ECS 3390: Sections 001, 005, 501, 502

Professional and Technical Communication

Fall 2005

Dr. K. Polk
Kent.polk@utdallas.edu
972-883-2175
JO 5.608-G
Office Hours: M, W 9:00—11:00 & 1:00—2:00, and by appointment

Course Description:
This course will help you develop skills and competency in both oral and written communication as they
occur in engineering and technology work environments. You will work with industry-specific projects, de-
termine technical communication needs, develop professional-quality documents, and make formal presenta-
tions on technical topics to technical and non-technical audiences. We will learn the basic genres of technical
communication: technical specifications, white papers, technical summaries, memos, and oral presentations.
Engineering and programming are collaborative activities; therefore, this course uses a collaborative-learning
environment where you will work in teams to practice the fundamentals of collaborative decision making and
communication in professional contexts.
Course Objectives:
Using both team and individual technical writing and presentation assignments, this course meets the fol-
lowing ABET Objectives:

• d: An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams

• f: An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
• g: An ability to communicate effectively
• h: The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solu-
tions in a global societal context
• j: A knowledge of contemporary issues
• k: An ability to use the techniques, skills and modern engineering tools neces-
sary for engineering practice

Other Objectives:
• To teach students to adapt written and oral communications to both technical and non-technical
contexts and audiences
• To give students successful collaborative work experience approximating the industry work envi-
ronment
• To enhance students’ ability to analyze and interpret professional ethics as practiced by engineers
• To refine students’ skills to develop written and oral projects through rhetorical processes of inven-
tion, arrangement and revision
• To teach students how to give and receive critical feedback on written documents and oral presenta-
tions
• To enable students to create professional quality technical documents such as specifications, memos,
and letters
• To develop students’ skills in planning and delivering effective technical presentations

ECS 3390 Syllabus Kent Polk Fall 2005.doc

Last modified 5.15.2005
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• To extend students’ ability to use PowerPoint and other computer generated visual aids to enhance
presentations and documents

Course Requirements:
Professional and Technical Communication focuses on technical writing and presentation skills for pro-
fessional settings. As an upper-level class, students should have at least college-level writing skills and both
written and oral proficiency in English. Students should also have sufficient technical knowledge to contrib-
ute to project design and to write and speak knowingly about technical content. Furthermore, the course cur-
riculum is fast-paced and does not cover basic subjects, such as language mechanics, Microsoft Office
functions, or WebCT operations. The course instead emphasizes developing a sense of professionalism and
responsibility to produce high-quality assignments both individually and in teams.
Skills and Other Requirements for the Course:
• Communication: Technical writing and technical presentations require students to have college-level
writing skills, both written and oral proficiency in English, and a working knowledge of word processing.
Students must also possess a broad familiarity with computer science, systems engineering, technical en-
gineering, or electrical engineering, sufficient enough to write and speak knowledgeably about technical
content in these fields.

• Technology: The curriculum is extremely fast paced and requires students to be self-motivated learners
of the technology used in our computer-intensive classroom. Students must have library and internet
skills to conduct research. Familiarity with Microsoft PowerPoint will be necessary for oral presentations.
While course instructors will guide students on how to operate the Smart Board and the digital videotap-
ing of oral presentations, students are expected to practice using the technology prior to creating docu-
ments and delivering presentations.
• WebCT: The course is taught using WebCT. All students must have UTD User IDs and
passwords to access course materials—including the submission of assignments. Students
have the responsibility to ensure that the WebCT site remains accessible to them for the
duration of the semester and that they can submit assignments through the Assignments
Module. Additionally, to protect students’ privacy rights, your instructor will only send email
through your official UTD email address or WebCT email. If you choose, you can redirect both of
these addresses to external addresses. Visit the Department of Information Resources’ User Account
Management Tools to forward your UTD email to another account. In WebCT, go to the Mail
module and click the Message Settings button. On the Message Settings screen, click the box next to
“Forward my mail to:” and enter your external email address, then click the Update button.

Textbook: Technical Writing Style by Dan Jones (Allyn & Bacon, 1998). The textbook is required.

Assignment Requirements: Professional and Technical Communication allocates approximately 60%

of its total grade points to individually completed assignments and 40% to team generated assignments.

