Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies
York University
AP/WRIT 3989 3.0 Writing in the Workplace Sumer 2012 (Wednesday evenings)
Course Director: Mary Anne Coffey
Office Contact: Dept. of Writing, S329 Ross (416) 736-5134
Day: Wed. May 9 to Wed. Aug. 1, 2012
Course Description
Examines various types of workplace-related writing and oral communication, for example, memo and report writing, executive summary, and presentation. Focuses on helping students develop clear writing, both individually and in collaboration with others, and skills in editing and presentation.
Course goals:
To have students familiarize themselves with and produce work in a variety of genres – memo, report with executive summary, and presentation
To have students learn to work collaboratively, including editing each others’ work
To sensitize students to rhetorical strategies appropriate for a variety of audiences
To have students take responsibility for their final products
Students work collaboratively in groups to determine a situation that requires them to generate the required genres, and to research an issue, produce a report, memos, presentations, etc. Each group is responsible for ensuring that documents and presentations are of the quality that one would present to an employer.
Learning to use hard copy grammar is a component of the course.
APA (American Psychological Association) is the required style for this course. Prerequisites
12 credits in Social Science and/or Humanities. Not open to students who have taken GL/TRAN 3310 and GL/TRAN 4310.
Important note: AK/WRIT 3989 is NOT an ESL course. Unless you are FLUENT in written and spoken English, you are NOT advised to take this course.
Required Text
Locker, Kaczmarek, Braun. Business Communications: Building Critical Skills. 4th Canadian Ed. Whitby, ON: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2010. Companion website:https://connect.mcgrawhill.ca/app/login/connect/index.php
Recommended Texts
Lunsford, Andrea A. Easy Writer. 4th Canadian Ed. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2010.
In addition, students will require access to a good Canadian dictionary. ITP Nelson or Oxford Canadian is recommended. A thesaurus is also useful.
Library and Web Resources
The York University Dept. of Writing has many links and tips for writers at http://www.yorku.ca/laps/writ/resources.html
The Bronfman business library has research tips at http://www.library.yorku.ca/ccm/BG/index.htm
Grading
Each student is graded on both individual and group work. Individual marks are assigned as follows:
70% - 7 short assignments (250 to 750 words) (7 x 10%)
10% - participation *
20% - group work (presentation, executive summary, final report, collaboration/participation evaluation memo+). +The final collaborative group report must include a group evaluation of each member’s collaboration/participation (graded out of 100%). All members of the group must sign the report. Normally, each member of the group receives the same grade.
*Participation requires attendance, but is not limited to that. Come prepared to do in-class writing, to peer-review your colleagues’ work, and to read your writing aloud to the class and receive feedback on it.
Final grades will be posted on the York website. No advance grades for individuals or groups will be given out.
Deadlines for assignments must be met. Late assignments will receive a reduction of a grade i.e. a B becomes a C+. Speak to me (don’t email) before the due date if you are unable to complete the assignment on time because of extenuating circumstances.
Rewrites of assignments are at the instructor’s discretion. Rewrites, if allowed for an assignment, must be submitted one week after they have been graded. A rewrite must be returned with the original graded version attached. Late rewrites will not be accepted. If this deadline is not met, the original grade will stand.
Collaborative Report:
1. You and your group will form an organization that markets a product, sells a service, manufactures, distributes or delivers a service or product. You may be organizational position holders (e.g. board members, consultants, managers) in an existing company or virtual organization of any size or description, preferably Canadian. Organizations can be for-profit or not-for-profit and can include foundations or environmental groups (e.g. Greenpeace, social service organizations etc.)
