English 1112 F:

Technical Report Writing

(Fall 2016)

Professor:

Lynda Morrissey
Office:
ART 340
Office hours: By appointment
Email: lmorriss@uottawa.ca

Teaching Assistants:

Lecture:

Patricia Magazoni
Email: pmaga089@uottawa.ca
Katrina Kellar Pinard
Email : kkell028@uottawa.ca
Tuesday 11:30 - 13:00
Location: MRT 212

Discussion Groups: Friday 13:00 - 14:30

Locations:
DG 1 GSD 307
DG 2 - WLD 110
DG 3 - HGN 305
Official course description:
Practice in the writing of technical reports. Topics include exposition,
argumentation, presentation of technical data, and effective communication.
Frequent written exercises and development of composition skills. Use of
Writing Centre resources required outside regular class hours.
Scope and Approach
Students will design, edit, and revise a variety of documents according to the
basic norms of effective composition and communication. Students will
conduct research on a chosen topic and produce a technical report typical to
their field of study.
Emphasis will be placed on basic grammar and writing skills: the rules and
principles of clear, concise and accurate writing that are necessary for
producing effective workplace documents and technical reports.
Final Examination
The Final Examination for ENG 1112F is a take-home exam, in the form of a
final report. The final report will be handed in during the examination period.
Recommended Text: (available at the University of Ottawa bookstore):
Beer, David and David McMurrey. A Guide to Writing as an Engineer, 4th ed.
New York: John Wiley, 2009. (Any other edition will suffice.)
Students are strongly advised to acquire a basic grammar text or handbook for
reference purposes. As well, a pocket dictionary is an invaluable reference tool

Requirements and marking scheme:

Due Date

Bibliography
Report Proposal
Quizzes
Final Report (take-home exam)

Oct. 11
Nov. 8
Oct. 14, Dec. 2
Dec. 16
(between 12:00 and 3:00)
(Alternate date Dec. 13)

10%
20%
30%
40%

Attendance Policy
I will not grant or deduct marks based on attendance. Attendance and active participation in class and
discussion groups, however, will help ensure success in the course. Quizzes must be completed during
designated discussion group time. No quiz may be taken after the designated date unless absence is
justified by a medical certificate or doctors note.
Late Policy for writing assignments
All writing assignments must be submitted on time, according to the schedule above. No writing
assignments will be accepted after the due date unless accompanied by medical certificate or doctors
note. Writing assignments will NOT be accepted by email.
Mandatory Requirements
The Final Report is a mandatory requirement of the course. You must complete and submit the
Final Report to achieve a passing grade in this course. If you do not submit the Final Report, your
final grade will be indicated as inc (incomplete), regardless of your total grade from other
elements of the course.
Communication outside class time
I am only in the office when appointments have been scheduled. The best way to reach me quickly is by
email. Communication by email should be reserved for emergencies or for very brief questions regarding
procedures. I will not participate in detailed discussions concerning the course material by email. If you
have something substantial to discuss, you should schedule an appointment with me. And, I repeat,
written assignments will NOT be accepted by email.
Virtual Campus
All lecture presentations and associated documents will be posted on virtual campus within 24 hours after
each lecture. I may periodically communicate with the class through virtual campus. To avoid excessive
photocopy and related costs, I might post handouts or documents on virtual campus in a folder entitled
required documents. I ask that you print the material and bring it to class. I will send an email to your
University of Ottawa email address at least 24 hours before the class or discussion groups when I post a
handout to notify you that it is ready for printing.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and must be avoided. Please familiarize yourself with policies
concerning plagiarism at <http://www.uottawa.ca/plagiarism.pdf>.

Schedule: (subject to revision)

Below is a list of the topics that will be covered in weekly lectures and required readings. Discussion groups
will evolve from the lectures. Please note this schedule is subject to revision. If there is a significant change
to a lecture topic or the required readings I will advise you in a prior class or by email.
Date
Sept. 13

Topic/s
Course Introduction

Required Readings

Writing as engineers, but not only engineers (Discussion of Beer

Chapter 1 in class)

Beer 1 - 11

Discussion of Diagnostic Writing Exercise: to be held during the

discussion group sessions on Sept. 16
Sept. 16

Discussion groups
Diagnostic Exercise

Sept. 20

Business Communication: letters, emails, memorandums,

resumes

Beer 72 87
Beer 201 - 227

Avoiding Plagiarism, Documenting Sources

Discussion groups

Beer 235-236

Sept. 23
Sept. 27

Presentation Introduction to Library Research

U of O Librarian for Engineering Research
Further discussion - Avoiding Plagiarism, Documenting Sources

Sept. 30

Final Report Topics

Discussion Groups
Discussion of Report Topics Prep. for Bibliography assignment

Oct. 4

Oct. 7

Oct. 11

Conducting Research / Sources of Information

- Library Research

Beer Ch. 8
149-176

Further discussion - Avoiding Plagiarism, Documenting Sources

creating a bibliography
Discussion group - Open session
Help with searching for resources
Help with bibliography creation
First Writing Assignment is due List of Sources (Bibliography
format, MLA, APA, IEEE)
Technical Documents
Writing a Technical Report
The Report Proposal (assignment 2)

Beer, Chapter 5
(91 118)
Beer 119-129,133

Oct. 14

Discussion groups
Quiz 1

Oct. 18

Further discussion - The Report Proposal (assignment 2)

Oct. 21

In-text citations
Discussion groups
No discussion groups this week

Oct. 25 - 31

Reading week

Nov. 1

Word problems misuse, confusion, misspelling, errors

Nov. 4

Discussion groups
Open Session (opportunity for consultation on Report Proposal)
Second writing assignment is due Report Proposal

Nov. 8
Nov. 11

Sentence Construction Part 1

Discussion groups
Progressing with Final Report

Nov. 15

Sentence Construction Part 2

Nov. 18

Discussion group
Open session no formal group discussion

Nov. 22

Proceeding with the report

Paragraph development

Nov. 25

Discussion groups
Writing exercises, sentence construction, paragraph
development

Nov. 29

Punctuation
Overview Technical report requirements

Dec. 2

Discussion Group
Quiz 2

Dec. 6

No formal lecture
Working session editing, refining Final Report

Dec. 16

Date for submission of Final Report

Beer 61 - 63
Beer 21 - 31,
Beer 55 60
Beer 31 34
Beer 53 - 60

Beer 13 21
Beer 64 - 66

Beer 52

Beer 13 - 21