M

Jan. 12

Course introduction. After class, read P&K ch. 1 & 2. 

Ten questions assignment distributed.

Communicating to Non-Scientific Audiences

W

Jan. 14

Writing for public audiences: P&K ch. 8. Be prepared to discuss exercises 8.2 and 8.3 in class.

Ten questions assignment due (e-mail it to the class discussion list). Find a subject to interview for the task in P&K. p. 36 #2.

M

Jan. 19

Martin Luther King holiday. No classes.

W

Jan. 21

Continue with P&K ch. 8. Be prepared to discuss exercises 8.6, 8.15, and 8.16 in class. Read articles on lactose tolerance and genetics you will receive by e-mail: NY times article and

U of Maryland Press Release and

Original article in Nature Genetics

E-mail your response to P&K p. 36 #1 (introduction to the “business” of your field) to the class listserv and be prepared to discuss it in class.

Communicating to General Science Audiences

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Jan. 26

Finding the literature in your discipline: P&K ch. 4.3.
 

Begin discussion of organizational strategies: P&K ch. 3, pp. 40-56. Be prepared to discuss exercises 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4.

Last day for undergraduate students to select the S/U (satisfactory/unsatisfactory) option for a course or to change a course from S/U to a letter grade.

First graded short writing assignment due: P&K p. 36 #3. You may submit this in hard copy or as a .doc or an .rtf attachment to an e-mail to Dr. K (not to the class list). Undergraduates: 750 word minimum; graduates: 1000 word minimum. Begin working on the activity on p. 101, #3, as a preparation for your oral report and the second short writing assignment.

W

Jan. 28

Discuss oral presentations: P&K chs. 5.1-5.4. Be prepared to discuss exercise 5.3 in class.

M

Feb. 2

Discuss revision.
Common organizational strategies, continued. P&K ch. 3, pp. 57-82. Be prepared to discuss exercise 3.16, using three articles you’ve found for oral presentation #1.
Here are some tips on oral presentations.
Here are tips to help you pace an oral presentation.

Print out and bring to class the rubric for grading writing assignments in WRIT 566. Print out and bring to class the rubric for grading oral assignments in WRIT 566 and the self-assessment questions for oral presentation 1.

W

Feb. 4

Give oral presentation #1. Don’t forget to bring your standard-sized videotapes!

Topic: P&K p. 101, #4. Plan for this presentation to run 5-8 minutes, including questions. No visual aids are expected.

Principles and Techniques of Effective Writing in the Sciences and Technology

M

Feb. 9

Organization and coherence of large units. Gopen & Swan, "The Science of Scientific Writing."   I recommend printing the article out and taking copious notes so that we can discuss it in class. If this doesn't work, try http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/the-science-of-scientific-writing/1 and click the links to take you to the printer-friendly version.

Second graded short writing assignment: turn in the annotated bibliography required in P&K p. 37 #6 and the rhetorical analysis required in P&K p. 37 #7. You may submit this in hard copy or as a .doc or an .rtf attachment to an e-mail to Dr. K (not to the class list). Essay length is specified by the assignment.

W

Feb. 11

Class will not meet. Take the time to start reading and working on the Williams' reading and attached assignment. I will give each of you either a longish paragraph or two short paragraphs to use as lab experiments to try implementing the suggestions from the Williams' reading. You'll need to bring the results of your practice to class on Feb. 18.

E-mail assessment of first oral presentation due to Dr. K (not to the class list!)

M

Feb. 16

Lard: The Enemy of Concise Prose (with a short disquisition on passive voice). Guest lecturer, Dr. Dave Rankin, who requests that you review the following mini-videos before class:

http://www.winthrop.edu/universitycollege/Teaching%20Resources/HMXP/HMXP_Writing.aspx

Before class, read this memo from an irate manager at a major research facility. (Yes, it's real.)

W

Feb. 18

Achieving coherence and cohesion. (Readings from Joseph Williams' Style will be distributed in advance.) Instructions and SOPs. P&K ch. 7.

Practice on your assigned texts; bring both the original and your improved version to class.

Specific Genres of Scientific Communications

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Mar. 4

Discuss writing scientific and technical instructions. Be prepared to discuss exercises 7.3, 7.4 & 7.5 in class. Please look at this guide to writing and revising SOPs before class. If you want a giggle, skim the Department of Homeland Security's Guide to Writing SOP's (but don't print it out! You'll only encourage them!)

You might want to look at this guide to writing instructions. Review the third short graded writing assignment: P&K p. 174 #2.

M

Mar. 9

Discuss graphics and graphics for written presentations and papers. P&K ch. 5, 120-124. Be prepared to discuss figures 5.7 and 5.8 in class and be prepared to contrast the use of figures in 5.8 with the figures in the grant application that supported that research (the grant begins on p. 303). Discuss the Drawbacks of PowerPoint. Read Julia Keller's 2003 column  in the Chicago Tribune and Thomas Stewart's article in Fortune on how PowerPoint affects the way we think.

Here is today’s slideshow.  You might also want to look at a slideshow giving recommendations for slides in PowerPoint (not mine, but good). Do the activity recommended in P&K p. 123, next to last paragraph, for posters in your department or workplace.  Review the samples of bad graphics on these webpages: (1) http://www.lilt.ilstu.edu/gmklass/pos138/datadisplay/badchart.htm  (2) http://www.biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/ktosney/file/PostersHome.html (note that she has both positive and negative examples for each poster).  

W

Mar. 11

Discuss the classic "Dr. Fox Lecture" article from The Journal of Medical Education, 1973. Conceptualizing proposals and searching the literature: P&K ch. 4.3, 4.4, and 4.5. I will give out the midterm materials (which constitutes the fourth short writing assignment).

 Undergraduates: 750 word minimum; graduates: 1000 word minimum. Prospectus assignment will be distributed. Takehome midterm will be distributed.

R

Mar. 12

By 5 pm: Third short graded writing assignment due: P&K p. 174 #2. Make sure you submit a copy of the original instructions with your analysis. You may submit this in hard copy or as an .rtf attachment to an e-mail to Dr. K (not to the class list). Remember to upload it to www.turnitin.com.

M

March 16

Spring Break

W

March 18

Spring Break