Technical Writing Training Course for Engineers

Fall 2015

Instructor Ms. Cristina Marban

Office Hours 11-12:30pm Mondays and Wednesdays and by appointment

Office Location General Academic Building 543

Email Address CristinaMarban@my.unt.edu or marbancrlt@gmail.com

Textbook(s) -A Guide to Writing as an Engineer May 3, 2013 By David F. Beer and David A. McMurrey

-Pocket Book of Technical Writing for Engineers & Scientists (McGraw- Hill's Best: Basic Engineering Series and Tools) 3rd Edition

(Use this pocket book as a guide when you are writing your technical documents.)

-Supplemental readings will be available on Blackboard.

Course Purpose This course prepares engineers to write technical documents in a professional manner independently and collaboratively when

they go into the workforce.

This course is required for undergraduate and graduate engineers.

Course Objectives In this course engineers will learn to:

write clearly, concisely, and appropriately plan, draft, and edit documents for use in professional settings adapt writing to different audiences, purposes, and background understand and use the various forms of professional writing,

including professional correspondence, progress reports, proposals, formal reports, and lab reports

use word processing and graphics software to create effective technical documents

write collaboratively with other colleagues

Assignments The course assignments will help you demonstrate your knowledge and skills on writing technical documents.

Submit your assignments to Blackboard, or e-mail them to me incase Blackboard is not working properly by 11:59pm on the due date.

The assignments below include one major exam; one major group project and the rest are individual projects.

Business Correspondence (memo, e-mail, or letter), 10% Informal progress report, 10% Style Exam, 10 % Instructions, 15% Proposal Group Project and Individual Reflection, 20% Feasibility Report, 15% Formal report, 15% IMRaD Genre Report, 15 % Professional Online Portfolio and Reflection, 25% Homework and Professionalism , 10%

An overview of the assignments is provided below. I will hand out a document with more specific instructions about each assignment

and I will also upload them to Blackboard.

Assignment Short DescriptionStyle Exam You will take the Style exam online on

Blackboard and you will have one week to complete it (Monday- Friday) due at 11:59pm on Friday. The exam will contain short answer questions; you will identify the problems that are in the sentences and rewrite the sentences to eliminate the problems, and revise a few short passages.

Business Correspondence You will create and send me a professional message (200-300 words) about your major, career goals, and your writing experiences in e-mail, memo, or letter format.

Informal Progress Report You will write an informal progress report (1-2 pages) in memo format on a project you are working on at your current workplace to me as if I was your manager, or I will give you a scenario in case you are currently not working.

Instructions You will write clear and concise instructions for a tool, process, or task. The instructions need to contain descriptions, visuals, and specifications; warnings, protection and troubleshooting advice; any other information the user might need to use the device, complete the process, or accomplish the task.

Proposal Project and Individual Reflection

The engineers will get into groups of three and create a business document that outlines the groups plan to solve a problem for the UNT campus, or local community. Each group can choose their own topic, but I will need to accept it before each group can start working on their proposal project.

You will have to write an individual reflection (1-2 pages) on the proposal project.

Feasibility Report You will include a cover page, table of contents, executive summary, introduction, methods and criteria selections, results, and recommendation in your feasibility report.

I will give you a list of scenarios of a different client that includes information on a product your client needs recommended to him or her, what technology/access they currently have, and a few personal characteristics. Above all, you will use this information to research 3 possible products and then write a report that details your results and final recommendation. The recommendation must be feasible and based on criteria that you establish and evaluate all potential products against.

Formal Report You will write a formal report that presents and analyzes the data you collected on a project you are working on at your workplace, or on an engineering project you would like to work on.

IMRaD Genre Report You will create a research question, devise a method of gathering original data, collect the data, and write it in IMRaD format (Introduction/Methods/Results/and Discussion).

Professional Online Portfolio and Reflection

You will create a professional online portfolio by creating a website on Weebly, etc, or you can create your own website if you have any html, xml experience on creating websites. Your online portfolio should include your resume, cover letter, and revised assignments. Finally, you will e-mail me a hyperlink of your online portfolio and your reflection (500-700 words) as an attachment.

Homework and Professionalism Complete assigned readings, homework assignments, in-class individual or group activities (participation), the way you behave in class, and attendance.

Grading Evaluation of Assignments

"A" (90-100%): A manager would be very impressed and would

remember the work when a promotion is discussed. In this course, that means work that is a pleasure to read, with excellent content, grammar, sentence structure, mechanics, and visual design. In addition, work is thorough, complete, coherent, well organized, supported sufficiently, and demonstrates a superior understanding of audience, purpose, and rationale.

"B" (80-89%): A manager would be satisfied with the job, but not especially impressed. This means that documents are well written and well produced, and demonstrate a substantial addition to the learning process. Work is sufficiently developed, organized, and supported, and demonstrates a solid understanding of audience, purpose, and rationale.

