Course Syllabus

Technical Writing: ENGL& 235/W484, 5 credits      Spring, 2014, 04/08-06/26    

                                                            Word File of our Syllabus: SyllabusSpring14.doc    

 

Instructor and Contact: Kathleen Higgins, English Instructor/Coordinator

                                         khiggins@rtc.edu         

 Office Hours and Location:  Available upon request in C 104 b (library building)                                           

                  

Required Text:  Gerson, S. J. and Steven M. Gerson. Technical Communication/Process

                                     and  Product.7^th Edition.Boston: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print.

Course Description:  This course focuses on various aspects of professional and technical writing. Student study user guides, reports, proposals, and other forms of business correspondence in order to successfully write for the workplace. Completion of ENGL& 101 with a grade of 2.0 or higher.

 

 Course Objectives:

• You will identify and respond to real-world problems with practical solutions.
• You will collaborate with others to plan, develop, and edit deliverables.
• You will demonstrate appropriate business/technical formats in written presentations.
• You will improve writing skills, including diction, editing, grammar, information, organization, punctuation, tone, and troubleshooting.
• You will incorporate borrowed sources into report writing using proper documentation methods.
• You will understand technical writing as reader-oriented, with ethical, legal, security implications.

 

Course Outcomes: Access the College-wide Learning Outcomes at the left-hand column of the Canvas home page for definitions and relevant course assignments and activities.

 

                                                Are you Ready for Online Instruction?           

                                                                             

Best Practices for Your Course Success:

Online instruction requires you to become an active, time-conscious self-starter. These are also hallmarks of a reliable technical writer. Here are other key factors to achieving success:

• Find reliable internet access! Have back-up options ready, such as home and library. 
• Read the syllabus! It is vital to your understanding of how to navigate Canvas and properly submit work. Contact instructor if you have questions or concerns.
• Participate! Visiting class regularly should be a habit. Interact with classmates and instructor on project details. Devote at least 6-10 hours per week per course.

      Be kind to yourself by making ample time to complete complex projects.

• Keep up! Some online instruction is self-paced, but most classes, such as this one, operate on a strict schedule. Getting behind can be detrimental.
• Work Ahead! Savvy students will work in advance of due dates to ensure quality work and reduce stress.
• Get help! Whether you are struggling with a concept or feel proficient, use available resources, such as your instructor or tutoring services, to get the help you deserve.

The Following is the Complete List of Your Projects and  Their Grade Values:

 

Track your Projects and Points	Points Available	Actual Score
Ideas   for Research	15
Research Report	175
Research   Proposal Memo	100
Group Problem-solving   Proposal Memo	100
Paraphrase Exercise	30
3 Peer Reviews @ 10 points   each	30		Point Range	Decimal Grade	Letter Equivalent
Annotated Bibliography	25		941-1000	4.0-3.9	A
Progress Report	100		910-940	3.8-3.5	A-
Instruction Manual	100		880-909	3.4-3.2	B+
Discussion Forum Post 1,   student profile	25		850-879	3.1-2.9	B
Discussion Forum Post 2,   audience analysis	25		810-849	2.8-2.5	B-
Discussion Forum Post 3,   code of ethics	25		770-809	2.4-2.2	C+
Discussion Forum Post 4,   revising for clarity	25		730-769	2.1-2.0	C
Discussion Forum Post 5,   map	25		700-729	1.9-1.5	C-
Discussion Forum Post 6,   instructions	25		670-699	1.4-1.2	D+
Supplemental Readings 1,   attitudes	25		640-669	1.1-1.0	D
Supplemental Readings 2,   ethics	25		600-639	0.9-0.7	D-
Supplemental Readings 3,   collaboration	25		-----599	0.6-0.0	F
Supplemental Readings 4,   Security	25		My Grade:
Supplemental Readings 5, QA   & Usability	25
Proctored Final Exam	50
Value Added - Extra   Credit   5-100
Total:	1000

