(Return to the English 2311 Table of Contents) Instructor: Dr. Geoffrey Grimes Telephone: (972) 740-3125 e-mail: geoffrey.grimes@navarrocollege.edu How to Send Me E-Mails (manual) NAVARRO COLLEGE COURSE SYLLABUS ENGLISH 2311:NTW TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS WRITING I. Introduction and Rational for the Course . Technical and Business Writing involves the study of the fundamental principles, techniques, and skills for scientific, technical, and/or business writing. Emphasis will be on the students' studying and preparing of various types of oral and written reports, including abstracts, operations manuals, proposals, recommendation reports, feasibility studies, and correspondence. Prerequisite: English 1301. . II. Objectives . Through class and written assignments, the student will: . 1. Improve written communication . 2. Recognize communication exists between the technical specialist and the writing specialist . 3. Recognize that aiming his or her technical writing at a uniformed reader increases his or her awareness of the need for communication to be presented clearly . 4. Become more aware of his or her own technical or professional area . 5. Demonstrate the principles and practice of the kind of writing required for technical and professional work . 6. Develop and demonstrate the ability to use standard research techniques in producing a lengthy report . 7. Demonstrate the appropriate mechanics of style and manner for technical and professional writing . (SCANS 1. Foundation skills: A. Basic skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking; B. Thinking skills of creative thinking, decision making, problem solving, knowing how to learn, and reasoning; C. Personal qualities of responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, integrity, and honesty; 2. Workplace competencies: A. Resources of time, material and facilities, and human resources; B. Interpersonal skills of participating as a member of a team, teaching others new skills, exercising leadership, negotiating, and working with diversity; C. Information to acquire and evaluate data, to organize and maintain data, to interpret and communicate data, and to use computers to process data; D Systems—to understand, monitor, and correct performance of; E. Technology—to select it and apply it to a task) . III. Instructional Materials . Thill, John V. and Courtland L. Bovee. Excellence in Business Communication. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2003. . Access to Microsoft Word . Access to Microsoft PowerPoint . IV. Grade Standards For this course, you will compose a number of written exercises including editing short texts, short reports, abstracts and summaries, various business letters, and a user manual with an accompanying PowerPoint presentation. These exercises are assigned by chapters, following the organization of instructional materials in your textbook, Excellence in Business Communication. . In general, grades on your paper will reflect the following standards: 1) You have made a serious attempt to complete the exercise as defined in the instructions and discussed in the readings. 2) Your paper reflects careful organization and revision, illustrating the protocols and formats relative to the type of communication introduced in your text.. 3) Your composition demonstrates mastery of the basic conventions of Standard Written American English. 4) You have submitted your work in a timely manner. . V. Evaluation As is done in the workplace, students' assignments will be graded as excellent, acceptable, or unacceptable. In addition, for the purpose of determining students' final course grades in the course, both a letter grade and a number grade will also be used. It is expected that all "unacceptable" assignments will be revised and resubmitted. . A (90 100%) Excellent work B (80 89%) Above average work that is still in the excellent category C (70 79%) Acceptable work D (60 69%) Unacceptable work F (0 50%) Unacceptable work . Final course grades will be computed in the following manner: A simple average of the grades awarded for each exercise . **All assignments should be free of grammatical and spelling errors. Typed assignments are required for all major reports or letters, unless stated otherwise by the instructor. . VI. Absence from Class for School Sanctioned Activities . (Not all principles defined below are applicable to distance learning students.) . Regular attendance in class is a student obligation and absence from class is not recognized as a student privilege. Therefore, students are expected to be present and on time for all class meetings and will be held accountable for all material presented in class. Students who are absent from class due to participation in an officially school sanctioned activity must present notice of the event to the instructor (at least two weeks prior is desirable) and request advance assignments. If the student is passing the course, the request to make up assigned work or quizzes will be honored. If missing the class will endanger the student's success, the class instructor will notify the activity sponsor and a decision regarding the student's participation in the activity will be reached by the sponsor and instructor. In general, the decision will reflect the philosophy that students attend college for educational purposes, and participation in activities outside the classroom is recognized as a lower priority. . VII. EEOC Statement . Navarro College shall comply with existing federal and state laws and regulations, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (P.L. 88 352) and Executive Order (Revised Order #4), where applicable, with respect to the admission and education of students; with respect to the availability of student loans, grants, scholarships, and job opportunities; with respect to the employment and promotion of teaching and non teaching personnel; and with respect to the student and faculty activities conducted on premises owned or occupied by the college. Navarro College shall not discriminate either in favor or against any person on account of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, handicap, marital status, or veteran status. The college will make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. . VIII. Accommodation for Students with Disabilities . Students who have a disability that requires accommodation or modification should visit Student Support Services in the basement of the Learning Resource Center or call (903) 874-6501. An application for accommodation must be on file before classes begin each semester. All student records are kept confidential. . IX. Behavioral Expectations in an Academic Setting . Students at institutions of higher learning are expected to exhibit high ethical standards. See the current Navarro College Student Handbook and "Ethical Behavior in Learning Communities." . X. Class Policies . 