Dave Custer's 21W.783 Syllabus
Scientific and Engineering Writing for Phase II
Spring, 2004
The first meeting on Thursday, Feb 5, is in 4-270. Subsequent meetings are
in 2-139. All meetings occur from 3:00==>5:00 PM.
A grade of B- or better in this course satisfies Phase II of the writing
requirement.
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Instructor: Dave Custer
Office: 24-611, 2nd door, first desk on the left
Office Hours: probably Thursday evening, 5=>7 and by appointment
Phone: x3-7787, x3-2872(message)
E-mail: custer@mit.edu
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Subject Description:
21W.783 is a series of seminars focusing on
common writing problems faced by professional engineers and
scientists. Participants will tune up their writing skills and
prepare a pair of technical documents under the guidance of the
instructor. The writing assignments focus on a single topic of the
student's choosing, preferably one for which the necessary research
has been done, or is in the process of being done. (See Writing
Topics below.) In addition to the writing component, students will
deliver an oral presentation based on the written work.
Text and Other Instructional Materials:
No textbook is required; all materials are either photocopied or
available on the web.
Teaching Approach:
21W.783 is based on the
following premises:
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Writing is a process. Good writing is both a decent written
manuscript and the series of actions that goes
into producing a decent manuscript. Students will examine writing as
it appears on the page and determine how to produce good
writing through the processes of planning, organizing, writing,
review, editing, and rewriting.
-
Writing improves with practice. Feedback on this writing produces
better writing and better writing habits.
-
Writing is a collaborative activity. Writing is a collaboration
between the writer and the audience. Both expect cooperation from the
other. Without this cooperation, nothing is communicated. Writing
can also be a collaboration among writers working together on a common
task.
Grading:
Before you enroll, be sure you have time to attend the
classes. Students who miss more than one of the required class
sessions will not pass
this course. The proposal and the final paper constitute two thirds
of the final grade, roughly in proportion to their length. (Some
quality proposals may be only a single page in length.) Class
participation, homework and drafts make up the remaining one third.
As a rough measure, an A means that I would want the author writing
documents in my lab; a B means that, while not stellar, the document
is acceptable.
Timeliness is an important characteristic of good
writing; do not expect an A grade on a late paper.
Students who do not have a substantial draft of the final paper by
drop date must drop.
Assessment of Writing:
You will receive suggestions and
constructive criticism of your writing from in-class review during
writing workshops and from the instructor, who will evaluate each
assignment from the standpoint of its power and effectiveness, its
organization and coverage, its grammar and style, and its punctuation
and mechanics.
Writing Topics:
The writing assignments allow work in
installments toward the final goal of a formal report, article, or
other technical document. The topic should be chosen carefully. It
should be a topic with which you are familiar; you must have enough
depth and understanding of your subject matter to write an article.
You may choose the subject matter, the audience, and the format.
A thesis will not be accepted as your final report, nor will articles
of more than 15 pages. But you may use your thesis work to
develop a report that follows the format of 21W.783 requirements.
A second type of unacceptable document is a lab report that has
been or is to be turned in for a science or engineering class.
Such a document can be modified (extended) for 21W.783. Listed below
are some typical projects completed in previous 21W.783 classes:
-
A technical report on work conducted in a class or UROP at MIT.
-
An industrial report on work conducted through the MIT Co-op
program or summer employment.
-
A journal or trade magazine article on a specific research
project.
-
A hardware or software manual.
-
A semi-technical paper on a hobby or avocation.
Term Schedule and Writing Assignments:
This class meets six
times as shown below. You will turn in 4 major writing assignments:
both a rough and a final draft of a proposal and a report. Lesser
homework will also be due as assigned in class.
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Class 1. Introduction, the structure of documents
Class 2. Grammar and style (homework due)
2/19 Last possible day to join Dave's section of 21W.783
2/19 Draft proposal due
3/5 Add Date
Class 3. Proposal workshop (homework due)
3/4 Final proposal due
Class 4. Graphics
Class 5. Workshop (homework due)
4/13 Draft report due
4/22 Drop Date (drop dead date for 4/13 assignment)
Class 6. Oral presentations
5/7 Final report due.
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21W.783 is taught as a split class; after the initial meeting, the
class is broken down into two sections that meet on alternate
weeks. Oral presentations will occupy the final weeks of the semester;
the room and time schedules of the oral presentations will be
determined in April.
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Class 1 2 3 4 5 6
plan A 2/5 2/12 2/26 3/11 4/1 TBA
plan B 2/19 3/4 3/18 4/8 TBA
There is no class on Apr 15.
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author = custer@mit.edu
location = http://web.mit.edu/21w783/www/783syllabus.html
Spiral over to the 21W.783 notes.
Spiral up to the 21W.783
home page.
Spiral over to Dave's writing world page.