I. Class Description and Objectives II. Course Personnel III. Course Communication IV. Required Course Materials V. Minimum Technical Requirements VI. Attendance Policies VII. Cell Phone Policy VIII. Technical Communication: The Literal Side
I. Class Description and Objectives/Learning Outcomes The intent of ENGL393 is to prepare you for the type of professional communication you are likely to engage in during your first post-college jobs and beyond. This course focuses on technical communication – learning how to present specialized information in an accessible way to a variety of different audiences, but audiences who, no doubt, will expect clarity, accuracy, and professionalism from you.
This class stresses the key skills that highlight a successful professional technical communicator. Specifically, we focus on the process of writing (including the planning, drafting, and revising stages) and look carefully at the work that goes into the final polished product. As collaboration is often a key part of the professional realm, you’ll spend much of the semester working with your classmates – which will include participating in brainstorming sessions, providing constructive criticism, and preparing for your final projects. In all, you can expect to:
Analyze a variety of professional rhetorical situations and produce appropriate texts in response.
Understand the stages required to produce competent, professional writing through planning, drafting, revising, and editing.
Identify and implement the appropriate research methods for each writing task.
Practice the ethical use of sources and the conventions of citation appropriate to each genre.
Write for the intended readers of a text, and design or adapt texts to audiences who may differ in their familiarity with the subject matter.
Demonstrate competence in Standard Written English, including grammar, sentence and paragraph structure, coherence, and document design (including the use of the visual) and be able to use this knowledge to revise texts.
Produce cogent arguments that identify arguable issues, reflect the degree of available evidence, and take account of counter arguments.
II. Course Personnel For each section, an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA) will be available either in class or online to answer questions and provide feedback on your drafts. UTAs will not assign final grades, but they will help monitor your participation throughout the semester.
III. Course Communication I will send all course-wide communication through the course website/email.
We will use the university's course management system ELMS/Canvas to manage all course activities and resources throughout the semester. To ensure you have reliable access to the internet, find more on the UMD wireless network hereLinks to an external site..
You should bring a laptop to use on Thursday in-class sessions. If you do not have one, or if yours isn't working at any time, you can borrow one from the library, as described hereLinks to an external site.. Please make sure your laptop is charged and/or please pring a power cord.
V. Minimum Technical Requirements As this is a blended learning course, it is imperative that you are comfortable using an updated internet browser and accessing/using online resources including digital media and applications. You can access the UMD Division of Technology's Help Desk hereLinks to an external site..
VI. Attendance Policies Attendance in this course is mandatory. For most of the semester, we’ll be meeting in person on Thursdays, and we’ll be using our online environment on Tuesdays. Please make sure to keep our Tuesday class time free in order to participate in synchronous activities and conferences.
Much of what we do this semester will be collaborative, and it is difficult to engage in successful discourse with your classmates if they are not there or not meeting course-related deadlines, such as posting drafts by certain deadlines. Please note that repeated failure to post content on time or missing more than two class meetings may cause you to fall behind in this course and may jeopardize your final grade.
Unexcused Absences: You may miss two Wednesday class meetings for no-questions-asked absences per semester for both the expected (i.e., attending a professional conference) and the unexpected (i.e., a flat tire). If you take a no-questions-asked absence, however, you are still responsible for whatever material was covered in class as well as on-time submission of assignments due that day. More than two absences will negatively affect your final grade in the course. Missing either or both of your in-person conferences (scheduled at the midway point and at the end of the semester) will account for unexcused absences.
Excused Absences: The University excuses absences for your own illness or the illness of an immediate family member, for your participation in university activities at the request of university authorities, for religious observance, and for compelling circumstance beyond your control. Documentation is required for all excused absences. The University has mandated several guidelines for missing one or more classes due to illness (see http://www.president.umd.edu/policies/v100g.htmlLinks to an external site.).
If you have an anticipated excused absence, you must provide at least two weeks advance notice in writing (email is fine).
Tardiness:You’ll find that in the professional world tardiness is not tolerated. Furthermore, it is disrespectful to your instructor and your classmates. On the other hand, this is a particularly large campus and sometimes other instructors will keep you late. Please do your best to be on time and provide advance information about class-related conflicts.
Please Note: If you are absent or miss any part of class, it is your responsibility to find out what you've missed.
