ACWR 106: Academic Writing for Science and Technology

Semester: Summer 2014 Office number: SOS 111 Instructor’s name: Mª Pilar Milagros, Ph.D. email address: mmilagros@ku.edu.tr Phone: 1817

“Writing is the major means of communication within an organisation; paper is thought to be the major product of professional engineers; some estimate that up to 30% of work-time is engaged in written communication. Thus it is absolutely vital for you as a Professional Engineer to actively develop the skill of writing; not only because of the time involved in writing, but also because your project's success may depend upon it. Indeed, since so much of the communication between you and more senior management occurs in writing, your whole career may depend upon its quality.” Gerald M. Blair, the University of Edinburgh

Course Description Writing is one of the most crucial functions performed by scientists, doctors, and engineers. How can this be? It is because writing about their work allows doctors, scientists, and engineers to share these important developments with their peers, employers, and the world at large. Although writing in science and technology is in some respects similar to writing you may have done in other contexts, you may find that it also requires a different set of skills and tools as you seek to explain the work you are undertaking to your professors and colleagues. In the future you may also need to explain your work to potential employers or customers, some of whom may not have a technical background.

ACWR 106 will use texts from science, medicine and engineering to allow students to practice organizing and synthesizing ideas, reporting on technical methods and results and explaining technical and scientific ideas to scientific and non-technical audiences. In addition to the textbook and texts provided by the instructor, students will bring in texts from their field of study and/or interest to use as models and sources. They will study these texts and produce a variety of texts of their own in order to practice the style and methods appropriate for technical discourse in science, medicine, and engineering. Some major goals of the class include:

Learning to present your work and ideas in a style and manner appropriate to your discipline and your audience.

Developing the ability to effectively explain and comment on visual presentations of information.

Understanding the significance of discipline-appropriate citation and gaining a clear understanding of where to find and how to employ formats such as IEEE, AMA, AIP, etc.

Understanding the role of writing in science, medicine, and engineering, and the mores and norms of writing in scientific disciplines.

Assignments and Grading Definition Paper 10%

A 1-2 page paper defining and explaining a technical mechanism, procedure, device, or concept, or a scientific problem and its significance intended for a non-technical, non-expert audience. For example, you might define a Java applet, a haptic interface, the mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease, or an electron microscope.

Position Paper

First Draft 10% Final Draft 15%

For this 3-4 page paper you should read at least three (3) sources and use material from at least two of those (2) sources explaining a scientific or technical problem and advocating a solution to that problem. The essay should be written as if it will be read by a technical but non-expert audience that is interested and generally well-educated and tech savvy, but not familiar with the details or technical aspects of your particular topic. You might, for example, write about the use of information visualization in bioinformatics, or security issues in

Content 35% Organization and Development 35% Grammar and Vocabulary 30%

computing. Your paper should include a process description and explain how the solution you are advocating is carried out or works and builds on the skills you used in your definition paper.

Literature Review

Preliminary work: proposal 5% First draft 10% Final draft 20%

For this 4-5 page paper, you will write a literature review based on at least six sources. For this assignment, you will identify a problem in your field (you may build on the work done in your Position Paper), explain the significance of the problem, explain various approaches that have been taken by other researchers and, finally, suggest a research direction or approach that you believe might be useful in the future.

Presentations 10%

At the instructor’s discretion students may work individually or in groups, make presentations or lead discussion, but students will be encouraged to make effective use of visual information and to participate in question and answer sessions as part of this assignment.

Participation and Performance 10%

Participation is an essential part of the class. Talking with your classmates will provide you with important experience communicating with scientists in other disciplines about your own work. Your participation grade will depend on your participation in class discussions, your preparedness for class, and your engagement with the course in general. You may be asked to do significant amounts of writing and writing-related exercises in this class. These are essential and will be included in this part of the grade.

Conferences 10%

Students will be asked to meet individually with the instructor to discuss their work and progress at least three times during the semester. These meetings are mandatory and will take place during the weeks indicated on the syllabus. Attendance at these meetings will be counted as attendance in class, and missing a meeting or failing to sign up for a meeting will count as one absences, which will be included when calculating any penalty assessed because of attendance problems. Conferences with your instructor provide an important opportunity to receive individual feedback and guidance, and you must come prepared for each meeting: bring your previous and most recent drafts, your research materials (if any), any questions or concerns you have about your work, a pen or pencil, and come on time. Your conference grade will be based on your participation in and preparedness for conference sessions. Note: You MUST sign up for a conference at least 24 hours before the deadline; you MAY NOT reschedule a conference without instructor’s consent.

