Welcome to Technical
Communications
Enl 1977
Overview
Course structure
 Course schedule
 Student assessment
 Course policies

Course Structure

Unit One
– Background knowledge and skills

Unit Two
– Collaborative writing

Unit Three
– Report writing
Course Schedule

Unit One: 5 weeks
– Lessons 1, 2, 3, and 4—one week each
– One week to prepare Project One

Unit Two: 5 weeks
– Lessons 5, 6, 7, and 8 --one week each
– One week to prepare Project Two

Unit Three: 3 weeks
– Lessons 9 and 10 one week each
– One week to prepare Project Three
Student Assessment
Project One: 15%
 Project Two: 15%
 Project Three: 20%
 Final Exam: 50%

Course Policies
Students must finish one unit before starting
the next.
 Email is the “default” means of
communication with me*.
 Communication, on my part, is reactive; if I
don’t hear from you, I assume all is well.
 Late assignments must approved before the
due date.

Unit One: Details
Lessons
 Assignments
 Project
 Due dates

Unit One: Lessons

Unit One will look at a series of exercises
designed to build knowledge and skills in
certain key areas:
–
–
–
–
Site navigation
Internet navigation
Organization
Writing mechanics
Lesson One

Blackboard (Bb) site navigation
– Explore the Bb site to know where al the course
elements are

Classmates
– Introduce yourself to the class and read about
your classmates.

Discussion Board
– Understand how to use this important resource.
Lesson Two

Textbook introduction
– Students will read the first two chapters of the
textbook as an introduction to technical
communication and writing strategies.

Internet navigation and mapping
– Using the “External Links” students will
explore and organize Internet sites into a useful
resource for use throughout the course.
Lesson Three

Syntax
– A slide show presents some fundamentals and
terminology used in analyzing the mechanics of
writing.

Semantics
– Another slide show introduces the aspects of
language associated with meaning.
Lesson Four

The products of technical communication
– Chapters 8, 9, and 10 of the textbook are
studied with a view to understanding the types
of technical communication products:
» Letters, faxes, memos and emails
» Proposals
» Reports
Assignments: general
considerations
All quizzes in this course have three
attempts.
 You must get 100% on the quiz by the third
attempt to get any marks for it.
 Marks are tabulated as part of Project One.

Unit One: 9 Assignments

Lesson One
– L1-a, L1-b, L1-c

Lesson Two
– L2-a, L2-b

Lesson Three
– L3-a, L3-b

Lesson Four
– L4
Lesson One: Assignments
L1-a: there is a short Bb quiz (10 questions)
based on the site content and navigation.
 L1-b: all students are asked to post a brief
introduction on their student page.
 L1-c: the Discussion Board feature of the
course site is explored here– you are asked
to post a message and reply to one.

Lesson Two: Assignments
L2-a: There is a detailed quiz on chapters 1
and 2 of the textbook. It is designed to test
student’s ability to re-read documents and
notice details, rather than to test retention.
 L2-b: Students explore the External Links
and organize them into a useful resource.
The grammar sites, for example, will be
needed for the next lesson.

Lesson Three: Assignments
L3-a: the syntax Bb quiz is difficult and
involves unfamiliar grammatical terms.
 L3-b: the semantics Bb quiz is also difficult
and could require Internet research to
complete.
 You are also asked to read Chapter 5 as it
will help with writing style.

Lesson Four: Assignments

L4: is a textbook Bb quiz based on chapters
8, 9, and 10. It is like the L2-a quiz, only
longer.
Unit One: Project One
All the marks for the first unit are based on
Project One.
 The project is a self-assessment report
wherein students explain their progress in
the first unit.
 The report combines review of the first unit,
application of the skills learned, and
development of strategies for success in the
rest of the course.

Unit One: Due Dates
Lesson One:
Jan. 23
 Lesson Two
Jan. 30
 Lesson Three:
Feb. 6
 Lesson Four:
Feb. 13
 Project One:
Feb. 20
 NOTE: READ THE PROJECT ONE
DESCRIPTION FIRST AND WORK ON
IT CUMMULATIVELY.

Unit Two: Details
Lessons/Assignments
 Project
 Due dates

Unit Two: Lessons
Unit Two concerns collaborative writing.
 You will be assigned to a group of four
students.
 Although it is a group project, all
submissions and grades are individual.
 Each student is responsible for submitting
six documents.

Unit two: Documents
Each student will submit an outline, a draft
and a final copy of a summary of one of the
four chapters in this unit (3,4,6, and 7).
 Each student will also submit a review of an
outline, a draft, and a final copy of each of
the other chapters respectively.

Unit Two: Lesson Five
This unit is based on chapters 3,4,6, and 7,
and you should begin by reading them.
 L5-a: groups are required to decide which
member will summarize which chapter and
how the reviews will be delegated.
 L5-b: a group Chat session will be
scheduled to finalize the delegation.

Unit Two: Lesson Six
L6-a: students write an outline of the
chapter they are summarizing.
 L6-b: the outline is then sent to the
delegated reviewer and one is received for
review.
 It is important to read all four chapters so
that reviews are well informed.

Unit Two: Lesson Seven
L7-a: once students have revised and
incorporated reviewer’s suggestions, they
write a first draft of their chapter summary.
 L7-b: the exchange procedure is repeated
for draft revision: students send out their
drafts to a different reviewer and receive a
draft of a different chapter to review.

Unit Two: Lesson Eight
L8-a: Having examined the reviewer’s
comments, students are ready to write the
final copy of their respective chapter
summaries.
 L8-b: This final copy is sent to yet a
different member of the group to be
proofread and a final copy is received for
proofreading.

Unit Two: Project Two
All the marks for the second unit of the
course are allocated in Project Two.
 Each of the six documents (the three phases
of a chapter summary and the the three
reviews) are all graded individually and
each student is given a mark out of 15.

Unit Two: Due Dates
Lesson Five:
March 6
 Lesson Six:
March 13
 Lesson Seven:
March 20
 Lesson Eight:
March 27
 Project Two:
April 3
 Students are responsible for scheduling the
revisions so that they can submit Project
Two on time.

Unit Three
In this unit students combine the skills,
knowledge and resources learned in the first
two units and produce a presentation and a
report.
 There are only two lessons in this unit. The
first lesson is a tutorial on using
PowerPoint, and the second involves the
preparation of slides for a proposal.

Unit Three: Lessons/Assignments
There is no assignment associated directly
with Lesson Nine
 L10: Students prepare five or six power
point slides that outline their report for
Project Three.

Unit Three: Project Three
Students submit a two-part report on
plagiarism.
 The first part is the slides from Lesson Ten.
These can be submitted at the same time as
the report, giving students two weeks to
prepare the project.
 The second part is the report itself. It is
worth 20% of the final grade (15 for the
report and 5 for the presentation)

Unit Three: Due Dates
Students should, at this point, have a good
idea how long a report takes to prepare and
are thus allowed to schedule the writing as
they see fit, so long as they meet the Project
Three deadline.
 Lesson Nine:
April 10 (suggested)
 Lesson Ten:
April 17 (suggested)
 Project Three:
April 24

Final Exam
The final exam will be scheduled with and
written at your registering college.
 The exam is based on the textbook and
students are responsible for all chapters
including chapters 11 and 12 which should
be reviewed before the exam.
