192 W20 Giannakopoulos

192

University of Waterloo—Department of English

ENGL 192 (002) — Communication in the Engineering Profession

Winter 2020 | T/Th (1:00pm-2:20pm) | Classroom: CPH 4335

Contact Information

Instructor: Chris Giannakopoulos

Office: HH 2217

Office Hours: Tues./Thurs. 12:00 noon - 12:50pm

phone: (519) 888-4567, ext. 33330

e-mail: cgiannak@uwaterloo.ca

Course Description

In this course, you will enhance your written and oral technical communication competencies in contexts relevant to the engineering profession as well as to your future career. By participating in classes and completing course assignments, you will practice genres of communication crafted for audiences that might include employers, clients, peer groups, technical staff, public audiences, and regulatory and policy-focussed stakeholders. By focusing on genre, design, and audience, you will come to better understand concepts including meaning-making, perception, and responsibility. In addition, by completing written and oral assignments, you will develop confidence as a reader and writer, and as a listener and presenter.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course students should be able to do the following:

By the end of the course students should be able to do the following:

1. Explain the role of reports, the press, advertising, video and other communications media in engineering [CS]
2. Demonstrate command of appropriate writing skills and style [CS]
3. Demonstrate good literature research skills (gathering data or relevant information, analyzing the results of research efforts in terms of data and argument, and assessing the credibility and applicability of information) [CS]
4. Construct a persuasive technical argument [CS]
5. Write an effective engineering report by attending to context, audience, and genre [CS]
6. Organize and deliver a persuasive oral presentation [CS]

Textbook and Reading

1. Graves, Heather and Roger Graves. A Strategic Guide to Technical Communication. 2nd. Edition. Canadian* required
2. Ewald, Thorsten. Writing in the Technical Fields: A Practical Guide. Oxford. *optional

Course Assignments and Requirements

* there is no exam for this course … 100%

Individual Work

Engineering Pitch e-mail

Engineering Progress Report

Oral Presentation

Engineering Proposal

Contributions

Total:

70%

Group Work

Engineering Article Analysis

Technical Manual

Total:                                                          

30%       

How and Where to Submit Assignments

Electronic format: Microsoft word (.doc / .docx) or PDF, online through LEARN

Paper format: accepted, but electronic preferred

*All physical assignments must be handed to me personally to be counted for grading

Assignment Project Phases

Assignments in this course all build on your project idea, and form four stages of how you would undertake a project in the engineering world.

Phase 1: Initiate

• Article Analysis
• Project Email

Phase 2: Develop

• Progress Report
• Technical Manual

Phase 3: Present

•  Oral Presentation

Phase 4: Propose

• Proposal

Ongoing contribution to colleague development

Assignment 1: Engineering Article Analysis, 5 - 8 minutes

You will apply your learning of the Swales model of introductions from engineering documents to examine the introduction from a recent peer-reviewed article in Engineering. Then, you will work with a group to design a highly instructive presentation in which you report how and where the article applies the Swales model and synopsize the work and contributions of the article. Due: January 23

Assignment 2: Engineering Pitch Email

You will create an e-mail message that demonstrates your specific learning of the conventions of email authoring and storage used in the engineering profession. Your objective is to communicate potential assets and ideas for an engineering project, and convince readers that your project is worth the investment of company resources. Due: January 28

Assignment 3: Progress/Status Report, 2-3 pages

As you are developing your project, you will complete an engineering style progress report to update your team/project lead on your progress, any setbacks, and any changes to budgets or timelines. Due: February 6

Assignment 4: Engineering Technical Manual, at least 2 pages

You will analyze a three-dimensional device, determine how it works, and produce a high-quality technical manual that will allow new users to use the device. You will then test this document for usability with a sample of users. Due: March 3

Assignment 5: Oral Proposal Presentation to Engineers, 5 - 8 minutes

As you develop your project proposal, you will build a presentation that explains the project to your colleagues and supervisors. You must persuade them that the project is feasible and valuable, and that the engineering firm should fund your project. Your colleagues will ask questions to evaluate the feasibility and value of your project. Due: March 19 though 31

