English C1001 (Formerly 201C): Critical Thinking and Writing
Spring 2026, 8 Week
CRN: 35203
Class Start and End Dates:
March 30th to December 22th
Please login on Monday, March 30th, 2026 and begin the course. If you have not logged in by Thursday, April 2nd, at 10:00 a.m., you will be dropped from the course.
Welcome potential students! My name is Professor Matthew Fleming, and I look forward to working with you this semester. This course is a major commitment, as a 4-unit course should be; however, if you are willing to put in the time and effort, it will also be very interesting, creative, dynamic, and, dare I say. . . educational.
What you should know:
- This course is 8 weeks of intensive study
- We have no face-to-face meetings
- You must participate in this course on an almost every-other-day basis
- You must write a minimum of 400 words a week in online forums
- You will have homework assignments and readings due every Monday.
- You will write a series of essays including drafts and peer reviews
- You will be dropped if you fail to log in for more than 7 days and/or if your postings-to-forum or postings-to-homework percentage falls below 50%.
Contact information:
Professor: Matthew Fleming
Email Address: mfleming@cuesta.edu
Contact information
Professor: Matthew Fleming
Email Address: mfleming@cuesta.edu
Instructor Contact Expectations
The best and fastest way to contact me is email (mfleming@cuesta.edu) until the course starts, and then you will have my cell phone number. I will generally respond to your emails almost immediately, at maximum within 24 hours.
Course Description
English C1001, English Composition: Critical Thinking presents an advanced composition course beyond ENGL C1000, emphasizing critical thinking, including reasoning, rhetoric, reading, and information fluency in order to develop argumentative skills for diverse contexts and audiences.
Course Learning Management System (LMS):
All course information and assignments will be posted online in Canvas, such as reading assignments, paper assignment criteria, discussion posts, and grade book. Once the course begins, for optimal success in this class, please use a personal computer (laptop or desktop) to access the Modules section of Canvas at least 3 times a week for listings of all assignments, due dates, and course materials.
Technology Tools:
- Regular access to a personal desktop or laptop computer with the ability to save and edit word-processed writing, such as Word docs or downloaded files from Google Docs. Our Canvas course is designed for optimal viewing on a computer, not a mobile device or cellphone, so if you do not have regular access to a computer of your own, please visit our library and request checking out a Chromebook for the semester.
Accessing the Course
You will see your course in Canvas on the first day of class. You can access Canvas by clicking on Canvas from the top bar of the Cuesta homepage (www.cuesta.edu), or by typing the Canvas address (https://cuesta.instructure.com/) into your browser address bar.
If you are not familiar with logging into canvas, please refer to the Canvas Quick Reference Guide.Links to an external site. Once logged into Canvas you will be directed on where to get started. Be sure to read all the direction on the course home page.
If you are having difficulty logging into Canvas and need assistance please email me at mfleming@cuesta.eduLinks to an external site. or technical support at this email address support@my.cuesta.edu.
Online Learning
If you have never taken an online class or this is your first experience with Canvas, please be patient with yourself. Online classes are not inherently easier, although they may be much more convenient for many students. You should expect to spend at least as much time, if not more on this course as you would on a course that meets face-to-face. Since there is no lecture component, much of this time will be self-directed and there will be a substantial amount of reading, viewing, studying, and writing required. This course is completely online using Canvas; all coursework (discussions, assignments, quizzes) is submitted online. There are no face-to-face meetings. Please be prepared to spend 8 - 12 hours per week on coursework for this class.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)(Links to an external site.)
Is an ONLINE CLASS FOR YOU?
Go to the Cuesta College Canvas Tutorial (self-paced)Links to an external site., there are many resources that were designed to help you understand the basis for an online class and the skills necessary for success. (If the tutorials do NOT describe you, then taking this class online is NOT for you and I strongly suggest that you drop the online class and enroll in a traditional classroom section.) Canvas Quick Reference for Students (Links to an external site.)
Online Student Readiness Tutorials(Links to an external site.)
Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI)
Regular and Substantive Interaction will be met through weekly instructor initiated threaded discussion forums; weekly announcements to students; timely and substantive feedback on student assignments; email, phone or messaging to individuals; and virtual office hours as scheduled and by appointment.
This course requires regular and substantive interaction among all students and the instructor for the full 6 weeks of the course. We will achieve this in a variety of ways:
- throughout the week postings in discussion and homework forums in Canvas
- weekly book homework readings and submissions,
- interactive online essay work-shopping through Canvas forums
- viewing of short video lectures and content
- writing of a series of essays using turnitin.com
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Demonstrate advanced critical thinking and reasoning skills.
- Write arguments using advanced rhetorical and composition skills.
