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ENGR 200W: Engineering Reports and Graduate Research
(for Engineering Graduate Students)
All graduate students at SJSU (in all majors) must meet the "competency in written
English" (GWAR) requirement. ENGR 200W meets this requirement.
SPRING 2014 SYLLABUS
Dr. Jeanne Linsdell, Director, Technical Communication, College of Engineering
This course meets the Graduate requirement for technical writing, exposing the student to
a variety of technical writing formats, as well as providing help in the beginning process
of writing the Masters Thesis or Project. For those students who have not yet selected a
topic for their thesis or project, they will apply the same skills by writing a Literature
Review and Introduction for a trial project.
Days/Time/Location: Wednesdays 7:30 - 10:15am in engineering room 394
Required Reading:
Markel, Michael (2012). Technical Communication (10th edition).
Bedford/St.Martins.
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:25-10:25am Room 485 (G)
Wednesdays 10:20-11:20 408-924-3871
Early birds: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays 6:50-7:20am
Also by appointment
Email 24/7 JeanneLinsdell@aol.com
Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/COEENGR200W/
Visit our Yahoo Group for class handouts, support material, and announcements: (An
email invite will arrive in your mailbox, or contact JeanneLinsdell@aol.com for an
invite.)
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This 3-unit course, Engineering Reports and Graduate Research, will better prepare
students for the writing skills that will transfer readily to their advanced professional
needs. We examine different technical writing demands and research techniques,
learning to always focus on purpose, scope, and audience. A key objective is to assist
students to identify a significant engineering problem, review previous engineering
research, analyze the problem, generate findings from the analysis, draw conclusions, and
make recommendations. Research methodologies that are needed for the project/thesis
and later in industry for engineering problem solving are a big part of this course.
Plagiarism and copyright issues are addressed in detail, with practice in proper
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documentation, using the format for footnotes and references required in SJSU graduate
work.
ENGR200W provides help in the beginning process of writing the Masters Thesis or
Project. For those students who have not yet selected a topic for their thesis or project,
they will apply the same skills by writing a Literature Review and Introduction for a
trial project. The research and writing for this class do not have to be directly applied
to your project/thesis, but you will want to discuss the long-term plan of your
project/thesis with your graduate advisor.
SJSU senate policy S12-3 requires the university to be compliant with the
Federal Regulation of the definition of the credit hour:
Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit
of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours
per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or
preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships,
labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload
expectations as described in the syllabus.
ENGR 200W COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
[Every semester the ENGR 200W course curriculum is developed to prepare students for
the writing and research skills that will transfer readily to their master's project and
advanced professional needs.]
CLO#1 Students should be able to write using a variety of technical writing formats.
CLO#2 Students should be able to compose with a clear focus on purpose, scope,
audience.
CLO#3 Students should be able to properly document and provide accurately formatted
references.
CLO#4 Students should be able to locate and analyze information using a variety of
research techniques (e.g., interviews, library, online searches).
CLO#5 Students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the initial planning,
brainstorming, and organizing of a masters project.
ENGR 200W 2014 FOCUSED STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES
[Each semester we highlight three specific areas where graduate students have been
identified to need improvement.]
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SLO A Students organizational skills should improve in writing and speaking.
SLO B Students shall demonstrate the ability to follow directions in written
assignments.
SLO C Students should be able to demonstrate technical writing that uses correct
grammar (syntax, mechanics, parallelism, language rules) at a master's level of
sophistication.
Sample Course Topics:
Writing Topics Include Other Topics
Technical Description Social Responsibility/Ethics
Compare and Contrast Copyright Issues
Memos Communicating in the global arena
Good/Bad News Letters
Lab Report Oral Presentations
Technical Proposal PowerPoint Skills
Progress Reports
Incident Report
Feasibility Report Research Methodology Topics
Trip/Conference Report Methods and limits of scientific research
Activity Report Science vs. pseudoscience
Environmental Impact Reports Science and critical thinking
Task Report Library resources
Process Explanation Internet resources
Request for ... Professional journals
Promotional Pieces Gantt Charts
Executive Summary/Abstract
Letter of Transmittal
Technical Instructions Masters Projects/Theses
Interviewing Techniques Department and GS&R guidelines
Developing Visual Aids Documentation
Writing to a Diverse Audience
Diversity:
Upon successful completion of the course requirements, the student will demonstrate
awareness and sensitivity to age, gender, ethnocultural, disability, and other
individual/unique differences as they relate to engineering and workplace
communications.
Campus policy in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act:
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you
need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an
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appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential
Directive 97-03 requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must
register with DRC to establish a record of their disability.
PLAGIARISM
What is Plagiarism? Plagiarism is using others' ideas and words without clearly
acknowledging the source of that information. Sometimes it is tempting to copy other
people's ideas from the Internet, textbooks, magazines, lectures, or even from other
student papers, incorporating them into our own writing. As a result, it is very important
that we give credit. If we dont give credit, we are taking these words and passing them
off as our own. This is plagiarism, which comes from a Latin word meaning a kidnapper
or thief.
