Fall
2005 Website:
http://mason.gmu.edu/~cthaiss/302nf05.html
Phone:
703-993-1273
E-mail:
cthaiss@gmu.edu
Office:
Robinson A423 (Fairfax Campus); Loudoun I, Room TBA Hours:
M 9-10 AM (Fairfax); T 12:30-1:30 PM (Loudoun); W 10-11 AM (Fairfax);
and
by appt.
*proposals
and white papers (often to non-specialists) *research
and technical reports for fellow specialists *instructions
and other explanations for non-specialists *memos
and letters
As
customary in science and the technical workplace, the writing
in this course will be highly
collaborative. Its effectiveness depends on both individual
energy
and cooperation. In these sections, the collaborative writing will
be carried out by such means as
*electronic
mail and real-time
discussion/response (via GMU
Townhall)
*planning,
preparation, and
presentation of a small-group field research
project and of a "white paper" based on that research
*small-group
"feedback" on drafted
writings
*dialogue
with the instructor.
I
trust that each person in the course
will emerge from it with a better-developed
sense of the principles and typical methods of science
and technical
writing,
plus improved ability to carry out typical tasks in these varied
careers.
Check out the English Department's TEC
Program (Technology in the English Concentrations) for tutorials on
a wide range of web skills, from basic webpage design and searching
databases
to such advanced skills as image manipulation, sound recording, and
video
capture. ITU
Support at GMU (Innovation Hall 233) offers a range of services and
guides for students who want to improve their computer skills. Grading
standards are as follows
(grades to be determined at the discretion
of the instructor):
A
= outstanding work: among the
specific virtues, full, active, cooperative,
and imaginative participation in all activities, exercises, and
projects
of the course; prose that consistently demonstrates the principles of
effective science/technical writing, as outlined in the core text;
B
= very good work: full, active, and
cooperative participation in all
activities, exercises and projects; prose that almost always
demonstrates
the principles of effective science/technical writing;
C
= satisfactory work: full,
cooperative participation in all activities,
exercises, and projects; prose that, with revision, almost always
demonstrates
the principles of effective science/technical writing;
D
= almost satisfactory work: almost
full, usually cooperative participation
in all activities, exercises, and projects: prose that, with revision,
usually demonstrates the principles of effective science/technical
writing;
F
= unsatisfactory work: inconsistent
participation in activities, exercises,
and projects; or prose that, with revision, still fails to demonstrate
consistent application of the principles of effective science/technical
writing.
I
will give plusses and minuses
according to GMU policy.
NOTE:
A written project will
receive an F if a student does not
participate in every phase of the development of the project
and
meet all deadlines for preliminary materials.
Incidental
expenses for xeroxed copying
of project materials.
The
University Library System contains
extensive holdings of science/technologies-related
books and periodicals, plus online access to many databases in
all disciplines.
Although
we will be working daily in
the computer lab, it will be useful
to you, though not essential, to have home access to Townhall, for any
necessary communication with other members of your research group after
class hours.
I
also strongly recommend the
additional advice on your writing that
you can receive through the University
Writing Center, which has centers in Fairfax, Arlington, and Prince
William, as well as an online tutoring capability. Further
advice on your writing in a range of disciplines, e.g. biology,
it&e, nursing, and psychology, is available in the online writing guides
sponsored by the GMU writing-across-the-curriculum (WAC) program. Also helpful are Virginia
Tech's Writing
Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students ASSIGNMENTS:
COURSE PROJECTS and
PROPORTIONS
OF CREDIT: 1. In-Class
Exercises, Workshops, Discussions 2. Comparative
Document/News
Analysis 4. Team Field
Research Project 5. White Paper
Based on Team Field Research 2.
Comparative
Document/News
Analysis (10%)--We will work on comparative analysis of three
documents on the same issue, phenomenon,
or event from science/technical-related publications. My aim in this
assignment
is to increase your attentiveness to both the overt and the
subtle
differences among documents concerning the "same" event, issue, or
phenomenon, as produced in different writing situations.
