|
English
235 – Technical Writing |
Instructor: Karrin Peterson |
Is English 235 for
You?
English
235 is for students within thirty (30) credits of graduating. The course is designed to teach technical
writing skills to professionals or continuing students heading into a four year
technical or scientific degree program.
All students in this course are expected to have solid reading and
writing skills. Thus, students who take
this course in their first year of college or who only marginally passed
English 101 are unlikely to do well in this course. Also, students with a heavy course load may
not be able to complete the work required for this course. Please consider these things as you make your
final course load decisions this quarter.
Course Outcomes & How They Will Be Met
By
the end of this quarter, you should be able to:
1. Identify technical communication from other
types of writing and articulate whether it is effective or ineffective
We will study, read, compare, and contrast
different types of communication, so we develop an understanding of how
technical communication differs. We will
use a set of standards and criteria to determine whether a given piece of
technical communication is effective, or not so effective.
2. Know
and use the writing process as it relates to technical communications
We will study the writing process and engage
in the different activities required for each written assignment listed below.
3. Produce
effective (honest, clear, accurate, comprehensive, accessible, concise,
professional, correct, and well documented) written, visual, and verbal
technical communications
We will learn how to apply the criteria for
effective communication to our own documents.
We will learn how to produce an effective and polished finished piece of
technical communication through practice and application throughout the
quarter.
4. Produce
and identify various types of technical documents (memos, instructions, proposals,
informal reports, and formal
reports)
See the written assignments listed below.
5. Communicate
effectively with different audiences and understand the importance of
considering your audience in all phases of the technical communication process
We will study rhetoric and how it impacts
what we write, how we write, and who we write to in the business setting. We will examine documents that do not reflect
a rhetorical awareness, to see the significant impact of not understanding
one's audience.
6. Understand
the importance of scholarly research in technical communications and
demonstrate scholarship in your technical communications
We will learn the standards for what is
scholarly and what is not.
7. Collaborate
effectively on group/team projects
There will be significant and frequent group
work in this course. This may not be to
your liking, but there is simply no other
way
to teach this process, except by experience.
8. Effectively
use technology to support your technical communications
We will be using computers heavily during
the quarter. We will explore a number of
useful programs, including MS Word,
Excel, and MS PowerPoint.
Grading
Grades
will be based upon the large writing assignments and online participation,
which is demonstrated through completion of the chapter writing assignments.
The break down on points follows.
1. Peer Editing assignments (smooth drafts of
your assignments and editing of a peer's draft):
·
10
points for posting a draft on time (no late postings allowed).
·
10
points for posting a critique on time (no late critiques allowed).
2.
Group Work Evaluations for Group Projects (if you are assigned to do group work this quarter):
If you fail to
complete your assigned portion of group work or do this work poorly, you will
receive a lower grade than the team earns on the final product.
How this works is
that your team members will be asked to grade your contribution to the group
project (as you will be asked to grade theirs).
If you are graded as having given B, C, or D level work instead of your
full and best A level contribution, then your grade for the group assignment
may reflect that reduction in points accordingly, at my discretion. Thus, if three of your group members pick up
your slack and produce an “A” level product, you may receive a lower grade
based upon their grading your contribution to the end product. So, please give your best, complete, and
timely efforts to your group project in whatever task you take responsibility
for.
3. Written Assignments:
·
Chapter
Reading Assignments, E-mail Assignment, Audience Profile Sheet – 50 points
·
Peer
Editing (for 4 papers) – 60 total points
·
Resume
/ Cover Letter: 50 points
·
Proposal: 50 points
·
Informal
report and Annotated Bibliography: 90
points (Annotated Bibliography is worth 40 of the 90 points and requires you
have researched and located a minimum of 6 effective, reliable, and high
quality sources.)
·
Completion
Report: 150 points
·
PowerPoint
Brochure: 50 points
500 total grade points possible. I reserve the right to change point
designations and/or totals any time during the quarter.
