ENGL 301/001: Technical Writing (September 2023)

ENGL 301/001: Technical Writing

Term 1 | MWF 12:00-1:00pm

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English 301: Technical Writing examines the rhetorical genre of professional and technical communication, especially online, through analysis and application of its principles and practices. You will produce a formal report, investigating resources and/or concerns in a real-life community, as a major project involving a series of linked assignments. This project will involve the study (and possibly practical application) of research ethics where human subjects are involved (e.g. in conducting surveys or interviews). Evaluation will be based on a series of four linked assignments culminating in the formal report, as well as participation in discussion and completion of various textbook exercises.

Think of this course as an extended report-writing Boot Camp: intensive, useful preparation for the last phase of your undergraduate degree, as you start applying to professional and graduate programs, and for the years beyond of work and community involvement. Technical Writing is closed to first- and second-year students in Arts and cannot be used for credit towards the English Major or Minor.

The course text will be Lannon et al, Technical Communication, 8th Canadian Edition, Pearson, 2020 (ebook).

Please note that this is a blended course and will require both participation in synchronous lectures and workshops (which will be conducted and recorded on Zoom) as well as asynchronous but scheduled independent work of the sort done in a conventional online course (including weekly Canvas-based exercises based on textbook readings and occasional peer feedback on drafts).

Also note that while 301 is not a course in remedial grammar, this section will provide online Canvas-based writing resources and workshops designed to help identify writing and proofreading problems, and to provide strategies to address them.

Purchase options:

The UBC Bookstore will order access tokens for the textbook. Other options for ordering include the following:

The 8th Canadian edition of Technical Communication is the only acceptable edition.

Please keep checking this post for more information about the course, its texts, and its requirements. Please email me (Gisele.Baxter@ubc.ca) if you have any questions.

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