This document proposes a Unit 1 revision for ENGL 313, Rhetorical Web Design at Iowa State University. The goal is to improve the first weeks of the course to fit the skill levels of the beginner students to enhance their learning of web design.
1.2 Background
Many students enrolled in ENGL 313 have minimal knowledge about rhetorical web design, which employs rhetorical and web design principles to create an interactive and responsive website. Because there is only one course on rhetorical web design, the class addresses a wide range of topics including various front-end frameworks and scripting languages. However, in order to cover even the most advanced topics, the course moves through the material quickly. Consequently, this makes it difficult for beginners as they struggle to apply even foundational concepts learned in the beginning of the course when more ideas are being taught as the class progresses.
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The issue is, these assignments are extraordinarily time-consuming and move at fast-pace, which can be overwhelming to amateur students. Additionally, improvements could be made to direct students to the most valuable tools to teach concepts and techniques to maximize their time efficiently, rather than read four chapters and watching five hours worth of videos without knowing what is necessary to learn.
In sum, units need to be restructured to provide students with specific and vital information to teach coding processes that gives students enough time to practice and enhance their skills of applying foundational concepts before adding new material. Making changes in the beginning of the course will only provide a pathway to success for the rest of the course.
1.3