ENGL 302.N08 Daniel Anderson dander5@gmu.edu TTh 1:30pm—2:45pm, IN 327 Office: Robinson A455 Office Hours: TBA Advanced Composition: Natural Science English 317 is designed to develop and refine your written and oral communication skills. As you complete the assignments in this course, you will develop an increased awareness of your audience and purpose in writing. Writers are, after all, engineers; when you write, you construct a technology that serves a purpose in a certain context. The best way to master this skill is to do it. For this reason, you can expect to write daily, analyze a variety of audiences, and revise your work for a final portfolio. Be advised that all (or nearly all) your writing will relate to real-world, real-time events and circumstances. You’ll see immediate gains in your level of skill, as you write engineering-related reports that are well planned, researched, designed, and formatted. You can summarize The Goal of This Course as follows: To give students repeated opportunities to become skilled at influencing perceptions and behaviors in the workplace through effective communication. To do that, we’ll: • Learn and refine writing skills that enable you to write for specialized audiences; • Learn document design and apply principles of visual rhetoric; • Practice writing in the conventions of the sciences; • Research, analyze, and write critically about a variety of technological and scientific subjects. Prerequisites: All students enrolled in Advanced Composition must have completed English 102 or equivalent before taking this course—no exceptions. Furthermore, you should not take this course if you cannot or will not write knowledgeably about subjects in the sciences. Required Texts and Materials: Technical Communication, 8th edition by Mike Markel; A college dictionary; Funds for photocopying papers and materials for group members; Email account for group and instructor correspondence Pencils, paper, whatnot for in-class writing The English Department is committed to equal opportunity in education for all students, including those with physical disabilities or learning disabilities. If you are a student with a documented disability, it is your responsibility to contact me during the first week of the semester so that we can discuss appropriate accommodations. Regulations regarding student rights, responsibilities, and academic conduct appear in the current university catalogue. Syllabus 2 ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING POLICY Attendance and Participation: This course is formatted as a seminar. This means that any lectures by the instructor will be short, and that you are responsible for participating in any and all in-class activities that follow—such as individual and group presentations, to help participants understand and practice these skills. Since this class depends on your participation and discussion, you must prepar0e thoroughly for each meeting by reading the assigned material before class and bringing constructive questions and comments. There will be response assignments and in-class writings acceptable only in class; these assignments cannot be made up later. Arrive and leave on time, and turn off all electronic devices and stow them during class time (except for laptops when they apply to the assignment), and leave aside any and all homework for your other classes. This ain’t study hall. A Note on the Portfolio: Your grade for this course will be determined by a portfolio of work that you turn in at the end of the semester. Some of the coursework will be evaluated on a credit/no-credit basis, while other work will be graded on the conventional A-F scale. You will be provided with detailed grading criteria for each assignment. Remember: Save everything, because you’ll need it come portfolio time. Informal Work: 15 points, graded credit-or-no-credit. Leading the Discussion: You will be held responsible for leading group discussion on assigned days, in groups. Yes, everyone in the group must share in the speaking. Bring plenty of open-ended questions when it’s your turn to lead the discussion. You can count on me for back-up in class (and some guidance as you prepare). Perform this task in good faith and you get full credit for it. Workshop Responses: For each major report assigned, your group will exchange drafts and cover letters to elicit feedback for your revisions of each document, working on one member’s paper at a time. These workshops will require you to read and write a response to each group member’s work (that’s homework), turn in one copy of that response to me, and another for the writer of the paper. Type these and give them some serious thought. The workshop responses will be graded as follows: the ability of the respondent to address the concerns outlined by the writer, the respectfulness and earnestness of the respondent, the utility of the comments made, and punctuality. (Tip: Be specific, and cite examples from the paper you respond to.) Formal Work: 85 points. Graded conventionally, A-F. Instruction Manual and Usability Test (collaborative assignment): 5 points each, graded separately but turned in together. This one can be a lot of fun. Syllabus 3 Proposal for Funding, with letter of transmittal and cover letter. 15 points. Application Packet, including resume, cover letter and letter of application. 15 points. Each of these two shorter papers will be written to specific, real audiences that you determine, and each may be revised only once for a higher grade; each will be evaluated according to criteria given separately. Feasibility Study, which includes a topic proposal and briefings of the class: 45 points. More specifically: Midterm topic presentation, 5 points; Final presentation of feasibility study, 15 points; Feasibility study and proposal, 25 points. This is the main dish of the semester. Following approval of your topic proposal for this project, you will complete a substantial feasibility study (10 to 20 pages) for which you will conduct research. Here, research may be variously defined depending on your interests, your major field of study, and your circumstances. After all, this study has to have something to do with your reality; your topic is open so long as it is connected to our course inquiry and your specific engineering discipline. Early in the semester I’ll ask you to turn in a brief topic proposal for my approval. At midterm, you will present this topic proposal to the class as your midterm oral report. Then, during the final weeks of the semester, you will discuss your project in more detail in brief informal presentations. Grading criteria and more information are forthcoming. Each of these assignments will be given a tentative grade when returned to you the first time; I will determine the final score for each in your portfolio. Syllabus 4 COURSE SCHEDULE Note that all assigned readings are in the Markel text, by chapter; read them before the date listed. WEEK ONE 8.28 Introductory Whatnot 8.30 TC 1; Making grading criteria; Instruction Manual Assigned WEEK TWO 9.4 TC 2, 3 9.6 TC 4 WEEK THREE 9.11 TC 5; Exchange Instructions for Usability Test; Feasibility Study introduced 9.13 TC 6; work on testing those instructions WEEK FOUR 9.18 TC 7; Report on Usability Test; Instructions and Test Results turned in 9.20 TC 16; Funding Proposal Assigned WEEK FIVE 9.25 TC 14; turn in Topic for Feasibility Study 9.27 TC 8; discuss feasibility topics; work on funding proposals WEEK SIX 10.2 Bring a draft of your Funding Proposal for Workshop Exchange; more Feasibility Study 10.4 In-Class Workshop; work on midterm presentations WEEK SEVEN 10.9 No Class: The Columbus Day Shuffle 10.11 Turn in your Funding Proposal for a grade; Midterm Presentations WEEK EIGHT 10.16 Start TC 15; Application Packet Assigned 10.18 Finish TC 15; find a job and apply for it WEEK NINE 10.23 Bring draft of Application Packet for Workshop Exchange; Feasibility Study assigned; questions answered 10.25 Workshop: Application Packet; think of grammar questions Syllabus 5 WEEK TEN 10.30 TC 11; grammar questions answered; Turn in App Packet for a grade 11.1 TC 17 WEEK ELEVEN 11.6 Start TC 18 11.8 Finish TC 18; work on the feasibility study WEEK TWELVE 11.13 TC 21; effective presentations 11.15 Conferences WEEK THIRTEEN Presentations. 11.20 Turn in your Feasibility Study. 11.22 No Class: Thanksgiving WEEK FOURTEEN Presentations. WEEK FIFTEEN Finish your portfolio. I will be in my office waiting for you during class time if you have any questions. WEEK SIXTEEN On our final exam meeting: Turn in your portfolio. Welcome to the end of the semester. NOTE: I intend to grade and return your Feasibility Studies in time for you to revise for a better grade in your Portfolio. Unfortunately, we won’t have enough time to revise it in class; you’ll have to rely on the Writing Center and your Midterm Presentation to steer you in the right direction. If you give me some advance notice, I’ll be happy to read early drafts of your Feasibility Study.