ENG 3050 (018): Technical Communication I (Trad)
Wayne State University
Fall 2023
Instructor: Dr. Elrick
Time: TR 1:00-2:15pm
Location: Manoogian 0064
Office: 5057 Woodward, rm.10503.3
Office Hours: TR 2:30-3:30 (in person),
W 3-5pm (Zoom); or by appt.
E-mail: hc3545@wayne.edu
Department of English Description
ENG 3050 prepares students for reading, researching, writing, and designing technical
documents. While some technical writing addresses a general audience (e.g., instructions),
technical documents are often written for multiple audiences with different specializations (e.g.,
technical reports for executives and implementers). Technical documents incorporate both
textual (writing) and visual (graphics, illustrations, etc.) elements of design.
WSU Undergraduate Bulletin Description
Cr 3. Instruction in basic technical writing skills. Requirements include writing summaries,
letters, memos, instructions, and technical reports. Topics include audience and purpose
analysis, textual and visual aspects of technical document design, and formatting.
Course Prerequisite for ENG 3050
To enroll in ENG 3050, students must have completed their WSU Basic Composition (BC)
requirement (ENG 1020 or equiv.) with a grade of C or better.
General Education Designation
With a grade of C or better, ENG 3050 fulfills the General Education IC (Intermediate
Composition) graduation requirement. Successful completion of Intermediate Composition
(IC) with a grade of C or better is a prerequisite to enrolling in courses in the major that
fulfill the General Education WI (Writing Intensive) requirement for graduation. More
information on the General Education requirements is available from the WSU
Undergraduate Bulletin.
Learning Outcomes
Writing and Designing
Write effectively as individuals and in teams in standard genres of technical writing (including
summaries, professional correspondence, resumes, instructions, technical descriptions, reports,
and performance assessments), including the appropriate use of grammar, mechanics, style, and
document design for formal and informal documents and standard conventions of citation and
documentation.
Reading and Analyzing
Read, analyze, and evaluate the design of, and the audience(s) and purpose(s) for, technical
documents, including text, visuals, format, usability, citation, documentation, and mechanics.
Researching and Documenting
Design and conduct primary and secondary research; evaluate appropriate sources in support of
composing technical documents.
Using Technology and Media
Make productive use of current technologies for reading, researching, writing, and designing
technical documents.
Required Text
Markel, Mike, and Stuart Selber. Practical strategies for technical communication: a brief guide.
3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2018. ISBN: 1319104320. (updated version also ok)
Technology Policy
You need a device that can use the internet, run MS Office tools (free via Wayne State
University’s IT downloads), use Canvas, and have reliable wifi and processing capacity to
stream class meetings. This can be your laptop, desktop, or mobile device. If you need a device
or hotspot, we are asking you to reach out to the Dean of Students at doso@wayne.edu or call
313-577-1010.
We will be using several different types of apps in addition to Canvas (Discord, Loom, Canva,
etc.). Tutorials for the majority of these will be provided before their use either in class or video
play or linked clip. Regardless, I recommend investigate further on YouTube and in class if you
need clarification and support. For canvas and general IT support, you can reach out to our
helpdesk at helpdesk@wayne.edu.
Assignments
Assignments and their descriptions are posted in Canvas. You will need to both review the text
and the accompanying video tutorial for basic working knowledge of what to do.
Students are required to write a minimum of 30-34 pages (8,000-9,000 words) in ENG 3050
(including drafts and informal writing). This course will feature 4 major projects along with less
formal writing for in-class activities and homework.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Job Application Materials (5-6 pages)
Instruction Set & Test Memo (9-11 pages)
Three Component Report (20-26 pages)
Performance Review (2-3 pages)
Project Formats and Submission
•
Assignments must be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman typeface, with
one-inch margins.
Use APA format for citations (including captions, graphs, and appendices), unless otherwise
stated in an assignment.
Assignments must be submitted electronically through Canvas.
Insert page numbers in the top, right-hand corner of your assignments (APA format also
paper format for pagination acceptable).
No Google files will be accepted; submissions will generally be .docx, .pdf, or .rtf (if not a
website/link/URL).
•
•
•
•
Grading
Assignments track students’ progress and indicate students’ participation in the course; students
get out of it what they put into it.
I offer a 24hour grace period after deadlines. Afterwards, late work will be accepted with a grade
penalty. Assignment descriptions on Canvas include assignment tasks and specific deliverables
necessary for full potential grade – make sure to read those first, ask questions after.
