WRIT 5930 Technical Writing Syllabus

WRIT 5930 Technical Writing : 

WRIT 5930 Technical Writing

Contact Information: 

Contact Information Professor: Dr. Tim Giles Office: 1122-G Newton Office Hours: TTh 12:00-2:30, EST & by appointment Telephone: 912-478-0229 E-mail: tgiles@georgiasouthern.edu

PowerPoint Presentation: 

Johnson- Eiloa , Johndan and Stuart A. Selber . Central Works in Technical Communication . New York: Oxford, 2004. & relevant articles provided to you via Georgia View. Course Description: A required course for all Writing and Linguistics majors in the professional and technical communication area, this course offers study in technical communication topics relevant to the profession, such as usability, freelancing, document analysis, ethics, medical writing, or rhetoric of science and technology. Graduate students will complete an additional assignment determined by the instructor. Undergraduate Prerequisite(s): A minimum grade of “C” in ENGL 1102 or ENGL 1160.  Graduate Prerequisite(s):  Admission to graduate standing.

ATTENDANCE: 

ATTENDANCE Class attendance is required just as attendance on the job is required.  Your attendance is very important, for you will have assignments, quizzes, and/or activities. Any student who does not participate for one week will be unenrolled , which means that student will no longer have access to the course. However, it is still that student’s responsibility to take care of the necessary paperwork to drop the course. This restriction applies to the first week of classes.  While I will update enrollment regularly during the first week of class, any student who has not checked in will be unenrolled after the first week.

Semester Project: 

Semester Project Research paper on a technical communication topic, or a portfolio of your work

Academic Honesty: 

Academic Honesty Plagiarism will not be tolerated .  I define plagiarism in general as the presentation of someone else’s work as yours.  Examples could be copying from traditional or electronic print media or copying from another student. Plagiarism includes turning in work previously turned in for credit in another class. Being interested in expanding on previous research is different from running one essay through two different classes.  If you have any doubts about possibly violating the course ethic in this manner, then you should consult with me. Plagiarism in general results in a zero for the assignment and a report filed with the Dean of Students .  A first offense goes on a student’s record, and I count the assignment as a zero.  A second offense means expulsion from school for one semester.  This is a Department of Writing and Linguistics, and I take this ethical matter very seriously.  We are offering professional certification of writers, but that certification must be honestly earned.

Module Quizzes: 

Module Quizzes Your tests will consist of multiple choice and short-answer questions. There is one quiz for each of the first seven modules.

Discussion Board Participation—: 

Discussion Board Participation— For each module, I will have some questions on the readings.  You will be assigned to post an answer on the Discussion Board.  When you are done, you should read your classmates’ posts and respond to at least two.  Postings will be evaluated on a pass-fail basis.  “Failing” could be caused by 1. not doing the assignment; 2. not taking the assignment seriously; 3. posting a low-quality response.  When responding to classmates, avoid mere back patting. Instead, consider how you can extend or challenge what your classmate has written.

Narrated Power Point: 

Narrated Power Point inform your classmates on what you have been researching or writing about. You will do a Narrated Power Point at the end of the semester on your research paper or as a way to introduce your portfolio.  You will also respond to two of your classmate’s power points.

Questions?: 

Questions? ?