Syllabus

About This Course

In this course you will develop your critical reading, critical thinking, and research skills through the practice of technical writing– the kind of writing you will do as engineers in your professional environment. We will examine, analyze, and create various types of technical communication such as: memos, letters, descriptions, proposals, and poster presentations. The exercises and assignments are designed to improve your analytical and rhetorical skills and help you to become strong, confident communicators within your field. Collaboration is an important part of this process, we will learn to communicate our knowledge, plans, and ideas in a professional manner.

Course Texts and Materials

This is a “ZERO Textbook Cost” course. As such, all materials will be accessible on Blackboard or Google Drive.

We will also read a collection of student writing (yours, your peers’.) Please either print or have digital access to all course documents and materials for class.  

You will need a notebook or binder with loose leaf paper for this class.

Recommended Open Education Resources:

Use these additional resources as needed for help with the writing process, editing, and formatting.  

https://www.norton.com/college/english/write/fieldguide/index.asp

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/englishcomp1v2xmaster/

https://writingcommons.org/

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

Online Technology and Software Requirements

You will need to regularly access 

  1. Blackboard (CCNY’s online teaching support system where you’ll access and submit materials, and where I will post regular communication)
  2. Google Drive (a free online file storage site where we’ll share and collaborate on our writing). You will need to login using your CUNY credentials.
  3. CUNY Academic Commons (where you’ll create a digital portfolio)
  4. Word-processing software of your choice: Microsoft Office, Office365 (available for free to CCNY students), Google Docs, etc. No matter what you use, please save all documents as .doc, docx, or PDF files; please no Pages files.

I strongly recommend you make an effort to organize all documents related to our course. Create a designated “Writing for Engineers” folder on your computer and be strategic in how you use subfolders and title documents. Save all your drafts frequently and in separate files so that you have a clear record of your revisions. On Google Drive, you can click the clock icon on the upper right side to retrieve past edits of your document.

Course Learning Outcomes

In this course, you will work to:

  1. Acknowledge your and others’ range of linguistic differences as resources, and draw on those resources to develop rhetorical sensibility
  2. Enhance strategies for reading, drafting, revising, editing, and self-assessment
  3. Negotiate your own writing goals and audience expectations regarding conventions of genre, medium, and rhetorical situation
  4. Develop and engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes
  5. Engage in genre analysis and multimodal composing to explore effective writing across disciplinary contexts and beyond
  6. Formulate and articulate a stance through and in your writing
  7. Practice using various library resources, online databases, and the internet to locate sources appropriate to your writing projects
  8. Strengthen your source use practices (including evaluating, integrating, quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing, and citing sources)

Grading

We will use a Grading Contract for assignments in this course. Please see our contract for details. In short, your work will be evaluated for completeness and effort, not perfection. Your overall grade will be based on your attendance, your engagement and participation, your completion of all minor and major assignments, and how diligently you practiced the specific goals of each assignment. 

Major Assignments Schedule

You will write multiple drafts and revise each major assignment based on the peer feedback you receive. You will also receive instructor feedback on your “Final” version, which you will then substantially revise again before including the “Portfolio” version in your Digital Portfolio. 

#Assignment NameLength & ContentsDue Date & Submission Method
1POP Assignment 
(10 pts)		1 Cover Letter or Personal Statement (~500 words), 
-1 Resume,
-1 Memo
Mon., Feb. 19th,
End of day
(Blackboard)
2Technical Description
(5 pts)		1000-2000 words
Weds. Feb. 28th
End of day
(Blackboard)
Poster Presentation
(5 pts)		-Inclusion of Technical Description,
-At least three visual components (images, diagrams, tables, etc.),
-Clear headings and subheadings		Presentation days:
Wed. Feb. 28th &
Mon. Mar. 4th
(in-class submission)
3Project Proposal
(10 pts)		Per group:
-Title Page
-Abstract/Executive Summary (100-250 words)
-Table of Contents
-Literature Review (of 5 scholarly articles) (this explains what prior research has been done on this topic)
-Methods (your own, how you will conduct the research) (200-250 words)
-Anticipated Results (200-250 words)
-Broader Impact of your Research (150-200 words)
-References (in APA format)
-Appendix (optional/if necessary)

Per student:1 memo

Presentation days:
Mon. Apr. 8th & Weds. Apr. 10th
Memos due: Mon. Apr. 15th
(in-class submissions)
4Self-Assessment Essay 
(5 pts)		-3-4 pages 
-Mention/quote at least three Course Learning Outcomes
Weds. May 8th
(Blackboard)
Digital Portfolio
(5 pts)		-Final versions of all previous phase assignments
-Use of at least five other kinds of media (images, videos, hyperlinks, graphs, diagrams, etc.)
Weds., May 22nd
(Blackboard)

Smaller Assignments 

You will be asked this semester to read, annotate, take notes, keep a record of ideas, revisit in-class assignments, collaborate with your classmates, and engage in a variety of research, writing, and revision assignments.

