Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Overview
This course is primarily for Masters students in engineering. The contents and structure
have been modified to make it more useful to students who are in early stages of their
research. Doctoral students or advanced Master students who are ready to write a
complete article are encouraged to take Advanced English Technical Writing spring
semester.
In this course students will improve their ability to read, write, listen and speak in
English by:
1) analyzing the structure of exemplar articles in their field,
2) constructing and supporting arguments, which are basic to all technical writing,
3) reading at least 8 articles related to their thesis research,
4) writing at least one division of an article related to their thesis area,
5) doing three oral presentations on their work, and
6) commenting on the work of other students.
Plan on consulting with your advisor several times throughout the semester to make
sure you are going in the right direction.
The course will be conducted in English, in a participatory rather than lecture format, so
students will improve their English skills in all areas: reading, writing, listening and
speaking. It is, however, mainly an academic writing class, not a basic English class.
The course will use a ‘flipped classroom’ approach, where students will be expected to
read the textbook outside class and come to class with questions. Much of the writing
will be done in class, with supervision and assistance of the professor, TA, and fellow-
students. You will need to bring a laptop or other electronic device to class to work
on. You should expect to spend 3 hours in class and 3 hours outside class each week.
Pre-course assignment
Talk to your advisor and find at least one key reference related to your thesis area. Bring
it to class with you the first week (print or electronic version). In class you will learn
how to evaluate if it is a good exemplar article for you to follow in your writing.
Credit
This is a three credit course. Only one course in English writing may be counted toward
your degree in electrical engineering, but students may subsequently take the Advanced
Technical Writing course to further improve their English communication skills. Other
students, please check your department regulations.
Required Text
Rau, Gerald (2019) Writing for Engineering and Science Students: Staking your Claim
(Unpublished draft, under contract with Taylor & Francis)
Suggested Texts
Cargill, Margaret & O’Connor, Patrick (2013) Writing Scientific Research Articles:
Strategy and Steps, Second Edition. Wiley-Blackwell (T11 C276 2013)
Zobel, Justin (2014) Writing for Computer Science. Springer. (downloadable e-book)
Other materials
PowerPoint presentations summarizing each chapter and other supplementary
materials will be made available on the online Ecourse platform weekly.
Please submit all written materials in MS Word. If you normally use LaTeX or some other
word processing software, you will need to convert it to Word (not pdf) for submission.
This allows me to use Track Changes to annotate drafts electronically.
Deadlines are important. I need time to look over the assignments and make comments
before class that week. Please submit your homework to the appropriate site on the E-
course platform by 12 midnight of the due date (Sunday for section 1, Monday for
section 2). Assignments submitted after midnight but before 8 AM will lose 25%.
Assignments submitted between 8 AM and 12 noon will lose 50%. Assignments received
more than 12 hours late will receive no credit.
Detailed Course Schedule
See page 4
Since this is the first time the course will be taught in a flipped classroom format, it is
likely that there will be some changes during the semester. It is also subject to change
based on the number and needs of the students.
Assignments:
Proposal 5%
First draft 10%
Revision 10%
Writing, oral presentation 5%