GRADES: A = 500-460; A- = 459-450; B+ = 449-435; B =
434-410; B- = 409-385; C+ = 384-362; C = 361-339; C- = 338-316; D+ =
315-293; D = 292-235; D- = 269-247; F = 247- and below
My
Grading Habits
I
do not grade on a pre-determined curve. A review of my grading would show that
grades in the B range (B+, B, B-) predominate. I therefore expect most of my
students in this course will have grades above the C range. Some students will
probably have grades in the A range. However, others may have grades in the C
range. Do not feel discouraged. I consider C and C+ writing as entirely
respectable for college students. We grow in our writing ability as we meet the
challenges of reading and writing in a wide variety of college level courses.
Late
Work & Missing Work
Punctuality
is important in our class and in the business world. However, you will
have one late "pass" this quarter. Late written work on one major
writing assignment (50 points and up) is accepted up to two (2) calendar (not
class) days after a due deadline without penalty as long as you contact me in
advance with a reason that justifies allowing the work to come in late. The one
exception to this policy is to the last major writing assignment for the
quarter. Being under a deadline to submit final grades, I must have the last assignment
punctually.
If
you have problems meeting deadlines outside the grace period for any reason,
communicate with me at once.
Failure
to communicate with me in advance that you will be unable to meet the due
deadlines of the class may result in a failing grade for the course, at my
discretion, and will be based upon my judgment that you could have responsibly
notified me of your conflict and situation.
In other words, if you communicate responsibly, I will be much more
amenable to helping you resolve your conflict by using the grade options
available to us or by allowing you to make up missed work.
Part
of college is learning to be a responsible and competent employee, and
therefore responsible interaction with me is an “un-graded” part of this
course. I expect all my students to
treat the course as both an opportunity for learning and an obligation for performance,
and act professionally. Frankly, given
that you have paid a lot of money for the course, and you want to learn
something that will help you become more employable in the future, not
attempting to learn all that you can does not make sense for your future
well-being. Failure to meet the
obligations for your learning is a choice you are always free to make, as
adults, but making this choice will result in a lower grade than you might have
otherwise had and, thereby, wasted time and money on your part.
I
retain the option of failing any student who does not turn in a major (50
points or higher) written assignment, at my discretion, even if that student
has enough points to pass the class. It
is important that you complete all the major written assignments for the
quarter, as they each are directly related to the outcomes for the class listed
above.
Online
Assignments and Due Deadlines
Turnitin.com
(which is where I ask that you turn your assignments in) is a largely reliable
platform. Once you post your assignment there, you have the option to go back
and ensure that you got your assignment posted. It is your responsibility to
do so.
WARNING:
If you wait until the last minute before the due deadline to try to post an
assignment to Turnitin.com, you might find that something goes wrong. And you
will be unable to post on time. This means you are late.
Class
Attendance Requirements and Make-up Work
I
do not offer make-up work for missed assignments.
For
all online classes, attendance means you are online checking on what is
happening in our online class five (5) days a week. It only takes a few minutes
to shift from your personal e-mail or Facebook over to our online class and see
if there are any new lectures or questions from other students that I have
answered.
For
hybrid classes, attendance means you do not miss more than 4 in-class sessions
and that you regularly (especially on the days we are not in class) check what
is happening online.
CANVAS
and Turnitin.com both track how much you are online, so I will be periodically
reviewing your attendance. Generally speaking, the less you attend the online
classroom, the less effective your writing will be.
Rewritten
Work
You
may choose to rewrite one (1) individually written assignment that received a C-
or lower grade. You MUST submit the
revision within one week of receiving the graded assignment back. The assignment must have been submitted on
time and not in the two day grace period. The scores will be averaged.
The link to the College Grading Policy is located on page 10
of the Course Catalog and also on the web at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/policies/3/3000_grading.asp.
