New York City College of Technology (CUNY)
300 Jay Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
SYLLABUS
English Composition II
ENG 2575-OL51
Asynchronous Online
Summer 2020
Professor Aaron Barlow
Office: Contact via email
Office Hours: M/Tu/W/Th 10:00-2:30 and by appointment
abarlow@citytech.cuny.edu
Course Description:
Students communicate technical and scientific information to a variety of audiences through written and oral presentations using electronic media such as the Internet, Power Point and graphics programs. Students also analyze readings in science and technology, study technical writing models, and practice collaborative research and presentation.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Students will learn to identify and apply the fundamental concepts and methods of technical writing, exploring the reasons different texts evoke different responses from different audiences.
- Students will learn analyze needs, applying the concepts and methodologies of technical writing as they examine the relationships between creators, conveyors, and audiences.
- Students will learn to examine how audience needs in differing cultural contexts affects the development of technical-writing documents.
As a class, you will be creating a fictional company and much of its start-up documentation, including memo forms; a style sheet for all written communication; letterhead; logo; HR forms; website; product descriptions; business plan; protocols for emails, memos and letters; and more. You will be working in teams, assigning tasks and deadlines and organizing activities. At the end of the course, you will put all of the documents together online and in print for a comprehensive look at your company.
The product array you choose for your company does not need to be unitary, but you need to make sure your teams, if you divide into different divisions, coordinate and cooperate. There are numerous ways you can organize your teams. How you do that is up to you, as long as teamwork remains an underlying principle throughout the semester.
At the end of the semester, you and the class will have to present the company to potential investors, using whatever tools you deem appropriate.
Course Policies:
- Students will behave online in a mature, respectful manner. Be alert and engaged. Electronic devices may be used for communication with other students but should be logged and initial communication should be arranged through professor Barlow. Behaving counter to these guidelines could affect your grade.
- You will keep a log/journal of all of your activities, will participate in the class project.
- When you email Professor Barlow, the subject line should look like this: LastName ENG2575 OL51.
Required Text:
Technical Writing Coronavirus Challenge (available on OpenLab).
Grading:
- Research to be conducted and presented over the first half of the course will count for 25% of your grade.
- Participation includes working well in groups and responding to the work of others. It will count for 25% of your final grade.
- Activity Log/Journal will count for 25% of your grade.
- Class Project will count for 25% of your grade.
New York City College of Technology Policy on Academic Integrity
Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. The complete text of the College policy on Academic Integrity may be found in the catalog.
Accessibility Statement
City Tech is committed to supporting the educational goals of enrolled students with disabilities in the areas of enrollment, academic advisement, tutoring, assistive technologies and testing accommodations. If you have or think you may have a disability, you may be eligible for reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments as provided under applicable federal, state and city laws. You may also request services for temporary conditions or medical issues under certain circumstances. If you have questions about your eligibility or would like to seek accommodation services or academic adjustments, please contact the Center for Student Accessibility at 300 Jay Street room L-237, 718 260 5143 or http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/accessibility/.
SCHEDULE
You will be working on your own schedule, but you must coordinate with other students in the class and log all of your interactions. If you like, you may schedule real-time meetings with your team using phone or Zoom (or Google Hangouts or another app) but you must record or take notes on such meetings—and inform Professor Barlow of when these meetings occur (though he won’t join unless specifically invited). You should expect to be available to your team members through some form of electronic contact during at least six hours a week that your group determines. After the first week, you will be working pretty much on your own:
Week One:
The 1-2-4-All Challenge; identifying yourself; viewing, two a day, the parts of the Technical Writing Coronavirus Challenge; start keeping a log/journal of your activities including who you have been working with.
Week Two:
Working with classmates, develop a schedule for the rest of the month with benchmarks tailored to meet those put forward in the PowerPoint. Keep up you log/journal
Week Three:
By this point, you should have a good idea of how the rest of the semester is going to go. Email Professor Barlow with details of what you have been doing, attaching and drafts and detailing who you have been collaborating with.
Week Four:
Make sure that every other group is up to speed and check with individuals who have been falling behind.
Week Five:
Start preparing for the end of the semester. Not only with all of your products need to be ready but your log/journal will the in appropriate form for presentation to Professor Barlow, including details on the three of the four areas for your grade (the log/journal itself being the fourth. In other words, make sure the research you did is spelled out clearly, that your participation is mapped (including details on who you worked with), and that your contribution to the project is presented. Provide all projects to Professor Barlow or links.
