I. General Information
1. Course Title:
Practical Writing
2. Course Prefix & Number:
ENGL 1422
3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:
Credits: 3
Lecture Hours: 3
Lab Hours: 0
4. Course Description:
Students will learn to structure business correspondence, including memos, letters, executive summaries and e-mails. Longer reports will include proposals, mechanism reports, and multi-step, collaborative reports. Students will learn to represent information for different audiences, such as co-workers, the public and upper-level administration, and they will use media such as power point presentations to enhance their messages. Because writing is often collaborative, the course will emphasize working in groups, treating group members ethically, developing time lines for projects and dividing work within the group.
5. Placement Tests Required:
6. Prerequisite Courses:
ENGL 1422 - Practical Writing
There are no prerequisites for this course.
9. Co-requisite Courses:
ENGL 1422 - Practical Writing
There are no corequisites for this course.
II. Transfer and Articulation
1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:
Name of Institution
|
Course Number and Title
|
Credits
|
Alexandria Technical College
|
Engl 1460 Technical Writing
|
3
|
St. Cloud State
|
Engl 332 Writing in the professions
|
4
|
III. Course Purpose
2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:
- Goal 1 – Written and Oral Communication
- Goal 2 – Critical Thinking
IV. Learning Outcomes
1. College-Wide Outcomes
College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies |
Students will be able to: |
Demonstrate oral communication skills |
Students will do a minimum of two presentations. |
Demonstrate written communication skills |
The course will consist of many short written assignments and three or four longer reports. |
Demonstrate reading and listening skills |
Students will read a textbook and make presentations over the material. In small groups, students will listen to lectures and to one another in small group settings. |
Demonstrate interpersonal communication skills |
Students will work on a sustained, multi-step report in groups of three or four. In order to be successful, they will have to work together and communicate clearly. |
Apply abstract ideas to concrete situations |
Students will have to apply abstract ideas like “audience” and “effective communication” to their assignments. |
Utilize appropriate technology |
Students will have to select appropriate media for communicating their messages. |
Work as a team member to achieve shared goals |
Students will have to work in groups to divide responsibilities, develop an appropriate time-line and complete their reports. |
2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of
the course:
Expected Outcome
|
MnTC Goal Area
|
Select appropriate communication choices for specific audiences
|
1
|
Understand/demonstrate the writing and speaking process through invention, organization, drafting, revision, editing and presentation.
|
1
|
Use authority, point-of-view and individual voice and style in their writing and speaking
|
1
|
Employ syntax and usage appropriate to academic disciplines and the professional world
|
1
|
Participate effectively in groups with emphasis on listening, critical and reflective thinking and responding.
|
1
|
Recognize and articulate the value assumptions which underlie and affect decisions, interpretations, analyses and evaluations made by ourselves and others.
|
2
|
Gather factual information and apply it to a given problem in a manner that is relevant, clear, comprehensive and conscious of possible bias in the information selected.
|
2
|
Imagine and seek out a variety of possible goals, assumptions, interpretations, or perspectives which can give alternative meanings or solutions to given situations or problems.
|
2
|
V. Topical Outline
Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.
1. Lecture Sessions
Unit 1. Introduction to effective communication and terms associated with effective writing, such as audience, conciseness and figurative language. They will also learn about claims, arguments and credibility.
Unit 2. Correct representation of information containing numbers
Unit 3. Introduction to short business correspondence—students will learn how to write short memos, long memos, several types of business letters and professional e-mails.
Unit 4. Mechanism Report—Students will write a brief report describing the function of and characteristics of a simple mechanism.
Unit 5. Proposal—Students will propose that an undesirable workplace situation be remedied by the purchase of new equipment, or the implementation of a new policy. They will explain why the change is necessary, and how the change will benefit the company. They will become familiar with rhetorical ploys, emotional barriers to crticial thought and the features of arguments.
Unit 6. Collaborative Project—Students will work in groups of three or four. They will select a current issue, design a survey to measure public opinion, administer the survey, evaluate the results, write a report representing those results and utilize graphics, power points and an oral presentation to represent their findings to multiply audiences. Students will also learn about evaluating evidence, premises, conclusions and developing coherent arguments.