ECS 3390.

006 (MW 12:30–1:45pm)

Professional & Technical Communication
Fall 2010
Course Syllabus

Professor Information
Ms. Carie S. Lambert
Office and hours: JO 5.109—MW 11:30am–12:30pm, and by appointment
Email: carie.lambert@utdallas.edu
Skype: CSLambs
YahooMessenger: car_suz_lam
Class website: http://www.utdallas.edu/~carie.lambert/

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

To take ECS 3390, a student must have credit for RHET 1302 as well as
 College-level writing abilities
 Proficiency (oral and written) in English
 Technical knowledge to contribute to projects and to communicate knowingly about technical content
 Responsible and professional attitude

Course Description
This class will prepare engineering and computer-science student to efficiently and effectively
communicate through oral and written documents that correctly, concisely, and ethically present
information. Therefore, in this class, you will develop competency to
 Identify your audience
 Determine your audience’s information needs
 Assess what information is correct, reliable, and relevant
 Evaluate how to best present that information to meet your audience’s needs
 Create tools to inform your audience
You will accomplish this through individual and collaborative activities. In addition, you will
 Meet deadlines
 Follow instructions
 Organize your time to work productively on more than one activity at a time
 Commit to present accurate work
This is a writing course, so prepare to write a lot this semester.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

Through team and individual assignments for technical documents and presentations, this course meets
the following objectives:
SACS
 D: An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams
 F: An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
 G: An ability to communicate effectively
 J: A knowledge of contemporary issues
ABET
 Write effectively using appropriate organization, mechanics, and style
 Construct effective written arguments

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 Gather, incorporate, and interpret source material in students’ writing
 Write in different ways for different audiences
 Prepare a presentation using effective speech skills, including organization, argument development,
visual aids, and delivery
 Students who master these objectives will develop the ability to
 Research, draft, and edit major research papers in a professional context
 Analyze, edit, revise, and proofread technical documents created by the author, peers, or other
technical writers—individually or as a team
 Write professional correspondence, such as concise memos, letters, and emails for diverse purposes
to different audiences and levels of management
 Research, plan, outline, and present an individual presentation with visual aids adapted appropriately
to the audience and rhetorical situation
 Develop collaborative strategies to research, plan, and present a team presentation with visual aids
adapted appropriately to the audience and rhetorical situation

Required Textbooks and Materials

(Other reading material may be assigned throughout the semester.)
Finkelstein, L., Jr., “Pocket book of technical writing for engineers and scientists,” 3rd ed., New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2008. (Referenced as “Finkelstein” in your syllabus)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., The, “2009 IEEE standards style manual,” New
York: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., New York, NY, 2008. (Available at
http://standards.ieee.org/guides/style)
Sun Technical Publications., “Read me first: A style guide for the computer industry. Custom edition for
The University of Texas at Dallas,” New York: Sun Technical Publications, 2003. (Referenced as
“Guide” in your syllabus)

Suggested Course Materials

Finkelstein, L., Jr., “Pocket book of English grammar for engineers and scientists,” New York: McGraw-
Hill, 2006.

Assignment Values
Value for Grade Assignment
300 pts Individual Proposal (200 pts) and Presentation (100 pts)
300 pts Team Report (200 pts) and Presentation (100 pts)
100 pts Mechanics and Style Exam
100 pts Resume and Cover Letter
100 pts Participation (in class), Professionalism, and Completion of
Preparatory Assignments
25 pts Team Contract
25 pts Progress Report
25 pts Team Evaluation
25 pts Personal Performance Appraisal
1000 pts Total

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Grading Criteria
Grades will not be rounded up. Course assignments together are worth 1000 points, and students will
receive grades according to the following scale:
• 930–1000 = A
• 900–929 = A–
• 870–899 = B+
• 830–869 = B
• 800–829 = B–
• 770–799 = C+
• 730–769 = C
• 700–729 = C–
• 670–699 = D+
• 630–669 = D
• 600–629 = D–
• 0–599 = F
Grades in this class reflect whether you
• Fulfill objectives for the class and particular assignments
• Recognize and apply the rhetorical situation for each document or presentation
• Use persuasive techniques to complete each assignment
• Use correct mechanics, strong style, design elements, and appropriate format and conventional
elements for professional documents
• Edit and proofread all work before you submit the assignment
• Ethically present information in assignment documents
• Present yourself professionally in class and presentations

An A reflects that the student’s work shows excellence and meets all objectives with strength, originality,
and creativity. A B reflects that the student’s work is satisfactorily but does not reflect excellence. This
work is strong but contains minor issues that detract from your message. A C reflects that the student’s
work fulfills course requirements but does not satisfy the audience’s needs and contains issues that
decrease the effectiveness of the document. A D reflects that the student’s work contains numerous issues
and therefore does not fulfill the audience’s needs or address the rhetorical situation. A F reflects that the
student’s work is unacceptable.

Course & Instructor Policies

In addition to all UTD policies that students must know and follow (available at
http://go.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies), the following policies apply.

Make-up and Late Work

In this class, you are professionals in training. Professionals who miss deadlines present poor work ethics
and damage their reputations as well as lose contracts, increase costs, delay results, and decrease profits.
For these reasons, you many not submit late or incomplete work or makeup exams unless you are
hospitalized and provide a valid physician excuse. If you are unable to attend class, you must arrange
with me at least 48 hours prior to the class. Missed work results in a zero (0) on the assignment.

Extra Credit
I do not offer extra credit, and I do not award extra points at the end of the semester to raise grades.

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References, Copyright, and Plagiarism
UTD has a no-tolerance policy for plagiarism. If you do not cite your sources, you will be sent to the
Office of Judicial Affairs for investigation. Use IEEE style for all references and documents.

Attendance
If you come to class or meetings and conduct non-related work, you will be considered absent. Perfect
attendance is worth 10 points on your participation grade. If you arrive more than 10 minutes late for
class, you are considered absent. You may miss up to two classes without penalty; after two absences,
you lose 10 points of your participation grade for each absence. Students with more than 5 absences fail
the class. Please treat this class like you would a job: attend and be punctual.

Classroom Citizenship
Each student receives a grade for participation and professionalism. You should prepare for class, and
during class, you should cooperate, listen, and respect others’ opinions. Turn off your cell phones and
other electronic equipment during class, and use your laptop only for class work or you will lose
professionalism points and you may receive an absence.

Email
Each student has a UTDallas.edu email account. The university provides this for all official
communication, and students in this class will abide by that policy: to ensure security of your and my
communication. Therefore, all official email correspondence must go to and come from official UTD
emails. In the event that an assignment is due and a student cannot access , the student’s name must
appear in the subject line with a description of the email’s contents.

This syllabus is subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.

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