Whether as producer or consumer, you need to be aware of these
differences
in building your own informed perspectives on the issues, as well as in
creating documents for different types of readers. Your
audience for the analysis will
be the other members of the class and me; that is, we are interested
readers, but we probably don't know too much about the issue or event
you choose to analyze, so your summary and analysis will give us new
knowledge. One of the three documents you
choose must be
an article from
a national general interest online
news source (such as www.washingtonpost.com) or from a
print news publication, such as
the Washington Post. A recent example might be the reports in
the news on the lawsuits regarding the arthritis medication Vioxx or
descriptions of the Mars orbiter. I must approve your source. The second of these documents must be
a short research report/technical document intended for a specialized
audience, i.e. fellow researchers in the same field. We will practice
in class using databases that index print and electronic materials on
science-relevant
topics. I must approve your source. The third of these documents must be an article on
the topic in a science periodical such as Science, Scientific American, or Discover. The audience for such
publications tends to be well-educated, but not necessarily specialized
in a scientific field. Again, I must approve your source. We
will develop in class questions
to ask about the three documents by which to do a well-informed
comparison.
Among the areas of comparison will be purposes, intended audiences,
kinds of evidence, organization, writing style and tone, and graphic
presentation. Format: Your
completed analysis will consist of
three
main sections:
A.
Summary of the
Issue/Event/Phenomenon--In 500 well-chosen words,
you will summarize the content of the issue/event for class members,
using the three documents
as your sources. Since the documents will more than likely agree on
many
of the details, summarizing should not be difficult. However, where the
documents differ, you'll need accurately to state these differences.
B.
Assessment of the Important
Differences among the Documents--In 800 well-chosen words,
you will characterize each of the three pieces in turn in regard to
each analytical category. For each category, you need to highlight
differences among the three pieces.
C.
Judgment of Strengths and Weaknesses--What is the greatest
strength of each document? What might be improved? In 300
well-chosen words (roughly 100 for each document), describe the
standout strength and weakness of each piece. Procedure:
Drafts and revised drafts should be submitted using the
above format and should be roughly 1600 words.
Revised
drafts must be accompanied by first drafts (with annotations by
peer reviewers), filled-in critique sheets from peer reviewers,
a one-page "change" memo that describes and justifies the
changes in the
revised draft, and an Appendix that includes photocopies
of the compared documents. 4.
Team
Field
Research Project
(30%)--Throughout the course,
we will be developing aspects of a three-person project that
will
be based on your investigation of the documents and writing practices
of
a local business, government, or academic organization that produces
technical and/or scientific documents. You and your teammates will
choose the organization, with my approval.
In class, we will discuss methods, materials, and presentation of the
projects.
Chapters of CSW will be
assigned and adapted. Aspects
of
the project include the project research proposal, a letter
of
introduction to the organization, a series of progress memos
sent
electronically,
the full report of the research, and a 10-15 minute oral
presentation
by each group to the class (in the final week of the course).
Format: The
research report itself will consist
of two main parts: (1) an analysis
of five or more typical, significant documents written by members of
the organization
(1-2 double-spaced pages per document analyzed), analyzed for those
features
learned and applied in the Comparative Document/News Analysis
assignment, and (2)
a detailed interview (minimum of 5 double-spaced pages) with a
key member or members of the organization (e.g., project manager,
principal investigator, lead faculty) knowledgeable about the range and
types
of writing done by the organization as part of its work. A concise yet
vivid description of the physical
environment of the research site (with an illustration as
appropriate) will accompany the transcript.
Procedure: Due
dates are noted in the schedule
below. Remember that credit for
the entire project is contingent on full, active, and cooperative
participation
in all phases. My criteria for evaluating the written projects are
based
on the principles of effective science and technical writing detailed
in the
pertinent
chapters of CSW and in our
class discussions.
Because
there will be comparatively
little time to prepare and practice
the oral presentations,
evaluation will be less formal;
nevertheless,
I will be devoting class time to explaining principles of effective
oral
presentation (helped by the chapter in CSW), and these should be followed
precisely. I have been
generally
pleased by the presentations that students have worked up in my
advanced composition courses,
even under severe time constraints. You CAN do it! The deadlines of
this
course are excellent practice for the time pressure you'll regularly be
under in the workplace.
These
projects will receive a group
grade; thus, the grade earned by
the team will be the grade earned by each individual on the team.
Nevertheless,
one element of the final report will be the team's self-assessment
of
each person's contribution, and I will take the liberty of
adjusting
individual credit, if necessary.Team members who contribute little
(this
happens rarely, but it does happen) will receive significantly less
credit. Audience: The other members of the
class and I will be your readers. We are interested in your findings,
but you and your teammates will be the experts on the environment you
study. So our knowledge depends on your detailed, vivid, accurate
portrait of the writing culture of the organization. 5.
"White
Paper"
Based on Team
Field Research (20%)
In
the course of your team field
research on the writing culture of
a science/technical organization, each
team member will identify a
communication
issue or problem at the business/agency/academic research site that
will form the
basis of a "white paper" (i.e., a formal
recommendation or proposal).
