam in July.

“From an administrative point of view, this has been extremely taxing, mainly because no one had any clues as to what the number of sections would be,” Carter said. “It’s just one of those things that happens in transitional period. Certainly nobody would pretend this was smooth and the way we would want it to go.”

Carter said in order for the course to be set up properly, the number of sections should be known by the beginning of August. She said since there is no textbook for the course, instructors should have considerable time to prepare.

Partly for that reason, Barrett said she would like to eliminate the August testing date for next year and add a May test. This would also allow students who travel for the entire summer to take the exam before graduating from high school, she said.

English Department Chair Helena Michie said students should not consider ENGL 103 to be a remedial course.

“My hope is we’re moving towards not thinking of writing as a remedial process but something everyone would benefit from, and my hope is that people who have failed the exam will see it as part of a very positive process, as Rice taking their writing seriously,” Michie said.

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