ENGLISH 306: REPORT WRITING
Instructor: Amy Reynolds
Spring 2009
|
How to Contact Your Instructor: |
|
|
Most course materials are available on WebCT |
E-mail: amy.reynolds@csun.edu Instructor Home Page: http://www.csun.edu/~alr2303/home.html |
|
Office phone: 818-677-5280 |
Office hours: ST 507. M/F 11-11:50; Fri. 2-3 pm; by appointment and by email |
Texts:
Course Reader – Available through Online Course Reserves
Successful Writing at Work. Concise Second Ed., Philip C. Kolin
Access to any good college handbook. My favorite is Raimes, Keys for Writers.
Highly Recommended: A student planner or other type of calendar. Planning and calendering is crucial to both academic and professional success.
Course Description: Prerequisite:
Completion of the
lower division writing requirement. Approaches to writing
scientific,
technical, professional, business, or general-information reports and
articles for various audiences and contexts. Emphasis on
awareness
of discursive practices of particular fields to achieve purpose,
coherence, and
effective style. Culminates with research project and presentation.
(Available
for General Education, Lifelong Learning.)
This course is a broad overview of, and practice
in, the
kind of writing demanded by today’s work environment. We will
focus on
persuasion, audience and purpose in all types of workplace writing,
including,
but not limited to, short and long reports, memos, letters, and other
genres of
professional communication. Just as in your professional career,
you will
be engaging in multiple genres of reading and writing projects, often
concurrently, so you will learn time management and project management
skills. To reflect current workplace practices, the class will
require
you to work both alone as well as collaboratively within a group.
In this
class, the focus will be on science, environmental, and health-related
issues
and writing projects.
Course Objectives:
· Demonstrate awareness of the various demands of audience, disciplines, and genres.
· Practice critical thinking and ethical reasoning as applied to professional writing tasks and situations.
· Use critical reading strategies to analyze and synthesize texts.
· Organize and communicate analysis in oral presentations.
· Become familiar with a broad range of research resources.
· Conceive, plan and execute an extensive research project.
· Work collaboratively in writing and presentations.
Specific Writing Assignments: You will be writing a variety of short reports both in groups and individually. You will keep a reading log on the assignments from the Course Online Reserve, in which you will explore both the topics covered in the articles, and what these articles can teach you about effective writing. In groups, you’ll write and present an executive summary of an articles in class, and as a final project, you will write a long report involving extensive research. Routine business writing genres will be covered in class and as homework.
Grading:
|
4 Short Reports - Collaborative & Individual (75 pts ea) |
300 pts |
Day to day writing & homework |
125 pts |
|
|
Class Participation/Attendance |
100 pts |
Final Long
Report & Presentation |
225 pts |
|
|
Reading Log |
125 pts |
360 degree
review/self-assessment |
50 pts |
|
|
Executive Summary & Presentation |
75 pts. |
Total = |
1,000 pts |
Grade
breakdown:
930-1000 points A
929-900 points
A-
899-870 points
B+
869-830 points
B
829-800 points B-
799-770 points
C+
769-730 points
C
729-700 points C-
699-670 points
D+
669-630 points
D
629-600 points D-
599-0 points F
Email Policy: Email is a great resource for students and teachers, but it is often abused. Please note that emails sent after 10 pm will not be replied to until the next day. Conversely, I will make every effort to reply to emails sent before 10 pm. Please find a reliable classmate or two whom you may email in the event of your absence to find out "what you missed," or if you have late night questions about an assignment. We will be discussing correct email protocol and etiquette, and other than specific assignments for that purpose, no assignments may be emailed. Reading Logs will be uploaded to WebCT.
Participation: Because this course is designed to be student-centered, rather than instructor-centered, your presence, active involvement, good humor, and preparation will be crucial to creating an interesting and lively class. Commit to this class as you would commit to your job. You are expected to arrive to class on time, prepared for the day’s activities, and to stay for the duration. After the first two absences, each absence will deduct 10 points from your participation grade, regardless of the reason for the absence. Likewise, after two tardies, additional late arrivals will also result in a 10 point deduction from your participation grade. Accumulating more than 6 absences, or missing 20% of the semester's class work will result in failure in most circumstances.
Preparation: Come to class prepared. Assigned readings from the Online Course Reserve must be printed out and brought to class, with the selection carefully read and annotated for in-class discussion. Bring your reading log, which will be uploaded to WebCT, to class so that you may refer to it. Cell phones must be off and out of sight. Laptops may be brought to class as long as they are not a distraction.
Presentation of Work: You are represented by the work you turn in. Final drafts should be at all times thoughtful, error-free, and submitted on time: at the beginning of class on the date assigned. Only hard copies will be accepted (no e-mail submissions). No late work is accepted. If you must be absent, you must make arrangements to have the paper delivered to my mailbox by the time class is scheduled to meet. All written work must be typed, correctly formatted, and multiple pages must be stapled. Untyped, unstapled work will not be accepted.
Professionalism: Be the professional you plan to be, in spite of challenges and difficulties. Every day, people struggle to maintain employment and make their lives work. You know the course policies and you know what is expected of you. Please do not come to me with excuses about why you were absent and didn't get your work in on time. If a personal crisis arises, talk with me and let me know what is going on before you jeopardize your success in the course. You are responsible for all assignments (on the schedule or assigned in class). It is up to you to get the notes and copies of handouts from peers. Being absent is not an acceptable excuse for incomplete work. Late assignments will not be accepted.
Plagiarism: Please review the catalog for the University's policy toward plagiarism--the unacknowledged use of the ideas and/or words of others, which is, in fact, fraud perpetrated upon your classmates, your instructor, and the University. Cheating cheapens your degree and destroys trust. The penalty for plagiarism in any paper will be at the very least, a fail for that paper. A fail for the course is possible, as is academic discipline from the Dean's office. These penalties also apply to "accidental" plagiarism, which is unacceptable at the 300 level. We will be discussing and adhering to the University's academic standards for the crediting of ideas, all of which should have been covered in your freshman English course.
Finally, let's talk: If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please speak to me after class, come see me in my office, or email me. If you need special course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability or you have special medical information to share, please speak to me early in the semester. I am happy to help all students participate and benefit from the class equally.
Complete calendar to follow.
Notes: