Assignments
Every assignment listed below includes specifics about the assignment and the date it is due. These dates are final unless changed by the professor. It is mandatory to have every assignment ready for class that day.
Readings: Read all assignments before class and be ready to be lectured on the content. Read the following chapters in the order they are listed below. The due dates are in parentheses:
- Chapter 1 (August 28th)
- Chapter 3 (September 4th)
- Chapter 9 (September 6th)
- Chapter 2 (September 11th)
- Chapter 4 (September 13th)
- Chapter 12 (September 18th)
- Chapter 10 (September 25th)
- Chapter 6 (September 27th)
- Chapter 7 (October 2nd)
- Chapter 8 (October 4th)
- Chapter 14 (October 9th)
- Chapter 11 (October 18th)
- Chapter 12 (October 23rd)
- Chapter 13 (October 30th)
- Chapter 15 (December 4th)
Exercises: There will be a variety of tasks to be completed by the due dates listed in parentheses. Below is the description of each exercise based on the information found on the syllabuses and in the book:
- Exercise 1 (September 6th): Chapter 1, Exercise 3: Using a job site locate three job ads for people in your major. Identify references to writing and communication skills in each ad. Then identify references to professional attitudes and work habits. Once the Exercise is complete, prepare a memo addressed to the professor to state your findings.
- Exercise 2 (September 11th): Chapter 2, Exercise 3: Search for an example of a social media policy. In a memo of around 500 words, explain whether the policy is clear, specific, and comprehensive. Decide if it has an appealing explanation as to why the policy is used and if it creates a negative or positive tone. Describe the feeling you would have if you had to follow the policy and if possible, include a copy of the policy with the submission.
- Exercise 3 (September 25th): Chapter 10, Exercise 4: The exercise is a job-application letter responding to an ad that is also provided. In a memo analyze the effectiveness of the letter and give suggestions on how the letter can be improved.
- Exercise 4 (September 27th): Chapter 6, Exercises 9-18, 20, 22, 24-26, and 28-29: Each one of these exercises is a sentence that can be improved. On a well-organized Word document list each of the sentences in their original form followed by your improved version of the sentence.
- Exercise 5 (October 4th): Chapter 8, Exercise 3: A table is provided with the exercise. Using the table create two different graphics comparing federal R&D funding in 2011 and 2012. As well, create two different graphics comparing defense and nondefense R&D funding in either 2011 or 2012.
Projects: The following is a comprehensive list of projects that need to be completed. Each project is its own section and will include a due date, the pages in the course book that will assist you in completing the project, a description of what is required, and the different aspects of the project that will be graded. You must provide a hard copy of every project in class on the due date as well as upload a digital copy onto D2L.
Semester Task Schedule:
Deadline: Tuesday, September 4
Book Pages: Chapter 3 pages 37-39 and Chapter 11 pages 305-307
Your first task will be to create a task schedule. This task schedule should include a list of all your assignments and their due dates, a list of the steps you plan to take to complete each assignment along with the time frames you set for yourself to complete each step, all of which, should be presented in a well organized and visually appealing way. You can present the schedule in any way you would like but it is recommended you do it either as a table, bar chart, or network diagram.
This assignment will be graded on:
Clarity: 5 points
Comprehensiveness: 10 points
Correctness: 5 points
Professionalism: 5 points
Class Netiquette Guide and Email Policy:
Deadline: Tuesday, September 18
Book pages Chapter 9 page 264
For this assignment, you will work in a group of three to four people. Together you must develop an email policy and netiquette guide for the class. Pay specific attention to the classes particular needs and keep the principles generalized to the university as a whole. To do this, complete Exercise 7 on page 264. Design the document as a handout you would receive from the university. You must also complete an audience profile sheet that is available on D2L.
This assignment will be graded on:
Comprehensiveness: 10 points
Conciseness: 5 points
Professionalism: 5 points
Correctness: 5 points
Clarity: 5 points
Assessability: 10 points
Job Portfolio:
Deadline: Thursday, October 18
Book pages Chapter 10
For this assignment, you must develop a résumé and write a cover letter for a specific job. You can look for jobs on Shippensburg's Career Connection website or on other career databases such as monster.com or careerbuilder.com. The cover letter should be only one page and the résumé should be 1-2 pages. While cover letter and résumé adhere to specific forms their content should be customized to the job to which you are applying. At some point during this process, you must visit with the Shippensburg Career center. Evidence of such a visit must be provided when you turn in the assignment in class.
