How to Choose Your Writing Course

Welcome to Writing at SJSU!

As you enter SJSU, you enter a new learning community. In this community, we see you as a partner in shaping your own learning experience. Thus we ask that you explore the college writing requirements at SJSU and the courses available to you. Then we ask you to decide the best course to help you transition into this new learning community in your first year with us.

All students will do the Reflection on College Writing in Canvas to explore writing requirements and options and to choose the best course for you.

How Do I Begin?

The Reflection on College Writing modules will be available in Canvas starting June 1. As soon as you have been assigned an SJSU ID, we will use that ID to enroll you into Canvas.

You will receive a course invitation from Canvas in your email. If you do not receive a course invitation by June 1, check your spam folder. If you cannot locate your invitation, email us at directedselfplacement@sjsu.edu.

If you already have college credit for writing:

  1. Complete the Reflection on College Writing.
  2. Course options depend on your major. Go to "What to Take After English 1A."

  3. Follow this link to the Canvas login.

If you need to complete an entry-level college writing course:

  1. Complete the Reflection on College Writing.
  2. There are two course options: a one-semester course (English 1A), or a two-semester version of the same course (English 1AF/S).
  3. Follow this link to the Canvas login

What Happens If I Don’t Complete This Work as Scheduled?

The writing you do this summer will be part of your first writing course assignment. Students assemble the Reflection on College Writing essays into an ePortfolio during their first SJSU writing course. This portfolio of the earliest writing will be the reference point you and your instructors use to monitor and direct your development as a writer at SJSU. You will not be prepared to assemble your first SJSU writing portfolio and participate in the opportunities for self-assessment if you have not done this work.

The Reflection on College Writing is also a prerequisite to our entry-level courses: English 1A and English 1AFS Stretch. To enroll in either of these classes, students must have scored 10 points on the Reflection on College Writing modules. 

Contact

For questions about choosing your writing course or the The Reflection on College Writing modules please contact directedselfplacement@sjsu.edu