Syllabus
Welcome to the course site for RPW 520 Writing in Scientific & Technical Contexts. The SVSU course catalog describes this as a course on communication principles and practices for professionals and scholars who seek advanced degrees in scientific and technical disciplines.
Course Description
The SVSU Course Catalog description of Writing in Scientific & Technical Contexts.
Principles, strategies and practices for communicating technical and scientific information for professional and scholarly purposes. Topics include recasting content for different audiences (e.g., professional, public); complying with document standards; establishing and maintaining professional authority; and understanding and accepting professional responsibility. Special emphases on reports, proposals, descriptions, and correspondence.
Course Objectives
I have designed this course to work toward the following objectives.
- Explore strategies and practices of effective, audience-aware communication. Effective communication is careful, contextual, and demonstrates awareness of and respect for the needs and expectations of audiences.
- Examine cultural, professional, and disciplinary standards for communication. Quality communication is created to meet or exceed a spectrum of standards for excellence.
- Examine links among communication, professional authority, and ethical responsibility. Professional and disciplinary credentials carry with them both the authority to communicate and the expectation that you will do so responsibly.
- Demonstrate the ability to execute effective communication in the context of the first three objectives. Professionals and scholars earn privileges and opportunities with their credentials and certifications. Observation of cultural practices in a variety of contexts consistently reinforce that the most respected and enduring professionals communicate effectively. Such success does not come easily, even to those who possess seemingly natural gifts and abilities for communication. Whether you are an accomplished communicator, or someone who struggles to succeed in this endeavor, my baseline goal is to help you become more aware, better prepared, and more effective as a communicator than you are when you enter the course.
Textbooks
This course requires you to have access to the following textbooks.
- Matthews, J.R., and R.W. Matthews. Successful Scientific Writing: A Step-By-Step Guide for the Biological and Medical Sciences, Fourth Edition.
- Alred, G.J., C.T. Brusaw, and W.E. Oliu. Handbook of Technical Writing, Eleventh Edition.
I will assign readings from other sources as well. I will provide or direct you to materials for these assignments through our course site in SVSU Canvas.
Other Materials
To support your work here this semester, you will use the following services, tools, and technologies.
- SVSU Canvas. I post supporting materials (e.g., articles, sample documents, documents for workshops) to Canvas Files. I typically use the Announcement page to facilitate communication with the whole class. Although I create assignments in Canvas, it is only so I can use the Grades page. (No detail about workshops or projects appears on the Assignments page in Canvas. All descriptions are posted here on this course site.) You will post most of your workshop submissions through the Discussion page.
- SVSU Vmail. Use campus Vmail for all correspondence with me. (Yes, our campus email package has a name.) I do not use (and rarely check) my Canvas Inbox.
- Dropbox.com. Using instructions that I provide, you will create and manage a shared folder on this service. All of the file exchanges between you and me for course projects (e.g., your submissions, my feedback and project evaluations) will happen through Dropbox.com. Dropbox.com offers a free service option. That will be all you need for this course.
- Document design software. All projects and some workshops for this course require you to design documents. Although you may opt to use other packages for some of this work, you can complete all of your design work with Microsoft Word. (If you are able to use more powerful tools, such as Adobe InDesign, or open-source Scribus, please feel free to do so.)
- Screencasting software. I use screencasts (and podcasts) to deliver content for most courses. You will create screencasts to facilitate some of your work, including at least one workshop and one project. There are many free tools available to you for creating screencasts. I recommend Techsmith Jing most of the time, but we will discuss such technologies and processes in class when it becomes relevant.
- Screencast.com. We will use Screencast.com to share and stream the video content that you generate, because even a short video can generate a large file. Screencast.com offers a free service option. That will be all you need for this course.
Although you will use several communication tools and technologies in your work this semester, all of these things are either provided by SVSU, or are available to you for free. If you have questions about such details, please follow up with me.
Some of the work you do might be made more convenient or easy if you have access to the following additional materials.
- Portable storage device. Always carry a portable storage device (e.g., flash drive, external hard drive) with you to store project and workshop files, or anything else you might need for your work in this course. Although SVSU provides you space on the Microsoft OneDrive system, I recommend that you use it as a backup, rather than as your primary work space.
- Scanner or scanning app for your phone/tablet. You will at times integrate visual content that you draw from source material into your work. Although you can use a camera to accomplish this task, the results are typically unprofessional. Scanners and scanning apps allow you to digitize such content at a much higher level of professionalism. Several apps are available for free, or at little cost. I strongly recommend that you acquire one, and learn to use it.
- Twitter. Although I do not tweet a lot of course information, I do post notifications about emergency cancelations through Twitter. I will simulcast such information through Canvas, but if you are a Twitter user (or want to become one), this may be more convenient and timely.
- Headphones. Because we use video in class from time to time, headphones are a convenient item to have on hand.
- Microphone. Because you will record at least two screencasts this semester, a microphone (even an inexpensive one) is useful for this course. It will raise the quality of your audio.