Assignment 6: Recommendation Report, 6 - 10 pages

You will draft a technical report for internal stakeholders in the profession. Your report will summarize known information about a problem, support this description with research from credible sources, and articulate why and how the problem must be addressed. Your concepts and report must show specific research and all original work. Your idea can change and grow over the process, but your objective is to meet the emerging needs of the fields of electrical and computer engineering. Due: April 6 (Submit on LEARN)

Assignment 7: Contributions

Engineers work in teams to review each other’s work and suggest improvements. You will do the same. To do so, you must contribute to our common lessons in this training, and you must participate professionally and vigorously in all class activities. I will use rubrics to grade you for your participation in some in-class activities. I will also evaluate your responses in our lessons. You can earn contributions grades in the following ways:

1. Participating in class discussion,
2. Showing professional courtesy to colleagues,
3. Reviewing other’s work,
4. Helping others succeed.

Meetings

Unit 1: Professional Communications in Engineering

• Tues. January 7: Course Introduction
  • Task: Interviews with Engineers, Engineering Proposal Teams, Engineering Directors
  • Readings: ——

Week 1

• Thurs. January 9: Email in the Engineering Workplace
  • Assignment Introduction: E-mail Pitch (Assignment 2) Assigned Today
  • Reading: Chapter 7: “Writing Email and Letters for the Workplace” (p. 151-164)
  • Additional Reading: “Loss Control Bulletin” & “Savings E-mails” (LEARN)

Unit 2: Communicating Problems in Engineering

• Tuesday: January 14: Swales CARS Model of Engineering Reports and Articles Reading: Engineering Articles (LEARN)
  • Contributions Assignment: Project Pre-Research Worksheet (Major Contributions Grade)

Week 2

• Thurs. January 16: Engineering Information-Seeking
  • Topic: How Engineers Find Information to help them create and propose projects *Project-Pre Research Worksheet DUE online by start of class (LEARN dropbox)
• Tues. January 21: Structural Analysis of Engineering Articles
  • Task: Apply Swales CARS model in class to reading/understanding Engineering papers
  • Assignment 1 (Article Analysis): Start in-class, due next class

Week 3

• Thurs. January 23: Engineering Article Analysis Task: Engineering Article Analysis Presentations
  • Assignment 1 : (Article Analysis) Due Today - presentation
  • Note: Additional contributions grades awarded for posing questions to presenters

Unit 3: Engineering Documents: Writing Requests, Reports, Proposals

• Tues. January 28: Engineering White Papers Reading: Chapter 9, p. 200-207.
  • Assignment 2:Pitch E-mail - Due Today (submit on LEARN, not by e-mail)

Week 4

• Thurs. January 30: Engineering Status/Progress Reports
  • Assignment 3:      Progress Report - Assigned Today
  • Reading: Ch. 9 p. 193-198.
• Tues. February 4: Engineering Technical Manuals
  • Reading: Ch. 10 “Writing how-to Documents” (p. 233-255).

• Thurs. February 6: Device Analysis
  • Assignment 4: Technical Manual Assigned Today
  • *Assignment 3 (Progress Report) Due Today (LEARN)
•  Tues. February 11: Engineering Cases
  • Task: Reading, Preparing to Respond, Reporting

Week 6

•  Thurs. February 13: Usability Testing (follow-up on Tech Manuals)
  • Reading: Chapter 11: “Testing and Reporting Document Usability” (p. 257-278).
  • Assignment 4: Technical Manual DRAFT- Due Today (In-class).

*Tues. February 18: No Class (Reading Week)

*Thurs. February 20: No Class (Reading Week)

*Tues. February 25: No Class (Engineering Midterms)

*Thurs. February 27: No Class (Engineering Midterms)

Unit 4: Designing Documents and Presenting Engineering Projects

• Tues. March 3: Requests for Proposals
  • Reading: Ch. 8 “Writing Winning Proposals” (p. 166-173).
  • Assignment 4 (Technical Manual) FINAL DRAFT Due Today (submit on LEARN)

Week 7

• Thurs. March 5: Requests for Proposals Readings: Files on LEARN
  • Assignment 5:Project Presentation (Assigned Today)
• Tues. March 10: Engineering Proposals and Budgets
  • Reading: Chapter 8: “Writing Winning Proposals” (p. 165-192).