  Instructor Availability/ Holiday and Emergency Closures / RAVE Alerts:  

I attend class at least once a day, Monday-Friday, holidays & school closures excluded.  I adhere to the current Renton Technical College schedule. To be notified of emergency school closures, please have your RAVE Alert account established: https://www.getrave.com/login/renton

 

RAVE: For your safety and the safety of the campus, all students, staff, and faculty will be enrolled in this program automatically via their RTC email only. Individuals will receive an enrollment confirmation email, which will include account login information. You are encouraged to confirm your contact information and choose your notification preferences at that time, including adding a personal email account, cell phone number, etc.

 

On-line Conduct and Expression:

You are attending college and your actions and expressions must reflect that reality.  Standard procedure includes reading all course materials and lectures, asking appropriate questions when needed, completing all assignments in a timely manner, and demonstrating respect for the teacher and fellow classmates during online discussions, including using polite word choice and a courteous tone.

 

 

Plagiarism:

 

Part of our obligation in this class will be to clarify proper research and documentation methods so that you will understand your own responsibilities for correct and ethical research practices. However, part of your obligation will be to only borrow ideas that are fully credited. The practice of misrepresenting another person’s words or ideas as your own is detrimental to your own success in this class and has dire academic consequences. Unless research is specifically required, all submitted work must originate from the student. Any researched writing or ideas must also be credited and presented in an academically recognized format. Plagiarized work, whether intentionally done or not, will not receive credit and cannot be revised and resubmitted for credit.  If a student commits two such offenses, he or she will automatically fail. This policy includes all submitted writing, from formal work in paragraphs and essays to less formal work including rough drafts, group work, outlines, and Discussion Forum contributions. Furthermore, the instructor reserves the right to refuse to accept any and all assignments of dubious authorship or origin.

  

Due Dates, Times, Late/Missed Assignments, Posting Policies:

• Course work is due by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time of the scheduled due date. Please refer to Assignments in Canvas for specific due dates.
• Because of the large volume of files, late or multiple submissions of work for instructor reviewing/editing is not possible. Please consult assignment due dates for hard deadlines.
• Late paragraphs and essays, including the research paper, receive a 10 point per day deduction. No exceptions. Work cannot be submitted more than one      week late.
• Peer Review points are available only during designated periods and cannot be made up. Due dates for peer reviewing are listed in on the assignments and the course calendar. In order to receive peer review points, student-reviewers must complete the peer review forms that accompany assignments and provide written feedback to writer and instructor.

• Due dates for all course work will appear in the Assignment pages for each week’s work.

 

 

Format, Content, Submission, and Proctoring of Work:

• All composition assignments must be composed and saved in Word, double-spaced and in 12 point, Times New Roman. Final drafts must present student name, course title, course assignment, and date at top left margin.  Center a  title above the first paragraph, and include last name and page number in top right margin of subsequent pages.
• Submit your work as a.doc attachment to the Inbox (upper right-hand corner of the home page). Additionally, you can email me your paragraphs and essays. In fact, emailing me is usually the most reliable means.
• Any on-line postings must be written in complete sentences (complete thoughts). There will be no credit given to sentence fragments or ideas not grammatical enough to understand.
• You may revise a paper for an improved grade if you receive a “D” or “F,” in which case an “A” cannot be awarded. Revised work must be submitted within one week of receiving the returned assignment along with the original graded paper.

            Late revised papers are also subject to penalty deductions.

• If you did not receive a grade, I did not receive      your work. You are responsible for making sure work is submitted on time,      regardless of human or computer issues.
• Renton Technical College is requiring final      examinations to be proctored. That means students, presenting appropriate      identification, must take the final examination under instructor-approved      supervision, either on-campus or at a predetermined off-campus location.

