Academic and Technical Communication For Engineers and Scientists

(E-SATC001)WEEK 1

WHO’S IN THIS CLASS?

WHATWILL

ILEARN

?(p. 38)

Hot Link: Engineer’s Australia Website

WHY AM I LEARNING ABOUT WRITING?

STAGE 1 COMPETENCIES and ELEMENTS OF COMPETENCY FOR THE PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER

1. KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL BASE

2. ENGINEERING APPLICATION ABILITY

3. PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES3.1. Ethical conduct and professional accountability3.2. Effective oral and written communication in professional and lay domains.3.3. Creative, innovative and pro-active demeanour.3.4. Professional use and management of information.3.5. Orderly management of self, and professional conduct.3.6. Effective team membership and team leadership.

Hot Link: Engineer’s Australia Website

How do professional scientists and engineers: •generate and

•manage information

•communicate their knowledge

Analyse your task

Suggest or refine your research question

Check in with your tutor

Peruse the literature

Have a manageable amount of information

Analyse your sources and take detailed, referenced notes

Have too much, too divergent, and/or too technical information

You don’t think you understand your topic or

your task

Talk to your tutor

You think you understand your topic and your task

Steps in a Typical Writing Process

Organize your information into an outline

Create a graphic to complement your text and help you

communicate your information

Write a draft and get feedback

Minor edits (conceptually ok, but has mistakes, omissions, etc.)

Have major edits (i.e. organizational scheme must be

reanalysed)

Revise and submit

Steps in a Typical Writing Process(cont...)

Present the content of your paper to others and get

feedback

What do I need to do in this course?

The criteria

How am I feeling about this course?

( page 189)

Which topic will I choose?

Wha

t mak

es a

goo

d to

pic

in th

is cl

ass?

(page 44)

What makes a

good topic

for m

e?

Learning Strategy pp 1-4

WHAT’S POSSIBLE?

WHAT’S POSSIBLE?

WHAT’S POSSIBLE?

Students say about choosing a topic:

When it came to choosing a topic, I was very indecisive.

My first assignment did not turn out too well because I chose a topic I wasn’t interested in

I looked at some sources in Chinese—and I still couldn’t understand it If you can’t find good

sources—change your topic

HOMEWORK

1. Read in detail the model Assignment 1 and Assignment 3 published in the front matter of the workbook (45 min)

2. Familiarize yourself with the course by looking at Allan Doe's

portfolio found under the 'Models of student work' tab on the left hand sidebar.

3. Suggest one or two possible research questions . Watch these

three short (~3min) videos about how to use the library: Insearch videos playlist on Youtube. Then do preliminary research on the topic (This can and should take about 3 hours). The librarian will ask you about the results of your search in our library visit next week.