MARIST COLLEGE EXPERIMENT IN INTERDEPARTMENTAL FRESHMAN COMPOSITION - Publication Dec 1967

Oct 15, 2026

Marist College introduced a non-credit, one-semester experimental composition program for approximately three hundred entering freshmen in 1964. Each student received an English Department composition advisor and wrote six ~750-word papers, one for each subject the student was studying that term, with topics assigned by course instructors. The paper describes program motivation, advising methods, student evaluation, and reported successes and failures, focusing on outcomes for writing skills, individual responsibility, and advising across departments.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

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Marist College Experiment in Interdepartmental Freshman Composition

Program purpose and guiding principles

How the program works

Advising and evaluation

ED 021871 TE 500077 By-Teichman,Mlton MARIST COLLEGE EXPERIMENT IN INTERDEPARTMENTAL FRESHMAN COMPOSITIONNat!onal Council of Teachers of English.Champaign,II. Pub Date Dec 67 Note-4p. Journal Cit-College Composition and Communication;v17n5 p258-61 Dec 1967 EDRS Price MF-S0.25 HC-S0.24 Descriptors-*COLLEGE FRESHMEN*COMPOSITION (LITERARY),COMPOSITION SKILLS (LITERARY),ENGLISH*ENGLISH INSTRUCTION ENGLISH PROGRAMS,*EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMS,*INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTIONTUTORIAL PROGRAMS,WRITING SKILLS Identifiers-Marist College,New York An experimental,non-credit program of composition was introduced at MaristCollege in 1964.A description is given of this one-semester program in which thestudent writes six papers on topics assigned not by his composition advisor but by hiscourse instructors in the six subjects he is studying that semester.The reasons foradopting this program,the method of advising the students,and the successes andfailures of the program are discussed (BN) ERiC Volume XVIIDe:cember 1967 No.5 258·COLLEGE COMPOSITION AND COMMUNICATION # U.S.0EPARTMEMT Or HEALTH,EOUCATIOW8 WZLFARE0FFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUAEMT HAS BEM REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIYE0 FROM THEPERSOM OR 0RGAMIZATIOW ORIG!MATIMG II.POINTS OF VIEW OR OPIMIONSSIATED 00 MOT MECESSARILY REPRSENT 0FFICIML OFFICE Of EOUCATIONPOSITIOW OR POLICY. # MARIST COLLEGE EXPERIMENTIN INTERDEPARTMENTALFRESHMAN COMPOSITION C[00L9 In 1964,Marist College,a liberal arts in-stitution of about twelve hundred students,introduced an experimental one-semester,non-credit program of composition for itsthree hundred freshmen-a program whichhas posed and still poses serious problemsin its execution but which the faculty as awhole has strongly endorsed.The theorybehind the program,we believe,is ex-cellent,and we are confident that the majorproblems can be eliminated or substantiallyreduced.Student evaluation of their ex-perience has helped to draw attention toweaknesses,but the overall response hasbeen basically favorable:freshmen havewelcomed an approach that does not repeathigh-school pattems of teaching composi-tion,that stresses independent study andindividual responsibility and that is gearedto the needs of the individual student.Because the ideas and values which gaverise to the program probably exist in one 17812003 上 degree or another on most campuses andbecause the program does indeed showconsiderable pronise,we believe an ac-count of it will be of interest to collegesand departments concerned with FreshmenEnglish.This description may also be ofhelp to us:it may call forth from colleaguesin the field the critical reactions that canhelp us judge our experiment with greaterobjectivity. The English Department thinking whichhelped to shape the program can be sum-marized under five main points: (1)We wanted all departments of thecollege to have a more active role and amore direct responsibility in the teachingof composition to freshmen.Ve wantedthe entering freshman to.know from thestart that it was not his English teacheralone who was scrutinizing the quality ofhis writing. (2)We wanted the freshman to realizein a most concrete way that writing skillhas a bearing on success or failure in hisother courses. (3)We wanted a program that wouldoffer more opportunities for individual in-struction than the iraditional course infreshnan composition.Having committedourselves as an educational,institution tothe importance of the individual,w3 wantedto bring creed and deed closer together inthe area of composition. (4)We wanted provision for advancedplacement.Approaching each student as anindividual meant that a freshman mightalready exhibit a level of writing compe-tence which makes a course in compositionless useful to him than some other coursein the college.On the other hand,we werereluctant to exempt a student from com-position on the basis of·his high-schoolrecord,his college boards,or an entranceexam.We wanted him to demonstrate howwell he cou

FAQs

When did Marist College start the experimental freshman composition program, and for whom?

The program began at Marist College in 1964 and targeted approximately three hundred entering freshmen.

How many composition papers does a student write, and how are the topics chosen?

Each student writes six papers of about 750 words. Topics are assigned by the student’s course instructors rather than by the composition advisor.

What is the role of the composition advisor and how is the course of composition credit structured?

Students are assigned a composition advisor from the English Department, whose work includes grading papers and meeting individually with advisees, totaling three credit hours of teaching.

Oct 15, 2026

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