University of Maryland Professional Writing Program ENGL 393 Technical Writing Fall 2015

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1 University of Maryland Professional Writing Program ENGL 393 Technical Writing Fall 2015 Instructor Sarah Dammeyer Section 0303 Classroom TYD 2102 Office Tawes 1232 Office Hours Wednesdays 10-11AM, or by appointment Voice/text Course description The intent of this program is to prepare you for the type of professional communication you re likely to engage in during your first post-college jobs and beyond. This course will focus on technical communication learning how to present specialized information in an accessible way to a variety of audiences who will expect clarity, accuracy, and professionalism from you. This class will stress the key skills that highlight a successful professional technical communicator. Specifically, we ll focus on the process of writing (invention, arrangement, style, memory, delivery) and look carefully at the work that goes into the final polished product. As collaboration is often a key part of the professional realm, you ll spend much of the semester working with your classmates- including participating in brainstorming sessions, providing constructive criticism, and preparing for your final projects together. GenEd Outcomes for Professional Writing Program The Fundamental Studies Professional Writing requirement strengthens writing skills and prepares

2 students for the range of writing expected of them after graduation. On completion of a Professional Writing course, students will be able to do the following: Analyze a variety of professional rhetorical situations and produce appropriate texts in response. Understand the stages required to produce competent, professional writing through planning, drafting, revising, and editing. Identify and implement the appropriate research methods for each writing task. Practice the ethical use of sources and the conventions of citation appropriate to each genre. Write for the intended readers of a text, and design or adapt texts to audiences who may differ in their familiarity with the subject matter. Demonstrate competence in Standard Written English, including grammar, sentence and paragraph structure, coherence, and document design (including the use of the visual) and be able to use this knowledge to revise texts. Produce cogent arguments that identify arguable issues, reflect the degree of available evidence, and take account of counter arguments. Course materials Readings posted to ELMS An updated grammar/style guidebook to help you identify citation format and to assist with grammar, diction, & syntax A flash drive A Terrapin Express Account, for in-class printing emergencies Course requirements You must complete all assignments to pass the course. Your semester grade will be based on a variety of assignments, some individual and some collaborative, accounting for roughly 25 pages of final, polished writing. The specific breakdown is as follows: Application package Audience analysis

3 Project proposal & annotated bibliography Final project Instructions Writing reflections Peer reviews 15 percent 30 percent 5 percent 20 percent Class communication We have access via ELMS to all classmates addresses. If you re absent or unclear about what was said in class, please contact your classmates. Once you ve consulted each other, if you have questions for me, please me. Be sure to reference the information you ve received -from more than one source -and explain what you re still wondering about. I will not be able to respond to s asking what you missed during class, or when that assignment is due. Please make a habit of using the resources available to you. Attendance Success in this course requires regular attendance. Classroom discussions, in-class, and online work account for a significant part of your learning in the course, and class participation, once missed, cannot be restored. Below are the policies on unexcused and excused absences, as well as tardiness. Unexcused Absences. You may take up to one week s worth of no-questions-asked absences per semester for both the expected (i.e., being the best man in your brother s wedding) and the unexpected (i.e., a flat tire). If you take a no-questions-asked absence, however, you are still responsible for whatever material was covered in class. If a major scheduled grading event (assignment due, in-class workshop/peer review, presentation) is scheduled for that class period, and you don t show up and don t have a university-sanctioned excuse (see below) then you may lose credit for that activity. Excused Absences. The University excuses absences for your own illness or the illness of an immediate family member, for your participation in university activities at the request of University authorities, for religious observance, and for compelling circumstances beyond your control. Documentation is required for all excused absences. If you have an anticipated excused absence, you must let me know in writing by the end of the schedule adjustment period or at least two weeks in advance. Absence for one class due to your own illness. The University requires that you provide me a self-signed note attesting to the date of your illness, with an acknowledgment that the information provided is true. Providing false information to University officials is prohibited and may result in disciplinary action. The Health Center has an online form

4 ( ). Absence from more than one class because of the same illness. You must provide written documentation of the illness from the health care provider who made the diagnosis. No diagnostic information shall be given. The provider must verify dates of treatment and indicate the time frame during which you were unable to meet academic responsibilities. Non-consecutive medically necessitated absences from more than a single class. Such absences may be excused provided you submit written documentation for each absence as described above, verifying the dates of treatment and time frame during which you were unable to meet your academic responsibilities. However, as also noted above, if you miss too many classes- even if excused -though you are technically eligible to make up the work, in practice students are rarely able to do so. Special needs If you have a registered disability that will require accommodation, please see me after class, come to my office hours, or me about it as soon as possible. If you have a disability and have not yet registered with Disability Support Services in the Shoemaker Building ( ), you should do so immediately. Course evaluations Students are asked to complete end-of-semester course evaluations, which will be returned to the Professional Writing Program office, in addition to the University s online course evaluations. Academic Integrity The student-administered Honor Code and Honor Pledge prohibit students from cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers, submitting the same paper for credit in two courses without authorization, buying papers, submitting fraudulent documents, and forging signatures. While students who engage in these practices may be attempting to meet needs of ease, accomplishment, recognition, choice, and more, I invite students who are drawn to these strategies to find support--from me, or from the counseling center--to help with finding more ethical ways to meet these needs, and to gets support around needs for learning, belonging, and authenticity. This syllabus is subject to change Students will be notified in advance of important changes that could affect grading, assignments, etc.

5 Academic Accommodations for Students Who May Experience Sexual Misconduct The University of Maryland is committed to providing support and resources, including academic accommodations, for students who experience sexual or relationship violence. To report an incident, contact the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct at If you wish to speak confidentially, contact Campus Advocates Respond and Educate (CARE) to Stop Violence at Disclosures made to faculty are not confidential and must be reported to the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct. Diversity The University of Maryland values the diversity of its student body. Along with the University, I am committed to providing a classroom atmosphere that encourages the participation of all students, and holding space for the contributions of all people, and all our identities (for example, age, ability, ethnicity, gender, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation).