English 402 Syllabus

Skype: drcampbell6676. You can also call me on Skype or IM me by using the chat feature in Skype.

Contact information note: Although I check my e-mail and elearning.wsu.edu frequently during the week, I do not routinely check either on weekends. Most messages sent by e-mail to campbelld@wsu.edu will receive a reply within 24 hours; those sent to the alternate addresses or left over the weekend on elearning.wsu.edu may not receive a reply that quickly.
Web site: http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/index.html

The only textbook for this course will be Kennedy and Montgomery's Solving Problems at Work (custom edition). It should be available used as well as new. ISBN: 0-536-43060-8. The previous version should also work, since it has the same content and page numbers.

Instead, we will be using online sources and the "Key to Comments" page for explanations of grammar. You should print a copy for reference.

English 402 (Technical and Professional Writing) focuses on the forms of writing required in professional, administrative, and research contexts: memoranda and letters, including job application materials; proposals; research materials, including annotated bibliographies; and technical reports. This course includes more than merely mastering the forms of writing, however; even more important is understanding the rhetorical contexts for writing, such as matters of ethics, subject, audience, and purpose.

Since this course will be conducted entirely through elearning.wsu.edu and e-mail contact, it's essential that you have the following:

1. An e-mail account to which you have daily access and from which you can attach and send files. This e-mail account must be registered in my.wsu.edu, since I use RONET to send out all mailings to students. If your e-mail address is not in the WSU system, you will miss important information.

Note: A WSU account is strongly preferred. If you typically use Hotmail, Yahoo, or another free service, you can arrange to have your WSU e-mail forwarded to that account. Please be aware that the spam filters used in free online accounts will sometimes put legitimate messages into your junk mail folder; if you use one of these services, check your junk mail folder regularly and carefully to be sure that no class correspondence has been routed there.

Also, if you have an unusual or suggestive e-mail username, Barracuda, the spam filter at WSU, might flag your message and not deliver it. Although I check the spam folder frequently, this could cause a delay in my receiving your messages.

Since all course work is conducted through elearning.wsu.edu, you should drop the class and take an in-person version of the course if you do not have reliable Internet access, if you do not have an e-mail address, or if your computer is too old or too slow to use elearning.wsu.edu.

You can access the assignments for each week by clicking on the appropriate link on the Course Menu: Week 1, Week 2, and so forth.

The course is divided into six segments, one for each week of the class. The assignments consist of postings to the discussion board and written assignments. Assignments are cumulative and must be completed in the week in which they are due; you cannot complete all six in a week or two.

Assignments are due on Tuesdays and Fridays by 5 p.m.

Except for the first week, when the materials were posted on Sunday, each week’s materials will be posted in final form by Friday nights at 5 p.m. The class week works like this:

From Friday after 5 p.m. through the following Tuesday, you’ll read the assignments and lectures, and you’ll complete your first discussion board posting by Tuesday at 5 p.m. (Note: You're welcome to post before Tuesday, and you can post more than one message.) You’ll also be working on your writing assignment for the week.

From Tuesday through Friday, you’ll continue to work on your writing assignment for the week. On Friday (or before), you’ll reply to someone else’s posting on the discussion board and e-mail your writing assignment to me by Friday at 5.

As you log in to elearning.wsu.edu, you'll notice that the first page of elearning.wsu.edu will be frequently updated with announcements and information about the course.

This schedule covers your reading, writing, and posting assignments for each week. If this schedule conflicts with the list posted under Week 1, Week 2, and so forth on elearning.wsu.edu, follow what is listed in elearning.wsu.edu.

In addition to the chapters in the book, you should read the lectures posted online. The test-yourself quizzes are optional, but I strongly encourage you to take them. They will alert you to issues of grammar, punctuation, and style that will be considered when your writing is evaluated.

Since this is a virtual class rather than an in-person one, attendance is measured by participation on the discussion boards rather than by attendance in a classroom. Excessive absence can cause you to fail the course. Please see the section on Discussion Boards below for details.

Statement on Disabilities

Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify the instructor during the first week of class of any accommodations needed for the course. Late notification may mean that requested accommodations might not be available. All accommodations must be approved through the Disability Resource Center (DRC) located in the Administration Annex Room 205, 335-1566.

Participation in the online discussions is an essential part of the class. You will need to post at least twice a week, once on Tuesday and once on Friday.

Your Tuesday posts should be formal and substantial; they will probably be 100-200 words long, at least, since for many of the posts you’ll be investigating an issue and bringing the results back to share with the class.

Your Friday posts will be written in response to other people’s Tuesday posts on the discussion board. Short posts that basically say “I agree” won’t be counted; instead, you’ll need to address in some meaningful way what the poster has said. You might ask a question, suggest further resources, provide a counter-analysis of the ideas, or discuss a related idea.

Posting twice a week is the minimum; I encourage you to post more frequently, especially in response to other posts. Once the deadline has passed (Tuesday or Friday by 5 p.m.), late posts will not be counted for that week.