Readings and Course Materials Course readings will be taken from professional and popular scientific texts in accordance with class interests. In addition, students are required to buy Writing in the Sciences: Exploring Conventions of Scientific Discourse by Ann Penrose and Steven Katz and they may be asked to consult Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers. Students may be asked to contribute reading relevant to their field of interest.

Grading Criteria Written work will be graded based on the following criteria:

Attendance Policy

Class attendance is required. You are allowed 2 unexcused absences from class (which amounts to four hours of class time) without penalty. Each additional unexcused absence results in a reduction of your overall course grade: 3 unexcused absences=5% penalty, 4=10%, 5=15%, and 6=20%. If you accumulate more than 6 unexcused absences, you will automatically fail the course. Excused absence forms must be submitted within one (1) week of the absence date, or they will not be honored.

Consult with your instructor if you believe there are extenuating circumstances that have made it impossible for you to regularly attend class. Please come to class on time; each three times you arrive to class more than five minutes late will count as one absence.

Policy on Late Work

There is a five percent penalty for each day an assignment is late, and work submitted after the

deadline for the next assignment has passed will not be accepted. For example, an outline for a

paper submitted on or after the deadline for the submission of the first draft will not be accepted.

Furthermore, no student work will be accepted unless all previous stages of the assignment have

been completed. Instructors are not obliged to provide feedback on late work. Except by prior

agreement with the instructor, submission dates on turnitin.com are considered official submission

dates, and work that has not been submitted to turnitin.com will not be accepted or graded. Papers

and/or assignments MUST be submitted to turnitin.com on the day they are due (exception: with a

doctor’s excuse, assignments will have to be submitted within a week of the excused period).

Plagiarism and Collusion Policy:

Plagiarism is presenting someone else's words or ideas as your own, without proper reference. You are graded

on your own individual work, not another's masquerading as your own. Any student found plagiarizing on or

colluding in writing assignments may fail the assignment, fail the course, and/or be referred to the university's

disciplinary council. This may result in suspension from the university. You commit plagiarism when:

You copy someone else's writing and do not put it in quotation marks and identify the source.

You take someone else's writing, change some of the words, and do not identify the source.

You take someone else's ideas or sequence of ideas, put them into your own words, and do not identify the source.

Someone else writes your assignments or changes your writing and thus creates a false impression of your abilities.

You engage in collusion when:

You receive unauthorized help with your writing by paying (with money or any form of compensation)

or otherwise inducing another person to do the writing for you.

Koç University Statement on Academic Honesty with Emphasis on Plagiarism

Koç University expects all its students to perform course-related activities in accordance with the rules set forth in the Student Code of Conduct (http://vpaa.ku.edu.tr/academic/student-code-of-conduct). Actions considered as academic dishonesty at Koç University include but are not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and impersonating. This statement’s goal is to draw attention to cheating and plagiarism related actions deemed unacceptable within the context of Student Code of Conduct:

All individual assignments must be completed by the student himself/herself, and all team assignments must be completed by the members of the team, without the aid of other individuals. If a team member does not

contribute to the written documents or participate in the activities of the team, his/her name should not appear on the work submitted for evaluation.

Plagiarism is defined as “borrowing or using someone else’s written statements or ideas without giving written acknowledgement to the author.” Students are encouraged to conduct research beyond the course material, but they must not use any documents prepared by current or previous students, or notes prepared by instructors at Koç University or other universities without properly citing the source. Furthermore, students are expected to adhere to the Classroom Code of Conduct (http://vpaa.ku.edu.tr/academic/classroom-code-of- conduct) and to refrain from all forms of unacceptable behavior during lectures. Failure to adhere to expected behavior may result in disciplinary action.