The white paper is an important form that is used in
both academic and workplace environments. The term is more common in
business and government, but is also appropriate to any short proposal. Each
member of the team
will
write a separate white paper on a separate issue. I must approve
topics.
Examples of such topics include improvement of communications media,
strengthening of specific documents, changes in the physical
environemnt to improve communication or service, expansion of services
or user population, etc., etc. Source
material may include
your
own relevant experience and
observation and that of others whom you can accurately and specifically
cite; sources may also include print or online articles or product specifications that you must
accurately cite and document. Databases may come in handy in
this
project. Audience: Your white paper should be
addressed to a relevant manager with the
organization
(though whether you indeed deliver the white paper is up to you!),
rather
than to me as an interested outsider. Your white paper will need to
(1)
succinctly describe the issue or
problem, including any relevant
background the reader needs;
(2)
make recommendations toward
solving the problem;
(3)
support your recommendations
with all relevant data
and sources; Student writers
are often confused as to what should be cited. Some think that only
direct quotations need to be credited. While direct quotations do need
citations, so do paraphrases and summaries of opinions or factual
information formerly unknown to the writers or which the writers did
not discover themselves. Exceptions to this include factual information
which can be obtained from a variety of sources, the writers' own
insights or findings from their own field research, (what has been
called common knowledge). What constitutes common knowledge can
sometimes be precarious; what is common knowledge for one audience may
be so for another. In such situations, it is helpful to keep the reader
in mind and to think of citations as being "reader friendly." In other
words, writers provide a citation for any piece of information that
they think their readers might want to investigate further. Not only is
this attitude considerate of readers, it will almost certainly ensure
that writers will not be guilty of plagiarism. T
Aug. 30:: Introductions and
Exercises: activate e-mail
accounts (see
Technical
Support); Townhall--Getting
Started
and the "Technical Pet Peeve" exercise**read CSW, Foreword, Ch. 17, Ch. 1, and
Ch. 2. Gather sample of tech writing to bring to class
on Sept. 6. T
Sept. 6:: The Process and Principles
of Science and Technical Writing; perform tech analysis exercise on
samples; **begin
group formation and proposal-writing for team field research; post preliminary proposal to Townhall
team discussion by end of class. **Read CSW, Ch. 4-6, plus Appendix A; read BASW essays by Kahn and Morton. As
you read, note how Kahn
and Morton apply in their writing features of science prose that Alley
emphasizes. Also, after reading Alley's Appendix A, think about features of
punctuation, usage, and grammar that
have given you problems in your writing, and be prepared to ask about them
in class on Sept. 20. **Contact
company/agency/academic site and arrange study (if your group has not
already done so); post to
your team discussion during the week updated info about your contacts
with company/agency/academic site.
T
Sept. 13:: Small-group workshop:
compose letter of
introduction/commitment
to company/agency/academic site; post to Townhall team discussion. Groups compose
detailed interview questionnaire to
conduct fieldwork and POST
them to Townhall team discussions**read CSW, Ch. 7, 8. 12. W
Sept. 14 - W Sept. 21:: On the Fairfax Campus will be the Fall for the
Book Festival (www.fallforthebook.org)--if you attend at least one reading or
panel during the festival and
then send me via your Townhall team site a
brief but thoughtful
(200-word) summary/critique of the event you attended, you will earn up
to one point of extra credit toward your final grade. Many
types of writing are represented during the festival; you can choose
any event that appeals to you. T
Sept. 20:: Composing Effective
Science and Technical Prose (exercises
based on all assigned
reading, including CSW Appendix
on grammar and punctuation); post
updated progress report for team field
research;**collect data--post Field Research
Progress Memo to your team discussion before M Sept. 26. **Read BASW essays by Davidson and
Tyson; study how
Davidson's news article differs from Tyson's magazine essay in terms of
audience, purpose, style, level of detail, and other features you find
significant. T
Sept. 27:: The Comparative
Document/News
Analysis--explanation of
criteria (exercise), discussion
of reading assignment (plus exercise), and search for sources. Kevin Simons
of the GMU LIbraries will visit to help in devising your search
strategies. Also, brief discussion of the Fall for the Book events you
attended. **Choose the
three documents for your Comparative Document/News Analysis. **No later than noon on Thursday, Sept. 29, post
to designated Townhall discussion
your CD/NA document titles, authors,
where and when published, word length of each, and your brief rationale
for choosing these pieces (200 words max). By that same day, I will
approve your choices or ask for changes.