How Can You Avoid Plagiarism?
To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you:
Use someone elses direct words (use quotation marks around exact words that
you are quotingand give source at end of quotation marks)
In the midst of Silicon Valley and all over the globe, SJSU engineers are designing
and building high impact innovations, with a particular focus on challenges to global
sustainability (Wei, 2011).
The full reference will be in the back of the report, using APA format.
Use someone elses ideas, in your words, that are not common knowledge
Through the Global Technology Initiative at SJSU, 25 students are selected each year
to travel for two weeks to India or China, all expenses paid by GTI (College of
Engineering, 2013). (Note this is not the exact words, so there are no quotation
marks.) The full reference and website will be in the back of the report, using APA
format.
Use specific statistics, graphs, drawings, that are not yours
San Jose State University is ranked 8th overall among the Wests top public
universities offering bachelors and masters degrees according to the 2013 edition of
"American's Best Colleges" (U.S. News & World Report, 2013).
Self work
One should cite his or her own (or co-authored) work. If your company has
copyrighted work that you or your team have written as part of your job, or you share
a patent, or have previously published material that you have written, credit must be
still given. There are times when permission from the company must also be given.
Please check with both your company and your instructor.
Papers with plagiarism cannot be rewritten for credit. Your Department
Chairperson will be notified. We will work on this in class. Remember, plagiarism is
a serious issue. Learning proper documentation is one of the key goals of ENGR200W.
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Academic integrity statement from the Office of Judicial Affairs:
Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State
University, and the Universitys Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in
all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to
the Office of Judicial Affairs. The policy on academic integrity can be found at
http://www2.sjsu.edu/senate/S04-12.pdf
Assignments: Assignments will include both in-class and out-of-class writing. There
will be well over 8,000 words assigned throughout the semester, providing frequent
practice and feedback. The final trial project is an individual (not a group) paper with a
minimum 3,000 words.
Regarding the Lab:
The evacuation plan for our classroom and lab is posted on the bulletin board.
Purge all of your files on the lab computer after each session.
In-class writings must be turned in at the end of the lab session.
Food and drink are forbidden in the lab.
All homework assignments and in-class writings must be done on computer and
submitted in 12-point font (industry standard for technical writing) on appropriate
paper.
Grading Policies:
Late Homework Assignments: Any homework turned in late will be lowered one full
letter grade. (Late is from immediately after the paper is collected in the class in
which it is due through one week.) Papers over a week late will not be accepted.
No excuses.
Lab Writing Make-ups: There is only one make-up for a missing in-class writing in
the lab.
Assignments are not accepted through email. Some assignments will also be
required to be sent to Turnitin.com
The formal oral presentation must be attempted, or the student will receive a No
Credit.
All homework assignments and in-class writings must be done on computer and
submitted in 12-point font (industry standard for technical writing).
Plagiarism is a serious academic dishonesty issue and is addressed above.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
The SJSU Writing Center is here to help you: http://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter/
LARC is now Peer Connections: http://peerconnections.sjsu.edu/index.html
The Purdue Online Writing Lab: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
APA Format: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUjhwGmhDrI
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The Graduate Studies Office Guidelines for Masters Theses:
New: http://www.sjsu.edu/gradstudies/docs/thesis_guidelines.pdf
The Chemical and Materials Engineering project/thesis guidelines are available
online:
http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/cme/Student_Resources/Advising/CMEThesisGuidelines.p
df
(You will notice on page 1 that it is to be used in conjunction with the Graduate
Studies and Research guidelines.)
Contacting Instructors after the Semester Is Over:
After the semester is over, you might have a need to contact the instructor to discuss any
number of items. These include your grade, assignments that you believe might not have
been recorded by the instructor, and so forth. Students should resolve questions or issues
about course work and grades as soon as possible.
You should first try to contact the instructor using the information contained in the
Greensheet. Document your attempts to contact the instructor, such as cc-ing the
department chair/director on emails, leaving written messages in the instructors office
mail box, voice messages, and so forth. If you do not receive a response within a two-
week period, then contact the department chair/director and provide documentation of
your efforts to reach the instructor. Document your efforts to contact the department
chair/director. If you do not receive a response from the department chair/director within
two weeks, then contact the College of Engineering Associate Dean of Undergraduate
Studies for undergraduate courses, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies for graduate
courses. Document your attempts to contact the appropriate Associate Dean. If you do
not receive a response within two weeks, then contact the office of the Dean of the
College of Engineering. You should certainly receive a timely response from the Deans
office.
Please follow the above procedure for contacting your instructor. Failing to do so might
result in the information needed to address your question/issue becoming unavailable or
unreliable. Even if you need to leave the area immediately after completing your course
work, send some communication to the instructor and department that you wish to
discuss the matter at a later but not too distant tie in the future. Get confirmation that your
communication has been received.
