Specialized Communications for Technology Students

ENG 1133 D502 | TTh 4:00PM-5:15PM | G603

 

Professor Ellis

Office: Namm N-520

Contact: jellis@citytech.cuny.edu

Office Hours: W 4:00PM-5:00PM, Th 3:00PM-4:00PM, and by appointment

 

Class Description

Capable engineers and technologists are a dime-a-dozen. This class’ purpose is to offer you an opportunity to distinguish yourself among many otherwise qualified individuals by improving essential communication skills. Students will build job application portfolios, improve writing in a variety of formats for different audiences, research something important to their careers so as to have an important writing sample, and practice professional oral presentation skills based on research. This class is difficult in ways different than major-specific classes, but it is the challenge afforded by the intensive projects and weekly in-class writing assignments that develop your communications skills over time. Simply put, students who apply themselves to the class throughout the semester will develop ways of thinking and expressing that will place them above many of their peers in a competitive job market.

 

Learning Objectives and Prerequisites (See Separate Handout)

 

Required Resources

• For each class: a different printed magazine or newspaper article of interest to your studies and future career. Online sources are not permitted for this particular work.
• Notebook or loose-leaf US-letter-size paper (paper with torn fringe is unacceptable)
• Black or blue ink pen
• City Tech Student Email
• citytech.cuny.edu Account (requires student email address to setup)
• Office suite of applications to create DOCX, PPTX, and PDF documents
• Access to printer
• USB flash drive AND an online storage solution
• City Tech’s Ursula C. Schwerin Library, http://library.citytech.cuny.edu
• Purdue Online Writing Lab: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

 

Grade Distribution

Project 1: Job Application Portfolio	Create a portfolio of job application documents, including: a memo on the career that you seek, a memo on your program of study at City Tech preparing you for that career, a research memo on a company/job ad, a letter of application for that job, a skills-based resume for that job, and a chronological/work-experience resume for that job.	25%
Project 2: Research Paper	Following MLA format, write a 1500-2000-word research paper on a topic that is important to your studies and future career. This document should represent your engagement in a field of study and be included in your job application portfolio after the class is completed. All sources in your paper must be quoted and cited. There must be at least 10 quoted sources accessed through the library (databases, periodicals, books).	25%
Project 3: Research Presentation	After completing your research paper, you will have an opportunity to turn it into a 5-minute oral presentation supported by a PowerPoint slideshow. Your PowerPoint slideshow should balance text with images that support what you have to say. All images in your presentation must be made/taken by you. On the day of your presentation, you must be prepared with your PowerPoint saved on a flash drive and one other medium (e.g., cloud-based storage) and dressed in business casual attire.	25%
In-Class Writing	Be prepared to write in-class, online assignments and written assignments. Always bring a magazine (preferred) or newspaper (acceptable occasionally but not for all in-class writing assignments) with an article about something related to your studies and future career that you have read completely and underlined important, key sentences in. These readings that you choose will be the basis for the in-class writing assignments.	25%
Total		100%

 

Policy for Late Work

Assignments submitted late or exams taken late will incur a 10-point reduction for each day that they are late. However, no assignments will be accepted after the last day of class. If a student knows that work cannot be completed on time, he or she should contact me or visit my office hours to discuss.

 

Attendance and Lateness Policy

The expectation for successful and respectful college students is to arrive on time and attend all classes. The college permits students to miss 10% of a class (three absences) for whatever reason. In our class, each additional absence will reduce your final grade by 10 points (equivalent of a full letter grade). Missing too many classes will obviously result in failure of the class. Also, an absence does not excuse you from any assignments or exams. Use your absences wisely. Arriving late or leaving early will count as a full or partial absence depending on degree.

 

Required Format for Papers

All formal writing and citations should follow APA guidelines (see the Purdue OWL APA section for more information: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/). Remember in your research paper that quoting is far more persuasive than paraphrasing, and in either case, your use of others ideas or writing must be properly cited to give credit where credit is due and to maintain your own academic integrity.

 

College Policy on Academic Integrity

Students who work with information, ideas, and texts 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 CUNY 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.

 

Tentative Schedule

Week	Day	Date	Activities and Due Dates
1	T	Jan 31
	Th	Feb 2	Introduce Project 1: Job Application Portfolio
2	T	Feb 7	In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	Feb 9
3	T	Feb 14	In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	Feb 16
4	T	Feb 21	In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	Feb 23
5	T	Feb 28	In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	Mar 2
6	T	Mar 7	In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	Mar 9
7	T	Mar 14	Due: Project 1: Job Application Portfolio Introduce: Project 2: Research Paper In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	Mar 16
8	T	Mar 21	In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	Mar 23
9	T	Mar 28	In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	Mar 30
10	T	Apr 4	In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	Apr 6
11	T	Apr 11	Spring Recess
	Th	Apr 13	Spring Recess
12	T	Apr 18	Spring Recess
	Th	Apr 20	No class. Monday schedule.
13	T	Apr 25	In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	Apr 27
14	T	May 2	Due: Project 2: Research Paper Introduce: Project 3: Research Presentation In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	May 4
15	T	May 9	In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	May 11
16	T	May 16	In-Class Writing Exercise (bring article from newspaper or magazine relevant to your studies and career—online sources are not allowed)
	Th	May 18	Due: Project 3: Research Presentation
17	T	May 23
	Th	May 25