TCM 320 - Written Communication in Science and Industry

Note: This course no longer requires instructor authorization to enroll. Please review the requirements and issues discussed here before registering for the course. Contact the course developer if you have questions (contact information at the end of this document).

TCM 320 is a required course for majors in Computer and Information Sciences and a selective for several other School of Science majors. The course is also open to students from other schools and programs. In this course you will examine and write documents for audiences in academic disciplines and for audiences in organizational contexts.

The online section, available to a limited number of students, is conducted within the Oncourse environment.  Here is a snapshot of the course and the required assignments.

Getting Started  

Activities:  
Learn to Use Oncourse

Update User Profile   

Introduce Yourself  

Participate in a Forum Discussion

Prepare a Personal Learning Plan  

Unit 1
Responding as a Reader
 

Activities: 
Read a Historic Text   

Prepare an Analysis  

Review Others' Writing  

Participate in  Forum Discussions 

Unit 2
Writing in Your Discipline
 

If this is your focus area, complete all activities; if this is your secondary area, complete A and B only.  

Activities:
A. Write Abstracts  

B. Write an Annotated Bibliography  

C. Write a Research Proposal  

D. Prepare a Literature Review for a Research Paper  

Review Others' Writing  

Participate in  Forum Discussions 

Unit 3
Writing at Work
 

If this is your focus area, complete all activities; if this is your secondary area, complete A and B only.  

Activities:
A. Write Your Resume 

B. Write a Job Application Letter 

C. Propose a Solution to a Problem 

D. Write and Test Instructions 

Review Others' Writing  

Participate in  Forum Discussions 

Before enrolling in this course, you should

Please make sure that you have time available in your schedule to make the most of this distributed learning course.  Students often find a course of this type takes more self-discipline and perhaps more time than a traditional course, not necessarily because of the technology but also because of the project based learning aspect of the course.  If you are working full-time and/or taking a full load of courses in addition to this section, give thoughtful consideration as to whether you will be able to engage in regular sessions of required online participation, as well as many hours of writing and revising your own projects and reviewing others' work, without being required to attend class meetings. Moreover, if you are not comfortable communicating with others online, without benefit of meeting face-to-face, you should consider the more traditional class section.Participation and active engagement online account for 30% of the final grade for the course.

To help assess your readiness to engage in a distance learning experience, I recommend you take a look at the questionnaire "Is Distance Learning for You?."

If you have questions about the class, please contact the developer.

Wanda Worley, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Technical Communication
Phone: 274-0819
Office: ET 314-C
hwilkins@iupui.edu


Last Revised 31 March 2002