Grades on projects will be weighted as follows:
1A: Job Field Memo – 5%
1B: Resume and Cover Letter – 10%
1C: LinkedIn Profile and Statement – 5%
2A: White Paper: Board Game Industry – 5%
2B: User Documentation/Boardgame Instructions – 10%
2C: User Test Memo– 15%
3A: Client Profile – 5%
3B: Collaborative Project Plan – 10%
3C: Research Report – 15%
4: Performance Review – 10%
Discussion, Participation, APA Quiz, Attendance – 10%
Grade:
Percent:
Grade:
Percent:
A
93-100%
C
73-76%
A-
90-92%
C-
70-72%
B+
87-89%
D+
67-69%
B
83-86%
D
63-66%
B-
80-82%
D-
60-62%
C+
77-79%
F
<60%
Attendance Policy
Class attendance is required. Up to three excused absences are allowed; after that, absences will
start to impact students’ grades. Students will fail the course after seven absences.
Because of the extraordinary variety of religious affiliations of the University student body and
staff, the Academic Calendar makes no provisions for religious holidays. However, it is
University policy to respect the faith and religious obligations of the individual. Students with
classes or examinations that conflict with their religious observances are expected to notify their
instructors well in advance so that mutually agreeable alternatives may be worked out.
Last day for Add/Drop: for Fall 2023, Sep. 11
Last day to withdraw (no tuition refund): for Fall, 2023 Nov. 6
You can contact me about the withdrawal process. Additionally, find information with the
Student Service Center.
Incomplete Policy
A grade of incomplete will be issued only if the student has attended nearly all of the class
sessions, submitted an Incomplete Contract (using the English Department’s recommended
form) sign, and obtained the instructor’s signature on it. Incompletes are granted at the
instructor’s discretion.
Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism is the act of copying work from books, articles, and websites without citing and
documenting the source. Plagiarism includes copying language, texts, and visuals without
citation (e.g., cutting and pasting from websites). Plagiarism also includes submitting papers (or
sections of papers) that were written by another person, including another student, or
downloaded from the Internet.
Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. It may result in a failing grade for the assignment or
the assignment or failing grade for the course. Instructors are required to report all cases of
plagiarism to the English Department. Information on plagiarism procedures is available in the
Department.
Citation Policy: Citation is a form of academic integrity, but citations also
directly relate to real-world attributions such as copyright. Both are important and
can have legal ramifications if not complete or accurate. For instance, accurate
citation is a means of attributing credit to the author. Incomplete citation can be
grounds for plagiarism.
For clarity – an incomplete citation is not necessarily the wrong citation style, but
rather providing links instead of full citations, or no in-text citations (including insentence attribution) even with an end reference page full of proper citations.
This course reviews accurate APA citation style and assessment; incomplete APA citation is
grounds for resubmitting the assignment for full potential credit. It is recommended that you
take the time to review your citations before you turn in your assignment the first time for
maximum efficiency – if you need review, in addition to class lectures and the quiz, please
see me at office hours (I will gladly help).
Department of Student Affairs
Academic misconduct (https://doso.wayne.edu/conduct/academic-misconduct) is any
activity that tends to compromise the academic integrity of the institution or undermine the
education process. Examples of academic misconduct include:
• Plagiarism: To take and use another's words or ideas as your own without appropriate
referencing or citation.
• Cheating: Intentionally using or attempting to use or intentionally providing unauthorized
materials, information or assistance in any academic exercise. This includes copying from
another student's test paper, allowing another student to copy from your test, using
unauthorized material during an exam and submitting a term paper for a current class that
has been submitted in a past class without appropriate permission.
• Fabrication: Intentional or unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or
citation, such as knowingly attributing citations to the wrong source or listing a fake
reference in the paper or bibliography.
• Other: Selling, buying or stealing all or part of a test or term paper, unauthorized use of
resources, enlisting in the assistance of a substitute when taking exams, destroying another's
work, threatening or exploiting students or instructors, or any other violation of course rules
as contained in the course syllabus or other written information.
Such activity may result in failure of a specific assignment, an entire course, or, if flagrant,
dismissal from Wayne State University.
Wayne State Writing Center & Technology Zone
The Writing Center provides individual tutoring consultations free of charge for graduate and
undergraduate students at WSU. Tutoring sessions are run by undergraduate and graduate tutors
and can last up to 50 minutes. Tutors can work with writing from all disciplines.
Tutoring sessions focus on a range of activities in the writing process – understanding the
assignment, considering the audience, brainstorming, writing drafts, revising, editing, and
preparing documentation. The Writing Center is not an editing or proofreading service; rather,
tutors work collaboratively with students to support them in developing relevant skills and
knowledge, from developing an idea to editing for grammar and mechanics. To make a facetoface or online appointment, consult the Writing Center website.
For more information about the Writing Center, please contact the Director, Jule Thomas (email:
au1145@wayne.edu).
Student Disability & Additional Services
Students who may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the
instructor privately to discuss specific needs. Additionally, the Student Disabilities Services
Office coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. The
office is located in 1600 David Adamany Undergraduate Library and can be reached by phone at
313-577-1851. Please consult the SDS website for further information:
http://studentdisability.wayne.edu.