Your project design will determine your audience(s) and rhetorical strategy, and your report must address those readers appropriately. For example, an audience of potential investors in a proposed business is very different from an executive committee of a non- profit organization that requests your assistance in expanding their volunteer base. Skeptical investors require a persuasive, indirect approach, while the non-profit’s executive may be open to a direct consideration of your proposed solution. 2. Examples of possible project topics:
Hi-tech toys
Charitable foundation
Environmental consulting
Software development
Event planning
Energy conservation
Catalogue company
Local tourism
In-house training
College/university survival guide
New business feasibility study
3. You and your group will research your organizational issue or problem and present your findings to the class on Aug. 1. As a group, you will also write a formal report (10 pages double spaced or 2500 words, not including front or back matter) and a collaboration evaluation (1 page memo) that are also due Aug.1 Your report must include a bibliography of sources, at least two of which must be from academic sources and two from trade sources. The bibliography must be in APA style and include the complete reference for each source.
Course Policies:
Plagiarism, using someone else’s words as though they are your own, is not acceptable academic or business behaviour. You must not copy words or phrases from the text for an assignment. You must use your own wording. See www.yorku.ca/academicintegrity/ for guidelines on avoiding plagiarism. Instances of plagiarism will result in a grade of F on an assignment. Consult your instructor if you are in doubt as to what constitutes plagiarism. Assignment format:
1. Use margins of 3 to 5 cm at the top and sides of the page.
2. Single space sentences and double space between paragraphs.
3. Choose one of the following fonts: 12 point Times New Roman, Times, or Palatino.
4. If an assignment is more that one page long, staple the top left hand corner. Do not use a folder or binder. Do use a cover sheet that includes the title and number of the assignment.
Evaluation Criteria:
Each assignment will be graded on the basis of how well you have completed the writing task, including the opening and closing, attention to audience, strategy, organization, completeness, accuracy, tone, clarity, coherence, originality, fluency of expression, format, and grammar and mechanics (spelling, grammar, word choice, punctuation, avoidance of comma splices, run-on sentences, fragments, subject-verb agreement, idiom, syntax).
Outline (subject to change) Revised May 6, 2012
1. May 9 Introduction
Grading, assignments, deadlines, collaborative work, participation
2. May 16 Unit 1 Modules 1-5: Building Effective Messages
Read www.george-orwell.org/Politics_and_the_English_Language/0.html
Assignment Due: Assignment #1: Mod. 1, p.17, #1.9; 10% o (See p. 161 for memo format.)
3. May 23 Unit 2: Influencing Your Audience Positively Unit 3 Mod. 9&10: Composing Letters, Memos, and Emails
4. May 30 Unit 3 Mod. 11,12, 13: Composing Letters, Memos, and Emails: Positive, Negative, Persuasive Messages
Division into groups: group leader, phone tree, brainstorming
5. June 6 Unit 5 Mod 18 (p. 319-324) & 19: Researching and Reporting: Researching, Synthesizing
Assignment Due: Assignment #2 (email): Mod. 10, p. 183, #10 .9; 10%
6. June 13 Research Library Session (tentative date)
Meet in Schulich S236 (second floor)
Assignment Due: *Assignment #3 (Letter): Mod.12, p. 224 , #12.7 c; 10%
7. June 20 Unit 4 Mod. 14, 15 Buiding Emotional Intelligence: Listening, Working in Teams
Collaborative Project Work
Develop project assignment. Group assignment topics finalized.
Assignment Due: Assignment #4; Mod. 13, p. 253, #13.13; 10%
8. June 27 Unit 5 Mod. 22, 23: Researching and Reporting: Writing Formal Reports, Using Visuals
Groups present topics to class.
9. July 4 Unit 5 Mod 20 & 21: Researching and Reporting: Writing Info, Analytical Reports, and Proposals
Assignment Due: Assignment #5 Justification report; Mod. 21 p.382 #21.6; 10 % 10. July 11 Unit 6 Mod. 24-26 Job Hunting
Assignment Due: Assignment #6 Progress report; Mod. 20 p.364 #20.8; 10 %
11. July 18 Unit 6 Mod. 27 Job Hunting
Unit 4 Mod. 17 Making Oral Presentations
Assignment Due: Assignment #7 Cover Letter: Mod. 26, p. 491, # 26.7; 10 %
12. July 25 Final Report Preparation
13. Aug. 1 Groups report to class
All Group work due: (presentation, executive summary, final report, and collaboration evaluation); 20%
Final date for submission of term work