WR 227 Report Writing
Report Writing will study the principles of composition applied to the writing of reports required in the technical and business professions. It includes procedures for fact gathering, organization, graphic layout, and other methods of compiling data. Students will learn to quote, paraphrase, and summarize sources correctly and effectively, and to cite those sources and list them with the aid of a style sheet. Students will write reports in their chosen disciplines.
The overarching course outcomes include the following:
Report Writing course outline. |
Letters. The two formal letters include a letter of application and resume to a specific audience requesting an interview and a letter/proposal requesting permission and submitting justification for a research project.
Short Reports. The short reports (3-5 pages) are designed to teach “the special techniques of technical communication”--essentially the rhetorical patterns of scientific writing. Although rarely will a scientific report be written following only one of these patterns, it is sound pedagogical practice to treat them separately in academic exercises. Thus each of the following is the subject of separate papers: |
Research Report. The short papers are intended as preliminaries to the major paper, which may be based on library, field, or laboratory research or any combination of the three. The paper is ordinarily on a problem-solving topic from the students’ own majors, and in it they are expected to demonstrate all of the skills that they have been learning on the shorter papers. In fact, if they are able to fit them into the term paper, they are encouraged to use the short papers as rehearsals of actual sections of the term paper. The term paper (10-12
pages), of course, should demonstrate a quite comprehensive grasp of not only writing skills, but also of research technique, format, appropriate coordination of tables, formulae, graphs, etc. |
Professional Portfolio. Students will gather, revise, and present their best writing and major-specific projects they have completed at SWOCC. This electronic portfolio becomes a permanent document capturing students as majors and writers during their academic careers. This portfolio also becomes a marketing tool in entering careers and university programs.
|
Tioga Technical Conference Presentation. Students will participate in a class Tioga Technical Conference. Students present a ten to twelve minute report
based on their term report. They are expected to utilize appropriate visual aids and demonstrations that will enhance the quality of their presentations. Each speaker not only receives a critique from the teacher but also receives an anonymous critique from fellow students. |