ASSIGNMENT WEIGHT
Team Specifications Report 25%
Individual Report 15%
Individual Delivery for Team Presentation 15%
Individual Presentation 15%
Team Presentation 1 5%
Team Presentation 2 5%
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Other Assignments (may include team contract, tests, 20%
homework assignments, drafts, revisions, or in-class as-
signments)

Assignments and Grade Points:

I = Individual Responsibility T = Team Responsibility

Category Points Category

Possible Subtotal
Written Reports
Individual Report (I) 150
Requirements Report (T) 250
400
Presentations
Requirements Specifications Presentation (T) 50
Functional Specifications Presentation (T) 50
Individual Effort on Team Presentation (I) 150
Individual Ethical Presentation (I) 150
400
Other Assignments
Team Contract (T) 40
Test 1 (I) 70
Test 2 (I) 70
Merit Review (T & I) 20
200

TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE 1000

All assignments must be completed to pass this class, and late or incomplete work is not acceptable. No late
or makeup submissions will be accepted for minor assignments, such as homework, process or class work.
Similarly, because of scheduling constraints and the logistical problem of creating an audience, presentations
cannot be rescheduled, extended or made up. Late submissions of individual papers and team specifications
reports will receive a penalty of 10% of the total possible assignment points each day the assignment is late.
According to UTD policy, an incomplete will not be given unless the student has completed 70% of the
course work, the delay is unavoidable, and the school approves the petition/documentation form.
Final Course Grade Distribution

Final grades will be determined by the following scale. Note that all scores reflect a 1000-point scale. There
will be no leniency in this policy, nor will grades be “rounded off” further than the scale allows. Even if a
student is within .1 point of a different grade, no grade adjustment will occur.

A = 930—1000 B+ = 870—899.9 C+= 770—799.9 D = 670—699.9 F = 599 or below

A- = 900—929.9 B = 830—869.9 C = 730—769.9 D+= 630—669.9
B- = 800—829.9 C- = 700—729.9 D- = 600—629.9

Explanation of Grading Standards

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The following is taken from the Critical Thinking Community (www.criticalthinking.org), and it represents
the philosophy and practice of both individual and comprehensive grades.

High Level Performance (A)

High level performance implies excellence in thinking and performance within the domain of a subject and
course, along with the development of a range of knowledge acquired through the exercise of thinking skills
and abilities.

A level work is, on the whole, not only clear, precise, and well-reasoned, but insightful as well. Basic terms
and distinctions are learned at a level which implies insight into basic concepts and principles.

The A-level student has internalized the basic intellectual standards appropriate to the assessment of his/her
own work in a subject and demonstrates insight into self-evaluation.

The A-level student often raises important questions and issues, analyzes key questions and problems clearly
and precisely, recognizes key questionable assumptions, clarifies key concepts effectively, uses language in
keeping with educated usage, frequently identifies relevant competing points of view, and demonstrates a
commitment to reason carefully from clearly stated premises in the subject, as well as marked sensitivity to
important implications and consequences.

A-level work displays excellent reasoning and problem-solving within a field and works consistently at a high
level of intellectual excellence.

Work of Distinction (B)

The grade of B implies sound thinking and performance within the domain of a subject and course, along
with the development of a range of knowledge acquired through the exercise of thinking skills and abilities.

B level work is, on the whole, clear, precise, and well-reasoned., but does not have depth of insight. Basic
terms and distinctions are learned at a level which implies comprehension of basic concepts and principles.

The B-level student has internalized some of the basic intellectual standards appropriate to the assessment of
his/her own work in a subject and demonstrates competence in self-evaluation.

The B-level student often raises questions and issues, analyzes questions and problems clearly and precisely,
recognizes some questionable assumptions, clarifies key concepts competently , typically uses language in
keeping with educated usage, sometimes identifies relevant competing points of view, and demonstrates the
beginnings of a commitment to reason carefully from clearly stated premises in a subject, as well as some sen-
sitivity to important implications and consequences. B-level work displays sound reasoning and problem-
solving with in a field and works consistently at a competent level of intellectual performance.

Average Work (C)

The grade of C implies mixed thinking and performance within the domain of a subject and course, along
with some development of a range of knowledge acquired through the exercise of thinking skills and abilities.

