PENN STATE ABINGTON

SUMMER 2018 SYLLABUS

ENGL 202C: Technical Writing
Canvas URL: https://psu.instructure.com/

Instructor: Charles Archer Class Schedule: Online

Email: cta10@psu.edu Prerequisite: English 015/030

Recommended Text:
Lannon John M., and Laura J. Gurak, eds. Technical Communication. 14th edition. Boston: Pearson, 2016. ISBN:
9780134118499

Course Information and Objectives: Welcome to English 202C! This course addresses writing within the wider
field of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In this course, students will learn to present information
to a specific audience and for a specific purpose. This course will teach students how to use graphics, prose, verbal
skills, and other media to develop, organize, and present information. The following are the specific skills taught in
this course:
 Knowledge of various genres to be used after graduation as well as for academic purposes (e.g., resumes,
technical reports, proposals, product and process descriptions, instructions, memoranda)
 Research skills, including conducting primary and secondary research, using computer resources, and
evaluating and citing sources
 Audience analysis techniques
 Writing and editing skills, focusing on the use of organization, style, and format appropriate to audience
needs and technical and corporate writing contexts

Course Structure: This course has four units. The following is the breakdown of those units:
 Unit One introduces students to technical writing concepts. Students will write a technical manual for a
mechanism of their choosing.
 Unit Two focuses on the job application packet, which requires that students create a cover letter and
resume. This unit addresses document design skills as well as corporate and professional communication.
 We will then move onto Unit Three, the final project proposal, where we will discuss proposal writing and
the research process. Students will also produce a detailed outline as part of the proposal assignment.
 During Unit Four, we will discuss how to write the final project. Specifically, we will address sources,
organization, editing, and design.

Course Assignments and Grading: Detailed instructions will be provided for each assignment.
Technical Manual 200 points
Job Application Packet 100 points
Final Project Proposal 200 points
Final Project 100 points
Discussion Board 50 points

Final course grades will be calculated according to the following scheme:

A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D F
94-100 90-93 87-89 84-86 80-83 77-79 74-76 70-73 60-69 0-59

Course Assignments: Students are required to critically analyze all assigned readings and to actively participate in
all class discussions, thereby enhancing their understanding of the ways in which a variety of strategies contribute
to effective professional communication in different settings. In addition, each student will complete a range of
assignments. Assignment guidelines will be posted in Canvas.
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The following is a more detailed list of the course assignments. In order to receive full points for any assignment,
the work must demonstrate excellent clarity, concision, organization, and style.

Major Assignments:
All assignments will be discussed in class. Detailed guideline sheets for all assignments will be posted in Canvas.
The following major assignments are required this term:
1. Technical Manual: A 10-12 page individual assignment where each student writes a process and product
description (i.e., a technical manual) for a mechanism of their choosing.
2. Job Application Packet: Documents constituting application for a real-world job, internship, scholarship,
grant, or spot in graduate school.
3. Final Project:
a. Final Project Proposal: A formal 4-6 page document that proposes the topic for the final project
and that provides a detailed outline and bibliography (with at least 5 sources) for the final project.
b. Final Project: A 10-12 page document, in which you identify, analyze, and offer detailed and
sophisticated solutions for a real-world problem of your choosing. The document should employ
and properly cite outside sources to support its conclusions. The solutions that you provide must be
your own (not a report on someone else’s solutions).

Discussion Board: The Discussion Board is worth 50 points. We will have 5 discussion board assignments this
term. Students are required to make at least 1 initial post to the discussion board by Thursday of the week that the
discussion assignment is assigned and at least 2 response posts by Sunday of the same week.

Course Policy:
 Attendance: Regular participation in the weekly discussion boards is required throughout the duration of
the class.
 Lateness: There are several major assignments this term. All must be submitted online via Canvas and must
be uploaded by end of day on the day that they are due. If you experience a legitimate extenuating
circumstance, such as major illness or injury, family emergency, or religious observance, that prevents you
from submitting a major assignment on time, please get in touch as soon as possible. Otherwise, late work
will be accepted with a 5% grade reduction for each day the paper is late.
 Make-Up Opportunities: Students who miss class for any reason will also have the opportunity to make up
any in-class writing assignments (i.e., writing assignments that are not among the major out-of-class
assignments). Student must make arrangements with the instructor to make up the assignment upon
immediate return to class. If you believe you will miss an assignment due to an upcoming absence, please
contact me as soon as possible so that we may arrange make-up plans in advance.

Revision Policy: We will spend time in class working on craft, style, and revision techniques with the drafts of
your projects. I hope you can develop habits of revision that will stay with you through your writing lives. If you
turn in work that does not represent your best effort, you may revise it. The new grade will be an average of the
grade of the original assignment received and the grade the revised assignment receives. For grade improvement,
revisions must be substantial (i.e. address all instructor comments plus make additional improvements). You have
one week to turn in revisions after you receive the graded copy in class. Revisions will not be accepted after this
one-week period. Please note that the revision option is not available for the Final Project.

