[ATTW-L] condensing a 15-16 week business and tech writing course to 5-6

Wed Mar 13 00:53:08 UTC 2019

Hi there--

Elaine Wisniewski's dissertation discussed that topic, and it has a hefty
lit review: https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/handle/2346/73125

Best,
--Chalice

Chalice Randazzo
Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator
Written Communications and Professional Writing Program
Eastern Michigan University

On Tue, Mar 12, 2019 at 8:17 PM Drake Gossi <drake.gossi at gmail.com> wrote:

> Does anyone have a reference for the extent to which professional
> engineers value communication skills?
>
> I'm beginning to write this course description, and I want to begin with
> something like, "Johnson and Johnson interviewed 100 managers who hire
> engineers, and. lo and behold, Johnson and Johnson found that 79% of
> managers selected "writing and communication" as one of the top three
> skills they look for in a potential employee."
>
> And, just as before, I invite words of wisdom in general and/or relevant
> assignments, syllabi, etc., in particular.
>
> Drake
>
> On Fri, Mar 8, 2019 at 5:09 AM Robert Irish <r.irish at utoronto.ca> wrote:
>
>> Hello Drake and all,
>>
>> For most business audiences, 5-6 weeks is a long commitment given the
>> workplace. I regularly teach engineers in this environment. I like the
>> advice to not condense but to build.
>> I make sure there’s lots of time for little exercises to reinforce ideas
>> and shift their practice from what’s old and familiar.
>>  I have them do homework exercises each week but try to leverage work
>> they’re already doing — so their homework is to send me an email they have
>> written using a particular concept, for example. It makes a lot of marking.
>> Generally, I focus on the following areas:
>> - audience and purpose
>> - argument, structuring it, using rhetorical patterns, etc
>> - organization and making structure visible
>> - paragraph and sentence-level style for efficiency
>> - how to revise strategically
>> I use a short textbook (my own) and I actually find they read it with
>> some diligence.
>> Good luck with it. I find working in industry informs my academic
>> teaching wonderfully.
>>
>> Rob Irish
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Mar 8, 2019, at 7:54 AM, Raymond Boxman <boxman at tauex.tau.ac.il>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Drake,
>>
>>
>>
>> For 16 years I taught a full semester course (26 frontal hours) on
>> scientific writing, to PhD students in the Faculty of Engineering, centered
>> on the “research report”. Approaching retirement, my wife Edith and I
>> prepared a 12 hour crash course on the same subject (see the link below).
>> There were two elements needed for the condensation. The most important was
>> selecting which material was truly essential, and the second was curtailing
>> class exercises and class discussion to a minimum.
>>
>>
>>
>> To succeed in your task, your “mind frame” should not be “how do I
>> condense?”—it will lead to failure. But rather you should start with the
>> time available as a given, and ask yourself “what are the 15 weeks of
>> material which is most important for the target audience?”  In other words,
>> think in terms of selection, not condensation.
>>
>>
>>
>> Good luck!
>>
>>
>>
>> Ray Boxman,
>>
>>
>>
>> *From the home of:*
>>
>> Prof. Emeritus Raymond (Reuven) Boxman
>>
>> School of Electrical Engineering
>>
>> Tel Aviv University
>>
>> Tel:  +972-3-640 7364
>>
>> Cell: +972 544 634 217
>>
>> Room 507, Computer and Software Engineering Building
>>
>> *http://www.eng.tau.ac.il/~boxman/index.html*
>> <http://www.eng.tau.ac.il/~boxman/index.html>
>>
>> CEO Clear Wave Ltd. – http://clrwave.com
>>
>> Scientific Writing Courses – http://communicating-science.com
>>
>>
>>
>> *My email server changed, but my address remains:*
>>
>> *boxman at eng.tau.ac.il <boxman at eng.tau.ac.il>*
>>
>> *Also mail sent to boxman at post.tau.ac.il <boxman at post.tau.ac.il> and
>> boxman at tauex.tau.ac.il <boxman at tauex.tau.ac.il> will get to me. *
>>
>> *Please do not send double messages.*
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* ATTW-L <attw-l-bounces at attw.org> *On Behalf Of *Drake Gossi
>> *Sent:* יום ה 07 מרץ 2019 23:37
>> *To:* attw-l at attw.org
>> *Subject:* [ATTW-L] condensing a 15-16 week business and tech writing
>> course to 5-6
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi there!
>>
>>
>>
>> I've been asked to design a 5-6 week business and tech writing course for
>> a non-academic audience.
>>
>>
>>
>> If anyone is willing to share his/her regular, 15-16 week business and
>> tech writing course syllabus, I will gladly take that, too, since it might
>> prove helpful as I begin to embark on this massive condensing job.
>>
>>
>>
>> But, more importantly, if anyone has already performed such a feat of
>> condensing, and, if you would be willing to share materials, that would
>> also be much appreciated.
>>
>>
>>
>> I will also happily take words of wisdom.
>>
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Drake
>>
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