There are two kinds of plagiarism: Intentional and accidental. Intentional plagiarism (Example: Using a classmate’s homework as one’s own because the student does not want to spend time working on that homework) is considered intellectual theft, and there is no need to emphasize the wrongfulness of this act. Accidental plagiarism, on the other hand, may be considered as a ‘more acceptable’ form of plagiarism by some students, which is certainly not how it is perceived by the University administration and faculty. The student is responsible from properly citing a source if he/she is making use of another person’s work. For an example on accidental plagiarism, please refer to the document titled “An Example on Accidental Plagiarism”.

If you are unsure whether the action you will take would be a violation of Koç University’s Student Code of Conduct, please consult with your instructor before taking that action.

An Example on Accidental Plagiarism This example is taken from a document prepared by the City University of New York. The following text is taken from Elaine Tyler May’s “Myths and Realities of the American Family”

“Because women’s wages often continue to reflect the fiction that men earn the family wage, single mothers rarely earn enough to support themselves and their children adequately. And because work is still organized around the assumption that mothers stay home with children, even though few mothers can afford to do so, child-care facilities in the United States remain woefully inadequate.”

Below, there is an excerpt from a student’s homework, who made use of May’s original text: “As Elaine Tyler May points out, “women’s wages often continue to reflect the fiction that men earn the family wage” (588). Thus many single mothers cannot support themselves and their children adequately. Furthermore, since work is based on the assumption that mothers stay home with children, facilities for day care in this country are still “woefully inadequate.” (May 589).”

You may think that there is no plagiarism here since the student is citing the original author. However, this is an instance of accidental plagiarism. Although the student cites May and uses quotation marks occasionally, the rest of the sentences, more specifically the following section: “Thus many single mothers cannot support themselves and their children adequately. Furthermore, since work is based on the assumption that mothers stay home with children, facilities for day care in this country are still “woefully inadequate.” (May 589)” almost exactly duplicates May’s original language. So, in order to avoid plagiarism, the student either had to use quotation marks for the rest of the sentences as well, or he/she had to paraphrase May’s ideas by using not only his/her own words, but his/her own original ideas as well. You should keep in mind that accid ental plagiarism often occurs when the student does not really understand the original text but still tries to make use of it. Understanding the original text and understanding why you agree or disagree with the ideas proposed in that text is crucial both for avoiding plagiarism and for your intellectual development.

Source: Avoiding and Detecting Plagiarism: A Guide for Graduate Students and Faculty. The Graduate Center. City

University of New York, 2012. Web. <http://www.gc.cuny.edu/CUNY_GC/media/CUNY-Graduate- Center/PDF/Publications/AvoidingPlagiarism.pdf>.

Grading Scale

A = 100 – 90% A- = 89 – 87%

B+ = 86 – 83 % B = 82 – 80 % B- = 79 – 77%

C+ = 76 – 73 % C = 72 – 70% C- = 69 – 67%

D+ = 66 – 63 % D = 62 – 60 % F = 59 – 0%,

Grade Disputes

If you dispute a grade for a formal assignment, you must contact your instructor or the Director of Academic

Writing by email within two weeks of the date the grade has been issued to discuss the situation.

Note: The Academic Writing Program has a firm policy regarding petitions for re-grading assignments, and will

not accept petitions filed after the two week deadline. For more information regarding this policy, contact your

instructor.

Course Guidelines and Expectations

Uphold standards of academic and personal integrity and respect. Submit your own original work for all assignments, do not ask for or provide inappropriate help. If you have any questions about what constitutes inappropriate assistance or collusion, contact your instructor or consult your textbook or class notes from our lessons about plagiarism. In addition to things like copying and pasting text from the internet or paying someone to do your work for you, examples of inappropriate academic conduct might include, but are not limited to, providing copies of your work to your classmates or working together as a group to produce an assignment that is to be submitted separately by each individual. Although students may work together during class at the instructor’s direction and under her supervision, this in no way implies that students have permission to copy each other’s’ work or work in pairs or teams outside of class to complete individual assignments with people in the same or different sections or otherwise engage in acts of academic dishonesty or present work that is not their own, individual, original work completed own their own, by themselves for this class as their own.

Keep up with work and expectations. It is your responsibility to read the syllabus carefully and completely and to keep track of assignments and deadlines, and to be aware of course policies and rules. “I was absent,” or “I did not read the syllabus” are not acceptable excuses for not meeting course responsibilities.

