English technical writing (4157000)

National Chung Cheng University, Electrical Engineering Department, 107-1

Time: Section 1: Wednesday 2:10-5:00 pm

Section 2: Thursday 2:10-5:00 pm
Room: EE B1 Room 023

Professor: Gerry Rau (饒 傑瑞)

Email: gerryrau@ccu.edu.tw, gerryrau@hotmail.com

TA: Section 1: Ling Hua Huang 黃齡嬅

Section 2: Steven Huang 黃崢亮

Overview
This course is primarily for Masters students in engineering. The contents and structure
have been modified to make it more useful to students who are in early stages of their
research. Doctoral students or advanced Master students who are ready to write a
complete article are encouraged to take Advanced English Technical Writing spring
semester.

In this course students will improve their ability to read, write, listen and speak in
English by:
1) analyzing the structure of exemplar articles in their field,
2) constructing and supporting arguments, which are basic to all technical writing,
3) reading at least 8 articles related to their thesis research,
4) writing at least one division of an article related to their thesis area,
5) doing three oral presentations on their work, and
6) commenting on the work of other students.
Plan on consulting with your advisor several times throughout the semester to make
sure you are going in the right direction.

The course will be conducted in English, in a participatory rather than lecture format, so
students will improve their English skills in all areas: reading, writing, listening and
speaking. It is, however, mainly an academic writing class, not a basic English class.

The course will use a ‘flipped classroom’ approach, where students will be expected to
read the textbook outside class and come to class with questions. Much of the writing
will be done in class, with supervision and assistance of the professor, TA, and fellow-
students. You will need to bring a laptop or other electronic device to class to work
on. You should expect to spend 3 hours in class and 3 hours outside class each week.

Pre-course assignment
Talk to your advisor and find at least one key reference related to your thesis area. Bring
it to class with you the first week (print or electronic version). In class you will learn
how to evaluate if it is a good exemplar article for you to follow in your writing.
Credit
This is a three credit course. Only one course in English writing may be counted toward
your degree in electrical engineering, but students may subsequently take the Advanced
Technical Writing course to further improve their English communication skills. Other
students, please check your department regulations.

Required Text
Rau, Gerald (2019) Writing for Engineering and Science Students: Staking your Claim
(Unpublished draft, under contract with Taylor & Francis)

Suggested Texts
Cargill, Margaret & O’Connor, Patrick (2013) Writing Scientific Research Articles:
Strategy and Steps, Second Edition. Wiley-Blackwell (T11 C276 2013)

Zobel, Justin (2014) Writing for Computer Science. Springer. (downloadable e-book)

Silyn-Roberts, Heather (2013) Writing for Science and Engineering: papers,

presentations and reports. Elsevier. (downloadable e-book)

Glasman-Deal, Hilary (2010) Science Research Writing: For Non-Native Speakers of

English. Imperial College Press. (PE1475 G548 2010)

Other materials
PowerPoint presentations summarizing each chapter and other supplementary
materials will be made available on the online Ecourse platform weekly.

Attendance and Homework

Attendance is important, since there will be classwork every week to give you practice
with particular skills and class is where you will get most of the comments on how to
improve your writing. It is not, however, part of the grade. If you have a legitimate
reason for not attending on a particular day please, as a courtesy, contact the professor
before the absence.

Please submit all written materials in MS Word. If you normally use LaTeX or some other
word processing software, you will need to convert it to Word (not pdf) for submission.
This allows me to use Track Changes to annotate drafts electronically.

Deadlines are important. I need time to look over the assignments and make comments
before class that week. Please submit your homework to the appropriate site on the E-
course platform by 12 midnight of the due date (Sunday for section 1, Monday for
section 2). Assignments submitted after midnight but before 8 AM will lose 25%.
Assignments submitted between 8 AM and 12 noon will lose 50%. Assignments received
more than 12 hours late will receive no credit.
Detailed Course Schedule
See page 4

Since this is the first time the course will be taught in a flipped classroom format, it is
likely that there will be some changes during the semester. It is also subject to change
based on the number and needs of the students.

Assignments:

Exemplar Article Description (40%)

The first week you will be asked to find 3 exemplar articles in your field. Over the next
six weeks you will analyze the structure of those articles so you learn how to read a
research article more efficiently. You will also do a class presentation on the structure of
an exemplar article in your field.

Three Exemplar Articles 5%

Basic claims 10%
Exemplar Article Description 20%
Exemplars, oral presentation 5%

Prewriting, Writing and Rewriting (30%)

You will write at least one division of a research article (depending on the stage of your
research), and revise it in stages. You will also do an oral presentation on the progress of
your writing.

