Scientific Writing 100
Scientific Writing introduces the essentials of writing in a variety of standard formats related to the communication of results in the field of science. In addition, Scientific Writing takes up the essentials of good oral presentations of science-related matters. Learning Outcomes At the completion of this course, each student will be able to: * understand the requirements and write a research proposal * understand the requirements of a scientific paper * understand the requirements and write an abstract / summary * understand the requirements and write a literature review / formal critique * understand the requirements, and perform an oral presentation based on research Required Textbook Markel, Mike. Technical Communication (9th edition). (New York: Bedford, 2010) Supplemental Textbooks Booth, V. (2007). Communicating in science: Writing a scientific paper and speaking at scientific meetings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rosenberg, B. J. (2004). Technical writing for engineers and scientists. Boston: Addison_Wesley. Swales, J. M. & Feak, C. B. (2005). Academic writing for graduate students: A course for nonnative speakers of English. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. Tsi Yang, J (2008). An outline of scientific writing: For researchers with English as a foreign language. Singapore: World Science. Weiss, E.H. (1999). Writing remedies: Practical exercises for technical writing. New York: Oryx Press. Course Requirements and Evaluation Participation & homework: 10% Quizzes 15% Written Assignments 35% Oral Presentations 10% Midterm Exam: 15% Final Exam: 15% Writing Assignments *Summary *Critique *Research Proposal COURSE SYLLABUS
*Grammatical Problems *References in APA Format
Week Week 1
Quizzes / Assignme n ts / Exams / in- Class exercises Introductions Writing Process Technical Communications
Group and individual activities Reading for next week: Chapters 1-3
Week 2
Chapter 1. Introduction to Technical Communication What is technical writing Measures Of Excellence
Week 2 homework: Chapter 1 – 3 review questions and definitions
Chapter 2. Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations
Ethical obligations, law and codes of conduct Writing emails Chapter 3. Writing Technical Documents Audience and Purpose Organizational Patterns Writing academic summaries Week 3
Chapter 5. Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose Chapte r 7. Organizing Your Informa ti on Chapte r 11. Designing Docume n ts and Web Sites
Reading for next week : Chapters 5, 7 and 11 Chapter Review Quiz 1 Week 3 homework: Chapter 5, 7 & 11 review questions and definitions Assignment Due: Academic Summary Reading for next week: Chapter 10 & 9
Week 4
Chapter 10. Writing Effective Sentences Technical writing Common Grammar Errors Sentence Structure Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents Paragraph Structure Descriptive Writing
Week 5
Reading Academic articles Preparing literature reviews / academic critiques
Chapter Review Quiz 2 Week 4 homework: Chapter 10 & 9 review questions and definitions
Group formation & article critique selection Chapter Review Quiz 3 Assignment Due: Grammatical Problems Reading for next week: Chapter 6 and Appendix A and B
Week 6
Chapter 6. Researching Your Subject Researching Plagiarism APA Documentation
Week 6 homework: Chapter 6 review questions and definitions
Assignment Due: Article Critique
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Midterm week Review
Midte r m Reading for next week: Chapter 8 and 16
Chapte r 8. Communica ti ng Persuasively Persuasive Writing Preparing research proposal topic Research questions Chapte r 16. Writing Proposals Preparing research proposals
Week 8 homework: Chapter 8 & 16 review questions and definitions & Research proposal topic & research preparation
Chapter 18. Writing Lab Reports
Reading for next week: Chapter 18 Assignment Due: Research pre-proposal
Structure of the Scientific Paper Preparing the Introduction Section Week 9 homework: Introduction Section finished this week Week 10
Week 11
Structure of the Scientific Paper Preparing the methods section
Week 10 homework: Methods section finished this week
Structure of the Scientific Paper Preparing Results section Preparing Discussion section
Week 11 homework: Results section finished this week
Revision and Editing Strategies
Discussion section finished this week Reading for next week: Chapter 21
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Chapter 21. Making Oral Presentations Making Oral Presentations Structure of the Scientific Paper Abstracts
Week 12 homework: Oral presentation preparation & Abstract finished this week
Oral Presentations
Individual Presentations on Proposals
Final Exam Review
Assignment DUE: Final Scientific Research Proposal
Final Exam
Your instructor reserves the right to make any necessary changes to the above syllabus.