 

Students with Disabilities:

Students who have documented disabilities that require accommodation in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act should contact the student services office at their home campus as well as the instructor of the course in order to ensure an optimal environment for educational success.  Contact Karma Forbes: kforbes@RTC.edu

 

 

Discussion Forum (DF) contributions:

As part of your online obligation this term, you will be submitting your valuable insights and comments. To earn full points for your online postings, you must comply with the following:

1. Supply original ideas and writing–unless research is specifically required.
2. Follow-up with other students’ posts with your commentary—as per instructions.
3. Make your expression relevant, thoughtful, polite, clear, complete, and grammatical.
4. Submit your contributions on time. Unless otherwise noted, all DF postings must be submitted by Friday midnight. Replies to posts are due by Saturday      midnight. Refer to weekly assignments for all due dates.
5. Because DF postings are time-sensitive, late postings will not be credited.
6. To earn full credit, DF postings require a specified number and quality of posts and follow-up responses. These requirements are presented in the weekly      assignment files.
7. DF posts are located both in the weekly “Lessons and Assignments” (L&A) in the Modules tab of our classroom.

 Grades:

One advantage of an online class is that you will be able to see your actual score after it is recorded. It is your responsibility to manage grades and notify the instructor of possible discrepancies in the Grade record. Please notify your instructor after one week of submitting work but not receiving a grade. Report any discrepancies before the end of the term.

 

Navigating our Canvas classroom from the homepage:

To the left of our classroom homepage, you will see a series of tabs. Click on the Modules tab to access our weekly Lessons and Assignments (L&A); these files provide the course content and guides to completing required work. To find a week-by-week schedule of readings and activities, scroll to the bottom of this file for the Course Calendar and print it out for handy reference.

 

The Discussions, tab will be our location for the Discussion Forum (DF) sites to communicate and post assignments for group consideration.  Also at our classroom homepage, you will see a box marked as Grades, which contain all of our class assignments and your actual scores for them. Please familiarize yourself with these files and locations.

 

  Helpful Web Sites: 

 

• Access to the Canvas Web site:  http://www.rtc.edu/        https://rtc.instructure.com

 

• RTC Learning Resource Center (on-campus tutoring),C 102, 11:00-6:00, M, T, W, & Th.

 

•  eTutoring: https://www.etutoring.org/login.cfm?institutionid=368&returnPage=

 

• Renton Technical College Library: http://www.rtc.edu/library/

       Provides online databases on suggested and required sources, including ProQuest, NoodleTools, and WOIS

 

• Purdue University Online Writing Lab:  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

      Provides comprehensive help on a variety of English-related issues, including grammar, Research, both MLA and APA, and correct usage.

                                            Master Course Calendar

 The following calendar provides an overview of projects and due dates for our course.

Our calendar abides by all current Renton Technical College dates and events.

For a complete listing of college dates and events, consult page 2 of the current Class Schedule.

 

                                       Print out these pages for convenient reference.

 

Note: This calendar does not contain references to all assignments and all due dates.

          Refer to weekly Lessons and Assignments (L&A) in our classroom for complete details.

 

Note: Our Week begins on Monday and ends on Saturday midnight–except for the

           last week. Be sure to comply with the shorter due dates during the final week.

 

                         

                                               Glossary of Abbreviations:

 

L&A – Refers to Lessons & Assignments tab where weekly projects can be accessed.

Text – Refers to our course text, Technical Communication/Process and Product.

  SR – Refers to Supplemental Readings to be downloaded from our classroom.

 DF – Refers to Discussion Forum posts.