Proposal 5%
First draft 10%
Revision 10%
Writing, oral presentation 5%

Final Oral Report and Final Draft (30%)

Your final draft should cite the eight articles you have read, showing how they relate to
your thesis research. You give a final oral presentation (10-12 minutes) on either:
1) your research, in a conference style presentation
2) the most important thing you learned from this course

Final Draft 20%

Final Oral Presentation 10%
English technical writing
National Chung Cheng University, Electrical Engineering Department, Fall 2018

Class Text Topic Classwork Homework*

1 1, 3.1-2 Fitting in, Course overview, Types of writers Three
9/12-13 standing out and advisors, Finding exemplars Exemplars
2 2 Making and Argument structure, Track changes Read 3 exemplars
9/19-20 supporting
claims
3 3 Recognizing the IMRD vs. IPTC, Recognizing and Basic claims
9/26-27 format and writing claims
claims
4 4 Establishing Exemplar article Introduction, Marked pdfs
10/3-4 importance and Research goal, Document
need navigation
Exemplar presentations (2)
10/10-11 Holiday, no class

5 5 Demonstrating Exemplar article Method/Process, Marked pdfs

10/17- continuity and Improving tables
18 novelty Exemplar presentations (2)
6 6 Analyzing Exemplar article last 2 divisions Marked pdfs
10/24- contribution Exemplar presentations (2)
25
7 7, 25 Support from Citing past research, Reference Exemplar
10/31- past research managers Description
11/1 Exemplar presentations (2)
8 8, 24 Support from Evaluating graphics +1 article
11/7-8 present research Exemplar presentations (2)
9 9, 15 Presenting your Evaluating organization, +1 article
11/14- work Preparing an oral presentation Proposal
15
10 10, 18 Principles of Avoiding plagiarism +1 article
11/21- writing Writing presentations (2)
22
11 19 Getting your Brainstorming, Linearizing First draft
11/28- ideas in order Writing presentations (2)
29
12 20, 21 Organizing the Coherence, Conciseness +1 article
12/5-6 argument Writing presentations (2)
13 22 Clarifying your Connection, Connotation Revision
12/12- claims Writing presentations (2)
13
14 23, 26 Adding the final Consistency, Correctness, +1 article
12/19- parts Collaboration, Title, Abstract
20 Writing presentations (2)
15 17 Requesting Email Final version
12/26- assistance
27
16 - Sharing your Final oral presentations (10)
1/2-3 understanding
1/9-10 Exam Week, no class

*Items in Bold to be uploaded to Ecourse by Sunday for Section 1, Monday for

Section 2. Others should be brought to class the following week.
English technical writing (Revised schedule)
National Chung Cheng University, Electrical Engineering Department, Fall 2018

Class Text Topic Classwork Homework*

1 1, 3.1-2 Fitting in, Course overview, Types of writers Three
9/12-13 standing out and advisors, Finding exemplars Exemplars
2 2 Making and Argument structure, Track changes Read 3 exemplars
9/19-20 supporting
claims
3 3 Recognizing the IMRD vs. IPTC, Recognizing and Basic claims
9/26-27 format and writing claims
claims
4 4 Establishing Exemplar article Introduction, Marked pdfs
10/3-4 importance and Research goal, Document
need navigation
Exemplar presentations (2)
5 5 Demonstrating Exemplar article Method/Process, Marked pdfs
10/10- continuity and Improving tables
11 novelty Exemplar presentations (2)
**
6 6 Analyzing Exemplar article last 2 divisions Marked pdfs
10/24- contribution Exemplar presentations (2)
25
10/24-25 No class (iGEM)
10/31-11/1 No class (iGEM)
7 7, 25 Support from Citing past research, Reference Exemplar
11/7-8 past research managers Description
Exemplar presentations (2)
8 8, 24 Support from Evaluating graphics +1 article
11/14- present research Exemplar presentations (2)
15
9 9, 15 Presenting your Evaluating organization, +1 article
11/21- work Preparing an oral presentation Proposal
22
10 10, 18 Principles of Avoiding plagiarism +1 article
11/28- writing Writing presentations (2)
29
11 19 Getting your Brainstorming, Linearizing First draft
12/5-6 ideas in order Writing presentations (2)
12 20, 21 Organizing the Coherence, Conciseness +1 article
12/12- argument Writing presentations (2)
13
13 22 Clarifying your Connection, Connotation Revision
12/19- claims Writing presentations (2)
20
14 23, 26 Adding the final Consistency, Correctness, +1 article
12/26- parts Collaboration, Title, Abstract
27 Writing presentations (2)
15 17 Requesting Email Final version
1/2-3 assistance
16 - Sharing your Final oral presentations (10)
1/9-10 understanding (Exam week)
*Items in Bold to be uploaded to Ecourse by Sunday for Section 1, Monday for
Section 2. Others should be brought to class the following week.

**Makeup day for 10/10 holiday to be determined by section 1 class.