Learning Center: The Learning Center provides tutoring for all students taking classes at the Penn State Abington
Campus. This service is free to students. The Learning Center is located in in the Sutherland Building, Room 315.
To contact the Learning Center directly, please call (215) 881-7538. The Learning Center website can be found at
http://abington.psu.edu/learning-center. Students can walk in for appointments during common break.
Appointments can be made with tutors on the Learning Center website (http://abington.psu.edu/learning-center).
PSU Abington Library Website: https://libraries.psu.edu/abington

Disabilities Accommodations: Penn State encourages academically qualified students with disabilities to take
advantage of its educational programs. If you have a disability and need accommodations for this class, please
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contact the disability liaison, and let me know how I can accommodate you this semester. You can find more
information here: http://abington.psu.edu/disability-services.

Academic Integrity: Please be honest with all of your work. Dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated in this
course. Dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating information or citations,
facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting
work of another person or work that you previously used without informing the instructor, tampering with the
academic work of other students, or having others produce any of your writing for you. If you have questions about
whether or not a collaboration with someone else is ethical or whether you should give credit to a source in your
work, you may clarify it with me. I recommend that you always write all of your own work and revise and edit it
yourself without having anyone else write or input revisions for you. This does not mean that you cannot speak
with others about your writing, but make sure that they are not doing any of your writing for you. For instance, you
may speak with writing tutors in the Learning Center or other students in peer review sessions in class, but these
collaborators should not be writing your work for you. They should only be talking with you about questions you
have and revisions you might consider making. I also recommend that you always cite sources you have consulted
as well as those you borrow from directly. Most plagiarism occurs as a result of carelessness, sloppiness,
procrastination, and/or panic, so care and timeliness will eliminate most of the risk. If I find that you have
plagiarized either intentionally or through carelessness or that you have relied on someone else for writing or
editing, I will assign a grade of zero to the submitted work, and you will not be permitted to revise it for another
grade. If you plagiarize a second time in the course, either intentionally or through carelessness, you will fail the
course. Note that I will report any and all instances of plagiarism to the University’s Judicial Affairs office for
further disciplinary action. This course complies with all sections of the Penn State Abington Academic Integrity
policy. For details on the Academic Integrity policy, please visit http://abington.psu.edu/academic-integrity-policy.

Statement on Harassment, Assault, Rape, Domestic Violence, Discrimination, and Hate Crimes: If you
encounter personal problems of any kind, please reach out for help. This specifically includes being the victim of
sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment based on sex or gender, discrimination based on race, religion, or
national origin, or hate speech of any kind. If you are the victim of any of these types of violations, immediately
call campus security (215-881-7575) or see the Director of Student Affairs (http://abington.psu.edu/student-affairs-
contacts). You may also seek out the campus nurse (Donna Monk, 215-881-7350, djm40@psu.edu); the campus
psychologist (Dr. Karen Gould, 215-881-7577, ksg17@psu.edu); or stop by the Wellness Center in 103 Lares any
time. You can call PSU’s Sexual Assault & Relationship Violence Hotline (800-550-7575) or the Victim Services
Center of Montgomery County’s 24-hour crisis hotline (888-521-0983). You can also access an overview
of Abington College’s full range of counseling services at http://abington.psu.edu/counseling-services.

The university’s code of conduct states that all students should act with personal integrity, respect other students’
dignity, rights, and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the
fruits of their efforts. Violations of this principle can result in a range of sanctions, from a warning to expulsion.
Note that Title IX makes it clear that violence and harassment based on sex and gender is a Civil Rights offense
subject to the same kinds of accountability and the same kinds of support applied to offenses against other protected
categories such as race, national origin, etc.

Statement on Equity: Our classroom must be an equitable space for students from diverse backgrounds, but the
realization of equity takes constant effort. It involves understanding that racist, sexist, or otherwise oppressive
statements are not limited to overt or intentional expressions of hatred that many of us would readily condemn. Our
society engrains subconscious prejudices in us, so we have to acknowledge the limits of our experiences, scrutinize
our opinions, question our assumptions, learn about those who have social identities that differ from our own, and
respect those around us via our words and actions. I ask that students speak up in class or come to me if something
in class makes them feel uncomfortable. If someone says something offensive, it is our job to talk about it in a
productive way and to learn from it—either in class or in a one-to-one teacher-student conference. Our goal is to
create an equitable environment for learning at our college and to create a more socially just world.
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Course Calendar:
All readings are from the Lannon & Gurak text unless otherwise specified.

Week Topic Assignments

Unit 1: Technical Manual

Text: Chapters 1-6,
1 (6/25-7/1) Introduction to Technical Communication,
Discussion Board #1
Technical Manual Assignment

Text: Chapters 14, 19-22,

Technical Definitions,
2 (7/2-7/8) Film: Money, Power & Wall Street (2012),
Specifications, Marketing Materials
Discussion Board #2

Unit 2: Letters and Resumes

Text: Chapters 15-18,
The Corporate Environment,
3 (7/9-7/15) Discussion Board #3,
Workplace Correspondence,
Technical Manual Due
Writing Effective Cover Letters & Resumes

Unit 3: Final Project Proposal

Text: Chapters 23 & 24,
Final Project Proposal Assignment,
4 (7/16-7/22) Discussion Board #4,
Topic Assessment, Proposal Examples,
Job Application Packet Due
Final Project Examples

Unit 4: Final Project

Final Project Assignment, Text: Chapters 7, 9-13
5 (7/23-7/29) Final Project Examples, Discussion Board #5,
Ethics, Economic and Final Project Proposals Due
Historical Perspectives

Final Project (cont.), Text: Chapter 26 & 27,

6 (7/30-8/3)
Course Conclusion Final Project Due