Technical and Business Writing Syllabus for 2015-2016
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Instructor Information
Instructor
Luci Creery (Curriculum Vitae)Phone
<p>806-371-5180</p>Office Location
Ordway Hall 103B
Office Hours
SPRING II OFFICE HOURS
Monday and Wednesday 10:30 - 12:30
Course Information
Recording Policy
Disability Statement
Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact disAbility Services (Student Service Center room 119, phone 371-5436) as soon as possible.
Statement for Mental Health and Advocacy & Resource Center:
As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce a student's ability to participate in daily activities. Amarillo College offers services to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. If you or someone you know are suffering from any of the aforementioned conditions, you can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus by calling the AC Counseling Center at 806-371-5900. The AC Counseling Center website is https://www.actx.edu/counseling/ . Also, if you are in need of social services (affordable housing, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, childcare, medical/dental/vision, legal), please call the AC Advocacy & Resource Center at 806-371-5439. The AC Advocacy & Resource Center website is https://www.actx.edu/arc
Amarillo College Tutoring for Success Policy:
Administrative Drop Policy
N/A
Student Withdrawal Procedures
N/A
Privacy Statement
The Amarillo College Privacy Policy is found at https://www.actx.edu/-amarillo-college-privacy-notice , and applies to all Amarillo College students. If you have questions about this privacy statement or you believe that your personal information has been released without your consent, send email to humanresources@actx.edu .
Course
ENGL-2311-004 Technical and Business Writing
Prerequisites
Prerequisite: ENGL 1301
Course Description
Intensive study of and practice in professional settings. Focus on the types of documents necessary to make decisions and take action on the job, such as proposals, reports, instructions, policies and procedures, e-mail messages, letters and descriptions of products and services. Practice individual and collaborative processes involved in the creation of ethical and efficient documents.
Student Resources Student Resources Website
Department Expectations
Amarillo College English Department Plagiarism Policy, revised Spring 2013
The English Department takes plagiarism seriously.
Plagiarism is defined as the following: the use of someone else’s exact words that are neither quoted nor cited; paraphrasing someone else’s words without citing them; or using someone else’s research without citing it.
Student plagiarism in the Amarillo College English Department is internally tracked. To clarify, records will be kept in the Department of those students who have plagiarized. At the beginning of each new semester, the names of students who plagiarized the previous semester will be sent to all English Department faculty.
Plagiarism may receive a penalty of a zero. A subsequent infraction will be deemed a reason for expulsion from the class. At this point, the case will be referred to the Vice President of Student Affairs.
Note: Self-plagiarism will be discussed with the class by each instructor and infractions for such are left up to the individual instructor’s discretion.
In addition to the learning outcomes, students will be expected to work in small teams to produce a researched analytical report that uses both text and visuals.
Occupational License Disclaimer
Hours
(3 sem hrs; 3 lec)
Class Type
Online Course
Syllabus Information
Textbooks
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Required Textbook
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Tebeaux, Elizabeth and Sam Dragga. The Essentials of Technical Communication. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. 2015. \ \\ \ IMPORTANT: You MUST have the textbook to be successful in this class. The concepts you need to know to successfully complete the assignments are in the textbook. \ | \
Supplies
Student Performance
Course Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
- Recognize, analyze, and accommodate diverse audiences.
- Produce documents appropriate to audience, purpose, and genre.
- Analyze the ethical responsibilities involved in technical communication.
- Locate, evaluate, and incorporate pertinent information.
- Develop verbal, visual, and multimedia materials as necessary, in individual and/or collaborative projects, as appropriate.
- Edit for appropriate style, including attention to word choice, sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling.
- Design and test documents for easy reading and navigation.
- In addition to the learning outcomes, students will work in small teams to produce a researched analytical report that uses both text and illustrations.
Students Rights and Responsibilities
Student Rights and ResponsibilitiesLog in using the AC Connect Portal
In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .
If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".
Expected Student Behavior
Behavior
CODE OF STUDENT CONDUCT: All rules and regulations set forth in the “Student Code of Conduct” section in the current edition of the Students’ Rights and Responsibilities publication will be followed in this course (see link above).
Disrespect will not be tolerated. While students are expected to express their own ideas and opinions in the discussion section of this course, students are also expected to use words that are appropriate for a classroom situation. No cursing, personal insults, or disrespectful language will be tolerated. Violation of this rule will result in the student being barred from using the discussion portion of the course, which will result in the loss of points for discussion contributions
The discussion forums in this class provide a great opportunity for you to practice your technical writing style. Proofread and spell-check your discussion posts, and check your posts and replies for clarity and accuracy. As with emails, avoid using text-message style abbreviations. In addition, proofread your posts for tone. A successful writer is ever-mindful of his/her audience, and your posts should be courteous and professional—even if you are disagreeing with a classmate. Discussion posts with numerous spelling and grammar errors an inappropriate tone will not receive credit.
Other Responsibilities
- Check your grades regularly in Blackboard. If you have any questions or concerns about your grades, please talk to me as soon as possible.
- If you have questions or concerns about any assignment grade, you must meet with me about your concerns BEFORE the week of finals.
- Read the plagiarism policy on the top of this syllabus. Plagiarism is a serious offense and will result in a zero on the assignment. If you are concerned about plagiarism or are not sure whether you’ve cited sources correctly, please schedule a visit with me or with the Writers’ Corner.