See the Grading Contract for details about late and incomplete assignments. If there are extenuating circumstances (e.g., medical or other emergencies), please contact me so that we can arrange a good time to talk and figure out a plan.

Course Policies, Procedures, and Pertinent Information

Contacting Your Instructor: I want to get to know you, and I take seriously my role in supporting your learning. I strongly encourage you to contact me and visit during office hours (or make an appointment). I expect you to keep me informed about your work, your progress, your questions, and your problems, preferably BEFORE your grade is the central concern. Do not hesitate to email me to ask questions or send me important reminders.

Professional Courtesy: It’s essential that we are all courteous and considerate of each other at all times. As a group, we will represent diverse cultural, racial, linguistic, and gendered identities and abilities. We must all commit to honoring, respecting, and accounting for our differences. As your instructor, I am committed to this. 

Technology Expectations: I ask that you please keep silent/out-of-sight/closed all electronic devices unless told otherwise. Learning about and regularly accessing technology is thus a critical part of our course. However, the use of technology will be at my (your instructor’s) discretion; using technology when it is not expressly permitted (e.g. during a lecture, class discussion, or peer work) will adversely affect your participation credits for that day. If there are extenuating circumstances that require you to use technology at such times, please reach out to me.

Use of AI (Artificial Intelligence): New tools such as ChatGPT can be a valuable resource to us as researchers and writers. However, it can also be unreliable, unspecific, and tempting to use in place of doing the hard work of writing ourselves. I expect that all written assignments for this class will be created by you. You may use AI tools in the process of research and idea generation, but not in the actual writing of your work. Any assignment submitted with obviously cut-and-pasted AI material will be returned to you to be rewritten in your own voice; failure to do so will adversely affect your grade.

Participation: I care deeply about students being present and engaged in class, and I’ll do my best to make class meetings meaningful and useful. I ask that you come to class on time and prepared with all relevant readings or assignments. I understand that everyone has different approaches to participation, so I welcome you to engage in class in a way that best fits you (by quietly but actively listening, taking notes, asking questions, and/or offering comments). Everyone is required, however, to collaborate with peers during group work. 

Language: Students are expected to take an active role in developing their writing and language. I recognize that students come from different educational, linguistic, and racial backgrounds and that it takes several years, not a semester, to develop English academic language, especially if English is a student’s additional (and not first) language. As your instructor, I am committed to adopting approaches deemed most effective by the fields of Second Language Writing and Composition and Rhetoric: I will provide ongoing feedback on your writing to highlight potential areas to revise/develop (including language uses), and I will refrain from penalizing you for your language. 

The Writing Center: The CCNY Writing Center provides a supportive learning environment where students can have one-on-one tutoring sessions with experienced writing consultants. The Writing Center is available for virtual meetings. Students can schedule an appointment through the online booking system. This is a free resource available to all students and recommended for all writing assigned in this and other classes. Visit their website for more info http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/writing/ and to book an appointment. Be sure that when you visit the writing center you come with a clear goal or question so that you and your tutor can have a productive session.

Academic Integrity: All writing submitted for this course is understood to be your original work. In cases where I detect academic dishonesty (the fraudulent submission of another’s work, in whole or part, as your own), you may be subject to a failing grade for the project or the course, and in the worst case, to academic probation or expulsion. For a more detailed description of the guidelines for adhering to academic integrity, see CCNY’s Policy on Academic Integrity on the college website: https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/it/academic-integrity-policy. As part of this course, we will discuss responsible source use practices. 

Special Needs and Accommodations: There are several Student Support Services available for CCNY students. Check this website for more information: https://ccny.smartcatalogiq.com/en/2019-2020/Undergraduate-Bulletin/Student-Support-Services-Program. If you believe that you need accommodations for a disability, please contact CCNY’s AccessAbility Center (Student Disability Services), https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/accessability or call (212) 650-5913 for an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations. I am committed to accessibility; please do not hesitate to reach out to me so that we can determine ways to make this course accessible to you. 

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