C level work is inconsistently clear, precise, and well-reasoned; moreover, it does not display depth of insight
or even consistent competence. Basic terms and distinctions are learned at a level which implies the begin-
nings of, but inconsistent comprehension of, basic concepts and principles.

The C-level student has internalized a few of the basic intellectual standards appropriate to the assessment of
his/her own work in a subject, but demonstrates inconsistency in self-evaluation.
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The C-level student sometimes raises questions and issues, sometimes analyzes questions and problems
clearly and precisely, recognizes some questionable assumptions, clarifies some concepts competently , incon-
sistently uses language in keeping with educated usage, sometimes identifies relevant competing points of
view, but does not demonstrate a clear commitment to reason carefully from clearly stated premises in a sub-
ject, nor consistent sensitivity to important implications and consequences.

C-level work displays inconsistent reasoning and problem-solving within a field and works, at best, at a com-
petent level of intellectual performance.

Passing (D)
The grade of D implies poor thinking and performance within the domain of a subject and course. On the
whole, the student tries to get through the course by means of rote recall, attempting to acquire knowledge by
memorization rather than through comprehension and understanding.

The student is not developing critical thinking skills and understandings as requisite to understanding course
content. D-level work represents thinking that is typically unclear, imprecise, and poorly reasoned. The stu-
dent is achieving competence only on the lowest order of performance. Basic terms and distinctions are often
incorrectly used and reflect a superficial or mistaken comprehension of, basic concepts and principles.

The D-level student has not internalized the basic intellectual standards appropriate to the assessment of
his/her own work in a subject and does poorly in self-evaluation. The D-level student rarely raises questions
and issues, superficially analyzes questions and problems, does not recognize his/her assumptions, only par-
tially clarifies concepts , rarely uses language in keeping with educated usage, rarely identifies relevant compet-
ing points of view, and shows no understanding of the importance of a commitment to reason carefully from
clearly stated premises in a subject,.

The D-level student is insensitive to important implications and consequences. D-level work displays poor
reasoning and problem-solving within a field and works, at best, at a low level of intellectual performance.

Failure (F)
The student tries to get through the course by means of rote recall, attempting to acquire knowledge by
memorization rather than through comprehension and understanding. The student is not developing critical
thinking skills and understandings as requisite to understanding course content.

F-level work represents thinking that is regularly unclear, imprecise, and poorly reasoned. The student is not
achieving competence in his/her academic work. Basic terms and distinctions are regularly incorrectly used
and reflect a mistaken comprehension of, basic concepts and principles.

The F-level student has not internalized the basic intellectual standards appropriate to the assessment of
his/her own work in a subject and regularly mis-evaluates his/her own work. The F-level student does not
raise questions or issues, does not analyze questions and problems, does not recognize his/her assumptions,
does not clarify concepts , does not use language in keeping with educated usage, confuses his/her point of
view with the TRUTH, and shows no understanding of the importance of a commitment to reason carefully
from clearly stated premises in a subject.

The F-level student is oblivious to important implications and consequences. F-level work displays incompe-
tent reasoning and problem-solving within a field and consistently poor intellectual performance.

{This article is adapted from the resource: Critical Thinking Basic Theory and Instructional Structures.}

Quick Reference for Grading Standards:

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A Excellence Excellent work; highest level of

B Work of distinc-
tion
C Average work
D Passing, but unsat-
isfactory
F Failure without
credit
mastery of the material and scholar-
ship; shows distinction in the quality
of thinking, effort and results.
Exceeds expectations in mastery of
the material and scholarship. Qual-
ity of thinking, effort and results are
more than acceptable.
Work that meets expectations in the
level of mastery and scholarship.
Quality of thinking, effort and re-
sults are acceptable.
Work that does not meet basic ex-
pectations in terms of mastery and
scholarship. Quality of thinking,
effort and results are below accept-
able levels.
Work that shows little mastery of
the material and scholarship. Qual-
ity of thinking, effort and results are
unacceptable.