Grading Criteria
Grade Determination
Grades will be based on the following system:
A 90-100= high achievement
B 80-89= above average achievement
C 70-79= satisfactory achievement
D 60-69= unsatisfactory achievement
F 0-59= unacceptable
Grade Percentages of Assignments
- 60% Writing Assignments*
- 30% Quizzes, Discussions and Other assignments
- 10% Final Exam
*Note that 60% of your grade is the writing assignments. Within this category, some assignments will be worth more points than others. For instance, your recommendation report, a lengthy assignment, will be worth 200 points while other smaller assignments will be worth 25, 50 or 100 points.
Discussions: For full credit in the discussion forums, your initial thread must be the minimum word count specified on the discussion, and you must respond to at least two classmates.
Assignment Criteria
I will provide a rubric for each writing assignment that will set forth the criteria for grading.
Tutoring
TUTORING: You can use SMARTHINKING (click), online tutoring available through the AC website. Be advised that the Smartthinking tutoring service has a 2-3 day turnaround, so you need to submit work well before the due date to be sure to receive timely feedback from a tutor.
If you are near the AC campus, you are welcome to visit the Writer's Corner (click) located in Ordway Hall to get help with your assignments.
Also, feel free to call me or, if you are in Amarillo, make an appointment to stop by my office during office hours or during a scheduled appointment time.
Assignment Submission and Late Work
Assignment Submission:
- Please submit each assignment in its designated place in Blackboard. Please follow instructions for naming each file before submitting it in Blackboard.
- I will not accept assignments submitted through email unless I have specifically told you to email an assignment to me.
- Assignments must be submitted in .doc or .pdf format. I will not accept work submitted in a format other than .doc or .pdf.
- Save your work carefully and diligently. If you do not have a thumb drive, you may want to create your documents in Google Docs so you don’t have to worry about saving. If you work in Google Docs, you can save your work in .pdf or .doc before you submit it in Blackboard.
Late work will not be accepted. Because this is a fast-paced 8-week course, you must complete assignments by the due date. Any assignment turned in after the due date at 10 p.m. is late. I understand that technical problems occur and life issues sometimes interfere with assignments, but I am counting on your commitment to this class despite life's setbacks. When you can, work on assignments ahead of their due dates. If a situation arises that interferes with your turning in work in a timely manner, please email or call me.
Assignment Due Dates: Below is an outline of the course. Assignments, discussions, and quizzes are due on Wednesdays and/or Fridays of each week. Exact due dates for assignments are not specified on this syllabus. Please check your lessons and course calendar for exact assignment due dates.
Attendance
"Attendance" in an Online Course
Log in every day. In an online course, participation is extremely important. All lessons are available, and assignments, quizzes, and discussions are due Wednesdays and Fridays by 10 P.M. Lack of participation and submission of assignments in a timely manner will be taken into account when the final grade is determined. You hurt yourself when you fall behind schedule.
Students are expected to participate actively in this online course. Participation means:
- Logging in to the course every day, at least to check mail and read announcements. I watch when students last logged in.
- Checking email regularly in your Amarillo College GMail account. I frequently send emails that explain course updates or include course notes, so please check your AC Gmail account as often as possible.
- Reading chapters from the textbook when assigned. You must read the textbook to pass quizzes and do well on assignments!
- Completing and submitting weekly assignments by due dates
- Reading and posting discussion messages as assigned.
- Taking online quizzes and final exam.
Withdrawal
An online course can be demanding for students. Since there is no set meeting time, you must discipline yourself to read the text, participate in discussions, and complete assignments on time. I hope you are committed to this process. If you are, you should succeed in this class. That said, I also hope you know that a real person (that's me!) is here to grade your assignments, monitor your progress, adjust due dates and assignments accordingly, and answer any questions you may have.
If during the semester you consider dropping, please check with me first for an alternate plan that protects your investment in this course and gives you an opportunity to complete it. Remember that the deadline for drops this semester is April 22, 2016.
Withdrawing early from a class could affect scholarship or financial aid monies. Check with a counselor or advisor before you withdraw from any class.
Calendar
Course Outline
Click on the course calendar link within the course for assignment due dates.
This outline gives you an idea of which chapters will be read and when major assignments are due. Check your class calendar in Blackboard for specific due dates.
This course outline is subject to change, so regularly check your Blackboard course calendar and email for updates.
|
Week |
Lesson |
Task/Assignment Due |
|
1 |
Introduction Lesson |
Discussion Quiz: Syllabus |
|
Lesson 1: Characteristics of Workplace Writing Chapters 1 and 2 |
Discussion Comparison Chart |
|
|
2 |
Lesson 2: Writing Ethically Chapter 3 |
Discussion Quiz: Ch. 1-3 |
|
Lesson 3: Achieving a Readable Style Chapter 4 |
Discussion Quiz: Ch. 4 |
|
|
3 |
Lesson 4: Designing Documents Chapter 5 |
Quiz: Ch. 5 |
|
Lesson 5: Emails, Memos, and Letters Chapter 7 |
Discussion Claim Letter |
|
|
4 |
Lesson 6: Proposals Chapter 9 |
Report topic and Proposal Choose a topic for analytical report. |
|
5 |
Lesson 7: Resumes Chapter 12 Lesson 8: Technical Reports Chapter 8 |
Resume
Quiz: Ch. 8 Discussion |
|
6 |
Lesson 9: Research |
Discussion |
|
Lesson 10: Designing Illustrations Chapter 6 |
Discussion and worksheet | |
|
7 |
||
|
Lesson 11: Analytical Report |
Discussion Report rough draft and final draft |
|
|
8 |
Final Exam |
Final Exam |
Additional Information
Final Exam:
Information about final exam will be posted in Blackboard.
Syllabus Created on:
11/30/-1 12:00 AM
Last Edited on:
11/30/-1 12:00 AM