F
Sept. 30:: Last day to DROP classes without Dean's permission.
T
Oct. 4:: Small-group workshop on drafts of
comparative document/news analyses.
Brief discussion of research progress--post results of your interviews
to your team discussion site. **Revise
and edit comparative analyses.**Read CSW, Ch. 10, 11, 13.**Read BASW, Langewiesche essay on Columbia disaster.
T
Oct. 11:: Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Holiday T
Oct. 18:: Revised drafts of Comparative
Document/News Analyses (plus addenda)
due in class;
discussion of research progress; introductory discussion of the "White
Paper" based on reading assignment: topics, criteria, and
formatting (exercises and reading
quiz); workshop on choosing White-Paper
topics. **Read BASW:
Patterson, Royte, and Milius essays. T
Oct. 25:: More
about White Papers. Exercises
based on reading. Post
white-paper proposals to team discussion site. **Draft White Papers. **Read CSW, Ch. 14, as prep for discussion of Set
of Instructions assignment.
T
Nov. 1:: Small-group workshop
on drafts of White Papers.
Begin discussion
of Set of Instructions project (exercise). **Revise and edit White Papers. **Gather to bring to class on Nov.
1 all potential documents for analysis portion of Team Field Research
project. **Draft Set of
Instructions assignment, including field test and revised set. T
Nov. 8:: Revised white papers
(full packet)
due in class; workshop on drafts of Set of
Instructions assignment. Discussion of progress
of
field research, including interviews and documents (have brought documents to class for
review);
discussion of Drafting, Organizing,
and Formatting Research Reports. **Draft
Team Research Part I (Physical Environment and Interview Transcripts).
**Revise and edit Set of
Instructions assignment.
T
Nov. 22:: Review of principles
of document analysis for Part II (Document Analyses) of Team Field
Research report; Principles and
Techniques
of Oral Presentations, including visuals. **Revise
and edit interview reports. **Draft
Part II (document analyses) of Team Field Research reports.
T
Nov. 29:: Cross-group workshop
on drafts of Team Field Research Part II (document
analyses). **Prepare
and
practice oral presentations. **Revise
and edit full Team Field Research report.
T
Dec. 6:: Oral presentations of Team Field
Research projects. Revised drafts
of entire Team Field Research reports,
plus addenda, due in class. There
will be no final exam in this
course.English
302N
Advanced
Composition: Science and Technical Writing
Professor
Chris Thaiss
MISSED DEADLINES
Dava Sobel, ed. (2004) The Best
American Science Writing 2004. New York: Perennial. (BASW)
3. Set
of Instructions
(10%)--You may choose any type of instruction or area of
endeavor for this assignment that you wish (e.g., a cooking recipe,
instructions for assembling a piece of furniture, a procedure for your
job, driving directions to an out-of the-way place, etc.). Your goal
here is to write a coherent set of instructions so that another person can follow them
successfully. The report of this assignment will consist of two
parts:
(1) the instructions themselves (no
more than 500 words per draft plus any appropriate illustration), both
in a first draft and in a revised version after field testing (see
below); feel free to format
these instructions in whatever way will best help your audience to
follow them successfully.
(2) a concise explanation (no
more tban 500 words) of how you designed the instruction set to meet
the needs of a specific user, whom you will identify in this
explanation. Cover your choices of level
of detail, language, and graphic
presentation in explaining how you adapted design to audience.
Be sure to cover also how you field
tested the set and how it led you to revise the set.
Field test and revision: After
you have created a first draft of these instructions, you will field test the instructions by
having another person attempt to follow them. Based on the field test,
you will revise the
instructions. As described above, the first part of your report will
include both the first draft and revision of the instructions. Also as
described above, the second part of your report will include a brief
description of the field test and of how and why you revised the set.
Format: Follow the advice in CSW and from our discussions toward
arranging the information in the way most likely to get a positive
response from your chosen audience.
A table or graph
(e.g., of data, options, or pros and cons)
must
be included somewhere in the document, as appropriate to your subject.
As relevant to your topic, a photo
or illustration should also be
included. Consult the "Illustrations" chapter
of CSW for additional help
in thinking about this part of the assignment.
Your
final draft should be between 1200
and 1500 words. Include your
first draft, critique sheets, and a
change memo in the final packet.
Plagiarism
means using the exact
words, opinions, or factual information from another source without
giving that source credit. Writers give credit through the use of
accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation,
footnotes, or end notes; a simple listing of books, articles, and
websites is not sufficient. Plagiarism is the equivalent of
intellectual robbery and cannot be tolerated in an academic setting.