Books and Materials Required
Technical
Communication
(Tenth Edition), by Mike Markel, will be the required text and is available
through the BCC Bookstore. You may
purchase your textbook online or in person from the bookstore. You can find store information and hours of
operation at http://bcc.collegestoreonline.com/.
Access to a computer that works with
Microsoft programs, Canvas, and Turnitin.com is required. You are given access
to such computers on campus as part of your student benefits. The campus
computers have these capabilities.
Instructor’s Expectations
Reading
Standards
In
general, devote as much time as you can to reading, and pay close attention to
the good instructions you get in your textbook. Remember that close reading
requires concentration and reflection. You will be accountable, with respect
to grades, for producing technical communications that conform to the standards
and techniques set out in the readings. You should also read all
supplemental material provided by me carefully and follow the instructions
exactly.
The
Relationship Between In-Class Work and Home Work
Your
readings support your writing processes and you will be held responsible for
applying those concepts to your writing.
We will work with the general concepts discussed in your text in a practical
manner as we develop your writings in class.
I will be available to address any questions you have concerning the
concepts you read about via CANVAS.
For
you to succeed in this class, you will need to be self motivated about
completing your readings. If you do this
and give the assignments the amount of time this class requires (the standard
15 hours per week for a 5 hour class), I guarantee that you will learn how to
produce effective technical communications.
Retaining Student Work
CANVAS and
Turnitin.com will store your work for as long as you have access to those
platforms after the quarter is over. Therefore, I strongly recommend that
you keep all your work on your own computer as a back-up.
Student Responsibility
It is your responsibility
to verify that all assignments are actually received by me.
It is your
responsibility to initiate communication about progress or concerns with the
course. I will not inform you that work is overdue, remind you to
complete assignments, or call you if you are failing to attend our electronic
classroom regularly.
Values Conflicts
Essential to a
liberal arts education is an open-minded tolerance for ideas and modes of
expression which might conflict with one’s personal values. By being exposed to such ideas or
expressions, students are not expected to endorse or adopt them but rather to
understand that they are part of the free flow of information upon which higher
education depends.
To this end, you
may find that class requirements may include engaging certain materials, such
as books, films, and art work, which may, in whole or in part, offend you. These materials are equivalent to required
texts and are essential to the course content.
If you decline to engage the required material by not reading, viewing,
or performing material you consider offensive, you will still be required to
meet class requirements in order to earn credit. This may require responding to the content of
the material, and you may not be able to fully participate in required class
discussions, exams, or assignments.
Consult the syllabus and discuss such issues with the instructor.
Affirmation of Inclusion
Bellevue College is committed to maintaining an environment in which every member of the campus community feels welcome to participate in the life of the college, free from harassment and discrimination.
We value our different backgrounds at Bellevue College, and students, faculty, staff members, and administrators are to treat one another with dignity and respect. http://bellevuecollege.edu/about/goals/inclusion.asp
Division Statements
Academic Honesty for Arts and Humanities
Students
The principle of academic honesty underlies all that we do
and applies to all courses at
Participating in academic dishonesty in any way, including writing a paper or taking a test for someone else, may result in severe penalties. Dishonestly produced papers automatically receive a grade of "F" without the possibility of make-up. The Dean of Student Services may also be notified of such conduct, and repetition of the behavior may result in progressively more serious disciplinary action (for example, an instructor may recommend that the student fail the course for a second offense or even that a student be expelled for a serious offense, such as stealing an exam).
Grades lowered for plagiarism or other forms of dishonesty may be appealed through the regular channels, and any further disciplinary action taken by the Dean may also be appealed through existing processes.