Change of Grade:
The university now requires change of grade forms to be submitted within one semester
following the semester in which the course requiring a grade change was taken. For
example, a change of grade form for a course taken in Fall 2011 is due by the end of the
Spring 2012 semester. After the Spring 2012 semester, the university will not accept a
grade change for courses taken in Fall 2011 or earlier semesters. A change of grade form
for a course taken in Spring 2013 is due by the end of the Fall 2013 semester. After the
Fall 2013 semester, the university will not accept a grade change for courses taken in
Spring 2013 or earlier semesters.
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Grade changes will NOT be approved, under any circumstances, to change a students
pending or current probation or disqualification status. The only acceptable reasons for a
grade change is an instructors error in calculating a grade, or omission of graded course
assignments in the calculation of a students grade.
GRADING:
ENGR 200W is graded A, B, (+/-), C, or NC No Credit. There are no C-s, Ds, or Fs.
At the end of the last day of class, if a student has earned a C and would prefer a No
Credit, he or she must write an email to the instructor requesting the No Credit (otherwise
the C will be recorded). This must be hand delivered in class or sent via email; the
instructor will confirm receipt. After grades have been submitted, there cannot be a grade
change to a No Credit. The advantage of a No Credit is that it does not affect the
student's GPA as long as the course is retaken and a grade recorded within one year.
The course grade will be based upon the following weightings:
Assignment Percentage of Grade
Writing Exercises 20%
Industry write-ups* (five 2-page write-ups to be explained in class) 10
(Online sign-ups required following the Deans Symposium)
Resume and Formal Letter of Application/cover letter 05
Interview** 10
Analysis of a Professional Journal Article for Readability*** 10
Topic Memo and Gantt Chart 05
Introduction and some sections for Project/Thesis or Introduction
and Literature Review for a Trial Project 30
Formal Oral Presentation 05
Final exam 05
100%
*Silicon Valley Leaders Symposium
See the College of Engineering web site: http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/about/svls
"Since Fall 2002, the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering has hosted the
Silicon Valley Leaders Symposium (SVLS). The Symposium hosts industry and
technology leaders to talk about business and technology trends. It also features
prominent leaders who discuss broader societal and political issues that shape our life and
society." The symposia take place most Thursdays from 12:00pm to 1:00pm in the
Engineering building auditorium, ENG 189.
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Another option is the GreenTalks: http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/about/greentalk
Wednesdays from 12:00 to 1:00pm in the Engineering building auditorium, ENG 189.
**The interview will be with a professional engineer, no one on campus
(5-7 pages) A handout will be provided in class.
***For the journal article analysis, a handout will be provided in class.
King Library: A class library meeting with the Engineering Librarian will be
scheduled before this assignment is due. The Engineering
Librarians are also available to meet with you individually
throughout the semester.
Engineering Libraran Meng Xiong Liu: Mengxiong.Liu@sjsu.edu
Library: http://library.sjsu.edu/
Partial Schedule for SPRING 2014
January 29: First Day
Lecture: Syllabus and What Is Technical Writing?
Class exercise
February 5: Lecture: Grammar Review
Analyzing Your Purpose and Audience
Writing Informational Reports/Trip Reports/Activity Reports
Class exercise
February 12: Lecture: Writing Correspondence (such as letters, memos, emails)
Writing Job Application Materials
Lecture: Effective Sentences
Academic vs. Workplace Research
February 19: Due: Formal Letter of Application (Cover Letter) and
Resume
Planning, Organizing, Drafting, Revising Technical Documents
Library Research
Lecture: Primary and Secondary Research
February 26: Lecture: Ethical and Legal Considerations
Avoiding Plagiarism
Communication and Writing in Teams
March 5: Due: Analysis of a Professional Journal Article for
Readability (Documentation in APA or IEEE format)
This must be submitted to Turnitin.com, as well as a hard
copy in class.
See: Markel: Documentation/Appendices
Headings ("margin headings"): Markel: 206-208
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Lecture: Master's Projects and Master's Theses
Lecture: Proper Documentation, Part 1
Class Exercise
March 12: Trial Project Requirements
Interviewing Skills
Informative interview skills: Markel pp. 140-142
March 19: Due: Topic Memo and Gantt Chart* for Trial Project
*See http://www.ganttchart.com/Examples.html for samples
Lecture: Persuasive Writing
Writing Proposals
Planning activity
SPRING RECESS: MARCH 24 - MARCH 31
April 2: Due: Interview with a Professional
Informative interview skills: Markel pp. 140-142
This must be submitted to Turnitin.com, as well as a hard copy
submitted in class
Lecture: Evaluating Research
Introduce Trial Project, brief Memo, and Gantt Chart
Proper Documentation Part 2
Exercise: Progress Report
April 9: Lecture: Creating Graphics
Lecture: Writing Recommendation Reports
Exercise: Writing Technical Instructions
Lecture: Making Oral Presentations and Preparing Good
PowerPoint Slides
Review Editing and Proofreading
April 16: Due: Introduction and Literature Review for a Trial
Project
This must be submitted to Turnitin.com, as well as a hard
copy in class, and in APA format
Oral Presentations
April 23: Oral Presentations continued
April 30: Oral Presentations/Review/Make-up in-class writing last half of
class period
May 7: Final Exam
