WRIT 3001 Sect.

001
Instructor: Joseph Bartolotta Email: barto137@umn.edu Class Time: 11:15-12:05 (M,W) Classroom: SSTS 123 Offices: Nolte 300 (Minneapolis)

Fall 2011
Office Hours: TBA

Textbooks and Materials

On the Moodle website

Description

WRIT 3001 is a two-credit introductory course that provides an overview and history of scientific and technical communication in the professional world. Throughout the semester, we will discuss a number of topics in the profession such as; audience, writing for various media and industries, ethics, global communication, usability and web media, and collaboration. You will have the opportunity to read journal articles, research the profession, meet technical writers in field, and conduct research in the field. The primary focus will be on class participation in activities and discussion groups, a proposal, and a final career research report.

Objectives

By the end of the course, students who successfully complete WRIT 3001 will be able to do the following: Gain a basic understanding of the history of Scientific & Technical Communication (S&TC) Understand the importance of written, oral, and visual communication skills needed in various media in the profession Understand the basic genres of S&TC (proposal, report, summary/abstract) To learn and explore the career opportunities in the S&TC profession To explore the rhetorical and technical dimensions of workplace issues, including audience, web writing, usability, collaboration To develop a career research report as a plan for your S&TC major

Assignments
In addition to major assignments, there will be shorter assignments. Shorter assignments serve different purposes: to plan or revise a major assignment, to practice strategies important to a major assignment, to examine issues relevant to a major assignment, or to explore communication. Therefore, failure to complete the smaller assignments on time may result in a failing grade for a major assignment. Shorter responses may not be graded if turned in late. All work completed outside of class should be typed. Make sure you have a backup copy of all work before you turn it in to be graded. Major essays will be penalized one letter grade (e.g., from B to C) for each class period they are late. All major essays must be completed for you to receive a passing grade at the end of the semester. You will need to print out readings for class and bring them. I figured this would be cheaper than course packets for most students. We will need these readings for reference in our class discussions.

Class Attendance and Participation

Much of our work will be in groups. You are expected to fulfill your share of group work and to interact courteously with your peers at all times. Classes are run in a discussion/workshop format; therefore, regular attendance and active participation are important. One of the strongest components of any democracy is an informed citizenry that is ready to participate civically. Not being prepared for class preempts your ability to participate and may impede the inquiry of others, and I may excuse students who I discover to not be adequately prepared. Attendance to me is more than simply filling a seatit is a demonstration of a willingness to engage in the days topics. Missing more than one weeks worth of class may result in a lower grade. Missing four or more class sessions may result in an automatic failing grade.

Grading and Evaluation

Units and Grade Distribution
The course work is divided by 300 points. All assignments are not necessarily equal.
Discussion Group Questions Discussion Group Blog Entry Individual Journals 10 @10pts. Peer review Workshop 2@10pts Proposal Oral Presentation Final Research Report Final Notebook 20 Points 20 Points 100 Points 20 Points 30 Points 10 Points 50 Points 50 Points

Grade Descriptions for Writing Assignments

A B C D F A AB+ Exemplary work; the qualities of a B paper, plus imagination and effective expression. Mature work; thorough analysis of the writing problem, appropriate and effective substance, good organization, and solid expression (style). Few problems in correctness. Competent, developing work; satisfactory analysis of the problem, organization, and expression, but nothing remarkably good or bad. Acceptable sentence structure; other problems in mechanics or usage may occur. Beginning-level work; presence of a defect in context, substance, organization, style, or delivery; inadequate treatment of the assignment. Possible sentence structure and other correctness errors. Basic-level work; lack of context, inadequate coverage of essential points, poor organization, 94-100% 90-93% 87-89% B BC+ 83-86% 80-82% 77-79% C CD+ 73-76% 70-72% 67-69% D DF 63-66% 60-62% 59% and below

What Do You Believe, Mr. Bartolotta?

