COM 310: Technical
Communication
Summer 2007
Instructor: Dr. Alan Zemel
Telephone: (215) 895-6146 (I rarely check my phone for messages–email me)
Office: Math Forum, 3210 Cherry St (1st flr all the way in the back)
Email: arz26@drexel.edu
Text: Markel, M. (2007). Technical Communication. 8th Edition. Boston:
Bedford St. MartinÕs Press.
Office hrs: Mondays 1 pm – 2:30 pm; Wednesdays 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm; or by
appointment
Course
Description: Develops
skills in communicating technical information. Focuses on writing
letters, resumes, proposals, reports, and instructions. Offers extensive
writing practice along with exercises and presentations. This is a writing intensive course.
Prerequisites: HUM
103 Minimum Grade: D or HUM 105 Minimum Grade: A or HUM
108
Minimum Grade: D or ENGL 103 Minimum Grade: D or ENGL 105
Minimum
Grade: A
Introduction
Technical
Communication is a writing-intensive course designed to allow you to develop
the skills you need to communicate with a variety of audiences, for different
purposes, and using a number of different styles. Specifically, this course
will aid you in developing sensitivity to and skill with the components of
writing and presenting information in a workplace environment. By the end of
the course, you should be more proficient communicators, and have greater
knowledge and awareness of the rhetorical circumstances and style you will
encounter in your professional careers.
Attendance and
Participation
Your attendance
is a non-negotiable requirement for successful completion of the course. It is
as important for you to be present since this is an accelerated course. Your
final grade will be reduced by 10 points for the first two unexcused absences. If you miss more
than two classes, you will fail the course. I take roll at the
beginning of class. It is your
responsibility to be sure you are
marked present if you come late to class!
You must complete the required readings on time,
participate in class discussion, participate in and complete material for
workshops, complete in-class exercises and assignments, and complete all
homework assignments. Plan to schedule co-op interviews or other personal
events AROUND this class.
REQUIREments
Format: All papers,
preliminary and final drafts must be typed using double or 1.5 line spacing,
one inch margins and 12 point Times New Roman font. Letters and memoranda
should be single-spaced. Include all prior drafts when you submit your final
draft. All assignments are to be submitted through WebCT.
Due Dates: Due
dates for all assignments are listed in course calendar included in this
syllabus. Late papers will not be accepted and will receive a failing grade
(unless I have granted you an extension, see below). Nonetheless, you
must submit ALL ASSIGNMENTS to receive
a final grade for this course.
Extensions: I will
only grant extensions for documented medical situations or family emergencies.
You must contact me regarding an extension at least 24 hours before the
original deadline. Because the course is accelerated, extensions will be
minimal and I will set the new deadline. If you fail to meet the new deadline,
you will receive an F for the assignment. No extensions will be granted
for the proposal.
Rewrites: You may submit one rewrite each of the feasibility
and instructions assignments. The new grade will be averaged with the original
grade. The rewrite is due 48 hours after the date the graded assignments are
returned. Include the original with the rewritten version.
Workshops: We will have paper review workshops in class for
major assignments. These workshops will allow you to receive feedback from your
peers. Please note that you need to bring THREE (3) copies of drafts of your
paper for all review workshops.
GRADING AND
EVALUATION
10% Crisis
communication (individual)
10% Job
letter/resume (individual)
20% Instructions
(group)
5% Instructions
memo (individual)
30% Project
Proposal (individual)
5% Rough
Draft Conference
10% Oral
Presentation (individual)
10% Homework,
Attendance and Participation
A+ =100-97 B+ =89-87 C+ =79-77 D+ =69-67 F<60
A =96-93 B =86-83 C =76-73 D =66-60
A- =92-90 B- =82-80 C- =72-70
Reports and
writing assignments
Crisis
Communication (Individual): You will
handle a sensitive ethical problem in business or government that you will
research. Your models will be Colleen RowleyÕs memo to the FBI re: 9-11
intelligence and/or The Ford Pinto. Write a memo to your boss about an
impending crisis, followed by a whistle-blowing letter to The New York Times.
We will follow with a response to your letter form your company Òboss.Ó
Job Letter
and Resume (Individual): This assignment
will help you focus on attention-getting strategies and effective job letters
and resumes. Select an actual job opening that really stirs your imaginations
and for which you might qualify. Research jobs through newspapers, web sites,
career service offices, trade journals, and direct contact with companies and
employers you admire.
You will be
writing communications to a specific person in the organization, either a
manager or decision maker with authority to hire. Write as yourself, including
only factual information and valid personal preferences and objectives. You
will deliver:
1. A
cover letter;
2. Resume;
3. A
copy of the ad or job description.
Instructions
Assignment (Collaborative): For this assignment, you will work in a
group of 3 or 4 to develop a set of instructions. Stugessted topics will be
discussed in class. This is a group project and the whole group will share in
the grade.
Your
instructions must include appropriate illustrations and graphics (drawings,
photos, diagrams, etc.). For this assignment, you will:
As layout and
design issues affect the number of pages, it is difficult to project how long
the final set of instructions will be. Based on prior experience, typical
submissions run about 6-10 pages.
