Graft/W09
Technical Report Writing
8:30-9:50 M/W: Section 2, SE 127
ENGLISH 304: TECHNICAL REPORT WRITING SYLLAWEB
Instructor: Lynne Graft
Science East 167 Phone 989.964.4030 (4030 on-campus)
lrgraft@svsu.edu
Office Hours: 11:30-12:30 M through Th
or by appointment or online
THIS DOCUMENT SERVES AS A BASIS OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN US
revised 09 January 2009
Required Texts and Supplies
Course Description
English 304 is a 3 credit course with a prerequisite of both English 111 and 212 with earned grades of C or better. If this is not the case, discuss it with me. This course counts toward the Professional and Technical Writing strand of the English major and is otherwise considered an elective by the English Department. Writing is at the core of English 304; it is not a lecture course. Consider it a writing-intensive, response-based exploration and sharing of ideas revolving around the study of technical writing. Your responsibility is to arrive at class having read your assignments and formed preliminary opinions about them. Together we will explore, expand upon, and revise those opinions if necessary. Your responsibility is to come to each class prepared to write, bringing with you your drafts and revisions, both on disk and in print. Assume that you will write every time you come to class.In class and online you will be a member of a writing group. You will learn to revise and edit pre-written documents that we study as a class. You will do the same for those that you personally compose. You also will help your peers immensely with an extra, objective pair of eyes and a unique sensibility that will enable them to re-see their work from an objective vantage point. Just as teamwork is immensely important in the work world, so it is in this section of English 304. While you will have a semester- long group that you are a member of online, you will have an opportunity in class to work with all your classmates.Because this class has a heavy emphasis on peer response and editing, it is designed with an electronic component, the Web-based course management program, VSpace. VSpace is a password-protected place on the Web where you can find out about assignments, announcements, and links to outside materials, as well as a place where you can turn in assignments electronically. VSpace also offers us the ability to hold online group discussions and maintain a dialogic journal. With your writing group you will share opinions and ideas all semester. You will find this kind of discussion to be enlightening, liberating, and fun. The journal is an extremely important part of the course. Because the program is Web-based, you can access your journal from school or home or any other place that you have computer access to the Web. If necessary, you will receive hands-on instruction in using VSpace in class. This course is at its core writing intensive and interactive. From this point forward, think of yourself as a writer.
Personal Work Ethic
It is imperative that you have the following:
1. an enthusiasm for learning
2. an ability to cope when things don't go as planned - a lack of rigidity in your thinking
3. an ability to work without face to face supervision
4. the confidence to ask questions when confused
5. an ability to shoulder responsibility in group situations - to be a team player
6. enough self control to realize when you are procrastinating and to get yourself back on
track
7. the desire to finish what you start Attendance Policy
Obviously, if you are not in class, you are not participating and will be graded accordingly. More than two absences in the semester will hurt your grade, and if you miss four times, you should expect to fail the course. Please be on time. Late entries are disruptive and distracting to your classmates and put you at a disadvantage since class begins with the direction for the day's work, and collaborative activity that works best if you are present from the beginning. I hold a fairly informal classroom with a workshop kind of ambience; nonetheless, students who are habitually tardy or who leave early are marked absent. Should you find it necessary to miss class, you alone are responsible for obtaining missed assignments and class notes from someone in your writing group before the next class; therefore, it is wise to keep in close contact with your dialogue group members. Contact them early; do not wait until you return or rely on reaching me by email for this purpose. Likewise, as a group member, you should willingly help a writer who contacts you for information. In-class writings or quizzes, however, are exercises in spontaneous writing or inquiries about assigned readings and cannot be made up. Handouts missed must be picked up in my office; I do not carry them to class after the first time handed out.
Paper Management
You are responsible for keeping copies of all your work, even after handed in and graded. You must have a method of backup so that you do not arrive at class having forgotten your work and having no access to it. This is unacceptable. Do not rely on the MDrive as anything other than a secondary backup. Stories of its failure are legendary. Time and again it has been the cause of tears and misery. Do not put yourself at its mercy under any circumstances. Use a cheap but sturdy folder or binder for all your 304 work and bring it to class with you.
Evaluation Coursework will include the following:
You will be expected to observe the conventions of acceptable mechanics and usage. This includes adherence to MLA/APA/ChicagoManual of Style guidelines (or whatever your disciipline requires) and correct spelling! As a member of an academic community you must learn to express yourself in the language of that community. And accordingly, you also need to learn the language of the working community for whom you write. We will spend time on audience analysis to help you in this endeavor.
