Engl313 syllabus dorsch
- 1. ENGL 313 SYLLABUS Page 1 of 4 Business Writing Scott Dorsch sdorsch@uidaho.edu 208 885-6156 |office hours: Wed 1:30 – 2:30pm via Zoom https://uidaho.zoom.us/j/96235238861 This course will help you build communication competencies identified by the United States Department of Labor and industry focus groups as the most important to employers. In addition to problem solving and writing skills, employers list oral communication skills as among the most important for graduates. Moreover, the ability to effectively apply these skills within intercultural contexts is highly valued in today’s global workplace. Finally, business communication is increasingly produced across a wide variety of multi-media platforms requiring skills in aural, oral, textual, and visual literacies. The projects in this course are designed to help you meet these challenges and prepare you to successfully communicate in today's workplace. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After completing this course, you will be able to: • respond to rhetorical situations that arise within business environments complicated by ethical, political, social, and cultural concerns, • learn and apply specific conventions used in US business communities such as tone, style, and genre and adjust those conventions to meet the needs of culturally diverse audiences, • communicate solutions to rhetorical problems through a variety of print and electronic genres TEXTBOOK: no textbook is required. GRADES: Final grades are based on successful completion of the following: Participation in Brainstorming and Peer Review Forums 225 points Project 1: Interpersonal Communication 125 Project 2: Visual Communication 150 Project 3: Intercultural Communication 150 Project 4: Crisis Communication 250 Project 5: Professional Identity 100 Total Points Possible 1000 points
- 2. ENGL 313 SYLLABUS Page 2 of 4 Project Descriptions PROJECT 1: Interpersonal Communication. In this project, you will respond to a business case study requiring written communication to three different audiences using both external and internal workplace genres. Next, you will create an audio-only podcast about presentation speaking style. Deliverables: 1. External Positive News Letter, about 250 words. 2. Internal Negative News Memo Report, about 400 words. 3. Internal Neutral Email, about 150 words. 4. Audio-Only Podcast, 1-3 minutes. PROJECT 2: Visual Communication. In this project, you will create a Public Service Announcements for a client and justify design choices in a screencast.Deliverables: 1. PSA announcement designed as a poster or for a billboard. 2. Screencast Design Justification, about 3 minutes. PROJECT 3: Intercultural Communication. In this project, you will compose a creative design brief to plan and create an intercultural slidecast guide for an American business or organization whose employees will soon be working in another country and culture. Deliverables: 1. Intercultural Slidecast Guide, about 5 minutes. PROJECT 4: Crisis Communication. In this project, you will gather and analyze communication before, during, and after a crisis event using a research dossier in Evernote. You will then draw upon this research to write a white paper and compose a screencast that analyzes a spokesperson's apology. This project includes composing and populating an electronic research dossier. Deliverables: 1. Research Dossier, digital workspace or document file. 2. White Paper, about 1500 words. 3. Screencast Presentation, about 3 minutes. PROJECT 5: Professional Identity. In this project, you will write a targeted cover letter and resume or curriculum vitae and create a LinkedIn profile. Deliverables: 1. Cover Letter, about 350 words. 2. Resume or CV, 1-2 pages. 3. LinkedIn Profile page.
- 3. ENGL 313 SYLLABUS Page 3 of 4 Course Policies 1. Technology Requirements. • Computer in good working order. • Microsoft Word. Students are strongly encouraged to use Microsoft Word because it is the most commonly used software in the workplace today. Microsoft Office is provided at no extra cost to all students and as part of the UI Microsoft Licensing Agreement. You can install it on up to five separate devices. To install, to ITS Technology Services https://www.uidaho.edu/infrastructure/its/self-help/ms- office/office-365 • Microphone. Most computers have an integrated microphone that will work fine for this course. If you need to purchase one, however, here are two inexpensive microphones that bblearn recommends: Logitech 1 ($14.99) and Logitech 2 ($19.99). • Reliable Backup. You will need a reliable backup to store the latest drafts of your work other than the hard drive of your computer or an easily lost thumb drive. Here is one I recommend http://www.dropbox.comFlipped Classroom. I teach my writing courses as a flipped classroom. In this teaching style, students complete a large portion of the projects and participation assignments during class. 2. Multimedia Project Deliverables. Four of the projects require both written and multimedia communication deliverables. Students are not expected to have prior experience in producing multimedia products and will be invited to create these using free, cloud-computing tools that will also host the file. 3. Accepted File Formats. The following are the only accepted file formats: • Print Deliverables: Word or PDF. • PSA Billboard or Poster Deliverable: jpg, png, or other image file; Word, PPT or PPTX, PDF file; or the URL where the file is hosted. • Multimedia Deliverables: URL where the file is hosted. Digital media files (MP3, MP4, etc.) are not accepted in this course. 4. Deadlines. All work is due by 11:59 PM on the day/date indicated in the course schedules. Late assignments will lose one letter grade (or the equivalent number of points) per day. If, when I start to grade your work, a file will not open or a URL link does not work, I will notify you by email and you will be given 24 hours to submit work correctly in bblearn, but a late work point penalty will apply. To avoid this problem, verify your submission (see policy 5). 5. Verify Submissions to Avoid Point Penalties. When submitting assignments, students are responsible for verifying that files they uploaded are not corrupted and will open and that URLs work. This means you must return to the submissions box and open any files you uploaded and check that a URL works.
- 4. ENGL 313 SYLLABUS Page 4 of 4 If your work does not submit correctly or if you failed to submit part of it, you will need to submit all work again in a single attempt because the last submission is the only one I grade. 6. Compress Files Over 1 MB. Your work may lose points if the file you submit is over 1 MB because large files slow down my ability to grade work efficiently. 7. University Disability Support Services. Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with disabilities. Disability Support Services must approve your request: (208) 885-6307• dss@uidaho.edu 8. Plagiarism. Violation the University of Idaho Student Code of Conduct will result in a course grade of ‘F'. 9. Contacting Me. Please feel free to email me when you have a question or to request a writing conference or feedback on a draft through email. You may expect a reply within 24 hours.