This assignment will be graded on:
Honesty: 5 points
Correctness: 10 points
Conciseness: 5 points
Professionalism (letter): 5 points
Assessability (résumé): 5 points
Description:
Deadline: Thursday, October 25
Book pages Chapter 14 page 394, Chapter 1, Chapter 4, and Chapter 8
For this assignment, you will have to design a document explaining the technical writing process from a student's perspective. The final product should be a one-page handout and be eminently readable and dynamic. It must include graphics. Keep in mind your audience is a student taking his first technical writing class. You must include with this document an audience analysis profile sheet and a two-page memo explaining the process you went through designing the document.
The handout of this assignment will be graded on:
Correctness: 10 points
Accessibility: 10 points
Profesional appearance: 10 points
Clarity: 10 points
Comprehensiveness: 10 points
The memo of this assignment will be graded on:
Correctness: 15 points
Conciseness: 10 points
Accuracy: 15 points
Comprehensiveness: 10 points
Final Project: This is your final project- an accumulation of your work throughout the semester. Take time research and build your project.
Researched Recommendation Report: This will be your final, capstone project for the course.
You must research and report on an actionable problem at Shippensburg University or the
surrounding community. An example might be the need for computer labs in dormitories or a
community garden to be maintained by environmental science students. Whatever you choose,
you cannot pick something hypothetical. The goal is to create a recommendation report that you
could provide to the appropriate people. You will have to write several documents for this report: a
proposal, a status or progress report, and the final recommendation report. Refer to
Chapters 11, 12, and 13 for the nature and style of each. The body of the report should be 2000-
3000 words. You should include at least two graphics, one of which you have to create yourself.
The report should have Front Matter (title page, table of contents, list of figures, and
informational abstract), a Body, and Back Matter (references, appendices, and indexes or
glossaries as needed). You should paginate the front matter differently than the body (i.e. roman
numerals and Arabic numerals, with the Introduction beginning on page 1). The Body must
include the following sections, though you may need additional section or subsections depending
on your topic: Introduction, Research Methods, Results, Conclusion, Recommendations.
Deadlines:
- Proposal: Thursday, November 1
- Status Report: Tuesday, November 13
- Recommendation Report Drafts: Tuesday, November 20; Tuesday, November 27
- Final Recommendation Report: Tuesday, December 4
Oral Presentation: During our week of finals, you will have to present your researched
recommendation report to the class. Dress professionally and treat this presentation as if you
were giving it to the persons to whom you are seeking to persuade or to gain as a client. This
should not be a mere summary of the report, but a translation of its key points into a new visualand oral document. It should be 5-6 minutes. You will have to practice delivering it. Many times.
Course Wiki and Progress Reports: Throughout the semester, you will be working in groups to
create and update our course wiki (http://shiptechwritingf18.wikidot.com/). Each group will
rotate throughout the semester to four designated topics on the wiki:
- Homepage, complete with course description and graphics
- Technical writing FAQs and forums
- Assignments, including grading criteria
- Course texts & resources, including Wiki how-to guides
Wikis are by design open and collaborative, meaning anyone can change and edit nearly
anything. The goal of this assignment isn’t to build an excellent website, but to practice learning
about writing online, navigating obstacles and challenges, and applying technical communication
skills in a public forum. This will often be frustrating and confusing work. That’s OK. There will
be no set plan or tasks for the content you generate or update. You can and should adapt content
from this syllabus, but you should not plagiarize. You will have to plan with your group and
respond to what is in front of you.
However, you will have to hand in periodic progress reports at set deadlines throughout the semester. After each progress report, your group will be rotated to a new content area, which you will then develop, revise, or otherwise improve. You will refer to Chapter 12 for the general form and content of progress reports. These Wiki Progress Reports should be 2-4 pages. They should include a purpose statement, a summary, an introduction, results, recommendation for the next group, and references (if you used any). These progress reports should be responsive, which means that excepting the very first one, they should acknowledge and respond to what was included in previous progress reports. These should be handed in in hard copy and submitted to D2L in the appropriate folder.
Previous Wiki Reports:
Deadlines: 1: Thursday, September 20; 2: Thursday, October 11; 3: Tuesday, November 6; 4: Thursday, November 29