WRIT 340: ADVANCED WRITING AND COMMUNICATION FOR ENGINEERS
Fall 2010
Sections 66808, 66814, 66825
TTH 11-12:20, 2-3:20, 5-6:20
GFS 218, GFS 220, GFS 217
Professor: Elisabeth Weiss
Office: OHE 106B
Office hours: by appointment
Phone: (213) 821-2174
Fax: (213) 821-1328
Email:
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
340 Advanced Writing (3-4, FaSpSm): Instruction in writing for various audiences on topics related to a student’s professional or disciplinary interests, with some emphasis on issues of broad public concern. Prerequisite: WRIT 130 or WRIT 140. Required.
COURSE TOPICS AND OBJECTIVES
We all know engineers are bright- but can they convey their knowledge as effectively as they can solve a problem or develop a formula? The primary objective of this course is to improve your communication skills, both written and oral, so that you can better utilize your intelligence and excel in your professions. We will work to achieve this objective through extensive application and practice. Your assignments will include writing and presenting descriptions, articles, reports, proposals, and graphics. Because communication skills are refined through interaction, this course will emphasize the experience of speaking and the process of writing.
WRIT 340 will:
1. Address the academic, public, and professional aspects of engineering writing, thus enabling students to prepare effective written documentation both individually and collaboratively.
2. Provide students the foundation of skills required to make oral presentations.
3. Expose students to a variety of professional engineering communication skills.
4. Provide students an opportunity to see how the theories learned in their engineering curriculum can apply in real-world contexts and expose them to a variety of workplace communication experiences.
5. Expose students to ethical issues within engineering practice.
6. Engage and develop students’ critical thinking skills.
COURSE OUTCOMES
At the end of WRIT 340 you should be able to:
1. Demonstrate research and documentation abilities at the upper division level.
2. Compose for a variety of professional, non-engineering and public audiences.
3. Identify and write about pertinent ethical issues within a particular discipline.
4. Complete a community outreach consulting project to better understand the connection between your discipline and society.
5. Be familiar with the editing and revision processes.
6. Prepare and deliver a professional oral presentation.
7. Utilize visual aids in both written and oral communications.
TEXT
Handouts will be distributed throughout the course.
Because this is an upper division writing course, good fundamental writing skills are expected. Prepare to use spellcheck, a dictionary, and a thesaurus, as well as consult a writer’s guide for mechanical problems. I recommend A Writer’s Reference by Diane Hacker.
ASSIGNMENTS
The following assignments will help us achieve the objectives of the course. The point total for the class is 1,000. The point value for each assignment is in parentheses. Late papers will be subject to a loss of credit of 10 points per class. No extensions will be granted. Any assignment not turned in will receive zero points. No email submissions please.
Ethics Essay (150)
Impact Presentation (100)
Magazine Article (150)
Technical Description (100)
Project Proposal (150)
Project Presentation (100)
Portfolio (150)
Discretionary- class participation, in-class assignments, punctuality (100)
GRADING
There is no grading curve. Final grades are correlated on a 10 point scale as follows:
A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F below 60
ATTENDANCE
Given the workshop format of the class, attendance is required. You are allowed 2 absences without penalty. Beyond that, you must confer with me regarding your status in class. If you are more than 15 minutes late to class, you will be counted absent.
If you do miss a class, please contact me to make up the material.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The Viterbi School of Engineering adheres to the University’s policies and procedures governing academic integrity. Students are expected to be aware of and to observe the academic integrity standards described in SCampus. These standards will be enforced in this class on all assignments. All cases of plagiarism will be addressed with utmost seriousness. Students found to plagiarize will fail the course and be referred to the Student Conduct Board.
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged and inappropriate use of the ideas and wording of another individual…(It) is considered a grave violation of academic integrity and the sanctions against it are correspondingly severe. (University sanctions range from a grade of F in the course to suspension from the university. ) Most simply, plagiarism can be characterized as “academic theft.”
As defined in the University Student Conduct Code published in SCampus, plagiarism includes:
· “The submission of material authored by another person but represented as the student’s own work, whether the material is paraphrased or copied in verbatim or near verbatim form;
· “The submission of material subjected to editorial revision by another person that results in substantive changes in content or major alteration of writing style;
· “ Improper acknowledgement of sources in essays or papers.”
The Student Conduct Code applies these standards to any written work submitted by a student, whether a draft or a final version.
Because of the serious penalties for plagiarism, you should insure that any writing you submit represents your own assertions and abilities and incorporates other texts in an open and honest manner…In academic assignments, writing is assumed to be the original words and thoughts of the student unless (the reader is) told otherwise (i.e. material from other sources is clearly and properly cited).
From Trojan Integrity: Guide to Avoiding Plag i arism (USC Office for Student Conduct, rev. Fall 2000, pp.2-3)
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained form DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open weekdays from 8:30 am- 5pm. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.