UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
ENG 1112 C ~Fall 2015~

Technical Report Writing

Practice in the writing of technical reports. Topics include exposition,
argumentation, presentation of technical data, and effective communication.
Frequent written exercises and development of composition skills. Use of
library & Writing Centre resources.
Sept 9 Dec 9, 2015 Location: Colonel By Hall (CBY) rm: B205
Full Class Lecture: Thursdays 8:30 am10:00 am (Tittle)
Discussion Group 1 Tuesday 10:00 - 11:30 TBT 315 (Tittle)
Discussion Group 2 Wednesday 10:00 - 11:30 CBY D103(Macquarrie)
Discussion Group 3 Wednesday 10:00 11:30 THN 124 (TBA)
Instructor: Miles Tittle
TA DGD 2: Jenn Macquarrie TA DGD 3: TBA
Office hours (Tittle): by appointment
Office: ARTS 343
Email: mtittle@uottawa.ca
Office hours (Mcquarrie): TBA
Office: ARTS 343
Email: jmacquar@uottawa.ca
Course description: This course will focus on the necessary document
preparation and analysis skills necessary for engineering, scientific, and datarelated careers. We will cover the stages of report preparation (gathering data,
writing rough drafts, refining), and produce reports that show clarity,
conciseness, continuity, and objectivity. We will work on style options and
proofreading skills, and practice transforming raw data into polished and
effective reports. Our goal is to develop your writing ability for professional
purposes, and to make you a discerning and skilled reader. Clarity and
precision in ones writing, analytical reading, and thought are fundamentally
connected.
By the end of this course, you should be able to do these things:
Write well-structured and clear reports on a variety of topics.
Develop an effective report based on any topic and prepare a polished document.
Edit writing samples and apply concise writing principles to your own writing.
Cite and source properly, clearly separating original and borrowed information.
Write an introduction that engages the reader and summarizes the document.
Identify when sentences need grammatical improvement.
Choose exact words appropriate to the field and your audience.
Make effective use of data in both written and graph or chart form.
Write a comprehensive summary of a report or article, responding to it clearly.
Make informed stylistic choices and be able to explain the effects created by them.
Edit a report and offer constructive feedback to others on their writing.
Required textbooks: We will be using the following editions in our class, and they
are available at the Campus Bookstore. Be very careful if you buy used copies or
shop elsewhere: this new Canadian edition is quite different from the other editions of
this book, and you must have the right one for the course.

1. Beer, David and David McMurrey. A Guide to Writing as an

Engineer, 4th ed. New York: John Wiley, 2013
ISBN-13 978-1-118-55008-3
2. Buckley, Joanne. Checkmate: A Writing Reference for Canadians.
Third ed. Scarborough: Thomson Nelson, 2012.
ISBN-13: 978-0176502560

Class structure:
The class is divided into two main parts: lecture and workshop. Lectures cover assigned readings from both
required textbooks as well as related topics not in the textbooks. Workshops are based on practical exercises
for correction and improvement as well as preparatory work for quizzes, assignments, and the final report.
For the lectures, the whole class is together every Thursday morning in CBY B205, from 8:30 to 10:00 am.
For the workshops, the class divides into groups, in different rooms, from 10:00 am to 11:30 am.
Your workshop will either be with me, or with our teaching assistant, Jenn Macquarrie.

Types of assignments, weighting and due dates:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Report on sources
Report on a problem
Progress report + visual
Final report (take-home final exam)
Quizzes, Short Writing Tasks, and Attendance

10%
15%
15%
30%
30%

October 6/7
November 10/11
November 24/25
December 10 (NO EXTENSIONS)
ongoing (must be in class to receive grades)

* * Please note: Students must hand in Assignments 1, 2, and 3 and must also maintain an average of
50% on quizzes and short writing tasks in order to be eligible to hand in the final report. All
preparatory work for the final report must be submitted in order for the final report to be accepted.
Students must submit the final report on time in order to pass the course. There can be no exceptions to
these requirements.

Assignment due dates and late penalties:

Assignments 1 and 2 must be handed in to the workshop leader at the beginning of the workshop part of the
class on the scheduled due dates. Assignment 3 must be handed in to the workshop leader at the beginning of
the lecture part of the class. After the due date, marks will be deducted at a rate of 10% per day, including
weekends and holidays, if Assignment 1, 2, or 3 is submitted without a medical certificate or equivalent
official excuse. The late penalty for short writing tasks is generally 2 points off per day.
After one week, late assignments will not be accepted.
*NOTE: Late assignments must be delivered directly to your workshop leader. The English Department office
does not accept late assignments on behalf of the teaching team, and the professor does not accept late
assignments under his office door. If an assignment is late, email it to the professor as soon as its done (as
proof of completion), and then bring a paper copy to the next scheduled class.

Attendance policy:
Regular class attendance is essential. Active, thoughtful participation in lectures and workshops helps ensure
success in the course. Please note that the quizzes and short writing tasks cannot be made up outside of class
except in case of an absence covered by a medical certificate or equivalent official excuse. Some of the
questions on the quizzes could come from topics explained in lectures but not found in the textbooks.

