English 410-002

Syllabus | Assignments

Spring 2008 -- ENGL410-002: TECHNICAL & REPORT WRITING
FRIDAYS, 10:30am to 1:15pm
Innovation Hall 319

GENERAL INFO | GOALS | POLICIES | GRADING | SCHEDULE | GUIDELINES

GENERAL INFORMATION

Instructor: David Beach    
Office: Robinson A415   
Phone: 703-993-2762
E-Mail: dbeach@gmu.edu   
AIM: DRBeach61     
Mailbox: Robinson A487
Office Hours:  F, 2pm to 4pm, and by appt
Required Texts: Harty, K. J., Strategies for Business and Technical Writing, 6/E; other handouts as distributed

COURSE GOALS

ENGL410 is designed to expose you to professional writing, the kinds of writing that happen when organizations, institutions, and corporations seek to communicate purposeful message to specialized audiences both externally and internally.  You will write a cross-section of the kinds of external and internal documents most common to technical and professional writing: letters, descriptions, instructions, proposals, activity and analytical reports, PowerPoint presentations, and web pages.  We will not do collaborative work; however, we will emphasize collaborative review and critique of your work.  This means that your work will be shared regularly with individual classmates or even the entire class.  As far as your writing goes, it will be imperative that your grammar, mechanics, and syntax be correct, and it will be important that your writing be clear, committed, and complete.  Students who achieve this will earn a “B”; “A” work would include elements of creativity and complexity.  I will provide each of you as much help as you would like, tell you what works and what does not.  If you are willing to take advantage of such help, you will see the results in your writing.

COURSE POLICIES

Blackboard
We will use the new version of WebCT, Blackboard CE6, exclusively. To access Blackboard, follow these directions:

§  Open a browser.

§  Go to http://courses.gmu.edu

§  Enter your userid and password. Your userid and password are your Mason e-mail ID password

§  Click on ENGL-410-002-S08 (will be active on Jan 22nd)

E-Mail

You will need to use your Mason e-mail account for assignments and correspondence. You may, if I am online, contact me via AIM™; however, use this judiciously. Do not "IM" me just to say "hi." Contain your IMs to course-related questions and concerns.

Document Format

Presentation is an evaluation factor; it is important to remember that one way to “invite” reading of your work is to make it attractive. See Submission Guidelines for more information.

Submission of Papers
Most assignments will be submitted electronically, and they should be posted before class time (10:30am) on the due date.  When attaching a document either in WebCT or e-mail, the file name should include your Mason userid, an underscore, and a one-word description of the assignment.  For example, if I were to submit an activity report, the file name should be dbeach_activity.doc.  If you submit a second (or third) version of an assignment, add an underscore and version number to the file name.  For example: dbeach_activity_v2.doc.  You should retain all your assignments as they are returned to you.  

Late Assignment Policy
Late assignments will lose 5% of their points for each calendar day late. Exceptions will be made in case of illness or emergency only upon receipt of documentation from a doctor or advisor.  

Class Attendance

You are expected to be an active and dedicated participant and colleague in class.  Missing class regularly will hinder your ability to do well in the course.  Anyone missing three or more consecutive classes, or five classes overall, will not pass the class.  Punctuality is important; please be on time for class.  In cases of inclement weather or emergency conditions, check the Mason Home Page or call 703-993-1000 (x31000 on campus) to check on cancellation status. If classes are cancelled, we will adjust the schedule accordingly.

Extra Credit
Do not ask to do extra work for extra credit.  I am fundamentally opposed to the concept of extra credit since if I offer extra credit to one student, I have to offer it to all students. 

Statement on Plagiarism

GMU's Department of English Policy states:

Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or factual information from another person without giving the person credit. Writers give credit through accepted documentation styles such as parenthetical citations, footnotes, or end notes; a simple listing of books and articles is not sufficient. Plagiarism is the equivalent of intellectual robbery and cannot be tolerated in the academic setting.

It is your responsibility to be fully familiar with The Honor Code. Any egregious instance of plagiarism will result in an F for the assignment and a report to The Honor Committee. If you are at all confused about what is or what is not plagiarism, ask!

Revision Policy

I encourage you to revise your papers based on the feedback given you by either myself or your peers. Revisions are due two weeks from the date I have given you feedback. The revised paper’s grade will stand as the grade for the paper.  However, remember this. Revisions are more than edits; a revision must be a re-vision of the paper, incorporating the suggestions to improve the content as well as the format of the paper. A revision that has only been edited for spelling, grammar, and mechanics will not receive credit.

Administrivia

When we meet, beepers, cellular phones, and other personal electronic devices must be silenced, and there should be no electronic chatting at your desktop. It is disruptive to everyone for beepers and cellular phones to ring during class, distracting and unengaging to chat online, and rude to take and make calls during class. Since we meet in a computer lab, food and drink are not allowed.

All of us are different. This is good because we then learn about our differences, what makes each of us unique, and how to be tolerant of our differences. I want to promote an open classroom where all topics are open for discussion in a rational and unthreatening manner. With that said, what is not acceptable in the classroom is any kind of bashing. This includes, but is not limited to, insensitive and/or inappropriate remarks, statements, or actions regarding race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, political preference, ad infinitum.

Note: If you have a disability or situation of which I need to be aware, please meet with me privately to discuss it. I will gladly accommodate any disabilities as long as they are documented with the Office of Disability Services.