Scale used in compilation of grade:
94 to 100 = A 90 to 93 = A- 87 to 89 = B+ 83 to 86 = B 80 to 82 = B-
77 to 79 = C+ 75 to 76 = C 60 to 74 = D below 60 = F
The university does not award grades of C- or D+; therefore, if you are performing consistently at the C-/D+ level, your final grade will be D, not C.
Blackboard Writing Group Journal Policy
Your online writing group will meet in GROUPS in Blackboard during most weeks of the semester. I will submit prompts or mini-assignments in the form of thought questions or problem solving issues - important work-related, cultural, socio-economic ideas for you to think about as you do the writing in this course. This also allows you to practice your craft in a non-report writing manner :-) The journal is required; it is not an option. The Jounal does not occur every week, but when it does, this is the policy. A person who chooses not to post timely required entries will receive no more than a D in the course. You should make an effort to dialogue with not at your group members, and call them by name. You may respond in the journal to controversies that arise in class discussion. You may take issue with me, with a writer or authority, or with a classmate. Make observations, ask questions, wax philosophical. Hopefully, the information and documents we study are going to make you THINK, and the journal will become a record of the level of your thinking. Because it is weighted as part of 20% of your grade, it affects your grade considerably, depending on its quality and evidence of effort. Look upon lab time as you would library time. You must build time for it into your schedule. This may require you to make extra trips to campus that you had not planned on, but these are both aspects of the university experience that you cannot avoid, some would say the difference between a degree and a certificate. Planning a schedule which allows you time only to attend class is extremely unrealistic and ill-advised. Only occasionally will I make specific journal assignments; more often I will give you broad areas of thought for discussion. Your self discipline is required in order that you build lab or home computer time into your schedule to create and respond to group dialogue and post a 150 word entry twice each week. Entries must be timely and well-spaced, not written two at the same time. Your first entry should be written by 10 p.m. Wednesday so that others are able to consider and respond to it in their second entries. Second entries must be posted before 10 p.m. on Saturday night after which I record all responses for the week. You will earn 5 points or 10 points for the week. Entries do not carry over from week to week. A week with no contribution is a lost week. A student who consistently makes no effort to get first entries posted on time will not receive credit. Be aware now, at the beginning of the course, of this required on-line component which is an integral part of the course and which becomes your responsibility. To fault the course or the instructor later because you have difficulty getting to a lab or securing computer access would be unwarranted. This is a choice you make when you take this course. Make the decision now to accept or decline the opportunity that online participation affords you rather than to complain at the end of the semester or anytime you have procrastinated or fallen behind, that the requirement was too much for you. Invariably, by the end of the semester, students have become aware of how online discussion has expanded their knowledge and enjoyment of the course :-)
Late Paper Policy: They are not an option.
For practical purposes, due dates must be strictly adhered to. Papers and projects are announced well in advance and may not be handed in late for a lowered grade. Papers not turned in on time are not read and receive a grade of 0. If you are having difficulty of any kind and anticipate that you cannot make a deadline, see me in advance of the due date to determine if an extension can be granted. This cannot occur except in an emergency situation. This is in reference to death, earthquake, plague, etc., not over-sleeping, all night fights with girlfriend/boyfriend, sudden onset of pneumonia, writer's block, etc. If a paper is due and you cannot be in class to turn it in, you must somehow get it to second floor Science East and deliver it personally to the Faculty Secretary, Ms. Cathy Smith. Your paper will then be stamped with date and time and put in my office. Though my office is in the first floor suite, the Faculty Secretary is in the second floor suite. The staff member in the first floor suite is not an English Faculty Secretary. She works for Technical Publications and is not responsible for taking your papers. Another option is to mail the paper to me, making sure it is postmarked in a post office (not via personal postage meter) on or before the due date. Do not slide any major papers under my door. I accept no responsibility for them; too many have access to the hallway, my floor, and my desk. If you know how to deposit to the Digital Drop Box in VSpace, a paper can also be submitted that way, saved as an rtf file (Rich Text Format), with all drafts and source copies properly labeled and submitted to the Faculty Secretary on 2nd floor Science East. Do not send any major papers via e-mail attachment unless I tell you to.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is academic theft - the use of someone else's words or ideas without proper acknowledgement of the source. It sometimes occurs unintentionally on the part of the student, though most students arrive at college already having been taught how to avoid plagiarism. No plagiarism will be tolerated by your instructor. A plagiarized paper, document, or project, whether print or electronic, will receive a zero. Even when unintentional, the act of plagiarism has serious consequences, including course failure. Therefore it is your responsibility to ask questions before you turn your work in if you have any doubt about the authenticity of your work. The SVSU stance on plagiarism can be found in the Student Handbook and is printed for you below. SVSU PLAGIARISM POLICY
Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism/Cheating Policy: The official school policy, as stated in the Code of Student Conduct, is as follows:
1.8.1 No student shall cheat, plagiarize or facilitate academic dishonesty by another student. Students are responsible for completing all kinds of assigned academic work without unauthorized aid of any kind. 1.8.2 The imposition of regular disciplinary penalties does not preclude an academic penalty imposed by an instructor. If a failing grade in a course is given for academic dishonesty, the Coordinator of Student Conduct will be notified in writing by the instructor or academic dean.