Although discussion board posts are not given formal grades, they are awarded points based on how substantial and thoughtful they are. The points are awarded as follows:

This course does not have graded quizzes. Instead, it has a series of “test yourself” quizzes designed for you to take on your own to improve your skills. They are not part of elearning.wsu.edu, and I have no way of knowing whether you take them or not. Most answers have the explanations within the quiz itself; you can also look up the appropriate section online (see the Links page). The purpose of these quizzes is to sharpen your editing skills and to alert you to features that you may wish to correct in your own writing.

In addition to the twelve discussion board postings, you’ll complete six formal written assignments in this course. Several of them will focus on (and some will become part of) your final research project, so you will not have to work on a new project from scratch every week.

Papers should be saved in Word or rich text (.rtf) format and e-mailed to my WSU address, campbelld@wsu.edu, by 5 p.m. on the due date. You may send them to me as an attachment. DO NOT print your paper out and slide it under my office door; I won't receive it, and it won’t count for a grade.

Late papers are penalized at the rate of one letter grade per class day late; i.e., papers turned in the next week will have their grade reduced by one letter grade. However, since the class time is so short, late papers will only be accepted until the next written assignment is due. A paper from Week 1 turned in during Week 3 will not be accepted.

You have one 48-hour extension in this class. This extension means that your paper will be due 48 hours later, or usually on Sunday by 5 instead of Friday by 5. You must request the extension ahead of time, and you should save it for a true emergency, since no other extensions will be granted for illness, funerals, weddings, or any other reason.

Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of someone else's words or ideas. This definition includes not only deliberately handing in someone else's work as your own but failing to cite your sources, including Web pages and Internet sources. Penalties for plagiarism range from an F on the paper or the course to suspension from the university.

For a first offense, any paper plagiarized in whole or in part will receive an "F" (0 points), and the incident must be reported to the WSU Office of Student Conduct. You will NOT be allowed to rewrite the plagiarized paper for a better grade.

As an institution of higher education, Washington State University is committed to principles of truth and academic honesty. All members of the University community share the responsibility for maintaining and supporting these principles. When a student enrolls in Washington State University, the student assumes an obligation to pursue academic endeavors in a manner consistent with the standards of academic integrity adopted by the University. To maintain the academic integrity of the community, the University cannot tolerate acts of academic dishonesty including any forms of cheating, plagiarism, or fabrication. Washington State University reserves the right and the power to discipline or to exclude students who engage in academic dishonesty.

Note: Because of FERPA and privacy issues, no grades will be discussed or transmitted by e-mail or instant messaging (except for grades within graded papers). You can check all of your grades (except the grade for class participation) in elearning.wsu.edu. If a discussion of grades is necessary, contact me and I can arrange a phone or in-person meeting.

Note: 95 is the highest grade available on the 100-point scale, since the grading system at WSU cannot accept A+ grades.

	Topics Covered This Week	Chapters to Read	Written Assignment Due on this Date	Discussion Board Posting Due on this Date
Week 1
5/06				Introduction
5/09	Issues in Technical and Professional Communication Administrative Writing: Letters and Memoranda	2,3,10	Interview memo	Substantial postings on memos and letters due.
Week 2
5/13	Resumes and cover letters	11		Discuss resumes and cover letter samples
5/16			Résumé and cover letter	Response to discussion postings due
Week 3
5/20	Research skills	4, 5, 6		Evaluating research: Preparation for the annotated bib liography and proposal
5/23			Short proposal for the research report	Response to discussion postings due
Week 4
5/27	Analyzing visual elements and incorporating visual materials	12		Evaluating visual materials
5/30			Annotated bibliography for the research report	Response to discussion postings due
Week 5
6/3	Report Parts Synthesizing and analyzing information	7. 8, 10		Ethical issues in research: post an ethical problem (from your experience or from the news) for discussion
6/6			Executive summary and letter of transmittal	Response to discussion postings due
Week 6
6/10	Presenting your research Citation formats	7, 13		Presenting your research to a general audience
6/13			Final copy of report	Response to discussion postings due

Course Component	Percentage of Final Grade
Interview Memo	5%
Resume and Cover Letter	15%
Brief Proposal	10%
Annotated Bibliography	10%
Executive Summary and Memo of Transmittal	5% (graded S/U, full points/no points; comments only)
Final Project	25%
Discussion boards and other in-class work	30%, or approximately 5% per week since there are 12 posts in all. Graded as discussed above.

Grade	Point Equivalent/25	Point Equivalent/100
A	24,25	96, 100
A/A-	23	92
A-	--	90
B+	22	88
B/B+	--	87
B	21	84
B/B-	--	82
B-	20	80
C+	--	78
C/C+	--	77
C	19	76
C/C-	18	72
C-	--	70
D+	17	68
D/D+	--	67
D	16	63
D/D-	--	62
D-	15	60
F	14	59