- Demonstrate information fluency.
Text Book and Materials:
You will not need a text book or other materials for this course, just your brain and some motivation to learn.
Technical Support:
Cuesta students are encouraged to direct all technical support inquiries to support@my.cuesta.edu. If you are having issues with Canvas, or email support@instructure.com.
If you are having difficulty viewing the course or logging in, it may be because you are not using the correct url: https://cuesta.instructure.com/ or you are using your phone or using an unsupported browser.
Your learning environment is best accessed from a desktop or laptop computer, using Firefox or Chrome. This may solve your problem! Please review the browser requirements and minimum computer specificationsLinks to an external site..
Accommodations:
This course is designed using an accessible Learning Management System, and course materials have been created with ADA compliance in mind. If you have a disability and might need accommodations in this class such as extended time on exams or other resources. Please contact the instructor as soon as possible so that you can receive appropriate accommodations in a timely manner. You should also contact DSPS (Disabled Student Programs & Services)Links to an external site. or at 805-546-3148.
College & Course Policies:
Academic Honesty Policy:
Plagiarism is defined as “the use of someone’s ideas or writings without giving proper credit to that person.” I do not want to see old papers of yours or anyone else’s, undocumented paraphrasing, or contraband Web info. If you didn’t think up an idea, you had better quote/paraphrase and document your sources. I have been unfortunate enough to discover a few students, usually intelligent and hard-working ones, who plagiarized. Nothing warrants the consequences of plagiarism. If I discover a student plagiarized or cheated on an exam, essay, or homework, I will fail that individual in the class and let the administration decide whether expulsion is necessary. Undoubtedly, Dante would have constructed a special level of Hell for such victims of laziness. If you consider plagiarizing, reach out to me instead, and I’ll help you complete the task without illegal assistance.
In addition to my course policy, please note all students attending San Luis Obispo County Community College District at any district site and when representing Cuesta College in any off-campus activity, assume an obligation to conduct themselves in an acceptable manner compatible with the Student Code of conduct. Please review the http://go.boarddocs.com/ca/cuesta/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=A2SMMY5BC350 Links to an external site.
Artificial Intelligence Policy:
For all the work in this course, please do not use Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) to generate any of your content or ideas or to revise your sentences. This policy includes all discussion forum assignments, homework assignments, essays, and projects.
A.I. tools such as ChatGPT, CopyAI, QuillBot, Gemini, Grammarly, and any embedded similar tools in such programs as Microsoft Word and Google Docs will corrupt your original content and Turnitin will reject it as plagiarized work. While we know that in many areas of life such tools can be valuable, in this class, we are eager to read your words about your ideas. Therefore, you should also disable settings in Google Docs or MS Word that offer suggested, predictive text about how to complete phrases or sentences. Using these predictive structures will likely lead your writing to sound (and be detected as) A.I. generated. It’s fine, however, to use basic spelling and grammar tools that highlight errors. Please let us know if you have any questions about what tools are acceptable.
Losing ownership of your original vocabulary, sentence structure, and thought content greatly reduces the possibility for improving your thinking and writing in this course and in receiving a passing grade.
The process of learning how to write effectively without artificial intelligence changes the way we think and puts us in control of our own perceptions and other people's perceptions of us.
The point of this course is to improve your abilities to write and think independently and continue to build your brain to work with language. Having an A.I. program do that for you defeats the purpose of the course and makes us replaceable in future work situations. If you ignore these warnings and submit A.I. content, you are officially cheating and will be deducted 10% off the grade on your assignment for the first infraction, 50% off the grade on the assignment for your second infraction, and you will fail the assignment on the third infraction. This approach assumes that resubmitted work will be free of A.I. content. This rule is cumulative across all course assignments, including homework, discussion forums, projects, and essays. This type of plagiarism may lead to even more serious and long-standing issues that could impact your college career.
Every minute I spend policing such issues is time taken away from helping other students with their original work. If you are struggling with an issue so much that you ignore the above information and consider resorting to A.I., reach out to me instead and I will help you.
Diversity and Inclusion is what it's all about
It is my intent that students from all diverse backgrounds and perspectives be well-served by this course, that students' learning needs be addressed both in and out of the virtual class, and that the diversity that the students bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength and benefit. It is my intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity: gender identity, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, and culture. Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. Please let me know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally, or for other students or student groups.
Add / Drop Policies:
You will be dropped from the course if you fail to log in for more than 7 days and/or if your postings-to-forum or postings-to-homework percentage falls below 50%.
Please also review the Cuesta policy for drops:
Waitlist Policy:
Please review Cuesta’s waitlist procedure and instructionsLinks to an external site.
icons at the top right corner of the subsection.