If all this seems a bit heavy handed and authoritarian, please understand that we all need guidelines in order to function effectively. As a reforming procrastinator myself, I tend to build a course with that type of student in mind. You should regard the class as a non-threatening, informal and fun place to be. The classroom is a democratic place and all opinions are respected and valued. It is my hope that you will feel an integral, contributing member of the group and have quite a good time in the process. I hope, too, that you emerge a more critical thinker for having taken the course. The class requires considerable time and effort, but the technical writing skills and techniques that you learn and refine will remain with you as you continue your academic career and later enter your chosen field.
N.B. : Any student with a disability that may restrict her or his full participation in course activities is encouraged to meet with me during the first week of the semester or contact the SVSU Office of Disability Services, Wickes 145, for assistance.
SYLLAWEB READING SCHEDULE
Technical Report Writing
Revised 09 Jaruary 2009
A certain amount of flex is built into this schedule that may not be apparent to you but is to me. From time to time we may be off schedule. Keep your reading up-to-date so that you are not caught off guard when I miraculously bring us up to date !
| Week One |
Introductions, texts, syllabus, policies, objectives, VSpace, etc. |
| Wednesday |
Topics, audience concerns, writer purposes, design and |
| Week Two |
Due: Letter of Introduction |
| Wednesday |
Working with assigned readings |
| Week Three |
Writing activities with Hilligoss readings |
| Wednesday |
Tutorial to establish individual Technical Writing Web Site - STC |
| Week Four |
Draft due for Rhetorical Analysis Peer Response |
| Wednesday |
Return peer responses to writers to use in revision. |
| Week Five |
Rhetorical Analysis due |
| Wednesday |
Continued work with Instructions, Choose topic for Instruction Set |
| Week Six |
Create Worksheets for various tasks following steps in text |
| Wednesday |
Move gathered data to draft |
| Week Seven |
Draft due for Instruction Set, bring 3 pre-printed copies for Peer Response |
| Wednesday |
Paper #2 Drafts returned Written Topic Proposal due 5 March |
| Week Eight |
Instruction Set due Kompozer Tutorial and Publication to WWW of Technical Writing Website |
| Wednesday |
Topic Proposal due for Proposal Paper Workshop for Technical Writing Website and Proposal Read: Riordan Ch. 12 "Informal Reports," 294-97, 303-313
|
| Week Nine |
SPRING BREAK - HAVE FUN AND BE CAREFUL
|
Wednesday |
SPRING BREAK |
| Week Ten |
Discussing individual Proposal topics & beginning the work
|
| Wednesday |
Workshop to Construct Proposal style sheets, begin worksheets |
| Week Eleven |
Proposal Worksheets due |
| Wednesday |
Proposal draft due, bring 3 pre-printed copies for peer response |
| Week Twelve |
Proposal drafts given back; Work on revision of Proposals |
| Wednesday |
Work on Oral Presentations that begin Monday and/or |
| Week Thirteen |
Proposals due Oral Presentations, #1-4 |
| Wednesday 9 April |
Oral Presentations, #5-8 |
| Week Fourteen |
|
| Wednesday |
Learning Report #4 Due |
| Week Fifteen |
Oral Presentations, #17-20 |
| Wednesday |
Oral Presentations, 21-23
|
| Week Sixteen |
Final Exam NOTE CHANGE of TIME !! 10:30-12:20 |
We Did It! We're Done! Fini!! Thank You for Joining Me On the Journey :-)