Topic outline

  • Course Introduction

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    • Time: 40 hours
    • CEUs: 4.0
    • Free Certificate

    Writing is a skill you will need both in work and life, and college writing is designed to help you navigate both. This course will enhance your ability to do so by sharpening your critical thinking and composition skills. We will begin with a unit designed to change how you think about writing. First, you will learn to think of writing not as a solitary act with only one "right" outcome but as a conversation between yourself and an audience, in a particular time and place, and with particular expectations. In this light, writing becomes a dynamic, interactive, and creative practice. You will also begin to think about writing as an admittedly difficult process rather than a product. Because this course is designed specifically for students in a university setting, the second unit will focus on the processes of academic writing in particular.

    You may be wondering why it is important to take a writing course, when these days it feels like AI can just do all your writing for you. Compare thinking and writing to running a marathon: both can be difficult and time-consuming but very rewarding! The reward comes from knowing that you've practiced a skill, built it up over time, and can now do a very difficult task under your own power. When it comes to using AI, it's the equivalent of driving 26.2 miles instead of running it. Yes, using AI will produce some words on a page, just like driving will move you 26.2 miles, but both miss the point of the activity. The point of writing is to demonstrate your thinking, not to put words on a page, just as the point of a marathon is to travel the distance under your own power, not simply to travel 26.2 miles. So, while it might be tempting to use AI in your writing, just like it can be tempting to simply drive a marathon, remember the purpose of both.