Schedule

*subject to change

Week 1

8/27 – Course expectations, introductions.

Assignment:

Sign up for CUNY Academic Commons (Where your final portfolio will be housed) and email link to instructor from your CUNY email address.

Locate and Post an article about engineering from the last 6 months that interests you. Tell us about why this article caught your attention. Tell us about why you find it fascinating. Convey your interests and passions through this post.

 

Week 2

9/1 – BB Discussion – Respond to two fellow students with specific comments about their chosen articles.

Assignment:

Analysis of Article. Identify the author, audience, purpose, stance, genre, medium of the article you found and posted in BB. Provide textual evidence where necessary. 1-2 pages. Due by Friday, 9/4, end of day.

Read Chapter 1 “Introduction to Technical Communication” (pages 2-16);

9/3 – BB Discussion of Chapter 1

Assignment:

Read Chapter 2 “Understanding Ethical and Legal Issues Related to Social Media” (pages 17-39)

Post your first reflective journal on your personal Commons site.

 

Week 3

9/8 – BB Discussion of Chapter 2. Introduce Technical Description Assignment.

Assignment:

Read Chapter 20: “Writing Definitions” (533-551); Introduce Technical Description Assignment

Post an object, mechanism, or process that you want to write about in your Technical Description assignment to BB thread. Include a photograph of the object, an article about it, or a piece of media related to it.

9/10 – Respond substantively to at least two fellow students about their object. Make sure to field any questions you receive about your own object.

Assignment:

Read Chapter 3 “Writing Technical Documents” (41-56);

Week 4

9/15 – BB discussion of Chapter 3 – Technical Description terms and why they matter

Assignment:

Using the object and article you posted, as well as the thoughts provided by myself and your fellow students, make an outline for your technical description and post it in a new thread.

9/17 – Discussion of technical descriptions

Assignment:

Technical Description First Draft Due by Sunday (end of day).

 

Week 5

9/22 – Peer Review of Drafts.

Assignment:

Send polished peer review response to your partner and instructor.

 

9/24 – Descriptive Writing discussion.

Assignment:

Technical Description Final Draft Due before next class (10/01)

Read selection from Chapter 14: “Writing Memos” (372-374);

 

Week 6

9/29 – No class

10/01 – Small group discussion of possible topics. Share your interested and

Assignment:

Post in your personal journals (you now have only 11 opportunities left)

Read selection from Chapter 14: “Writing Memos” (372-374) & Chapter 5: “Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose” (84-111)

 

Week 7

10/6 – Group update. Post a description of your topic and assign each team member a role: one Topic Supervisor to keep track of all project requirements, one Research Director to lead in researching sources, one Submission Manager to submit the team’s work.

Assignment:

Coordinate with your team and prepare to post a group update for next class (see below).

10/8 – Group progress update. Each team member should make a post within the thread. Topic supervisor should provide general update and introduction to the direction of the project. Research director should provide sources and explanations for them. Submission manager should discuss how these elements will fit together and how the memo will be constructed for their desired audience.

Assignment:

Submit Memo First Draft. One submission per group, signed by all group members. You may want to let each team member take a section of the actual written memo. I will respond to your group with notes. Due by Sunday, 10.11, end of day.

 

Week 8

10/13 – No class

 

10/15 – Group self-assessment. Within your group, discuss the work you did on your draft and workshop how you might improve upon that work for your final draft.

Assignment:

Memo Final Draft Due before next class (10.20). Submit one document that includes the Memo as well as a brief but clear explanation from each team member on how they contributed in their role.

 

Week 9

10/20 – Memo assignment reflection discussion.

Assignment:

Read Chapter 6: “Researching Your Subject” (114-143)

 

10/22 – BB discussion of Chapter 6

Assignment:

Read Chapter 19: “Writing Lab Reports” (515-532); Introduce Lab Report

 

Assignment:

Read Chapter 9: “Emphasizing Important Information” (192-212)

Update Journal (only 7 weeks left!)

 

Week 10

10/27 – BB discussion of Chapter 19.

Assignment:

Read Chapter 9: “Emphasizing Important Information” (192-212)

Update Journal (only 7 weeks left!)

 

10/29 – BB discussion of Chapter 9.

Assignment:

Begin work on Lab Reports. Make a plan for how you will approach this assignment and outline your work.

 

Week 11

11/03 – Lab report process discussion thread. Post your plan/outline.

Assignment:

Lab Report First Draft Due before next class.

11/05 – Peer Review of Lab Report drafts.

Assignment:

Peer Review Responses due to your partner no later than Sunday.

Read Chapter 16: “Writing Proposals” (419-443)

 

Week 12

11/10 – BB discussion of Chapter 16: “Writing Proposals” (419-443); Introduce Engineering Proposal

Assignment:

Lab Report Final Draft due before class time on 11/12

 

11/12 –

Assignment:

Read Chapter 17: “Writing Informational Reports” (445-464);

 

Week 13

311/17 – BB Discussion of Chapter 17.

Assignment:

Review Engineering Proposal Assignment requirements.

Post Engineering Proposal topic discussion. Present your topic and discuss your plans with your fellow students. Due before nest class, 11.19.

11/19 – Topic Peer review.

Assignment:

Post your peer responses by Friday, 11.20, end of day.

 

Week 14

11/24 – BB discussion of Engineering Proposal updates.

Assignment:

Engineering Proposal First Draft will be due next Friday, 12.04. Happy Thanksgiving!

11/26 – No Class

Week 15

12/1 – Portfolio update. Post a link to your portfolio site and provide an update on the work you have done and still have left to do.

Assignment:

Make sure you have made enough journal posts. There is one week left!

 

12/3 – Portfolio Peer Review.

Assignment:

Revisit the topic you began this course interested in and the article you first shared with the class. Have any new developments been made? Is there any new information out there? Has your interest/opinion of this issue, and that first article, changed at all?

Week 16

12/8 – Final Class: Revisiting your week one article.

Assignment:

Look over the course requirements and assignments. As we move into this final class, ask yourself if you have done all of the work required, and use this time to catch up with any missing work, contact me with any final concerns or questions, and continue work on your Engineering Proposal and Portfolio design.

 

12/15 – Engineering Proposal Final Draft Due.

12/19 – Final Digital Portfolio Due.