Behave respectfully toward the instructor and your fellow students. Come to class on time. Do not converse with those around you, sleep, or talk, write, or play games on your mobile phone during class. Please turn off your mobile phone(s), iPad(s), and other similar devices before entering the classroom and keep them out of sight during class unless you are using such devices for note -taking device or other class- related purposes. Restrict your use of laptops and other mobile computing devices to class-related activities out of respect to your instructor and classmates. The sound on all mobile and computing devices must be kept off at all times and external devices such as mice, speakers, microphones, cameras, or headphones may never be used without instructor permission. Keep the classroom clean.

Communication professionally and politely with your instructor. You should send email to your instructor only about questions that cannot be answered by using the resources you already have, such as the syllabus, KUAIS, documents in the reading pack and/or on the course website, or class discussion or email lists. When you do send email, be sure that your message is properly addressed and composed of clear, grammatically correct compete sentences explaining your concern, your attempts (if any) to address the concern yourself, and a clear, polite explanation of the action you wish your instructor to take. Email messages without an appropriate subject line, without text in the body, or that include an attachment with an ambiguous file name and/or that is not in .pdf, .doc, or .docx format or that include unprofessional or impolite language, wording or tones will not be read or responded to. Please follow the guidelines for professional email correspondence you learned in your ALIS course.

Submit neat and professional work. All work must be typed, double spaced, in 12 pt. font, printed on only one side of the paper, with 2.5 cm margins on all sides. Of course, all work submitted must be spell- checked, stapled, and clearly marked with your name and section number. Work that is not stapled will not be accepted. Work must be submitted to turnitin.com in order to be considered as submitted, and must be accompanied by a signed copy of the Statement of Academic Honesty in Turkish and English. Assignments that are not spell-checked will be assessed a 10 point penalty.

Come to class prepared. You must come to class prepared, with a pen/pencil, paper, the textbook or reading pack, and any assignments or other specific materials the instructor has told you to bring that day.

Students who come to class without these items and/or cannot obtain them without missing or disrupting class will be asked to leave and marked absent (unexcused).

Deadlines

Definition Paper June 20

Position Paper First Draft June 27

Position Paper Final Draft July 6

Literature Review Proposal July 7 Literature Review Draft July 11

Presentations Week 5

Literature Review Final Draft July 18

Tentative Class Schedule – Please note that supplemental homework assignments and readings may be given. Please follow along on this schedule, but also take note of additional information given on class and/or the course website: https://lms.ku.edu.tr/

Week 1: 16 June – 19 June

Monday: Intro to the course and Definitions Tuesday: Have Read: Penrose and Katz, pp. 3 22.

Definition Paper assignment Wednesday: Definitions

Have read: Penrose and Katz, pp. 198-223 Conference (for the definition paper/research)

Thursday: Library Research session Friday: Definition Paper due on turnitin.com by

Week 2: 23 June – 26 June

Monday: Intro to the Position Paper assignment (have read project prompt on Moodle) Tuesday: Citation and Working with Sources in Science Writing Wednesday: Conferences for position paper draft (topic approval) Thursday: Position paper and visual representations of data (graphs, tables, etc.) Friday: First Draft of Position Paper due on turnitin.com by 23:59

Week 3: 30 June – 3 July

Monday: Effective paraphrasing skills

Literature Review Tuesday: Literature review II

Read: Penrose and Katz, pp. 130-148 Tuesday-Wednesday: Optional Conferences for Position Paper Drafts Sunday: Final Draft of Position Paper due on turnitin.com by 23:59

Week 4: 7 July – 10 July

Monday: Conferences: Lit review cover sheet (due during or by your conference)

Tuesday: Literature review Read: Penrose and Katz, pp. 97-116

Wednesday: Presentation Skills. Oral presentation assignment Read: Penrose and Katz, pp. 149 – 174

Thursday: Optional Conferences (presentation and literature review) Friday: First Draft of Literature Review Due on turnitin.com by 17:00 and a hard copy at SOS 111

Week 5: 14 July – 17 July

Monday: Student Presentations Tuesday: Student Presentations

Wednesday: Student Presentations (if needed)

Wednesday - Thursday: Conferences Friday: Final Draft of Literature Review due on turnitin.com by 23:59