MOD – Refers to the Course Modules tab of our classroom where files can be accessed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week One    04/08-12	Readings & Activities:     Syllabus.   L&A: Week One.   Text:   “Introduction,”pp.3-11.   Download & read from MOD the Research paper assignment.   Download & read from MOD the Research paper Proposal assignment.   Download & read from MOD “Troubleshoot your Sentences!”   DF #1 post and respond by Week Two.
Week Two 04/14-19	Readings & Activities:        L&A: Week Two.    Text: “Organizing        Technical Communication,” pp.69-71.    Text: “…Importance of Ethical Communication,” 71-80.    Text:        “Communicating Effectively,” pp. 91-99.    Text: Achieving        Clarity,” p. 83.    SR #1: Examining        Underlying Attitudes.    Submit research project        proposal ideas to instructor for feedback/points.    DF# 2 post and respond by        Week Three.
Week Three 04/21-26	Readings & Activities:      L&A: Week Three.    Text:        “Achieving Clarity,” pp.54-65    Text: “Memos,”        pp.157-162.    Text: “…Ethical Communication,” pp. 71-80.    Download & read from MOD, MLA or APA Research, pp.2-3    Download & read from MOD the Group project assignment.    Peer Review #1: Exchange        memo proposal drafts with peers for feedback.    DF #3 post and respond by        Week Four.
Week Four  04/28-05/03	Readings & Activities:      L&A: Week Four    L&A: Annotated Bibliography assignment.    Text: “…Persuasion,” pp.330-338    Text, “Research and        Documentation,” pp.131-134.     Text, “Guidelines,” pp.107-112.    Text: “Avoiding Obscure        words,” pp. 83-84.       7.   SR #2: “Ethics.”       8.   Submit   final draft of Research Proposal Memo. 9.   DF #4 post and respond by Week Five.
Week Five  05/05-10	Readings & Activities:      L&A: Week Five.    Text: “Why        Write a Proposal?” (for Formal Research Papers) pp.550-556.    Text: “Audience Recognition,”        pp.92-98.    Text: “Using the Active Voice…,” p. 84.     Text: “Progress Reports,”        pp. 471-474.     SR #3: “Collaboration.”    Download and read from MOD the Individual Progress Report        assignment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week Six 05/19-24	Readings & Activities:      L&A: Week 6.    Text: “The Writing        Process at Work,” pp. 135-142.    Text: “Creative Graphics        in Microsoft Word,” pp. 300+    Download and read from MOD the Paraphrase & Quotation        assignment.    Download and read from MOD        “Qualities of a Good Question.” 6.   DF #5 post and respond by Week Seven.
Week Seven 05/26-31	Readings & Activities:      L&A: Week 7.    Text: “FAQs: The Ethics        of Quoting and Paraphrasing,” pp.143-147.    Text: “…Conciseness…,”        p. 84-85.    Text: “Who writes long,        formal Reports?” p. 516.    Text: “User Survey on        Computer [example],” pp. 517-518.    Text: “Instructions….,”        pp. 376-383.    Peer Review #2:        Exchange Group Progress memo drafts with peers for feedback.    Final Draft Progress Report Due.
Week Eight 06/02-07	Readings & Activities:      L&A: Week 8.    Text: “...Definitions…,”        pp. 99-101.    Download and read from MOD the Definition, Description,        Directions assignment.    SR # 4: Security.    Monday is the Hard        Deadline for instructor-guided feedback for Research paper.    Annotated bibliography        due.    Final Group Proposal Memos due.
Week Nine 06/09-14	Readings and Activities:   1. L&A: Week 9 2. Text: “Why Write an Instruction?” pp.378-388. 3. Text: “…Document Design,” pp. 270-279. 4.  Final Draft of Research Proposal   paper. 5.  DF#6 post and   respond by Week 11.
Week Ten 06/16-21	Readings & Activities:      L&A: Weeks 10, 11,        12 & 13.    Text: “…Sop,” pp.        390-401.    Text: “Routine        …Messages,” pp.153-161.    Peer Review #3:        Exchange Directions rough drafts with peers for feedback.    SR#5: QA &        Usability.
Weeks Eleven 06/23-26	Readings & Activities:               Text: “Guidelines for Effective Multicultural Communication,”   pp.107-113.   Text: “Email,” pp. 185-189.   Final Draft   Definition, Description, Directions assignment.       Submit any due work by Thursday.   Take the proctored online final examination at the   prearranged time.   Caution: our class ends early this week: midnight Thursday, the 26th.