Internet English 2311 Technical Writing

Trinity Valley Community College

Summer 2008

 

Instructor Information

 

Instructor:   Mrs. Dosha King

Address:     100 Cardinal Drive Athens, Texas 75751

E-mail:        dking@tvcc.edu (summer address: jerrygking@embarqmail.com)

 

 

Textbook

 

Technical Communication, 11th Edition by John Lannon, Longman Press, 2005, ISBN #0-205-55957-3

 

Textbooks may be purchased at the TVCC Bookstore. The TVCC Bookstore will ship books purchased by credit card if you contact James Quattlebaum at 903-675-6203. 

 

Course Information   

 

Course:        ENGL. 2311.0401 Technical Writing (Internet)

 

Prerequisite: ENGL. 1301

 

Course description:

            An opportunity for intensive practice in writing for business, technical, or occupational fields is provided in this course. In addition to standard writing procedures, students study specialized techniques such as the use of layout and design, methods of problem-solving, interview techniques, and oral presentation.

 

English 2311 students should be able to demonstrate the ability:

·        To adapt the particular rhetorical demands of the audience to appropriate style, purpose, and structure;

·        To apply the appropriate modes of expression, including informative, persuasive, descriptive, narrative, and scientific;

·        To understand professional writing as a recursive, connected, and interactive process which includes prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading;

·        To read, analyze, and synthesize various professional materials;

·        To construct and integrate graphic/visual aids coherently into professional documents;

·        To understand the importance of cooperative and collaborative discussion leading to a group-generated document;

Policies

 

Plagiarism: Respond honestly to what you read.  Plagiarism-- the theft of other’s ideas--will not be tolerated; therefore, a failing grade will be given to any plagiarized work submitted by a student.

 

Student Responsibilities

 

·To save all important work (I am not responsible for lost assignments)

· To complete all reading assignments

· To submit assignments in the proper format (the entire assignment is submitted as one

   attachment)

· To submit all assignments on time (by 12:00 Noon on the scheduled due date)

●To submit all correspondence using the WebCT e-mail

●To use proper grammar, vocabulary, syntax, punctuation, and other conventions is a

   prerequisite and is expected in all written assignments

              

 

 

Course Access on WebCT

 

Students will be allowed to log-on to the TVCC Blackboard Web site after the 1st class day of the semester. Students can get information regarding the TVCC Blackboard at http://www.tvcc.edu/depts/dist.learning/.

Student Logins  

Ø    All student logins are their last name followed by their first initial plus the last four digits of their social security number.  Your initial password is the last 4 digits of your social security number. All instructors and students should change this password to something unique but easy for you to remember.

Your login ID and password are case sensitive.  In other words, if your Login ID or password contains lowercase and/or capital letters, you must type in exactly what you see. The log in and password information has changed. The new log in and password will now be the same. (Example log in: doej1234  Password: Doej1234), except the first letter will be capitalized on the password. Upon initial login, the student will have to create an 8-digit password that conforms to the strong password security requirements. If they don't, they will get these error messages until they comply.

      1. Please enter a password with at least 8 characters.

      2. Your password does not meet the strong password requirement. It must include 3 of the following types of characters: Uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. For example: Pa55w*rd

 

Assignments

Assignments must be submitted by logging-on to the WebCT website and sending the assignments as attachments or as direct email to the instructor’s WebCT email address.  Submit the entire assignment as one attachment. Questions will be graded based on detailed, organized thoughts with complete sentences, appropriate grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation.

Grading Criteria

This course is a sophomore level, so the use of proper grammar, vocabulary, syntax, and punctuation is required in all written work.  An excessive number of grammatical errors (fragments, comma splices, fused sentences, misplaced modifiers, misspelling, preposition errors, etc.) seriously distract from effective communication and will be detrimental to your grade.  The biography assignment, each chapter exercise assignment, and each chapter quiz is worth 10 points each.  The following grading scale is based on total points accumulated in the class and will be used to determine the student’s grade:

A---405-460

B---365-404

C---328-364

D---295-327

F---Below 294 points

Grade Notification and Feedback

            A successful distance learning experience requires a flow of communication between instructor and student throughout the session.  Instructor comments are considered essential to the learning process.  Therefore, each assignment submitted will be reviewed, graded and returned to the student in a timely manner, usually within three days of submission.  If the student has not received feedback of submission within four days, it would be best for the student to contact the instructor. You may submit an assignment early after you have received feedback and a grade on a previous assignment. It is imperative that you review my grading for the returned assignment for any errors as soon as it is returned. Do not wait until the end of the semester; this will be too late.

 

 

Calendar for Summer Technical Writing

 

Class Begins                          June 2                        

 

Assignment 1 due                   June 13th                                Personal

Biography

 

Assignment 2 due                   June 23rd                   Chapters 1, 2, 3, and

13

 

Assignment 3 due                   July 7th                       Chapters 4, 18, and

19

 

Assignment 4 due                   July21st                      Chapters 14, 15, and

20

 

Assignment 5 due                   August 1st                  Chapters 21 and 22

 

Assignment 6 due                   August 8th                  Chapters 23, 25, and

16

 

Assignment 7 due                   August 15th                Chapters 5 and 6

 

Assignment 8 due                   August 19th                 Chapters 7, 9, 10, and                  

                                                                                              11th