Students in English 201 or 235 should note that documentation is a major objective of that course, so failure to scrupulously document supporting material in your papers may result in a failing grade for that entire course. Students in all courses requiring research papers should also note that matters of documentation form go beyond editing; they are closely related to the content of the paper. Improper form in research papers is grounds for failing the paper
Information about
Bellevue College's copyright guidelines can be found at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/lmc/links/copyright.html
A good resource for
avoiding plagiarism is the Writing Lab at the Academic Success Center (this is
also a great place for you to get help with your basic writing issues –
grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.): http://bellevuecollege.edu/writinglab/Plagiarism.html
Turnitin.com Similarity
Checker – A Valuable Tool to Check for Inadvertent Plagiarism
One valuable tool
available to you, to assist you in learning how not to inadvertently
plagiarize, is the Similarity tool in Turnitin.com. This tool will show you how
similar your paper is to another source. I expect all my students to use this
tool to check for plagiarism. You can do this by uploading your paper before
the due deadline. You can then re-upload after correcting any plagiarism
problems that Turnitin.com flags.
If your paper is
more than 10% similar, then you should carefully review what you may have done
that needs to be quoted, summarized, or paraphrased.
Student Code
“Cheating, stealing and plagiarizing (using the ideas or words of another as one’s own without crediting the source) and inappropriate/disruptive classroom behavior are violations of the Student Code of Conduct at Bellevue College. Examples of unacceptable behavior include, but are not limited to: talking out of turn, arriving late or leaving early without a valid reason, allowing cell phones/pagers to ring, and inappropriate behavior toward the instructor or classmates. The instructor can refer any violation of the Student Code of Conduct to the Vice President of Student Services for possible probation or suspension from Bellevue College. Specific student rights, responsibilities and appeal procedures are listed in the Student Code of Conduct, available in the office of the Vice President of Student Services.” The Student Code, Policy 2050, in its entirety is located at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/policies/2/2050_Student_Code.asp
I will use a plagiarism checking source at my discretion.
Bellevue College E-mail and access to MyBC
All students
registered for classes at Bellevue College are entitled to a network and e-mail
account. Your student network account can be used to
access your student e-mail, log in to computers in labs and classrooms, connect
to the BC wireless network and log in to MyBC.
To create your account, go to: https://bellevuecollege.edu/sam
BC offers a wide variety of computer and learning labs to enhance learning and student success. Find current campus locations for all student labs by visiting the http://bellevuecollege.edu/resources/computing/
Disability Resource Center (DRC)
The Disability Resource Center serves students with a wide array of learning challenges and disabilities. If you are a student who has a disability or learning challenge for which you have documentation or have seen someone for treatment and if you feel you may need accommodations in order to be successful in college, please contact us as soon as possible.
If you are a person who requires assistance in case of an emergency situation, such as a fire, earthquake, etc, please meet with your individual instructors to develop a safety plan within the first week of the quarter.
The DRC office is located in B 132 or you can call our
reception desk at 425.564.2498. Deaf
students can reach us by video phone at 425-440-2025 or by TTY at 425-564-4110.
Please visit our website for application information into our program and other
helpful links at www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc
Public Safety
The Bellevue College (BC) Public Safety Department’s well trained and courteous non-commissioned staff provides personal safety, security, crime prevention, preliminary investigations, and other services to the campus community, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Their phone number is 425.564.2400. The Public Safety website is your one-stop resource for campus emergency preparedness information, campus closure announcements and critical information in the event of an emergency. Public Safety is located in K100 and on the web at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/publicsafety/
Final Exam Schedule
Final exams are held the last week of the quarter for all
live credit classes. The following link
will take you to the webpage where you will find the schedule for final exams: http://bellevuecollege.edu/courses/exams/
Academic Calendar(s)
The Bellevue College Academic Calendar is separated into two calendars. They provide information about holidays, closures and important enrollment dates such as the finals schedule.
Enrollment Calendar - http://bellevuecollege.edu/enrollment/calendar/deadlines/. On this calendar you will find admissions and registration dates and important dates for withdrawing and receiving tuition refunds.
College Calendar - http://bellevuecollege.edu/enrollment/calendar/holidays/1213.asp. This calendar gives you the year at a glance and includes college holidays, scheduled closures, quarter end and start dates, and final exam dates.
The class
calendar is located on MYBC.