ECS 3390

Professional and Technical Communication

Fall 2005

Lisa Bell
lisa.bell@utdallas.edu
972.883.2052
JO 5.608E
Office hours: M,T,W 2:00-300; R 11:00-noon; and by appointment

Course Description:
This course will help you develop skills and competency in both oral and written communication as they
occur in engineering and technology work environments. You will work with industry-specific projects, de-
termine technical communication needs, develop professional-quality documents, and make formal presenta-
tions on technical topics to technical and non-technical audiences. We will learn the basic genres of technical
communication: technical specifications, short reports, memos, and oral presentations. Engineering and pro-
gramming are collaborative activities; therefore, this course uses a collaborative-learning environment where
you will work in teams to practice the fundamentals of collaborative decision making and communication in
professional contexts.
Course Objectives:
Using both team and individual technical writing and presentation assignments, this course meets the fol-
lowing ABET Objectives:
• d: An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams
• f: An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
• g: An ability to communicate effectively
• h: The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solu-
tions in a global societal context
• j: A knowledge of contemporary issues
• k: An ability to use the techniques, skills and modern engineering tools neces-
sary for engineering practice

Course Requirements:
Professional and Technical Communication focuses on technical writing and presentation skills for pro-
fessional settings. As an upper-level class, students should have at least college-level writing skills and both
written and oral proficiency in English. Students should also have sufficient technical knowledge to contrib-
ute to project design and to write and speak knowingly about technical content. Furthermore, the course cur-
riculum is fast-paced and does not cover basic subjects, such as language mechanics, Microsoft Office
functions, or WebCT operations. The course instead emphasizes developing a sense of professionalism and
responsibility to produce high-quality assignments both individually and in teams.
Technology Requirements: Students need an active UTD NetID and password and reliable and fre-
quent access to internet connectivity and the Office suite. The course is taught using WebCT, and students
should develop the habit of checking it often for assignments and announcements. Students have the re-
sponsibility to ensure that the course remains accessible to them for the duration of the semester and must
submit all assignments, except for presentation booklets, through WebCT. Students should prepare materials
with enough time to avoid being denied access by WebCT’s cutoff function. Instructors are not responsible
for tracking assignments submitted through the email and will assign zeros to all assignments not submitted
through the WebCT assignments module.

ECS 3390 Syllabus Fall 2005 TR

Last modified 8.17.2005
 Page 2 of 4

Additionally, to protect students’ privacy rights, your instructor will only send email through your official
UTD email address or WebCT email. If you choose, you can redirect both of these addresses to external ad-
dresses. Visit the Department of Information Resources’ User Account Management Tools to forward your
UTD email to another account. In WebCT, go to the Mail module and click the Message Settings button.
On the Message Settings screen, click the box next to “Forward my mail to:” and enter your external email
address, then click the Update button.
Textbook Requirements: D. Jones, Technical Writing Style, Allyn and Bacon, 1998.
The textbook is available at the campus bookstore and at Off-Campus Books. Additional readings will
be posted as needed in WebCT.
Assignment Requirements: Professional and Technical Communication allocates approximately 60%
of its total grade points to individually completed assignments and 40% to team generated assignments.
ASSIGNMENT WEIGHT DUE DATE
Team Specifications Report 25% November 13
Individual Report 15% October 2
Individual Delivery for Team Presentation 15% Varies
Individual Presentation 15% Varies
Team Presentation 1 5% October 25
Team Presentation 2 5% November 8
Other Assignments (Team Organization memo, Team Merit 20% Posted in
Review and Briefing) WebCT
All assignments must be completed to pass this class, and late or incomplete work is not acceptable. No late
or makeup submissions will be accepted for minor assignments, such as homework, process or class work.
Similarly, because of scheduling constraints and the logistical problem of creating an audience, presentations
cannot be rescheduled, extended or made up. Late submissions of individual papers and team specifications
reports will receive a penalty of 10% of the total possible assignment points each day the assignment is late.
According to UTD policy, an incomplete will not be given unless the student has completed 70% of the
course work, the delay is unavoidable, and the school approves the petition/documentation form.
Final grades will be assigned according to this scale:
B+ 870-899 C+ 770-799 D+ 670-699
A 930-1000 B 830-869 C 730-769 D 630-669 F 0-599
A- 900-929 B- 800-829 C- 700-729 D- 600-629
Grades will not be curved and no extra points will be awarded at the end of the semester to raise your final
grade.
Attendance Requirements: College coursework is not a leisure activity to be worked in between jobs,
family obligations, and other vocational activities, nor does work assigned for this class carry any less priority
than work you may have to complete for any other class. Moreover, class participation is a vital part of your
learning process because this class revolves around discussion. Simply warming a seat is not sufficient to get
the full experience out of the class. More than simply being physically present in class, participation includes
your asking questions in class about readings, answering questions, offering suggestions, and you professional,
positive attitude and demeanor. Furthermore, excessive tardiness will negatively affect your course grade.
As in a workplace, you are expected to attend class and, importantly, to be on time. I will take attendance
seven randomly pre-selected times during the course of the semester. If you are not present when attendance
is taken, you will be counted absent, even if you arrive later. You may miss up to two classes for whatever
reason without penalty. You will lose 100 points from your final grade with each absence beyond the two
permitted. If you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to obtain material and information you
missed from a willing classmate. Additionally, each student will present a briefing at least once during the
ECS 3390 Syllabus Fall 2005 TR
Last modified 8.17.2005
 Page 3 of 4