GRADING

Course Grading Policy
All work must be submitted in order to receive a passing grade in the class. Your course grade will be based on six specific works (90%) and participation (10%). The breakdown by assignment is as follows:

• Participation: 10%
• Customer Letter: 5%
• Resume/Cover Letter: 5%
• Web Site Development: 10%
• Technical Description & Instructions: 15%
• Proposal: 20%
• Activity Report: 10%
• Analytical Report with PowerPoint/Web Presentation: 25%

Paper grades are given the following points (based on 100 points):

• A+ (10), A (9.5), A- (9.2)
• B+ (8.8), B (8.5), B- (8.2)
• C+ (7.8), C (7.5), C- (7.2)
• D (6.7), NG (5.0), F (0.0)

Final percentages will earn the following letter grades:

·         98.0 and above: A+, 94.0 – 97.9: A, 90.0 – 93.9: A-

·         88.0 - 89.9: B+, 84.0 - 87.9: B, 80.0 - 83.9: B-

·         78.0 - 79.9: C+, 74.0 - 77.9: C, 70.0 - 73.9: C-

·         65.0 - 69.9: D, 64.9 and below: F

Incompletes
An incomplete will be given only if you have completed two-thirds of the work for the semester and have a truly valid reason (a documented lingering illness, family emergency, or work obligation that involves extended travel) for being unable to complete the remainder of the work on time. Poor time management will not be accepted as a reason for an incomplete. Also, an incomplete must be requested prior to May 2nd, the last day of class.

COURSE SCHEDULE
All reading assignments are for Harty’s Strategies for Business and Technical Writing.  Other readings will be distributed.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Format Standards for Attachments

When attaching a document either in WebCT or e-mail, the file name should include your Mason userid, an underscore, and a one-word description of the assignment.  For example, if I were to submit an activity report, the file name would be dbeach_activity.doc.  If you submit a second (or third) version of an assignment, add an underscore and version number to the file name.  For example: dbeach_activity_v2.doc.  

Note: In WebCT, there cannot be any spaces within a file name.  Thus, if you name your file dbeach activity report.doc, it will appear as dbeach when I download it.  Remember to use underscores if you want to put a space in the file name.  E.g., dbeach_activity_report.doc.

I will return unread any attachments that do not identify the sender and work. Also, make sure your name is on the document itself.

Format Standards for Documents

• Use white background and dark (preferably black) font color.
• Use a standard 11- to 12-point font (Examples: Times New Roman, Courier, Arial, Tahoma)
• When printed, your document should have 1" margins on all four sides. Many word processing software packages have set the left and right margin defaults at 1¼"; you'll need to change these.
• All work should be titled.  The title of your work should be in the regular or bolded font, same as the text, and centered without any punctuation (unless, grammatically, there needs to be punctuation). Do not italicize or underline the title.
• The title, your name, the course ID (Example: ENGL410-002), my name, and the due date should be on a cover sheet, centered.
• If the document is to be printed, page numbers should appear in the upper right corner of the document pages. The page numbers should be in the same font as the text of your document. All pages should be stapled together in order

Using Reference Material in Your Work

• Any reference to another work must be cited within the document and listed at the end of the document in an appropriate format.
• Italicize titles of major works (books, journals, newspapers, films, plays, anthologies, etc.). Put quotation marks around works within works (chapters, articles, acts/scenes, stories in an anthology). Examples: Peter & Allen's A Passion for Excellence; Mike Musgrove’s Washington Post article, “Slow PC Sales Mean Brisk Fix-It Business”; Scott Adams’s Dilbert in Washington Post’s “Business” section.
• Introduce reference material so the reader understands the context. Example: Musgrove, in his article “Slow PC Sales Mean Brisk Fix-It Business,” suggests that…
• Avoid unattached and unexplained quotes from sources; they don't add anything to what you have to say—what your readers are ultimately more interested in. Paraphrase or summarize reference material when- and wherever possible (always citing it appropriately). If you must use quoted material, incorporate the key points into your text with appropriate citation, reference, and punctuation.
• Only block a quotation that is longer than four lines. Blocked quotes are aligned one indent from the left.

Other Thing To Consider

• Always spell check and proofread.
• Write out all numbers under 10. Never start a sentence with a numeral. (Example: Not "1,000,000 people live in Fairfax County" but "One million people live in Fairfax County"). Avoid whenever possible starting a sentence with a number. (Example: Instead of the above sentence, you could write: "The population of Fairfax County is 1,000,000.")
• If you use an acronym, write out the full name of the entity at the first reference and put the acronym directly after the entity in parentheses. Example: "The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is an auxiliary organization of the World Health Organization. Health officials at PAHO work towards improving medical conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean."
• Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks in American English; colons and semi-colons always go outside quotation marks. (The reverse is the case for British English…I don't know why.) Question and exclamation marks go either inside or outside depending on the context of the phrase.
• Use two hyphens--without any spaces between the words and hyphens--to indicate a dash. Some word processing packages automatically convert two hyphens to a dash.
• To denote a word as an example, italicize the word. For example: Data is a plural noun; the singular form is datum.
• All non-English words and phrases (except those which have become part of the English language such as sauna) should be italicized.
• If you use non-English words that include non-English letters or letters with diacritical marks, insert the proper letter. (Examples: á, ç, ð, è, æ, ä, å, ñ, š, ß, þ.) Some currency symbols and other symbols are easily created and/or inserted in word processing software packages. (Examples: €, £, ¥, ¡, ¢, §, ©, ®, ¼, ¿, ™, ~.) If you use Microsoft Word, select Insert, Symbol.

Contact: 4400 University Dr. Fairfax, VA 22030
aduong@gmu.edu | (703) 638-4561