EEC 414/503 - Writing in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Cleveland State University

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Fall 2011

Textbook: Technical Communication, 9th edition, by Mike Markel

Recommended References:

The Elements of Style, by Oliver Strunk

Guide to Grammar and Style, by Jack Lynch

The King’s English, by Henry Fowler

The Chicago Manual of Style, by University Of Chicago Press

The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, by Allan Siegal and William Connolly

Prerequisites: Students enrolled in this course must be concurrently enrolled in another EEC course, referred to in this syllabus as a content-based course. The content-based course must be a course other than a lab course, Senior Design, Graduate Seminar, Electrical Engineering Internship, Master’s Thesis, Doctoral Research, or Doctoral Dissertation. This concurrent enrollment requirement can be waived with the permission of the instructor.

Instructor Contract: After registering for this course, students must obtain a signed agreement certifying that the instructor of the content-based course will help grade the reports required for this course. The signed agreement is turned in to the course instructor as one of the homework assignments.

Goals and Objectives: This course is designed to enhance the ability of students to write effectively on topics within the discipline of electrical and computer engineering. This course may be taken twice by graduate students for credit.

Assignments:

· Signed Agreement: The topic covered in the reports must be approved by the instructor of the content-based course.

· Homework: Homework assignments are available at http://academic.csuohio.edu/simond/courses/writing/homework.html, and due dates are given in the course schedule below. Expect to work two hours outside of class for every one hour in class. Homework assignments must be handed in to the instructor at the start of class on the due date in hard-copy format, except as noted below. Email submissions will not be accepted.

· On-Line Submissions: The following assignments must be submitted at www.turnitin.com. Note that the deadlines for these assignments are enforced by the turnitin web site, and so late submissions cannot be accepted.

§ Slides for oral presentation

§ Job application (cover letter and resume)

§ Report Version A - The student will submit the report to the writing course instructor and to the instructor of the content-based course, who will grade it according to the guidelines in the signed agreement. The report must also be submitted to the content-based course instructor using the method preferred by that instructor (e.g., hard copy or email).

§ Proposal - Students will submit a research proposal on a topic of their own choosing. The proposal format must follow specific proposal format guidelines.

§ Report Version B - The student will submit the report to the writing course instructor and to the instructor of the accompanying content-based course, who will grade it according to the guidelines in the signed agreement. The report must also be submitted to the content-based course instructor using the method preferred by that instructor (e.g., hard copy or email).

· Turnitin Class ID and Password: “2806931” and “writing”

Turnitin File Names: The name of the files submitted to www.turnitin.com should be in the format [LastName][FirstName][Assignment], where [Assignment] is either:

· “Slides” for the presentation slides

· “Application” for the cover letter and resume

· “VersionA” for version A of the report

· “Proposal” for the proposal

· “VersionB” for version B of the report

For example, Joe Schmoe’s submissions might be uploaded with the following file names:

· SchmoeJoeSlides.ppt

· SchmoeJoeApplication.pdf

· SchmoeJoeVersionA.pdf

· SchmoeJoeProposal.doc

· SchmoeJoeVersionB.docx

Cheating:

See www.csuohio.edu/engineering/ece/docs/Ethics%20Policy.doc for the ECE Department’s Ethics Policy.

Grading Criteria:

20% Homework and participation (minimum 50% required to pass the course)

15% Report Version A (minimum 50% required to pass the course)

15% Proposal (minimum 50% required to pass the course)

15% Oral presentation and slides (minimum 50% required to pass the course)

20% Report Version B (minimum 50% required to pass the course)

15% Final exam (open book and open notes, but no electronic devices are allowed)

Grading scale:

A	93–100
A minus	90–92
B plus	87–89
B	83–86
B minus	80–82
C plus	77–79
C	70–76
D	60–69

Class Place and Time:

SH ???????

T Th, 1:00–1:50

Instructor:	Dan Simon
	Phone:	216-687-5407
	Fax:	216-687-5405
	Email address:	d.j.simon@csuohio.edu
	Web site:	http://academic.csuohio.edu/simond/

	Course web site:	http://academic.csuohio.edu/simond/courses/writing
	Office:	Stilwell Hall 343
	Lab:	Stilwell Hall 310
	Office Hours:	T Th, 2:00-4:00

Course Schedule:

Week	Date	Class Activity	Course Material	Homework Due
1	Tues. Aug. 30	Lecture 1: Introduction	Chapter 1
1	Thurs. Sep. 1	Lecture 1 (continued): Introduction	Chapter 1
2	Tues. Sep. 6	Discussion		Homework 1
2	Thurs. Sep. 8	Lecture 2: Ethics	Chapter 2
3	Tues. Sep. 13	Discussion		Homework 2
3	Thurs. Sep. 15	Lecture 3: The Writing Process and Writing Effective Sentences	Chapters 3, 10
4	Tues. Sep. 20	Lecture 3 (continued): The Writing Process and Writing Effective Sentences	Chapters 3, 10	Homework 3: Instructor Contract
4	Thurs. Sep. 22	Discussion		Homework 4
5	Tues. Sep. 27	Lecture 4: Writing Structure and Style	Chapters 7, 9
5	Thurs. Sep. 29	Discussion		Homework 5
6	Tues. Oct. 4	Lecture 5: Graphics and Tables	Chapter 12
6	Thurs. Oct. 6	Discussion		Homework 6
7	Tues. Oct. 11	Lecture 6: Oral Presentations	Chapter 21
7	Thurs. Oct. 13	Discussion		Homework 7
8	Tues. Oct. 18	Lecture 7: Letters, Memos, Emails	Chapter 14
8	Thurs. Oct. 20	Discussion		Homework 8 Presentation Slides
9	Tues. Oct. 25	Lecture 8: Job Applications	Chapter 15
9	Thurs. Oct. 27	Discussion		Homework 9 Report Version A
10	Tues Nov. 1	Lecture 9: Proposals	Chapter 16
10	Thurs Nov. 3	Lecture 10: Research	Chapter 6, Research references
11	Tues. Nov. 8	Discussion		Homework 10 Job Application
11	Thurs. Nov. 8	Oral presentations		Homework 11
12	Tues. Nov. 15	Oral presentations
12	Thurs. Nov. 17	Oral Presentations		Homework 12 Proposal
13	Tues. Nov. 22	Oral Presentations
13	Thurs. Nov. 24	Holiday
14	Tues. Nov. 29	Oral Presentations		Homework 13 Report Version B
14	Thurs. Dec. 1	Oral Presentations
15	Tues. Dec. 6	Oral Presentations
15	Thurs. Dec. 8	Lecture 11: Technical Typesetting	Lecture11.zip
16	Tues. Dec. 13	Final Exam 1:00-3:00
16	Thurs. Dec. 15	No Class

Research References:

How to do research, by Dan Simon - published as Research in the balance (7.2 MB)

You and your research, by Richard Hamming

Hints on Writing Technical Papers and Making Presentations, by Victor Li

Sample Research Proposals:

Electrocardiology proposal

Biogeography proposal

Professor Simon’s Home Page

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Cleveland State University

Last Revised: August 17, 2011