Week 8

• Thurs. March 12: Engineering Proposals and Budgets
  • Assignment 6 (Recommendation Report) Assigned Today
• Tues. March 17: Designing Documents and Layouts
  • Reading: Chapter 5: “Designing Documents and Page Layout” (p. 117-136).

Week 9

• Thurs. March 19: Oral Proposal Presentations
  • Assignment 5 (Project Presentation) Due Today (Oral Presentations, In Class)

Week 10

• Tues. March 24: Oral Proposal Presentations
• Thurs March 26: Oral Proposal Presentations
• Tues. March 31: Oral Proposal Presentations

Week 11

• Thurs. April 2: Final Peer-Review of Recommendation Reports Major Contributions Grades
  • *Monday. April 6th: Assignment 6 (Recommendation Report) Due Today (LEARN)

*Note: There is no final exam for this course.

Course Policies

Equipment you need:

Your note taking methods - paper/pencil, pens, laptop, etc.

Professional Behaviour

1. Attendance: Every lesson specifically supports your program and career; attendance here is like attendance at a job.
2. Punctuality: Everyone gets delayed, but he on time to class as you would be for a job. If you are late, come in quietly and minimize your distuption.
3. Emergencies: Communicate with me as soon as possible.
4. Electronic Devices: No headphones in class unless directed otherwise by me for class activity. All devices are to be used only for class work.
5. E-mail: all email must come from your @uwaterloo.ca address. Please do not solicit email from other addresses. Your subject line must begin with “ENGL 192:”. Be sure to use a professional salutation, write a specific message, and sign your name as you would a letter. Expect a formal reply to your queries within twenty-four hours between Monday and Friday. Keep in mind that last-minute questions are unlikely to produce timely responses.

Course Policy on Late Assignments and Rewrites

Assignments submitted anytime after syllabus-prescribed times will be penalized 5% per day, including weekend days. Extensions on assignments are unlikely to be granted unless arranged at least 48 hours in advance of due date, notwithstanding those reasons outlined in the UW Policy Regarding Illness and Missed Tests. Outside of cases of academic misconduct, a failing assignment may be reattempted once—after consultation with me—to raise the mark to a pass (50%) if achieved. Otherwise, rewrites or resubmissions of graded work will not be permitted.

UW Policy Regarding Illness and Missed Tests

The University of  Waterloo Examination Regulations (www.registrar.uwaterloo.ca/exams/ExamRegs.pdf) state that:

• A medical certificate presented in support of an official petition for relief from normal academic requirements must provide all of the information requested on the “University of Waterloo Verification of Illness” form or it will not be accepted. This form can be obtained from Health Services or at uwaterloo.ca/health-services/student-medical-clinic/services/verification-illness.
• If a student has a test/examination deferred due to acceptable medical evidence, he/she normally will write the test/examination at a mutually convenient time, to be determined by the course instructor. 
• The University acknowledges that, due to the pluralistic nature of the University community, some students may on religious grounds require alternative times to write tests and examinations.

• Elective arrangements (such as travel plans) are not considered acceptable grounds for granting an alternative examination time.

Additional Information

Academic Integrity

In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo and its Federated University and Affiliated Colleges are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility.

All students registered in courses at UW are expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for their actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Associate Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed under University Academic Discipline Policy and UW Policy 71 – Student Discipline.

Academic Integrity website (Arts)

http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/arts/ugrad/academic_responsibility.html

Academic Integrity Office (UW)

http://uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/

Counselling Services

Counselling Services provides support free of charge and protects your privacy. Find them at https://uwaterloo.ca/counselling-services/.

Student Success Office

The Student Success Office also provides support free-of-charge and protects your privacy. This office provides academic and personal development services, resources for international students, as well as study abroad and exchange support. They are located at South Campus Hall, second floor. Office hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm; Tues/Thurs, 8:30am-6pm.

The Writing and Communications Centre

The Writing and Communications Centre works with students as they develop their ideas, draft, and revise. Writing and Communications specialists offer one-on-one support in planning assignments, synthesizing and citing research, organizing papers and reports, designing presentations and e-portfolios, and revising for clarity and coherence. You can make multiple appointments throughout the term or drop in at the library for quick questions or feedback.

Accommodations for students with learning challenges