COURSE GOALS

We study communication within the science discourse community and between that community and the public. We look at how the scientists write, and we work on skills needed to present scientific and technical information in several forms and for a variety of audiences and purposes. As a URI general education "English Communication" course, we will discuss reading, research, speaking, and composition as we write about science and technology. Specific outcomes include

• understanding how and why scientific and technical writing is unique from other forms of writing.
• appreciating how writing within the scientific community has evolved historically.
• practicing writing some of the most important kinds of technical writing.
• improving your ability to organize content of your writing.
• enhancing style and readability, with a focus on meeting reader needs.
• understanding of leader and collaborator roles in group writing (we do no group projects, however).
• learning to analyze and improve your own writing and that of others as an editor.

PREREQUISITES

You are expected to have exposure to a core discipline in the sciences, engineering, or a technical communications field sufficient to be used as subject matter for class assignments. Although I will adjust to a degree for non-science students, we will nonetheless maintain a focus on "scientific" and "technical."

TEXT

All other materials will be downloadable through links from this syllabus. There is no separate required text.

FORMAT

We will meet twice weekly for lectures (1/week), discussions, and in-class workshops. We will discuss the content and form of scientific and technical writing, developing a professional style that is organized, simple, and lucid. You will write regularly, for practice and review.

ATTENDANCE

The following is a policy of the College Writing Program

The small-class environment of WRT classes makes dedicated attendance and full participation the responsibility of each and every class member. Students who miss classes are responsible for 1) explaining the absence and/or verifying its necessity; 2) getting the assignments from a classmate or me; and 3) if I agree, making up the missed work. If you notify me in advance, absences for religious holidays, athletic participation, or other university-sanctioned events are excused. I may approve other absences (for illness, accident, or personal tragedy); however, it is your responsibility to contact me—via email or a phone message—to explain your absence within 1 day of the missed class, or to provide documentation at the following class meeting. Absences that are not university-sanctioned or approved by me in advance will mean a loss of points or a deduction to the final grade. While allowance can be made for an emergency, generally, students who miss a total of three weeks of classes will fail the course.

The University anticipates the possibility of a significant Swine Flu pandemic this year. If you feel ill (flu symptoms include fevers, coughs, sore throats), you are encouraged to isolate yourself and to make arrangements via email to make up lost time. No worries; just stay in touch and we will get by. President Dooley's comments to the University are online and worth reading (which I will do in class).

GRADES

Grades are based on writing assignments, participation, and attendance. If you do not contribute to class discussions in a meaningful way, this may be reflected in your grade. There will be a variety of in-class and out-of-class writing assignments, both formal and informal. (details).

PLAGIARISM (academic honesty)

The following is a policy of the College Writing Program

You need to understand plagiarism and its consequences. Please consult the URI Student Handbook about academic honesty and related issues. The penalty for plagiarism is a zero for the assignment and a report to your academic dean, who has the option to fail you for the course. In addition, the charge of academic dishonesty will go on your record in the Office of Student Life. Technical Communication offers help on matters of plagiarism and how to acknowledge source material. If you need more help understanding when to cite something or how to make clear your references, please ask!

SPECIAL NEEDS

Any student with a documented disability is welcome to contact me as early in the semester as possible so that we may arrange reasonable accommodations. See also, Disability Services, Office of Student Life, 330 Memorial Union. Phone: 401-874-2098 (for TT access call R.I. Relay at 1-800-745-5555); email dss@etal.uri.edu.

SCHEDULE (Fall 2009)

Class: Section 0002 TTh 11:00-12:15, 305 Swan Hall | Section 0004 TTh 2:00-3:15, 306 Swan Hall
Office Hours: MWF 9-12 and F1-4, appointments strongly suggested. Other hours possible, by appointment (see Fall 2009 Teaching and Office Hours)

You may also wish to use the Writing Center, part of the Academic Enhancement Center on the 4th floor of Roosevelt Hall. All writers, all disciplines, all levels, and all stages of writing are appropriate for help or drop-in tutorials. Call ahead if possible (874-4690) for and appointment. (more)

Week 1 (Sept. 10)

The course: Goals, syllabus, grades, assignment schedule, procedures.

Scientific Writing: The nature of science and scientific writing; the kinds of writing we will cover this semester.

Assignment: Assignment 1—Structure and Content of Scientific and Technical Journal Articles

A few links to scientific articles, for those who can't find a suitable one.