semester. If you are not in class when it is your turn to complete the briefing, you will receive a zero on the
assignment.

Course Policies:
In addition to the course requirements, Professional and Technical Communication students must adhere
to both university and course-specific policies.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional use of other people’s ideas, words, phrases, en-
tire paragraphs or single sentences without acknowledging the source in timely and appropriate citations. Pla-
giarism is a form of scholastic dishonesty that is punishable by failing the assignment, failing the course, being
put on academic probation or in extreme cases dismissal from the university. If you borrow content or graph-
ics from other books, course lectures, websites or other forms of print or electronic media, you must cite
them according to specifications mandated for this course. Everything you submit for peer or instructor re-
view for this class is bound by the academic honor code that requires it to be your unique work with bor-
rowed content properly cited.
In contrast to plagiarism’s inappropriate use of other sources’ information, cheating, or scholastic dishon-
esty, includes a wide range of behaviors. The UTD Scholastic Dishonesty page lists eighteen types of behav-
iors, including copying another student’s work, making work or information available for another student,
accessing information at inappropriate times, and submitting an assignment that you did not prepare. This
list is not exhaustive but does provide a sense of common ways cheating occurs. While you can (and in fact
should) seek the help and advice of friends, classmates, and tutors, including the Writing Center in McDer-
mott Library, be sure that your individual work is completely your own.
Students should be familiar with UTD’s policies on scholastic dishonesty and conduct UTD's policies on
student discipline and conduct, which includes a description and examples of scholastic dishonesty and mis-
conduct.
Non-Disclosure and Intellectual Property: Students in this course share their ideas through collabo-
rative work, projects, and oral presentations. Consequently, instructors cannot guarantee proprietary rights to
an idea, document, program, etc. When selecting topics for projects, assignments, and presentations, consider
whether you intend to pursue intellectual property rights such as patents or copyrights. If so, please be ad-
vised that everything discussed or produced in this course belongs to the public domain and as such
will not give you any copyright or patent benefits. If that is a concern to you, we strongly recom-
mend that you select another topic for the assignment. Additionally, students employed with local com-
panies should review the employer’s non-disclosure agreements and avoid revealing proprietary information
in the course. UTD and the faculty assume no responsibility when employees choose to disclose such pro-
prietary information.
Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance: UTD provides reasonable accommodations for quali-
fied individuals who are students with disabilities. This university will adhere to all applicable Federal, State
and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required
to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the Office of Disability
Services in a timely manner to arrange for reasonable accommodations.

Room and Equipment Use: In addition to these UTD policies, students will need to observe the fol-
lowing policies specific to the Professional and Technical Communication classrooms.
• Tampering with or destroying any of the computers, printers, Smart Board, white boards, networks
or wiring in the classroom is strictly prohibited. Violations will result in a disciplinary referral to the
Dean of Students’ office.
• No cell phones, pagers, or other electronic messaging services may be used in the classrooms unless
you have cleared it with the instructor first and only on an emergency basis.
• The room may be used only for ECS 3390 related activities. You may not work on other class pro-
jects, check your e-mail, print, work for other classes, burn CDs that are not part of the ECS 3390
ECS 3390 Syllabus Fall 2005 TR
Last modified 8.17.2005
 Page 4 of 4

assignments, install software (games, music, executables, programming languages, or any other unap-
proved software). Violations will result in a disciplinary referral to the Dean of Students’ office.
• Food and drink are not permitted in the classroom.

ECS 3390 Syllabus Fall 2005 TR

Last modified 8.17.2005