ING 100 is an interdisciplinary course of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) that will help students develop their English language skills through 21st-century core skills- the 4 Cs (Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity) and United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The course content is based on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a rich resource that is engaging for learners of all disciplines. In addition to developing students’ academic and soft skills, the focus on the SDGs will encourage students to consider their role as responsible 21st-century global citizens. The main focus of the course is the development of academic skills through learning strategies that support both individual studies and collaborative learning. With a variety of in-class practices, students will be able to improve their English listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. ING 100 is a compulsory course for those who are subject to the 2021-2022 academic year lesson plans and get a score between 60-74 from ITU SFL English Proficiency Exam. Students who get 75 or above are exempt from this course.

ING 100 EXEMPTION

Students who are subject to 2021-2022 Academic Year Course Plans need to complete 7 credits of English lessons: ING 100, ING 112A, and ING 201A, and ING 100 course carries 3 credits; ING 112A and ING 201A courses carry 2 credits each.

Students passing the ITU SFL Proficiency Exam with a score of 60-74 have to take ING 100 in their first faculty year. In order to fulfill 7 credits of English, they subsequently need to take ING 112A and ING 201A courses in the following terms/years, which can be scheduled differently by their faculties and/or departments.

Students who pass the ITU SFL Proficiency Exam with a score of 75 or more are exempt from ING 100. These students are enrolled in a class for the exempt students (the CRN for the class is announced on the webpage of the Registrar’s Office). At the end of the term, they have an AA in their transcript so that in the following terms, they can take ING 112A and ING 201A respectively.

ING 100 exemption is applied only once at the term students start their undergraduate education, and the first pass grade they scored at the Proficiency Exam (or valid English tests) is considered. The Proficiency Exam scores received later are not valid for the ING 100 exemption procedure.

ING 112A course focus is to improve students’ reading techniques, learn to analyze outside sources and elicit proper information by differentiating general from specific data, and develop their academic writing skills by including proper in-text citation methods in their written assignments. Students will also go through the processes of reading and analyzing texts, critical thinking, planning, drafting, and editing. They will be able to learn how to write a formal sentence definition, interpret charts and graphs, use direct quotations, paraphrase and summary by implementing APA citation rules. Students working on text exploration and academic writing simultaneously produce a paragraph and an argumentative essay both for their homework assignments and exams. In addition, they will participate in in-class discussions about the reading materials. Students who are exempt from ING 100 can take the ING 112A course after their ING 100 course grades are recorded as AA on their transcripts at the end of the semester. There is no exemption from ING 112A for students starting their undergraduate programs as of the 2021-2022 academic year.

ING 201A is a course designed to teach the organizational and critical thinking skills necessary for logical written expression. The course focuses on writing a research paper of at least 1500 words based on sound scholarly sources on a topic of interest related to a student’s field of study by conforming to the APA standards of writing without committing plagiarism. In this course, the whole research process is taught step-by-step through skills including research, source selection, choice of topic, construction and defense of a thesis statement, citing sources, outlining, organizing a “References” page, and note-taking. Critical elements of the course are instruction in paraphrasing and summarizing techniques, use of quotations and the incorporation of these research findings in the paper together with the inclusion of personal comments, avoidance of plagiarism, and conforming to ethical rules. It is a must course for all the ITU-NC students; there is no exemption.