I believe that the classroom is a sort of sacred space where we come together to ponder and discuss our world and our place in it. I believe that one of the most important parts of our understanding of our world and our place in it is by understanding how and why we communicate. Through this inquiry, we can come to realize our own strengths and weakness, and how messages, no matter how small, are transmitted to us. I find this type of inquiry extremely fun, but I also take it very seriously. These two sentiments may seem to conflict, but I believe that this inquiry, even at its most confusing or discouraging points, is still a celebration of the faculties of the human mind, and ultimately helps people appreciate themselves and others in a new dimension. By taking this class with me, you are agreeing to engage yourself and your world fully and critically. This class is a mature class for a mature audience and language may represent that. Academic work should not be divorced from the rest of our lives, and in this class, we will be examining materials from advertisements, film and other media that some may include language or themes some find offensive. The important idea to keep in mind when examining these materials is to be constantly thinking about how the material works rhetorically, and how the vocabulary or presentation of the material moves the audience to react to it. I believe in a democratic classroom where discussion is encouraged and everyone feels comfortable participating. Racism, misogyny, misandry, homophobia and other ideologies that are fueled by gross generalizations do not contribute harmoniously to my idea of a truly democratic classroom and will not be tolerated. I believe that labels we are assigned seldom touch the essence of our being, and that each individual, no matter what he or she has been labeled, is more complex than a single word can represent. Therefore, in our classroom, we will respect each others individual uniqueness and complexity by abstaining from generalizations.

Disability Accommodation

Any student with a documented disability condition (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, systemic, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations should contact the instructor and Disability Services (626-1333) at the beginning of the semester.

Academic Dishonesty

The University Student Conduct Code defines scholastic dishonesty as follows: Scholastic Dishonesty means plagiarizing; cheating on assignments or examinations; engaging in unauthorized collaboration on academic work; taking, acquiring, or using test materials without faculty permission; submitting false or incomplete records of academic achievement; acting alone or in cooperation with another to falsify records or to obtain dishonestly grades, honors, awards, or professional endorsement; altering, forging, or misusing a University academic record; or fabricating or falsifying data, research procedures, or data analysis. (http://advisingtools.class.umn.edu/cgep/studentconduct.html) Plagiarism, can result in a grade of F for the assignment, and may result in a grade of F for the course. Plagiarism can include submitting a paper: -written by means of inappropriate collaboration; -purchased, downloaded, or cut and pasted from the Internet; -or that fails to properly acknowledge its sources through standard citations. 3

Understanding what constitutes plagiarism and academic dishonesty will help prevent you from committing these acts inadvertently and will strengthen your communication. Plagiarism is a serious legal and ethical breach, and it is treated as such by the university. If you have any questions about documentation, see me before you turn in an assignment.

Computer Ethics
All workshop and revised drafts of major assignments must be done on a word-processor. Because wordprocessors are powerful writing tools that can save time and greatly aid the processes of revising and editing, preliminary drafts are best done on a word-processor as well. Students can use the University's public computer labs, including the ones in Wilson, Walter, and McGrath Libraries. No fee is charged, except to use lab printers. Students may also use one of the 16 Macs in the Center for Writing in 15 Nicholson. University Technology Training Center http://uttc.umn.edu/training/ schedules regular training sessions. Students who think that computer access will present a serious difficulty should talk to me immediately. Save everything. I cannot stress this point enough: purchase a small thumb drive if you need toyou will not need to use more than a gigabyte for this classand backup your material there.

Student Writing Support

While I am always available for conferences about your writing, I know many students sometimes like to work with peers first. Students can get one-to-one-consultations on any course paper or writing project at Student Writing Support. Student Writing Support has several campus locations, including the main location in 15 Nicholson Hall. See http://writing.umn.edu/sws/ for details about locations, appointments, and online consultations.

Assignment Guide
Each of you will be assigned to a small group of 3-4 classmates. In that group, your team will be responsible for helping lead discussion on assigned readings for that week, and summarizing the discussion and activities at the end of the week. Your group will need to produce two things for your assigned week: group discussion questions and a group blog.

