EN109 - Writing for Technology and Business
Course Description
Course Outcomes
Common Course Requirements
Other Course Information
Department Syllabus Template
Course Description
EN109 Writing for Technology and Business helps students develop and practice rhetorical methods for effective analysis and persuasive argumentation. Students write a variety of critical analyses, reports, research papers, and other documents. The course enables students to analyze information and processes in order to develop clear, effective, and applied college-level writing. Emphasis is on expository writing, including writing to different audiences and developing logical arguments with strong evidence and persuasive details. Students develop a substantial research project by devising a substantive research question, conducting scholarly research, and documenting information from outside sources.
EN109 is the curricular equivalent of EN102. It helps students develop advanced composition skills and apply them in academic essays as well as in document types used in the workplace. Students who plan careers in business, professional, and technical fields can learn to meet “real world” writing needs with standards of excellence practiced in the academic environment.
Catalogue Description
Designed to help students understand the processes and products associated with writing used in technology and business. Emphasis will be on the writing process, including writing to different audiences and supporting claims persuasively with appropriate evidence and detail. Students will write a variety of reports, documentation, and proposals, employing a range of stylistic options. The course will include an introduction to the rules for integrating visual aids into technical documents and a major research project focusing on developing an appropriate research question, conducting scholarly research, and incorporating information into writing with the proper conventions of citation.
PREREQUISITE: EN 101, EN 101A, or consent of department. Three hours each week.
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Collegewide Common Course Outcomes
Course Outcome
In order to pass EN 109, students will be able to:
- General Education competency: Communicating effectively in written language
- Outcome: Students will be able to integrate information from different types of secondary sources to support a thesis on a research topic.
- General Education competency: Quantitative literacy
- Outcome: Students will be able to analyze and interpret data from attributed sources to draw conclusions.
- Course specific: Using computer technology and software to produce documentation for various academic and professional settings.
- Outcome: Students will be able to select and use appropriate technology to design documents to reflect discipline standards of format and readability.
Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing:
- Summarize and analyze readings;
- Articulate and support a position in response to readings;
- Develop own ideas in relation to words and ideas of others;
Integrating Outside Words and Ideas:
- Incorporate words and ideas of others;
- Integrate information into essays by quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing;
- Demonstrate appropriate documentation procedures;
- Recognize and avoid plagiarism.
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Course Requirements
To pass EN109, students will be expected to:
- Write using the principles of communication for technical writing.
- Analyze and write to different audiences/discourse communities in different situations.
- Understand ethical considerations in the communication process.
- Draft, edit, and revise documents for presentation to specific audiences.
- Formulate and support a thesis, using persuasive, informative, and argumentative techniques.
- Employ advanced conceptual skills, including analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating, and formulating ideas.
- Use visual aids correctly and successfully in technical writing.
- Follow proper document formats and conventions of standard U.S. written English.
- Design a document for a specific audience.
- Understand and follow research processes to research a specific topic, use proper conventions for documenting secondary sources, and incorporate the findings of research and support a hypothesis by evaluating findings.
To acquire and demonstrate these skills, students will fulfill the following requirements:
- Regular reading and writing assignments that will include lessons in critical thinking and language.
- A research report of 6-10 typed pages or two shorter research papers documented in MLA or APA parenthetical citation format.
- At least five of the following:
- Feasibility report
- Problem analysis
- Research proposal with appropriate citations of secondary sources
- Status/ progress report
- Technical instructions
- Technical description
- Technical definition
- Resume
At least one of the above will involve analysis, synthesis, and evaluation; at least one will use argumentative and persuasive techniques responsibly, supporting claims and avoiding fallacies. At least one of the above assignments will be in the format of a memo or a business letter. Outlines will be required as appropriate.
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Other EN 109 Course Information
EN 109 Course Coordinator - Dr. Carol Malmi
Course Texts:
- Technical Communication 8th ed., Mike Markel (with e-book)
- Little Brown Handbook or a comparable college level handbook.
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