First-year composition

[4] In addition to a focus on rhetoric, many first year composition courses also emphasize the writing process,[5] and students are encouraged to interact with classmates and receive feedback to be used for revision.

[6] Since the late nineteenth century, college courses on composition have become increasingly common in American higher education.

[7] The German model of "rigorous 'scientific' philology and historical criticism" influenced instruction that caused the research paper to become a staple in first-year composition.

Scholars Douglas Downs and Elizabeth Wardle also dislike the requirement and instead argue for a writing studies curriculum.

[14] Other scholars such as David Smit disagree, arguing that the first-year composition requirement remain and that the course's curriculum and structure be altered for improvement.

If this was done, he suggests, the concerns over the status of composition studies in the university would still be solved, as the course would no longer be seen as skills based.

[7][14] First-year composition is designed to meet the goals for successful completion set forth by the Council of Writing Program Administrators.

[16] To reach these goals, students must learn rhetorical conventions, critical thinking skills, information literacy, and the process of writing an academic paper.

With the publication of James Kinneavy's Theory of Discourse in 1971, English departments began incorporating rhetoric into their composition classrooms.

Literature is strategically threaded through the writing course providing learners with in-depth comprehensive information, empowering their contribution to a variety of literary conversations.

In this approach, literature provides learners with a plethora of opportunities for the development of writing skills including topics for debates, arguments, discussions, and general exploration of humanity.

Discourses for discovery with this methodology are inclusive of gender, race, ethnicity, culture, feminism, social issues, politics, and religion.

With the development of digital technologies, student writing has evolved in first-year composition courses to take on many forms beyond words on paper and include digital genres. [ 1 ]
The research method is a major factor of the research skills taught throughout the researched writing approach