Outcomes for SPOT

Because SPOT is not a writing course, per se, and it is self-paced, it does not have typically defined outcomes that you will demonstrate at the end of your course of study. What you produce through your course of study in the tutorial will vary quite a bit depending on several factors: how much time you can spend doing SPOT, how much time each week you can dedicated to writing and reading, and your past experiences with writing, to name a few factors. The following questions can help you assess your ability to succeed in SPOT:

• What do you hope to accomplish by taking SPOT? What are your individual writing goals? (do you wish to put together a portfolio for the UDWE or do you want to brush up on your research and writing before taking a W-course?)
• How much time can you devote to the tutorial? (can you spend 6, 8, or 20 weeks in the tutorial?)
• How much labor and effort on each writing task can or will you dedicate? (how much time and effort will you spend on each task in the tutorial?)
• How much time can you spend on SPOT each week? (can you spend at least 7 or more hours each week working on SPOT?)
• What discipline or major are you preparing to enter and what do you know about it? (how much do you know about the genres and disciplinary conventions expected of writers in that discipline?)
• What experiences and writing-related competencies do you bring to the tutorial? (what have you already been able to do in writing and what do you think you need to work on?)

Despite not having specific outcomes that one could measure in order to see how successful you are in the tutorial, SPOT does have the goal of preparing you for upper division writing tasks at Fresno State. Therefore, there are two ways that you can gauge your success in SPOT. By the end of your SPOT experience, you should be able to:

• take and successfully complete a W-course, or
• submit your SPOT portfolio for the UDWE and pass.

While there is no guarantee that any portfolio will be deemed passable after being submitted to UDWE, you will receive lots of feedback from peers and your WM, who knows well the expectations for passing UDWE portfolios. UDWE portfolios are read and rated by trained readers in a controlled environment, and your SPOT writing mentor (WM) will not read or judge your UDWE portfolio.