VII. Phone Policy Phone calls are not permitted during class time. Please power down your phone before class begins.
VIII. Technical Communication: The Literal Side As upper-level college students, you've probably already experienced several different types of communication. In the electronic realm, for instance, you have realized that the texts you send to your friends from home contain a different level of formality than the emails you’ll send to potential employers and future co-workers. In this class, we’ll practice becoming adept at communicating with each other in a professional manner. In other words, emails sent to your classmates and instructor will use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, as well as proper salutations. Emails that follow these guidelines will be answered in a timely fashion during normal business hours. Please include “ENGL393” and your section number in your subject line.
IX. Written Assignments X. Grades and How they are Determined XI. Academic Integrity and Honor Pledge XII. Special Needs XIII. Course Evaluations XIV. Privacy Policy XV. General Note
IX. Written Assignments Assignments are expected to be submitted electronically, by the stated time, using the ELMS/Canvas space.
Please plan document submission in advance because late submissions due to technical difficulties – such as computer failure, corrupted documents, or files that don’t follow exact naming directions – will not be excused. Late work posted electronically will be subject to a grade penalty of up to 10 points per day.
Every new draft of an assignment should be just that, new. All editing advice/notation should remain only in previous drafts. Final drafts in particular should be free of all earlier editing and should represent your very best, polished work.
X. Grades and How they are Determined*** Your semester grade will be based on a variety of assignments, some individual and some collaborative, accounting for approximately 25+ pages of final, polished writing (approximately 6,250 words). The specific breakdown is as follows, although these percentages are subject to change during the course of the semester. All changes will be announced on this course site, via email, and/or during class time:
Major Assignments: 90% Includes:
Extended Definition: 15%
Technical Instructions: 15%
Final Project Proposal: 25%
Final Project: 35%
Draft Submission/Online Work: 10% Includes:
Submitting materials as directed on time
Participating in all online components
Quizzes and any other non-major assignment/exercise
Each major assignment will be graded using a rubric, providing point distribution and comments. Your grades on each major assignment will adhere to the following general standards:
A papers: exhibit excellence & correctness expected in professional environment(what a future boss might expect as a final draft) A+ 97+ A 94 to 96.9 A- 90 to 93.9
B papers: exhibit competency in subject matter but still need revision(ready to be shared with colleagues, but still needs extra polishing) B+ 87 to 89.9 B 84 to 86.9 B- 80 to 83.9
C papers: meet most basic requirements but require extensive revision(a first complete draft: whether or not this is actually your first draft, these submissions appear unedited and unproofread) C+ 77 to 79.9 C 74 to 76.9 C- 70 to 73.9
D/F papers: do not meet requirements/are inappropriate and unprofessional D+ 67 to 69.9 D 64 to 66.9 D- 60 to 63.9
***If you do not turn in every major assignment, you will not earn a passing grade for this course.***
XI. Academic Integrity and Honor Pledge The University has a student administered Code of Academic Integrity and Honor Pledge, which prohibits students from cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers, submitting the same paper for credit in two courses without permission of both instructors, buying papers, handing in fraudulent documents, and forging signatures. For more information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit http://www.shc.umd.eduLinks to an external site..
As it should be with all classes, you will be held accountable to this pledge for all work completed in this course.
XII. Special Needs If you have a registered disability that will require accommodation, please notify your instructor after class, during office hours, or via email as soon as possible. If you have a disability and have not yet registered it with Disability Support Services in the Shoemaker Building (301-314-7682), you should do so immediately.
XIII. Course Evaluations Your participation in CourseEvalUM is your responsibility as a member of our academic community. Your feedback is confidential and important to the improvement of University teaching and learning. CourseEvalUM will be open at www.courseevalum.umd.eduLinks to an external site. for you to complete your evaluations at the end of the semester.
In addition, the Professional Writing Program uses its own evaluation for each of its courses, which will be distributed by the end of the semester.
XV. General Note To succeed at Technical Writing requires a mastery of the process of writing: learning and developing skills that will assist you in communicating highly specialized content to a variety of audiences. For most of you, this class will take a significant amount of time and energy, and you may have inferred from these pages that we have high expectations from you. However, it is likely that an effort on your part to meet – and exceed – the requirements outlined will successfully prepare you for professional communication in the world beyond our classroom.