ENCS 282 Outline PDF

Preview

Summary

Course Outline...

Description

ENCS 282: Technical Communication Centre for Engineering in Society, Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, 2018, 3.0 cred. ENCS 282 Professor : Bruno Grenier Lecture: Monday and Wednesday PM Office Hours: Tuesday 13:30 to 14:30 and 16:15 to 17:30, and Thursday from 13:30 to 14:30 Office: EV-2.231 Phone 514-848-2424 4038 Email: [email protected] Prerequisite: Students must have satisfied the requirements in §71.20.7 by passing the Engineering Writing Test (EWT), or by passing ENCS 272 with a grade of C- or higher. Course Description: Technical writing form and style. Technical and scientific papers, abstracts, reports. Library research and referencing methods for engineers and computer scientists. Technical communication using information technology: document processing software, computerassisted presentation, analysis and design of Web presentation, choice and use of appropriate tools. Students will prepare several short solo and team reports, an individual major report and an oral presentation. Objectives: In ENCS 282, students can and should learn professional norms of technical communication and dominant forms of sharing knowledge within the fields of engineering and computer science. This course covers the following material: technical writing form and style; technical and scientific papers, abstracts and reports; definitions, descriptions and instructions; visual rhetoric; oral presentation; interpersonal communication; library research and referencing methods; and rhetorical strategies for persuasion. The goals of the foregoing address the promotion of the ability to think and express ideas critically,

clearly and analytically; to improve students’ capacity for effective writing and public speaking; to help students learn the basic norms and standards for professional, technical communication; to help students improve their abilities to read and listen critically, to respond reflectively and reasonably to others, and to craft successful communicative acts. ENCS 282 emphasizes and develops the CEAB graduate attributes of Communication skills. This graduate attribute is defined by the CEAB as: An ability to communicate complex engineering concepts within the profession and with society at large. Such abilities include reading, writing, speaking and listening, and the ability to comprehend and write effective reports and design documentation, and to give and effectively respond to clear instructions. Each assignment in this course evaluates this particular graduate attribute, including writing exercises and speaking exercises.

Assignments: 1. Short Writing Assignments (30%) –Students will prepare several short, home or in-class, solo and team reports. Missed in-class assignments cannot be made up. 2. Formal Report (20%) – Each student will prepare a proposal for solving some particular technical problem or improving a technical situation (preferably within the chosen major,) with a detailed technical description of the situation and a suggestion for solving that problem or improving the situation. 3. Oral Assignment (10%) –. During the tutorial, each student will present a five- minute presentation of the proposal. 4. Tutorials (15%) – Throughout the semester each student will submit approximately ten writing assignments in the tutorial sections. Each of these will be a short response to particular questions/problems posed by

the tutorial leader. These assignments cannot be made up; each student must be in tutorial to complete them. 5. Final Exam (25%) – A written, comprehensive exam during the final exam period (date and time to be determined by the final examinations office) will test writing skills and the application of the concepts and ideas of the course. IT. In class: no recording, no taping, no photos. The use of information technology and communication by students is strictly prohibited without the lecturer’s explicit permission. This prohibition applies to note-taking, recording, audio or video taping, as well as to communication or dissemination of material. Assignment Submission Guidelines Home assignments are on 8 ½ by 11 paper, typed, double spaced, one side only. In-class assignments are on 8 ½ by 11 paper, typed or in ink, double spaced, one side. No electronic submissions, no late submissions, no make-ups, no resubmissions.

Lecture Class content 1 Introduction to course and syllabus, definitions of communication, communication model, introduction to technical writing 2

Type of audience, correspondence, proposal project overview

3

Definitions, visual rhetoric, website analysis

4

Technical descriptions – Mechanism and process descriptions

5 Audience analysis and document style, types of technical writing, form and style 6

Instructions, Library session Mechanism Description (February 12)

7

Collaborative writing, Reports, abstracts and summaries

8 Logos, ethos and pathos, Inductive/deductive reasoning, Toulmin’s argumentation, Report peer review. 9 Resumes, job search, Revisions, Job interviews, Oral communication, business meetings Proposal (March 12) 10

Other technical reports, Writing persuasively, Writing ethically,

11

Course revision, Ethics Resume (March 29)

12

Oral

13

Oral...