English 3820 Scientific Writing

Section 001 meets MWF in Bate 2016 at 9 o'clock
 

Tentative Syllabus for Spring Semester 2006

Hal Snyder's Tentative Daily Syllabus
     

Date	Topic	Reading	Remarks/Assignments
#1 Jan. 6	Introduction & Overview; Grades; Student Fact Sheets; Sentence Types; Memorize This
#2 Jan. 9-11-13	Students Intros		Continued from week #1; Excuse Notes; Spongebob Squarepants;
#3 Jan. 16-18-20	Introduce Unit #1	WITS Preface & Ch 2	No Class Jan. 16  (State Holiday); Forum Analysis; Assignment #1 (due 2/6)
#4 Jan. 23-25-27	Disagreements in Science	WITS Ch 1& Ch 10 (249-253)	interviews
#5 Jan. 30-Feb. 1-3	Forum Analysis;	TBA	Form Analysis; workshop for Assignment #1 (draft due 2/1) Messages
#6 Feb. 6-8-10	Introduce Unit #2: IMRAD Format	WITS Ch 3	Assignment #1 (Forum Analysis) due; Assignment #2 Lit Review (due 3/6); Periodicals; Find and photocopy an article; journal observations; Research Topics; Unit #2 Notes
#7 Feb. 13-15-17	Materials & Methods; Conferences/Research; Planning Assignment #2; Discuss Journals	WITS Ch 4	Formulating a research topic and search terms
#8 Feb. 20-22-24	Results; research	WITS (236-248)	Presentation exercise;
#9 Feb. 27 & March 1-3	Conferences/Research	TBA	Conferences
#10 March 6-8-10	Introduce Unit #3; Audience & Current Events	WITS 8.2 (182-186); WITS 8.3-8.9 (189-199)	Assignment #2 due; Assignment #3 Evaluative Report (due 4/3); Notes
#11 March 13-15-17	Spring	Break	No class all week
#12 March 20-22-24	Document Analysis	TBA	(Early Registration for Summer & Fall  semesters 2007); Read USDA & Taubes examples; Notes;
#13 March 27-29-31	Workshop/Conferences	TBA	Draft of Assignment #3 (due 4/3)
#14 April 3-5-7	Introduce Unit #4	TBA	Assignment #3 due; Assignment #4 Research Presentation (due 4/24); Notes; project proposals (due 4/10)
#15 April 10-12-14	Project Proposals; Document Design	TBA	Situation, Content & Design;  Project Rationale; No Class April 14 (State Holiday)
#16 April 17-19-21	Production Workshop	TBA	Assignment #4 due (4/24)
#17 April 24	Review	TBA	Assignment #4 due
May 3 (Wednesday)	Final Exam		0800-1030

Welcome

Welcome to English 3820 Scientific Writing. This course  is designed to give students practical experience in developing the skills they will need to apply their scientific writing skills once they leave the university setting.

This semester, my office (Bate #2115) hours are 1000-1200 Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays (but I'm also available 24/7 via e-mail (if you need to contact me on weekends, e-mail me in Newport).

Required Textbooks

Penrose, Ann M., and Stephen B. Katz. Writing in the Sciences: Exploring Conventions of Scientific Discourse. 2^nd ed. New York: St. Martin’s, 2004.

Course Description

This is a course in writing for the sciences. You will learn to research, write, and revise several document types that are common in the sciences. You will be asked to identify scientific research topics that interest you, to read specialized scientific material on those topics, and to write about that material. You will also learn to use discipline-specific science resources and to master scientific communication techniques, including techniques of written and visual communication.

Policies

• Attendance Policy
• Cell Phone Policy
• Participation
• Plagiarism

Attendance Policy

Because this course is built on a building-block format, in which each assignment builds upon the one before and prepares students for the assignment to follow, attendance is essential.

Although "life's little problems" often come up at the darnednest times, students are expected to be in class on time, every time, for all the time allotted to this course because it is in the classroom that information essential for the successful completion of this course is presented. However, if circumstances require your presence elsewhere, you are still responsible for material presented in class. If you anticipate any absences, please see me before hand.

Students will be rewarded for their studentship, which includes appropriate attendance, meeting for conferences, and active participation.

Cell Phone Policy

Don’t bring your cell phone to class. If you forget and bring your cell phone to class, turn it off. If you bring it to class and forget to turn it off, and the damn thing rings, your cell phone will magically become my “new” cell phone. If you don’t like this policy, don’t bring your cell phone to class with you. The best way for you to not lose (i.e., keep) your cell phone is this: don’t bring your cell phone to class!

Participation

Class participation is an important element of the learning process, and students are expected to feel free to freely and openly discuss the subject at hand. Since participation demonstrates (at least in part) your preparedness for each class, you are expected to:

• Participate in class discussions and honor the Honor Code (don't plagiarize!).
• Develop and maintain a sense of professionalism and decorum at all times (by now, students should be serious about developing some degree of professionalism).
• Be honest--don't try to B. S. me.

