‫كلية العلوم األساسية واإلنسانية‬

School of Basic Sciences and Humanities

Technical and Workplace Writing (TW303)

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Part 1: Course Information

Course Description
Technical and Workplace Writing course focuses on essentials; it introduces students to
professional and technical writing through a straightforward structure, adding knowledge
while practicing different forms and skills. Since this course is a practical one, the course
offers the "how" (instructions) and the "what" (examples) with discussion topics and exercises
designed to make instruction straightforward. Students are exposed to certain genres, such as
web page design, summaries, proposals, user guides, and job application materials. This is
why this course is designed with a student/worker in mind, who would greatly benefit from
the techniques of writing presented throughout the course.

Prerequisite
None

Textbook & Course Materials

Required Text
Technical Writing, Simplified by Nell Johnson and Mary Sylwester, 4th Edition, 2017

Recommended Texts & Other Readings

None

Course Structure
The course is divided into two lectures per week, one hour and a half long. Students are
expected to take notes, engage in discussions, and complete writing projects assigned to them
on Moodle (E-learning).

Part 2: Student Learning Outcomes

 Apply professionalism and ethics in a workplace
 Develop a writing process that defines a purpose
 Know how to target the audience
 Understand how to use short types of communication
 Learn about the kinds of writing that may be expected of them in the workplace

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 ‫كلية العلوم األساسية واإلنسانية‬
School of Basic Sciences and Humanities

 Set objectives in technical skills to learn additional knowledge related to the

requirements
 Interview internal audiences and learn how to work in a team cooperatively

Part 3: Grading Policy

Points Description

10 Participation

20 Writing Projects

30 Midterm

40 Final

100 Total Points

Part 4: Course Policies

Attend Class
Absences may be excused by medical certificate but they are never erased. The only
circumstance where an absence is erased is if a student is officially representing the university
and has produced a letter from Student Affairs to prove this or if a student must attend an
exam on the same day and time as a Technical Writing class, provided an acceptable letter is
produced from the relevant Doctor of that subject. All other absences are considered as
official and are counted. A verbal warning will be given by the teacher after 3 absences. A
written formal warning will be given after 4 absences and a student with 5 absences will be
required to drop Technical Writing and re-register the following semester.

Part 5: Topic Outline/Schedule

Week Topic or Chapter Activities ( if there is any)

Lecture 1:
Orientation

Lecture 2: Professionalism and Ethics

1 - Thinking Logically
- Citing sources and avoiding
plagiarism
- Using plain language

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 ‫كلية العلوم األساسية واإلنسانية‬
School of Basic Sciences and Humanities

Lecture 1:

- Defining Communication Writing Project One:

- Criteria for Writing in a Professional
and Ethical Manner The teacher will be giving you a worksheet and you
2 are to answer the exercises regarding sexist language,
doublespeak and business terms. 3 Marks
Lecture 2:

- Discussions
- Exercises

Lecture 1: The Writing Process

- Defining your purpose
- Defining the target audience
- Finding the topic
3
Lecture 2:

- Understanding tone
- Choosing format
- The document cycle
Lecture 1:
- Creating a schedule
- Collaboration Writing Project Two:
- External Audience
- Worksheet Choose a Company you plan to work with throughout
4
- Web Audience Worksheet the project and create a Gantt Chart. 2 Marks

Lecture 2:
Discussion
Exercises

You have been assigned to a product evaluation

Lecture 1: Short Communications project along with several co-workers. The project
- I-Centered vs You-centered language involves testing various competitors' athletic shoes by
- Emails wearing them during daily runs and other exercise
- Memos activities.
- Letters Each person in the group has agreed to investigate one
Lecture 2: company's product in terms
- Email Checklist of design, manufacturing, and pricing; all
5
- Memo Checklist participants are testing the shoes. One colleague's
- Letter Checklist input is always late, and you have had to do some of
- Discussions his work yourself to avoid missing deadlines. It is
unclear whether he has actually been wear-testing the
shoes.
The other people in the group have missed meetings
now and then, but are generally keeping up with the
work. You are frustrated but you will need to work
with this person in the future, so you need to

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 ‫كلية العلوم األساسية واإلنسانية‬
School of Basic Sciences and Humanities

be courteous.
Write an email to your work group in an attempt to
begin to resolve these issues or problems. 5 Marks

Lecture 1: Page Design

- How readers read
- Readability Writing Project Four:
- White Space
Analyze the page design of a document given to you
by your teacher. Write a well-designed memo
6
Lecture 2: report to your teacher after the editing process. 2
Marks
- Bullets and Numbering
- Headings and Subheadings
- Organization
- Style Sheets

Lecture 1: Summaries
- The summary writing process Writing Project Five:
- Abstracts
- Descriptive Summaries Find an article that interests you in any field and write
an abstract that could be included in a library
7 Lecture 2: database. The abstract should not be more than 100
words long. List potential search terms relevant to the
- Evaluative Summaries topic, underneath your abstract. 4 Marks
- Executive Summaries
- Choosing Summary Types
- Summary checklist
- Discussions
Lecture 1: Short Reports
- General formats
- Incident report
- Meeting minutes report

Lecture 2:
8
- Event report
- Progress report
- Evaluation/Recommendation report
- Budget report

Lecture 1: Writing Project Six:

- Short report Checklist
- Discussions Write a budget report detailing one month's income
9 - Exercises and expenses for a job or project you are working on,
such as a small home improvement project or a home-
Lecture 2: based business. (Some projects may be all expense
Midterm Exam and no income; jobs usually have both.) 3 Marks

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 ‫كلية العلوم األساسية واإلنسانية‬
School of Basic Sciences and Humanities

Lecture 1: Graphics
- The power of showing
- Types of Graphics
- Photographs
- Drawings
- Diagrams

10 Lecture 2:
- Graphs
- Charts
- Tables
- Logos, Symbols, Icons, Clip Art
- Guidelines for Using Graphics
- Choosing the right graphic
- Graphics checklist

Writing Project Seven:

Lecture 1: User Instructions
- Analyzing the audience Use the following step and find an appropriate
- Determining your major sections graphic to illustrate it. Search the internet and find a
- Planning the document cycle graphic that will help a backyard gardener perform
this first of "How to repot a plant:"
Lecture 2:
11 - Guidelines for user instructions Remember that you will need:
- User instructions Checklist * figure number
- Discussions
- Exercises * title the graphic

- External Audience Worksheet * source

- Internal Audience Worksheet
5 Marks

Lecture 1: Process Descriptions

- Defining your topic and terms
- Determining sequence
- Determining your major sections

12 Lecture 2:
- Planning the document style
- Guidelines for process descriptions

- Process Description checklist

- Discussions
- Exercises

Lecture 1: Proposals Bonus Question 3 Marks

- Considering audience
13 - Organization Write a brief proposal in hard copy memo format for
- Document style an improvement to your own household, such as the
purchase and installation of a household appliance or
Lecture 2: the implementation of a new chores schedule. Specify

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 ‫كلية العلوم األساسية واإلنسانية‬
School of Basic Sciences and Humanities

- Proposal checklist the audience for your proposal and include all
- Discussions essential proposal elements. Maximum length two
pages.

Lecture 1: Writing for the Web

- Purpose and audience
- Ethical standards and cultural
sensitivity
- Graphics on the web
- Page design
14 - Content: Hard Copy to Web Copy
- Blogging

Lecture 2:
- Webpage checklist
- Discussions
- Exercises

Lecture 1: Finalizing material

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Lecture 2: Grades out of 60