1. If at any time the student decides not to complete the course, the student should confer with the instructor prior to the last official day to withdraw from college to determine his/her status and possible alternatives. Note: You should contact the Registrar's Office to verify the drop date for this semester. . 2. Due dates for exercises are posted on the Assignment Schedule. The suggested due dates are Sunday evening following the posted week for submission. Late work will be accepted, but students should make every effort to complete the work in the posted time frames. Work submitted all at once at the end of the semester will be evaluated for “C” credit only. . 3. Plagiarism will result at a minimum in a failed assignment and, at a maximum, in suspension from college. (See Ethical Behavior in Learning Communities.) . XI. Course Outline and Schedule Note: The schedule below follows the basic organization of your textbook. Complete the readings and submit your work in a timely manner, following as closely as possible the designated due date. . Instructions for the Course Exercises Click here to read instructions for the development and submission of your course assignments. .. Introduction: Technical Writing and the Workplace Complete the Diagnostic Exercise . Online Resources Click here to access supporting Internet resources for the chapters below. . Instructional Study Guides Click here to access study guides in Microsoft PowerPoint . Excellence in Business Communication Preparing to Write Chapter 1: Understanding Business Communication Chapter 2: Communicating in Teams: Collaboration, Listening, Nonverbal, and Meeting Skills Chapter 3: Communicating Interculturally Chapter 4: Planning Business Messages Chapter 5: Writing Business Messages Chapter 6: Completing Business Messages Complete Exercise 1: Punctuation and Exercise 2: Reducing Wordiness (Mini-term: due during Week 1/Summer Term: due during Week 1/Regular Semester: due during Week 2) . Excellence in Business Communication Writing Short Informal Reports Chapter 7: Writing Routine, Good-News, and Goodwill Messages Chapter 8: Writing Bad-News Messages Complete Exercise 3: Memorandums and Informal Reports (Mini-term: due during Week 1/Summer Term: due during Week 3/Regular Semester: due during Week 6) Complete Exercise 4: Business Letters (Mini-term: due during Week 2/Summer Term: due during Week 5/Regular Semester: due during Week 8) . Excellence in Business Communication Preparing and Writing Business Reports and Proposals Chapter 10: Planning Business Reports and Proposals Chapter 11: Writing Business Reports and Proposals Chapter 12: Completing Formal Reports and Proposals Introducing Microsoft PowerPoint Complete Exercise 5: The User Manual and PowerPoint Outline (Mini-term: due during Week 3/Summer Term: due during Week 9/Regular Semester: due during Week 12) Complete Exercise 6: The Formal Proposal (Mini-term: due during Week 3/Summer Term: due during Week 12/Regular Semester: due during Week 15) . Excellence in Business Communication Related Elements, Skills, and Activities Chapter 13: Giving Speeches and Oral Presentations . Excellence in Business Communication Writing For Applications Chapter 14: Writing Resumes and Application Letters Chapter 15: Interviewing for Employment and Following Up Complete Exercise 7: Résumés and Cover Letters (Mini-term: due during Week 3/Summer Term: due during Week 7/Regular Semester: due during Week 10) . Final Exam The final exam in English 2311 is to be completed at a proctored site on a computer with access to Microsoft Word. For this exercise, you must contact the Testing Center administrator at one of the Navarro College campuses (Corsicana, Mexia, or Waxahachie), at another college or university convenient to you, or a cooperative library in your area. The Testing Center/Site should have email capability that will allow the Test Administrator to forward your test file from the Testing Center/Site to your instructor (see instructions below). Email to your instructor at least two weeks prior to the posted exam date (see the college's printed schedule), the name and position of the test administrator along with both the regular address and email address at the Testing Center. Your instructor will email, mail, or fax the instructions for the exam. You must complete the exam exercise at the site in one sitting with only short rest breaks. You may use your textbook, notes, CD-ROM, and the website as resources for completing the exercise. The test exercise is the completion of a business report. Follow the instructions provided by the prompt given to you by the Test Administrator. You may take as long as you like to complete the exercise, but you are not to leave the Testing Center and then return again. If you do, the exercise will be forfeited, and you will receive a "0" for a grade on the exercise. You must complete your test at a computer and save the report in Microsoft Word to a floppy disk. Name and save the final exam report in the following format: (first initial-last name-2311 Final Exam). Example: JDoe-2311 Final Exam Label the floppy disk with the same title and give it to the Test Administrator. Ask the Test Administrator to email the file directly to your instructor at geoffrey.grimes@navarrocollege.edu. The Test Administrator should then return floppy disk to you. Save the floppy disk and file! Your instructor will confirm the receipt of the file by an email response to the host email address only from which the file was sent. In the event that the email transmission fails, save the exam file to your hard drive or another floppy disk and mail the disk to your instructor. The address is 223 Hanna Avenue, DeSoto, Texas 75115. and is maintained by Dr. Geoffrey A. Grimes. .
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