Course Policies:
In addition to the course requirements, Professional and Technical Communication students must adhere
to both university and course-specific policies.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional use of other people’s ideas, words, phrases, en-
tire paragraphs or single sentences without acknowledging the source in timely and appropriate citations. Pla-
giarism is a form of scholastic dishonesty that is punishable by failing the assignment, failing the course, being
put on academic probation or in extreme cases dismissal from the university. If you borrow content or graph-
ics from other books, course lectures, websites or other forms of print or electronic media, you must cite
them according to specifications mandated for this course. Everything you submit for peer or instructor re-
view for this class is bound by the academic honor code that requires it to be your unique work with bor-
rowed content properly cited.
In contrast to plagiarism’s inappropriate use of other sources’ information, cheating, or scholastic dishon-
esty, includes a wide range of behaviors. The UTD Scholastic Dishonesty page lists eighteen types of behav-
iors, including copying another student’s work, making work or information available for another student,
accessing information at inappropriate times, and submitting an assignment that you did not prepare. This
list is not exhaustive but does provide a sense of common ways cheating occurs. While you can (and in fact
should) seek the help and advice of friends, classmates, and tutors, including the Writing Center in McDer-
mott Library, be sure that your individual work is completely your own.
Students should be familiar with UTD’s policies on scholastic dishonesty and conduct UTD's policies on
student discipline and conduct, which includes a description and examples of scholastic dishonesty and mis-
conduct.
Attendance Policy
• Attendance: As in a workplace, you are expected to attend class and, importantly, to be on
time. The instructor will take attendance seven randomly pre-selected times during the
course of the semester.
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• If you are not present when attendance is taken, you will be counted absent, even if you arrive
late.
• You may miss up to two classes for whatever reason without penalty.
• You will lose ten percentage points from your final grade average with each absence beyond
the two permitted.
• If you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to obtain material and information you
missed from a willing classmate.
• Attendance for All Presentations: All students must attend each presentation class session.
Students will lose 20 points from their presentation grades if they miss any part of a presentation
day or disturb another students' presentation. These disruptions include, but are not limited to,
mobile electronic notifications, working on other assignments, working on the computers, prac-
ticing your own presentation, sleeping, talking, and any other activities that prevent you from giv-
ing the speaker your full attention.

Non-Disclosure and Intellectual Property: Students in this course share their ideas through collabo-
rative work, projects, and oral presentations. Consequently, instructors cannot guarantee proprietary rights to
an idea, document, program, etc. When selecting topics for projects, assignments, and presentations, consider
whether you intend to pursue intellectual property rights such as patents or copyrights. If so, please be ad-
vised that everything discussed or produced in this course belongs to the public domain and as such
will not give you any copyright or patent benefits. If that is a concern to you, we strongly recom-
mend that you select another topic for the assignment. Additionally, students employed with local com-
panies should review the employer’s non-disclosure agreements and avoid revealing proprietary information
in the course. UTD and the faculty assume no responsibility when employees choose to disclose such pro-
prietary information.
Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance:
It is the policy of UTD to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals who are students
with disabilities. This university will adhere to all applicable Federal, State and local laws, regulations and
guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal educational op-
portunity. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the office of services for students with disabilities (Kerry
Tate at (972) 883-2098 or ktate@utdallas.edu) in a timely manner to arrange for reasonable accommodations.

Room and Equipment Use: In addition to these UTD policies, students will need to observe the fol-
lowing policies specific to the Professional and Technical Communication classrooms.
• Tampering with or destroying any of the computers, printers, Smart Board, white boards, modems or
wiring in the classroom is strictly prohibited. Violations will result in disciplinary action by the Dean
of Students’ office.
• The classrooms have lab hours ONLY for 3390/5301 students and ONLY for working on
3390/5301 course deliverables. If you need to use the lab, we recommend that you sign up for a spe-
cific time with your instructors so that we may open the classroom for you.
• We shall not be holding office hours in the classrooms. Instructor office hours are held in instructor
offices.
• No cell phones, pagers, or other electronic messaging services may be used in the classrooms unless
you have cleared it with the instructor first and only on an emergency basis.
• The room may be used only for ECS 3390- and CS 5301-related activities. You may not work on
other class projects, check your e-mail, print, work for other classes, burn CDs that are not part of
the ECS 3390/CS 5301 assignments, install software (games, music, executables, programming lan-
guages, or any other software that has not been approved by the IPC.) Any violation of the above re-
striction would refer a student to disciplinary action with the Dean of Students office. A second
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violation will result in the student receiving an “F” in the course regardless of the quality of class
work.