"C" (70-79%): A manager would be disappointed and ask you to revise or rewrite sections before allowing clients and others to see the work. In other words, the document may have clear, but underdeveloped ideas, or it might not engage or affect the reader. The documents may contain some errors in grammar, mechanics, or logic.

"D" (60-69%): A manager would be troubled by the poor quality of work. This level of work forces the reader to work too hard to understand the main ideas. The documents may contain incomplete information, have serious grammar and mechanical problems, lack clear organization, or are conceptually unclear.

"F" (0-59%): A manager would start looking for someone to replace you. In particular, work fails to address the tasks of the assignment, is so underdeveloped as to demonstrate incompetence, and is mechanically and grammatically incomprehensible. This grade will also be assigned for any evidence of plagiarism.

Class Policies You must attend class regularly. I will only allow 3 unexcused

absences before your grade will be affected. After 6 unexcused absences, I will drop you from the course with a grade of “F.”http://policy.unt.edu/sites/default/files/untpolicy/15.2.5_Attendance%20Policy.pdf

If you come to class more than 15 minutes late, I will count you absent for that day. However, if you e-mail me an hour before class that you are going to come to class late for a good reason, I will not count you absent.

You must have cell phones, tablets, and other electronics turned-off during class. Please respect your classmates by following this policy.

Turn off your monitor during class unless I direct you to do otherwise. Do not hack, surf the net, send/read personal e-mails, or complete work for other courses during class time. Students who use the computers during class for anything unrelated to this course will receive an “F” for class professionalism for the semester.

I will take 5 points off an assignment every day that it is submitted late. If you are unable to attend class or turn in an assignment because of an emergency, please e-mail me before class.

If you do not format, organize, and style arrange an assignment according to my instructions then that assignment may receive a grade of “F”.

You may receive a grade of incomplete only if you are severely ill or an immediate family member is severely ill. To receive the incomplete, you must have completed and earned an 80% or higher on at least half of the course work.

November 2 is the last day for a student to drop a course with consent of the instructor with either W or WF.

Check your UNT email address for communication from me. I use only UNT email address to communicate with students.

Acceptable Student Behavior

Student behavior that interferes with an instructor’s ability to conduct a class or other students' opportunity to learn is unacceptable and disruptive and will not be tolerated in any instructional forum at UNT. Students engaging in unacceptable behavior will be directed to leave the classroom and you may be referred the student to the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities to consider whether the student's conduct violated the Code of Student Conduct. The university's expectations for student conduct apply to all instructional forums, including university and electronic classroom, labs, discussion groups, field trips, etc. The Code of Student Conduct can be found at www.unt.edu/csrr.

Academic Integrity I follow UNT’s policy for academic dishonesty. You can access these guidelines and the UNT policies at

http://policy.unt.edu/sites/default/files/untpolicy/pdf/7- Student_Affairs-Academic_Integrity.pdf. You are

responsible for knowing and following the student standards for academic integrity.

Accommodations Any student who, because of a disability, may require special arrangements in order to meet course requirements

should contact me on the first week of class to make necessary accommodations.

UNT’s Office of Disability Accommodations offers a variety of services but require qualified students to follow an application process.

Please check their Web site for more information on these procedures and their deadlines.

http://policy.unt.edu/sites/default/files/untpolicy/6.8.1.2_Americans%20With%20Disabilities%20Act.pdf

Students needing to miss class due to the observance of an officially recognized religious holy day are asked to consult with me in

advance so we can schedule missed work accordingly.

Schedule The course schedule is subject to change during our progress this Fall 2015 semester.

Date Agenda Readings Due Assignments DueWeek 1August 24 Introduction to

Technical Writing Training Course for Engineers; Submit a short essay on “Why writing skills are important for engineers?” (100-200 words to Blackboard.

Ch. 1 (David F. Beer and David A. McMurrey)

August 26 How to produce effective engineering documents that are clear and concise to the readers; Audience Importance

Ch.3 (Beer and McMurrey)

Week 2August 31 Go over half of the

exercises on Ch.2 as a class; style, grammar, and language correctness

Ch.2 (Beer and McMurrey)

HW: Half of the exercises on Ch.2 (Submit to Blackboard before class)

September 2 Go over the last half of the exercises on Ch.2 as a class; Finish lecture and activities on style, grammar, and language correctness; Organizing information; Introduction to Business Correspondence lecture and introduce students to the Business

Ch.4 HW: The last half of the exercises on Ch.2 (Submit to Blackboard before class)