Discussion Group Questions

Assignment Description: The group discussion questions will consist of a set of 5-6 questions on the assigned readings for your assigned week. You will send these questions to me on the say your groups questions are due, and I will post them in a prominent place on the Moodle website. These questions should reflect your genuine curiosity about the topic and points in the reading. Do not be afraid to state basic questions about the topicmost other students will have the same questions. Be prepared to lead the class through your list of questions. You will have the opportunity to play the role as facilitator on your assigned Discussion Question day. Everyone in your group will receive the same grade for the combined work. Grading Criteria: Discussion of questions should address genuine curiosity about the topic Discussion questions should reflect insightful reading No fewer than five questions must be posed Group members must take a turn at leading discussion (addressing at least one question) in class Questions must include proper citation for materials from reading that is quoted or paraphrased.

Discussion Group Blog Entry

We will have a blog for our class, and it will be generated by you. The purpose of this blog is (1) to demonstrate what you have learned about technical communication topics, and, (2) to practice writing multi-modal texts in Web 2.0 environments. We will have one blog entry for every week of class. Each entry should include the following: A creative, yet descriptive title for your blog entry that reflects the topic or your groups week. Be sure to include the date. Examples: BAD: Week 2 Discussion, GOOD: October 5th: Copyediting is not just for nerds; its for nerds with taste. A brief entry (250-300 words) that describes the topic discussed that week and mentions two or three insights about what you found interesting about that topic. The Entry should be written in descriptive, formal language. Write your entry for a general audience that does not necessarily have knowledge of technical communication An attachment (or inclusion) of your groups discussion questions for that week At least one relevant picture to accompany your brief entry At least one relevant link to a website or video of interest that relates to the topic. A list of biographic information about the readings assigned for that week, as well as guest speakers and/or other resources reviewed that week. The blog posting wull be due the Monday following your groups assigned week. For example, if your group is assigned to write an entry for the week of September 19th, the blog will be due September 26th. If your group would like to update and/or add to your posting after the due date, please seek permission from the instructor. Everyone in your group will receive the same grade for the combined work. 5

Grading Criteria: Blog entry should follow the instructions above Blog entry should be free of grammatical and technical errors Blog entry should have a professional look and feel to it Blog entry must include proper citation for material from readings that is quoted or paraphrased.

Individual Journal
Assignment Description: Write a weekly journal (250-350 words) that reflects upon the assigned readings and/or exercises for each week in class. A prompt/question will be given to guide your writing. If there is an exercise due, it shall be attached to your journal. The journal entry is due on the day of the assigned readings. If you are gone on the day journals are due, contact your instructor and turn in your journal entry. Late entries will not be given credit. You are responsible for 10 journals. Grading Criteria: Journal must address the designated prompt (but may meander to a place the you find interesting Journal must refer to key ideas in the assigned readings for that week Journals must demonstrate reflection, not repetition or regurgitation, about the readings Journal must be completed on time Journal must include proper citation for material from readings that is quoted or paraphrased.

Final Notebook
Assignment description: You will collect all of your materials for the semester (blog entries, journals, readings, proposals, discussion questions and anything else) in an organized three-ring binder. This will need to be logically organized and sections should be separated and labeled appropriately. You will need to write an introduction that both guides your reader through the logic of your organization, and prefaces what you feel are the most important elements of the work you did this semester. It will be due on December 7th. Keep in mind that this is where your printed course readings should go. You may organize the notebook chronologically to the class, but you may find it useful to divide sections by type of document first, i.e., make journals one section and have it organized further by class chronology, then the readings are organized in one section by chronology as well. Your documents do not need to be clean. You may have writing on it. Grading Criteria Organization is logical and easy-to-follow Introduction is welcoming and provides a strong overview of your work in class Items assembled in a three-ring binder Introduction is between 600-750 words.