In addition,
each person in the group is to turn in separately an individual assessment of
the project in the form of a formal memo to me. Specifically, in this memo you
should:
Project
Proposal Assignment (Individual): You are
to write a formal research or business proposal. In it, you will request to
perform research/undertake a project. You will address the proposal to the
individual or group who has the authority to make a decision about your
request. The proposal sets out the problem and why you need to tackle it, what
you plan to do in the project, how you plan to do the project, and how you will
evaluate the success of the project. In addition, wyou will need to establish
your qualifications, discuss any necessary budgets, and provide a timetable for
successful completion (Gantt chart). Make generous use of headings and other subdivisions.
Make sure you
consider the following reader questions:
The proposal
must include the following:
Length: 6-10
pages, not including front and back matter.
Key issues:
Rough Draft
Conference: 5% of your course grade
is allocated to the rough draft conference. I fyou miss the conference or do
not have a draft, you lose these points. If your draft is insubstantial, you
may receive only a portion of the points. If you show up with a substantial
draft, you will earn the full point allocation.
Oral Presentation:
You will give an oral report, 5 minutes in
length, to the person(s) to whom the proposal is addressed (CEO and staff).
Even though you will actually be standing in front of the COM310 class, you do need to
project this different audience. Thus, you should take a few seconds to tell us
who your intended audience actually is. In your presentation, you will:
á
Identify the problem;
á
Persuade the audience itÕs a real problem;
á
Briefly describe what action needs to be taken and why
it needs to be taken now;
á
Propose the solution (if known); and
á
Articulate what action you want your audience to take
(e.g. provide funding, etc.).
Your
presentation must not exceed 5 minutes; I will stop you if you go over time. If
your presentation is significantly less than 5 minutes, you have not done your
work or covered your topic adequately.
Visual aids are
required. You may use PowerPoint, transparencies, hand-outs, etc.
If you are
absent on the date of your presentation, you will receive a failing grade for
the presentation and it will not be rescheduled.
COURSE SCHEDULE
(Dates are due dates
for assignments and readings)
WEEK 1
MONDAY (June 25) INTRODUCTION TO TECH COMM
Readings: Markel Chapters 1, 2, 3
Assignments: Review Crisis Comm materials and prepare
1st Draft; Chapter 2, Exercise 2, (p. 28)
WEDNESDAY (June 27) RESEARCH AND INFORMATION
Readings: Markel Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9
Assignments: Submit 1st Draft of Crisis Comm assignment;
Chapter 6, Exercise 2, (p. 123)
WEEK 2
MONDAY (July 2) WRITING SKILLS
Readings: Markel Chapters 10, 11,
Assignments: Final draft of Crisis assignment
Submit 1st Draft of Job letter/ Resume assignment
WEEK 3
MONDAY (July 9) COLLABORATIVE WRITING
Readings: Markel Chapters 4, 5, 15,
Assignments: Final Draft of Job letter/ Resume assignment
Submit 1st Draft of Instruction assignment
WEDNESDAY (July 11) DOCUMENT DESIGN
Readings: Markel Chapters 12, 16, 19
Assignments: Chapter 12, Interactive Sample Document, (p. 286)
Chapter 16, Exercise 1, (p. 427)
Chapter 19, Exercise 1, (p. 524)
WEEK 4
MONDAY (July 16) GRAPHICS AND LETTERS
Readings: Markel Chapters 13, 14
Assignments: Final Draft of Instruction Report assignment
Submit Instruction Memo
WEDNESDAY (July 18) INFORMAL AND FORMAL REPORTS
Readings: Markel Chapters 17, 18
Assignments: Submit
1st Draft of Project Proposal
WEEK 5
MONDAY (July 23)
Assignments: Rough Draft Conferences
Revise
Project Proposal
WEDNESDAY (July 25)
Readings: Markel Chapter 21
Assignments: Submit Final Draft of Project Proposal
WEEK 6
MONDAY (July 29) ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Plagiarism
No student shall engage in an act
or an attempted act of plagiarism, which is defined as the inclusion of someone
else's words, ideas, or data as one's own work. When a student submits work for
credit that includes the words, ideas, or data of others, the source of that
information must be acknowledged through complete, accurate, and specific
references, and, if verbatim statements are included, through quotation marks
as well. By placing his/her name on work submitted for credit, the student
certifies the originality of all work not otherwise identified by appropriate
acknowledgments. Plagiarism covers unpublished as well as published sources,
including sources obtained electronically. Examples of plagiarism include, but
are not limited to:
á
Quoting another person's actual words, complete
sentences or paragraphs, or an entire piece of written work without
acknowledgment of the source;
á
Using another person's ideas, opinions, or theory, even
if it is completely paraphrased in oneÕs own words without acknowledgment of
the source;
á
Borrowing facts, statistics, or other illustrative
materials that are not clearly common knowledge without acknowledgment of the
source;
á
Copying another student's essay test answers;
á
Copying, or allowing another student to copy, a computer
file that contains another student's assignment, and submitting it, in part or
in its entirety, as one's own;
á
Working together on an assignment, sharing the computer
files and programs involved, and then submitting individual copies of the
assignment as one's own individual work.
Violations of the plagiarism
policy is grounds for separation, via suspension or expulsion, from the
University.
http://www.library.drexel.edu/resources/tutorials/plagiarism/plagiarism.html
Special
Needs
Any student with a documented
disability and needing accommodations is encouraged to contact the Office of
Disability Services at (215) 895-2506 or speak directly to the professor for
further information about this office. Students must register with the Office
of Disability Services and receive an Accommodation Verification Form prior to
receiving accommodations. Contact with the Office of Disability Services is
strictly confidential. Please make contact as early in the term as possible in
order to receive timely accommodations.