Correspondence Assignment and assessment rubric

Week 3September 7 No ClassSeptember 9 Finish Business

Correspondence lecture; Individual activity on evaluating different samples of correspondence; Introduce students to the Informal Progress Report assignment and Analytic Grading Rubric

Supplemental reading on Correspondence

Business Correspondence Assignment due (Submit to Blackboard on Sunday September 13 by 11:59pm)

Week 4September 14 Lecture on writing

ethics and the ethics of honest research

Ch. 11

September 16 Lecture on progress reports

Ch. 5 HW: Ch.5 exercises (Submit to Blackboard before class)

Week 5September 21 Lecture on

Instructions; group activity on writing clear and concise instructions for a tool; Introduce students to the Instructions assignment and its evaluation rubric

Supplemental reading on how to write instructions and how to write proposals

September 23 Finish working on the group activity on writing clear and concise instructions for a tool and submit the instructions to Blackboard; Lecture on proposals; group activity on evaluating a few proposal documents and share findings with the

Supplemental reading on how to write proposals

Informal Progress Report Assignment due (Submit to Blackboard on Sunday September 27 by 11:59pm)

class; Style Exam Review

Week 6September 28 Introduce students to

the Proposal Project and Individual Reflection Assignment and the grading rubric for the assignment; the students will get into their proposal groups to introduce themselves and begin brainstorming for the proposal project; short introduction lecture about feasibility reports.

Supplemental reading on feasibility reports and how to collaborate effectively with other colleagues.

You can begin taking the Style Exam on Blackboard on Monday September 28 at 7am. The Last day to take the exam is on Friday October 2nd due at 11:59pm.

September 30 Finish lecture on feasibility reports; I will show 3 samples of feasibility reports and we will evaluate them as a class; I will introduce students to their feasibility report assignment and the way I will grade it; students will get into groups of 4 and create a recommendation report based on a scenario I will give each group due in class on October 7.

Ch.7 Each group will email me their topic for the proposal project on Sunday October 4 by 11:59pm so I can accept, or reject it before each group begins working on the project.

Week 7October 5 Students will get into

their Feasibility report groups to work on their report for 30 minutes; lecture on how to deliver a presentation individually and as a group and what to

Ch.9

include in a presentation

October 7 Students will get into their Feasibility report groups to finish working on their report and submit it to Blackboard; students will write a short progress (100-200 words) report on what they have accomplished on their instructions assignment, what they need to complete, and submit it to Blackboard; Short introduction lecture on formal reports

Ch. 6 Instructions Assignment Due (Submit to Blackboard on Sunday October 11 by 11:59pm)

Week 8October 12 Finish lecture on

formal reports; introduce students to the formal report assignment and grade rubric.

Supplementary reading on formal reports

October 14 Lecture on basic search strategies, sources of engineering information, and internet search tools

Ch.8 HW: Ch. 8 exercises due before class (Submit to Blackboard)

Week 9October 19 Lecture on the IMRaD

Genre Report; Analyze the sections of the IMRaD report

Supplementary reading on the IMRaD report

October 21 Introduce the IMRaD report assignment and the grade rubric to the students; Workshop: you can work on your Proposal Project and Individual Reflection assignment, feasibility reports, formal

Proposal Project and Individual Reflection assignment due (Submit to Blackboard on Sunday October 25 by 11:59pm)

reports, or get started on your IMRaD reports

Week 10October 26 Optional presentations

on Proposal Project(The groups that present will get 10 extra points on the assignment); Lecture on how to write an engineering resume, cover letter, etc

Ch. 10

October 28 Finish Ch. 10 lecture; Lecture on Ch. 12 Engineering your online reputation

Ch. 12 Feasibility Report Due (Submit to Blackboard on Sunday November 1 by 11:59pm)

Week 11November 2

(Last day for a student to drop a course.)

Bring your current resume and cover letter to class to evaluate them with a partner to improve it; If you do not have a current resume and cover letter, you can evaluate a copy of a resume and cover letter that I will hand out in class

November 4 I will introduce you to the Online Portfolio and Reflection assignment, and the grading rubric; Workshop

Formal Report Due (Submit to Blackboard on Sunday November 8 by 11:59pm)

Week 12November 9 Workshop November 11 WorkshopWeek 13November 16 No class; Come to my

office during my office hours, or e-mail me to make an appointment to ask me

questions about the assignments, or feedback on your drafts of your assignments (November 16-December 9).

November 18 No class IMRaD Genre Report Due (Submit to Blackboard on Sunday November 22 by 11:59pm)

Week 14November 23 No classNovember 25 No classWeek 15November 30 No classDecember 2 No classWeek 16December 7 No classDecember 9 No class Professional Online

Portfolio and Reflection Assignment Due (E-mail me professionally the hyperlink of your online portfolio and attach your reflection to the e-mail by Wednesday December 9 by 11:59pm.)