English 316, Technical Communication, will help you develop the specialized writing skills needed for effective communication when writing technical documents. This course will help those employed within technical fields (scientists, engineers, medical professionals, etc.), as well as those who address technical audiences, to effectively plan, research, write, and present technical information.
Back to TopAfter completing the reading and writing assignments for this course, you should be able to:
Required: Lannon, John M. Technical Communication: A Custom Edition for Brigham Young University, 9th ed. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publisher Inc., 2003.
Recommended: A recent college-level handbook dealing with basic principles of spelling, punctuation, grammar and source citation.
Back to TopThis course consists of twenty-one lessons and a final exam; there are eleven graded and ten un-graded assignments. The following is a breakdown of all graded assignments in this course and their corresponding percentage value:
| Lesson | Assignment | Grading |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Writing Process Evaluation and Writing Goals | P/F |
| 3 | Audience Assessment | 5% |
| 5 | Letter and Resume | 10% |
| 7 | Set of Instructions Topic Analysis | P/F |
| 11 | Copy of Instructions with user testing memo | P/F |
| 12 | Set of Instructions 1 | 20% |
| 16 | Research Proposal | 10% |
| 17 | Analysis of Journal Article | 5% |
| 19 | Author First of Analytical Report with progress report memo | P/F |
| 20 | Analytical Report 2 | 30% |
| 21 | Oral Presentation | 5% |
| Final | Exam | 10% |
All other lessons will have assignments which will not be submitted for a grade. Because of this, students oftentimes neglect to complete these lessons. Please note that un-graded lessons and assignments are just as important to your progress in this course as graded assignments. Usually, they will help you prepare for the graded assignments and therefore do not merit being turned in by themselves. Neglecting to complete the un-graded lessons and assignments in this course could seriously harm your grade!
Submitted assignments should be double-spaced (unless otherwise noted), in 12-point Times New Roman font on 8.5" by 11" paper. Lessons should be typed and clearly printed on a laser printer or high quality dot-matrix printer.
As you prepare to submit assignments, please read the assignment description carefully to find what is expected of you. Look at the sample papers and review the submission checklist provided with each assignment. All of your work, except for the final exam, will be returned to you with written comments. Please submit lessons in their normal sequence as the principles from each lesson build on one another. You may submit as many as three lessons per week without needing written permission from your instructor, but note that the quality of subsequent submissions is likely to be higher if you wait for feedback from previous assignments.
Because Lessons 11 and 19 are drafts of Lessons 12 and 20 respectively, please do not submit Lesson 12 in the same week as Lesson 11 or Lesson 20 in the same week as Lesson 19. If you do submit Lessons 11 and 12 within the same week, or Lessons 19 and 20, you will receive a failing grade on Lesson 11 or Lesson 19 respectively. This means that the fastest you could expect to complete the lessons in this course, and still receive a passing grade, would be 5 weeks. You should also include an additional 2 weeks to take the final exam. Please note, however, that if you choose to complete the course so quickly, you will most likely receive a C- grade or lower. It is recommended that you take at least 16 weeks to complete this course (the time allocated in a normal semester), allowing time to receive feedback on assignments.
Please note that there are four pass/fail assignments in this course. Though these assignments do not figure into the percentage total for your final grade, you cannot fail more than one of them. If you fail more than one pass/fail assignment, you will have to pay the re-submission fee, resubmit the failed assignment, and pass it before your instructor will post a final grade for you in the course.
Back to TopMost students are attracted to the flexibility that independent study courses offer. A traditional course requires students to be in a specific place at a specific time with a specific assignment in hand. Independent study courses allow students to learn course material on their own timetable and to turn in assignments when they would like. However, many students note that this flexibility can be a curse. Many times students struggle to stay motivated and procrastinate completing the course. Your instructor can do little, given the nature of independent study, to compel you to turn in assignments in an orderly, timely fashion. Please note that it is your responsibility to complete course assignments. It is recommended that you take a few minutes right now and map out when and how you will complete assignments. This will hopefully help you to stay on track and complete the course. Again, please note that the assignments and final exam for this course cannot be completed in less than 7 weeks. It is recommended that you take at least 16 weeks to complete the course.
Additionally, many times students casually skim the required reading from the textbook or omit doing it altogether. All assignments in this course rely heavily on your careful reading and understanding of the information in your textbook, not just this course. The course supplements the information in your text but does not present redundant information. The information, instruction, and examples in your textbook should be the basis for all your writing. It will also be the basis for your instructor's grading and for the final exam.
Back to TopMany students are frustrated with the seemingly subjective grading of written assignments. Though some aspects of writing are subjective, most writing can be held to a clear, concise standard of judgment. Consequently, each major assignment in this course includes a detailed grading sheet which outlines how and where points for the assignment will be allocated. You are asked to submit the grading sheet with each assignment. This will allow your instructor to clearly show you where your work excelled and where it perhaps needed more work. If you fail to submit the grading sheet with your assignment, your instructor will assign a letter grade without providing detailed specifics as to why you received that grade. Generally, your work will be graded on the following criteria:
High grades on an assignment are a reflection of truly superior work, rather than just the absence of errors or the meeting of basic assignment requirements. Low grades usually result from inadequate development, excessive errors in reasoning or grammar, or a poor application of the technical principles the lesson teaches. There are two likely causes for a failing grade: (1) a paper which, no matter how good, ignores the assignment parameters for the given lesson or (2) plagiarism.
Please understand that plagiarism is theft. You commit this punishable act whenever you steal another's words or ideas and pass them off as your own. Your intent to steal is irrelevant: the presence of another's words or ideas in your work without proper citation of the source constitutes plagiarism.
Plagiarism is committed in the following ways:
Unintentional plagiarism, usually the result of sloppy writing habits and research, will result in your instructor failing your paper and asking you to (1) fix the plagiarism problems in your paper, (2) pay the re-submission fee, and (3) resubmit the paper for a grade. Intentional, deliberate plagiarism will result in you failing this course! This is a "one-strike you're out" policy, meaning one instance of deliberate plagiarism, even on a small assignment, will result in an automatic "E" grade for this course. Please understand that plagiarism is a serious offence.
Back to TopFor each major paper that you will write in this class, you will submit a portfolio of your writing process. These portfolios will help you to assess and reflect on your writing process for an assignment. It will also allow your instructor to see your writing process. Each paper portfolio may differ slightly, but each will contain at least the following elements:
At the beginning of each portfolio, you should include a Reflective Statement. This statement should be at least half a page, single-spaced and should be submitted in memo format. Your statement should include the following information:
Your Reflective Statement is also the place to note any concerns or difficulties you would like your instructor to consider when grading your paper.
If at any time you have a question about the work in this course, please email your instructor at ne7@email.byu.edu .