Plagiarism

In the past, I have encouraged students to review their assignments as they prepare for future assignments. In order to do this, students necessarily have to have each assignment returned to them. Some students have allowed their friends (fellow members of clubs, fraternities, or sororities, not to mention those they are dating or their best bud) to make photocopies of their assignments (or worse yet) place their original, corrected copy in club/fraternity/sorority file).

Know this: such action violates the university's Honor Code and does a disservice to students who "copy the 'right' solution" from past assignments. Although former students have thought they'd help their friends, they have really harmed them (by robbing students of the opportunity to learn from their mistakes). The "real world" doesn't follow this unethical practice, and if I find that any of my students (either present or former) participate in this form of plagiarism (by either copying a completed assignment of a former students or by providing an assignment for you to copy) both students will be prosecuted to the fullest of my ability. This is not a warning; it's a promise.

Furthermore, the ECU Student Handbook defines plagiarism as "Copying the language, structure, ideas, and/or thoughts of another and adopting some as one's own original work." Be aware that the writing you do in this course must be your own work and, primarily, your own words. It is okay to incorporate the words of others from articles, essays, and interviews as evidence to support your ideas, but when you do this, you should be sure to cite your sources appropriately. We will talk about documentation and citations during this course. Penalties for plagiarism are severe--the can include failing this course, suspension, or even expulsion from the university, so be sure to see me about any doubts you may have before you turn in an assignment. You can access the student handbook at http://www.ecu.edu/studenthandbook/III.htm.

Grades

Because this class is intended to prepare students for scientific writing in the workplace, the following criteria apply to grades:

Unless otherwise indicated, this class will use a 10 point scale (90-100=A; 80-89=B; 70-79=C; 69 or below=F).

Assignments

• General Remarks
• East Carolina University and the Americans with Disabilities Act
• Format Standards
• Late Assignments
• Online Matters
• Submitting Assignments
• Summary of Assignments

General Remarks

Please notice that your fees for this semester include a Computer & Technology Fee, which entitles you to any empty seat at most of the computer labs located around campus. Although some labs are restricted (the BVTE Lab is reserved for BVTE students, the Writing Lab is reserved for freshman composition students, etc.), most students use the lab in Austin. For an up-to-date list of lab locations, visit http://www.ecu.edu/itc/lab/.

Also, it's a pretty good idea to keep a backup copy of everything you write. You'll need a 3.5" DS/HD (1.44 MB) "floppy" or a USB flash drive, and these are available at the bookstores.

East Carolina University and the Americans with Disabilities Act

East Carolina University seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students requesting accommodations based on a covered disability must go to the Department for Disability Support Services, Brewster A-114, to verify the disability before any accommodations can occur. The telephone number is 252-328-6799.

Format Standards

A professional appearance establishes any writer's credibility and improves reader understanding; thus, all written work submitted for evaluation should follow the criteria below:

• Use 20 lb., white, bond paper (or whatever paper is available for printers in the various campus writing labs).
• Maintain a 1-inch margin (top, bottom, left, and right margins).
• Printed text should be dark and clear but without smears and smudges (if a dot matrix printer is used, make sure to print in the letter-quality mode).

Late Assignments

Online Matters

Students should visit http://personal.ecu.edu/snyderh/Messages/studinfo.html often, especially during inclimate weather.

From time to time, some students encounter a printer problem. If you have a paper due and you develop a printer problem, e-mail yourself and attach the paper to your message. Go to the Writing Lab (Bate 2005), check your e-mail, open your attachment, and print it out on their printer.

Submitting Assignments

• Turning it in at the end of the class when it is due, or
• Delivering to the instructor (or his office) by the end of the day the assignment is due; actually if it's in the box by my door by the beginning of the next class day, that'll be okay, too (but remember that I get here around 7:00 a.m.).

Some students may encounter a "printer" problem just before an assignment is due. If this should happen to you, send yourself an e-mail and attach the assignment. Go to the Writing Lab (Bate 2005), check your e-mail, open your attachment, and print it out on their printer--then you can submit your assignment(s) on a timely basis.

Do NOT e-mail me an assignment. Under no circumstances will an assignment be accepted after it has been critiqued in class.

Course Objectives

During this course, students will have the opportunity to:

• Develop an understanding of common practices in a scientific discipline

• Determine how scientific “articles” are organized and developed

• Examine the impact of science in the modern world 

• Demonstrate mastery of  grammar, rhetoric, and usage of the American English language

By the end of the semester, you will be able to:

• interpret and produce several common types of science documents
• read scientific research carefully and critically
• evaluate others' uses of scientific evidence and arguments
• select, use, and document research resources
• accept and give just criticism to peers

In order to do this, students are expected to acquire the ability to:

• Research a specific scientific discipline (primary and secondary sources)
• Intelligently set up, conduct, and report on an interview of a scientific practitioner
• Write a review of scientific articles on a scientific topic
• Present findings to an audience of peers
• Master grammar, rhetoric, and usage of the American English language

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Created May 1, 2000  Updated April 24, 2006