Academic fraud (plagiarism):

Students are strongly urged to familiarize themselves with the rules concerning academic fraud. The brochure
"Beware of Plagiarism" is available on campus and also on the Web: www.uottawa.ca/plagiarism.pdf

The Writing Centre:

Students enrolled in ENG courses are encouraged to use the many resources available at the Writing Centre
and the Writing Centre's online resources. If you are advised to see a writing tutor, make an appointment with
the Writing Centre (located in the basement of Simard Hall). The tutors will not edit or proofread your
assignment, but they will offer suggestions for improvement and work with you on specific problems.
Centre: SMD 0021. 613 562-5800 ext: 2267, e-mail: writcent@uottawa.ca
http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/

__________________________________________________________________________________

SCHEDULE
# (Date)
Topics
Readings
_______________________________________________________________________________
1. Sept. 10
Course introduction
(none yet)
Technical writing
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DGDs Sept 15/16:
Diagnostic writing exercise
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Sept. 17
Communication for engineers
Beer 1-11
Purpose and audience
Beer 40-43
Memos
Beer 82- 84 (See fig. 4-4 & 4-5)
Documentation
Beer 133
Honest Research
Beer 235-238 top
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DGDs Sept 22/23
Grammar
Buckley 305-331
Planning and drafting
Buckley 1-24
_______________________________________________________________________________
3. Sept. 24
Readability
Beer 44-61
Sources of technical information
Beer 154-177
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DGDs Sept 29/30
Fragments and comma splices
Buckley 334-345
APA style
Buckley 211-256

Terms and procedures sheet (in DGD class ) (worth 2%)

_______________________________________________________________________________
4. Oct. 1
Clear, efficient wording
Beer 61-68
Common engineering documents
Beer 91-95
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DGDs Oct 6/7
Subject-verb agreement
Buckley 346-353

Assignment #1 due: Report on sources

(worth 10%)
Hand in to workshop leader at beginning of workshop period.

Topic selection for final report (in DGD)

(worth 1%)
________________________________________________________________________________
5. Oct. 8
Punctuation
Beer 12-21
Research reports and specifications
Beer 95-102
Recommendation reports
Beer 114-118
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DGDs Oct 13/14
Problems with pronouns
Buckley 376-389
Researching a topic
Buckley 91-134
Quoting sources accurately
Buckley 147-149

Quiz #1 (in-class DGD work)

(worth 5%)
_______________________________________________________________________________
6. Oct. 15
Sentence sense
Beer 21-29
Writing research and design reports
Beer 119-137
Proposals
Beer 102-105
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DGDs Oct 20/21
Commas
Buckley 401-411

References and sections for final report

(in-class DGD workbring sources)
(worth 3%)
_________________________________________________________________________________
7. Oct. 22
Technical usage
Beer 29-39
Instructions
Beer 109-113

_______________________________________________________________________________
READING WEEK October 2531: No classes, but a good time to read ahead or plan your major paper
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DGDs Nov 3/4
Semicolons, colons, apostrophes
Buckley 412-422
Wordiness
Buckley 464-468
_____________________________________________________________________________________
8. Nov. 5
Progress reports
Beer 105-109
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DGDs Nov 10/11
Quotation marks and other marks
Buckley 422-439
Problems with modifiers
Buckley 394-400
Shifts and mixed constructions
Buckley 442-450
Usage
Buckley 469-488

Assignment #2 due: Report on a problem

(worth 15%)
Hand in to workshop leader at beginning of workshop period.
_______________________________________________________________________________
9. Nov. 12
Correspondence & other media for engineers
Beer 72-90
Resums
Beer 201-215
Engineering ethics
Beer 229-235
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DGDs Nov 17/18
Mood and voice
Buckley 371-375

One complete page of your final report

with an in-text citation and its reference.
Hand in at beginning of lecture period.
(worth 4%).
_______________________________________________________________________________
10. Nov. 19
Tables and graphics
Beer 138-148
Preparing an oral presentation
Beer 178-190 top
Application letters
Beer 214-228
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DGDs Nov 24/25
Parallelism and needed words
Buckley 456-460

Assignment #3 due: Progress report + visual (worth 15%)

Hand in to workshop leader at beginning of lecture period.
_______________________________________________________________________________
11. Nov. 26
Designing your online reputation
Beer 244-266
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------DGDs Dec 1/2
Integrating quotations
Buckley 135-141
Academic integrity & documentation overview Buckley 143-156
Visuals
Buckley 82-90

Quiz #2 (in-class DGD work)

(worth 5%)
_______________________________________________________________________________
12. Dec. 3
APA style (re-read)
Buckley 211-256
Mechanics and spelling
Buckley 491-517
Revising
Buckley 46-53
Review concerning final report
_______________________________________________________________________________
Exam period
Take-home Exam Final Technical Report due (worth 30%)
Hand in to workshop leader at professors office, ART 343, on Thurs. Dec. 10 at 5:00 p.m.
***PLEASE NOTE: By December 10 at 5:30 pm, you must have handed in ALL numbered assignments
AND the final report, or you will not receive a passing final grade. **
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Marking: The University of Ottawa uses the following letter/percentage system: A+ (90-100%), A (85-89%), A- (8084%), B+ (75-79%), B (70-74%), C+ (66-69%), C (60-65%), D+ (55-59%), D (50-54%), E (40-49%) and F (0-39%).
Note that there are no B- or C- grades, and that 50% is a pass, so E or F is a failing grade (EIN).
Essays are marked for Content (30%), Organization (30%), Language (30%), & Handling (10%).