Week 2 (Sept. 15, 17)

The Journal Article: How the Scientific Method Influences the Structure (content and organization) of the Scientific Journal Article

The Introduction: What belongs (or does it?) and why? (notes)

Methods: Science, reproducibility, proprietary rights, ethics. (notes)

Results: What was observed, how to report it. (notes)

Discussion: Answering the question and reflecting on what it meant. (notes)

Review Articles are Different: Writing about secondary research that focuses what we know about a particular topic (notes)

Week 3 (Sept. 22, 24)

Evolution of the Scientific Article: Historical development of distinguishing features of scientific english—written style, presentation, and argumentation (notes)

Science speak: Analysis of scientific style—nominalizations, passive voice, noun clusters, and specialized vocabularies. (notes)

Assignment: Assignment 2—Style of Scientific Journal Articles | Sample Style and Readability Analyses

Week 4 (Sept. 29, Oct. 1)

Style and Readability—I: How to recognize, master, use, or find alternatives to science speak—dealing with common problems.

• Agent and action: sentence patterns, passive voice, Is verbs, dummy subjects, personal pronouns (notes | exercises)
• Sentence length and complexity (readability indices)
• Tense in scientific journal articles (notes)
• Latinizations, redundancy, noun clusters, negatives (notes) | (exercises)
• Nominalizations, missing Wh-connectors (who, what, where, how, when, that, which), interruptions (notes | exercises)
• Jargon
• Split infinitives, dangling modifiers, misused words and illiteracies, errors of disagreement in number between subject and verb, euphemisms, gender blunders, and other common grammatical errors

Assignment: Assignment 3a—Style and Readability

Week 5 (Oct. 6, 8)

Style and readability—II: Punctuation (notes to be posted by week 5).

• End punctuation, the comma (notes)
• Punctuating clauses, with and without conjunctions; essential and non-essential clauses (notes)
• The semicolon, the colon (notes)
• Apostrophe, quotation marks, brackets, ellipsis (notes)

Assignment: Assignment 3b—Punctuation

Week 6 (Oct. 13, 15)

Job-Applications: Resume and application letter; what a search committee does. (notes)

The Nature of Scientific Research: Developing evidence; the process of normal science (notes on research)

• Primary (originates from author) and secondary (originated from previous authors) sources.
• Narrowing by restricting subject, time, place, or events
• Schedule, deliverables, work plan / outline, primary and secondary source data, quality evaluation
• Primary vs. secondary sources
• Basic information search tools

Assignment: Assignment 4—Resume and Job Application.

Week 7 (Oct. 20, 22)

Definitions: describing new developments or technologies in discrete fields (notes)

• Parenthetical, Sentence, Extended, Process

Strategic Planning for Career Development: An introduction to strategic planning through development of an educational and entry-level career plan. (notes)

• Defining alternatives: The Feasibility Study (notes)

Assignment: Assignment 5—A Formal Strategic Plan, Feasibility Study, or Research Proposal (choose 1 of 3 options)

Week 8 (Oct. 27, 29)

October 26 is mid-semester

Proposals: Selling your best ideas to get the funds to carry them out; Traditional granting versus outcome funding (notes)

Collaboration: Leadership style for successful groups and collaborative writing (class handouts).

Week 9 (Nov. 3, 5)

Oral Presentations: How Writing is Different from Speaking; why bring up speaking in a course on writing? (notes)

Power point: Why Edward Tufte blasted Power Point; suggestions for how to use Power Point nevertheless. (notes | selection from Tufte's "The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint" | 5 experts critique Tufte | Expert tips on using Powerpoint)

Week 10 (Nov. 10, 12)

The Popular Press. The Critical Need for Effective Translation from the Scientific to the Public Sphere. (notes)

Whale song: Variation in forms and styles for popular writing. (exercise)

Assignment: Assignment 6—Popular Press

Week 11 (Nov. 17, 19)

Purpose Analysis. Thinking after you've written. Analyzing what you said and what you wanted to say. A strategy for moving, adding, or deleting pieces of writing. (notes)

Editing: The editor as Vishnu (the maintainer or preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer or transformer).

Week 12 (Nov. 24)

Thanksgiving recess is Nov. 26-29.

The technology of contemporary writing: Broadening your skill set beyond MSWord.

Writing for the web: Writing for cyberspace. (notes)

Blogging: Using the web to share science and technology with a few billion friends.

Week 13 (Dec. 1, 3)

Page Design: Helping the reader with effective page layout. (notes)

Week 14 (Dec. 8, 10)

Classes end Dec. 11.

Writing Across the Curriculum. Should you teach writing? Why, and how?

Evaluations: In-class discussion of what worked and didn't this semester.

Assignment: Assignment 7—Informal Communication