Office:                           322C Minard Hall
Office Hours:                  MWF: 10:00–12:00; 2:00-4:00; T/Th by appointment

Text

Gurak, Laura J. and John M. Lannon.  A Concise Guide to Technical Communication.  New York: Longman, 2001.

Course Description and Objectives

This course is designed to give you practice in written communication, oral communication, design production, and design evaluation.  Technical communication requires you to respond to a variety of specific audiences and to express yourself successfully in written, visual, and oral communication.

Engineering 320 introduces students to the theories, principles, and processes of effective communication in the professional world.  The course is intended to help you:

•     improve your communication skills and confidence level as a writer/speaker.

•     understand important basic concepts of technical communication: accessibility, usability, relevance.

•     distinguish among types of technical communication: their conventions and demands. 

•     become a more effective collaborator.

Course Policies

Special Needs:  In keeping with the Americans with Disabilities Act, I encourage students with disabilities who need accommodations in this course to contact me as soon as possible so that the appropriate arrangements can be made to accommodate particular needs.  This syllabus can be made available in alternative formats upon request.

Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism:  Work submitted for this course must adhere to the Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct as cited in the Handbook of Student Policies:  “The academic community is operated on the basis of honesty, integrity, and fair play.  Occasionally, this trust is violated when cheating occurs, either inadvertently or deliberately.  This code will serve as the guideline for cases where cheating, plagiarism, or other academic improprieties have occurred. . . . Faculty members may fail the student for the particular assignment, test, or course involved, or they may recommend that the student drop the course in question, or these penalties may be varied with the gravity of the offense and the circumstances of the particular case” (65).

Academic Honesty Defined:  All written and oral presentations must “respect the intellectual rights of others.  Statements lifted verbatim from publications must be cited as quotations.  Ideas, summaries or paraphrased material, and other information taken from the literature must be properly referenced” (Guidelines for the Presentation of Disquisitions,  NDSU Graduate School, 4).

Attendance and Deadlines:  Attendance is expected; if you cannot make a class, please inform me and group members (when relevant) in advance.  More than three absences will result in loss of ten points per absence thereafter.