Additional resources include:
Academic Success Center http://www.success.wayne.edu
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) http://www.caps.wayne.edu .
The W Pantry and Thrift Shop: https://thew.wayne.edu/pantry
Office of Military and Veterans Academic Excellence (OMVAE) http://omvae.wayne.edu
Title IX: https://titleix.wayne.edu/
Department of English http://clas.wayne.edu/English/
Covid 19 Information:
As of Fall 2023, the university currently is not requiring masking on campus, but this class
invites you to mask as you see fit. Current guidelines regarding the pandemic are here.
Land acknowledgement
Wayne State University rests on Waawiyaataanong (Waa-we-yaa-tih-nong), also referred to as
Detroit, the ancestral and contemporary homeland of the Three Fires Confederacy. These
sovereign lands were granted by the Ojibwe (Oh-jib-way), Odawa (Oh-daa-waa), Potawatomi
(Pow-tuh-waa-tuh-mee), and 8 Wyandot nations, in 1807, through the Treaty of Detroit. Wayne
State University affirms Indigenous sovereignty and honors all tribes with a connection to
Detroit. With our Native neighbors, WSU can advance educational equity and promote a better
future for the earth and all people.
Project Itinerary
Project 1A: Job Field Research – Due: Sep. 5
This assignment introduces you to both the industry you’re currently interested in as well as the
general memo format. Find a job post, and that will start your initial research to the job field’s
industry, current market trends, job descriptions, and professional organizations.
(2 pages)
Project 1B: Resume and Cover Letter – Due: Sep. 8
Resumes and cover letters are necessary artifacts for your job search both in and outside of your
academic career. This assignment equips you with both samples you can use and knowledge
about the current job search as it evolves. The main foci regard formatting your resume and
cover letter as primary and changeable documents, using LinkedIn as a resource and search
engine, and reviewing ways covid has changed both remote jobs and the online job search.
(1 page, each document)
Project 1C: LinkedIn Profile – Due: Sep. 15
LinkedIn Profiles are a major way job recruiters are finding prospective employees and knowing
what to post on your profile is only the beginning. You will be creating a profile that you may
keep and consider what content you wish to share at any given point. You will also create a short
statement about your findings as you used the site.
(1 profile, 1 page statement)
Project 2A: White Paper: Board Game Industry – Due: Sep. 26
This short document examines a board game genre of the group’s choosing and uses key pieces
of information to explain what they are considering developing in projects 2B and 2A.
Information includes basic definitions, outline of game play in the genre that is helpful as an
example, discussion of copyright, and key goals your team plan to achieve in making the game.
(One document per group, 3 pages minimum)
Project 2B: Boardgame Instructions – Due: Oct. 3
You and a group will create a boardgame from scratch. The focus is to construct a working list of
instructions and basic working protype for a boardgame that can be played by another group in
project 2C. Use the information you’ve gathered from 2A as you make your list of instructions,
consider its layout, and the general materials you’ll require to create a working prototype of the
game.
(One set of deliverables per group - 1 game, 1 set of instructions – 2 pages minimum)
Project 2C: User Test (and Product Development) – Due: Oct. 5, Oct. 10, Oct. 13
You and your group will conduct a preliminary user test with your group and a user test with
another group of your game prototype. The test with your group will commence Oct. 5, and the
test with the other group will be Oct. 10. You will review what is necessary for a user test and
how that overlaps with teaching a boardgame. Your end report (due Oct. 13) will reflect the
observations of the user test and describe what you learned from the overall process between
Project 2A and 2B. This assignment is based largely on participation.
(One document per group - 5 paged memo minimum, including observational data)
Project 3A: Client Profile – Due. Oct. 24
You and your team will review a TechTown client you would like to work with. In this short
document, you will include research about the client’s company, their field, and their clientele as
well as begin to look at different issues they face that can be used for the basis of project 3B.
(One document per group - 2 pages)
Project 3B: Collaborative Project Plan - Due. Nov. 10
You and a group will assess problems that need to be solved from an entrepreneur from Tech
Town. Our class collaborates with a variety of start-ups that both facilitate valuable information
for the start-up but also offer real-world experience working with businesses in the Detroit area.
The group will learn about how to frame next possible steps to research toward the end report in
project 3C.
(One document per group – 4-6 pages)
Project 3C: Research Report – Due: Dec. 12
The research report will provide details of all of the tasks undertaken and updated from project
3A. The report will be a collaborative document that should be reviewed by more than one group
member before final submission.
(One document per group – 16-23 pages)
Project 4: Performance Review (Final)
This report will review how you addressed the assignments in the class and showcase your skills
and struggles. This will also be a place to consider a score for your participation in the two group
project series as well as the collaboration of your group.
(2-3 pages)