I cannot teach you everything you will ever need to know about writing. Every workplace and every field requires different skills. New writing formats are created all the time. Existing formats change. Without a magic wand, it’s impossible to know what each of you will need in the future.
Instead of trying to teach you every possible way of writing, this course focuses on how to survive in the workplace without a teacher telling you how to write. We will review many kinds of writing in our readings, but you will write documents that are specifically important to your career and learn techniques to research kinds of writing on your own. By the end of the course, you should be prepared to figure out how to write anything you need in the future.
Course Requirements and Assessment
Your course grade is comprised of three parts, shown in the following chart. Each portion is described in more detail below the chart.
Major Written Projects (70% of your course grade)
The Work You Need to Do
You must complete five major projects in this course. Some projects (marked with an *) are required. You may choose among the others to reach the five required projects.
- Analysis of Writing in Your Field*
- Coursework Proposal *
- Open Projects Chosen from Your Analysis (up to three)
- Genre Analysis Report (counts as two projects as it is a longer project)
- Midterm Exam on Readings
If you choose to complete more than five major projects, lower grades will be dropped. For instance, if you take the midterm and don’t pass, you can complete an alternative project and the midterm grade will be dropped.
How Grading Works
In the workplace, there are three likely scenarios you will encounter when you write something:
- The work is flawed. It will have to be revised before your manager approves it to be sent to a client or coworkers.
- The work is acceptable. It accomplishes the task completely. Your manager approves it to be sent to a client or coworkers.
- The work is exemplary. It will have a solid impact and will be remembered as a model for future tasks.
I will grade your work according to a similar, performance-based grading system. You will either earn a Pass or a Fail grade on the written projects you submit. I will function as your manager. If your work is good enough to send out, it passes. If you need to revise, it fails.
If you receive a Fail and the grace period is not over, you can revise and resubmit your work. There are no rewrites or revisions after the grace period is over. If you receive a Pass, you can move on to another task. That’s it.
Quizzes & Responses (15% of your course grade)
The Work You Need to Do
You need to know about all of the kinds of writing covered in the textbook, even though you may not write all of these kinds of writing during the term. To demonstrate your understanding, you will either take quizzes or write reading responses (or some combination of the two).
Quizzes
Most quizzes in this course are designed to help you identify the key points in the readings. You can take a multiple-choice quiz on every chapter in the course textbook, Practical Strategies for Technical Communication by Mike Markel.
- All quizzes in this course are open book.
- There are fifteen chapters, so there will be a minimum of fifteen quizzes.
- Quizzes may be added for other readings.
Responses
As an alternative to quizzes, you may write a summary and response to each reading. Your response should be approximately 500 words long and will include these two parts:
- Summarize the key points from the chapter in 1/2 to 2/3 of the response.
- Respond to ideas from the chapter in the remaining 1/2 to 1/3 of your response.
How Grading Works
Quizzes
- You can take the quizzes an unlimited number of times, so you can retake it until you get the grade you want.
- There are no do-overs or make-ups. If you miss a quiz, you get a zero.
- You will receive immediate grades when you submit quizzes.
Quiz grades are calculated on the default Virginia Tech A/F grade scale with +/-.
Responses
Just like major projects, you will either earn a Pass (100) or a Fail (0) grade on the responses you submit. If you receive a Fail and the grace period is not over, you can revise and resubmit. There are no rewrites or revisions after the grace period is over. If you receive a Pass, you get full credit. That’s it.
Canvas does not allow grades of P or F in the tool I use for Responses, so your grade in the gradebook for Responses will be a number grade rather than a letter grade.
Distribution and Dropped Grades
You need to complete a quiz OR a response for each chapter. There is no reason to complete both. Choose whatever you are more comfortable with. Note that completing both will render your grade in the Canvas gradebook incorrect.
The grade for the option you do not complete will be dropped. For instance, if you take the Quiz for Chapter 1, you will have a zero for the Response to Chapter 1. The zero for the Response will be dropped in Canvas.
Participation (15% of your course grade)
The Work You Need to Do
Your participation in this course is based on the work that you do in discussion posts, peer review, and other informal activities. You will have many opportunities to contribute.
You will log your work, noting where and how you contribute to the on-going conversations in the course. At the end of the term, you will write a short completion report that explains what you have done and provides a self-evaluation of your participation.
How Grading Works
You will participate by writing and replying to discussion posts, completing peer review activities, and other informal activities. You will track your participation and evaluate yourself at the end of the term.
Participation is calculated on the default Virginia Tech A/F grade scale with +/-.
Choosing Your Work for the Course
You have the freedom to choose the activities you will complete and the grade you will aim for in this course. To pass the course, you MUST complete five major projects. The rest of your grade is up to you and the goals you set. Here are some possible ways (but not all the ways) you might earn a grade in this course:
To earn an A:
- Complete five major projects with a grade of Pass
- Average an A on Quizzes/Responses
- Participate in 90 to 100% of the participation activities, showing strong effort
To earn a B:
Scenario One
- Complete five major projects with a grade of Pass
- Average a B on Quizzes/Responses
- Participate in 80 to 89% of the participation activities, showing good effort
Scenario Two
- Complete five major projects with a grade of Pass
- Average an A on Quizzes/Responses
- Skip the participation activities
Scenario Three
- Complete five major projects with a grade of Pass
- Skip all the Quizzes/Responses
- Participate in 90 to 100% of the participation activities, showing strong effort
To earn a C:
Scenario One
- Complete five major projects with a grade of Pass
- Average a C on Quizzes/Responses
- Participate in 70 to 79% of the participation activities, showing average effort
To earn a C-:
Scenario One
- Complete five major projects with a grade of Pass
- Skip all the Quizzes/Responses
- Skip the participation activities