CE 333T Engineering Communication (15490, 15495, 15500, 15505)

http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/hart/333t/
Spring 2011
(CPE 2.212)

Instructor Dr. Hillary Hart Prerequisite E306 and admission to Major Seq.
Office ECJ 8.214 Wed., Feb. 2 Last day an undergraduate student
471-4635 can drop a course via the web and
[email protected] receive a refund, if eligible.

Hours M 10:30-11:30 Mon., March 28 Last day to Q-drop class, with dean’s
W 2:00-4:00 approval, except for urgent and sub-
Or by appointment stantiated non-academic reasons.

Assistants Ryan Grosskopf, Jenny Lin, Kirsten Ronald

Please see the “People” section linked to the home page of the CE 333T website.
Office ECJ 3.256 (Hours listed on website)

This course carries a University writing flag.

Academic/Learning Goals and Course Objectives

This course prepares engineering students to communicate engineering innovations and solutions to a range of
audiences, from non-technical to technical. To achieve this objective you will research and produce communications
using all available media – print, digital documents, graphics, oral presentations, message boards -- culminating in a
research proposal to solve a particular sustainability problem. Through case studies and collaborative assignments, the
course also explores teamwork skills and the relevance of communication ethics to engineering practice. The course is
designed to help you accomplish the following goals:
 develop a clear technical writing style
 gather and manage information and data effectively
 organize and select information appropriately for the audience
 use appropriate formats for proposals, reports, instructions, and correspondence
 incorporate unambiguous and readable graphics in documents
 give effective oral presentations
 collaborate well with others (including electronically)
 work successfully as part of a team to solve problems
 use appropriate communication strategies to handle ethical dilemmas

Required Reading
 Ruszkiewicz., et al. (2007). The Scott Foresman Handbook for Writers, 8th edition. Prentice Hall, New
Jersey.
 Hart, H. (2008). Engineering Communication, 2nd edition. Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
 Softcopy readings are located on the Blackboard site and the CAEE/CE333T website. Most slides
used in class are available as PowerPoint files on the BB site. Assignment specifications are on the
CAEE/CE333T site.

Course Requirements
1. Read the notes and articles on the class web sites and the assignments in the textbooks.
2. Participate fully in class discussion, group work, and peer review.
 3. Use a word-processor to write all assignments, including homework.
4. Follow the format described on the 333T web site for each assignment.

Grading Methods
Your final grade will be determined by the following method. The assignment percentages will be broken down
into points as described in later sections of this syllabus.

Writing Assignments (5) 60%* A+ = 97-99 C+ = 77-79

Homework 06% A = 93-96 C = 73-76
Oral Presentations 14% A- = 90-92 C- = 70-72
Peer Reviews 10% B+ = 87-89 D+ = 67-69
Class Participation 10% B = 83-86 D = 63-66
TOTAL 100% B- = 80-82 D- = 60-62

*Graduated scale: letter and resume = 08 points, Introduction (problem description and project rationale &
methodology) = 10, Technology Description = 10, Implementation Plan = 12, final Proposal = 20

Note: There is no final examination given in this course.

Writing Assignments
All writing will be graded for content and form. Content includes appropriate and complete data, logical
argument, and adequate supporting evidence. Form includes appropriate style; logical and organized paragraphs
and sections; and clear, readable sentences. Your goal should be to convince your intended audience to do
something by writing clearly and persuasively and using graphics effectively. Please follow the requested
format for each assignment. Please do not e-mail any assignments unless requested to do so.

With each returned assignment, you will receive a completed "grading criteria" form. The teaching assistants and
I try very hard to point out the strengths as well as the weaknesses in your writing and argumentation. Please read
the comments on these forms carefully; they are the key to improving your writing and building on your strengths.

You will revise your writing often in this class, but for one graded proposal section, you will have the option to
rewrite for a new grade. To receive the new grade, you must write at least one paragraph about the changes you
made and why. See Schedule for due date.

Specifications for Written Work

1. Include a cover page with each assignment. Give this information:
a title, your name, CE 333T, your lab time, your TA's name, the date.
2. Make sure the top, bottom, and side margins of all pages are at least one inch.
3. Number each page, except the title page and any cover letter or memo.
4. One-and-a-half-space or double-space all body text, except in memos, letters, and appendices.
5. Do not use a font size smaller than 10-pt for body text. A Times font in 11 or 12-pt. is a readable choice.
6. Staple or paper clip each assignment's pages together (except for the complete proposal).
7. Bind your completed proposal with a permanent binding. Use the special format for title and cover pages.

Presentation Assignments
Presentations are worth 14% of your grade. Presentations also will be graded for content and form. Form includes
delivery strategies, such as maintaining eye contact and projecting your voice, as well as using easy-to-follow
organization and effective visuals. You may present individually or together with your project partner.

You will make 3 presentations this semester, each one increasing in length and grading points allocated:

CE 333T Syllabus 2
  Informal project presentation (1)
 Oral Briefing (2)
 Final presentation (14)

Class Participation
Class Participation is worth 10% of your grade and consists of these categories, listed in order of importance:
 Level of participation in labs and lectures (asking and answering questions, supporting discussions,
etc.)
 Quality of team leadership in lecture and lab
 Contribution to other students’ efforts (e.g., Message Board)
 Individual (or partnered) conference with TA (1)

Points are awarded for each category based on individual performance and contribution to team activities. Simply
showing up to lecture and lab sessions is not enough to earn a good participation grade, but showing up is
certainly the first big step.

Peer Review
Peer review is worth 10% of your grade. You will receive a maximum of 2 points for each of the five written peer
reviews. We will do the reviews in lab – if you have to miss one, you will need to do that review on your own and
e-mail it to your TA by a certain time and date. The number of points you earn depends on the evident care with
which you give a thoughtful written review.

Please be sure that you give your reviewer credit by handing in the peer review with each written assignment. If
you do not receive a review for any given assignment, you must hand in the no-review form with that assignment.

Homework
Homework assignments are worth 06% of your grade. Everyone must submit individual and typewritten
homework. All homework assignments are worth the same # of points.

Lab Sessions and Information Technology

To meet the course objectives, class time is divided into two lectures and one lab session each week. Labs are
held in the SC2 Lab (ECJ 3.402) to give you hands-on practice in writing. Labs also give you the opportunity to
exchange peer reviews of your current assignment (in draft form) and to collaborate with other students to
generate ideas and to practice writing and presenting information.

To use the computers in the SC2 Lab, students may have to have a particular account – we will explain in the first
lab session how to open and/or activate this account. You should be able to get to your departmental web folder
in the Lab, but you can also use Webspace to store your documents for this class: https://webspace.utexas.edu.

I have my own web site at http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/hart/ , but I will communicate with you largely
through the BlackBoard course site list. Some documents (especially the larger ones) will be available on the BB
site; some will be on my site. I’ll try to be clear about which is where, but remember that the sites are linked.

Even if you vastly prefer IMing and texting to using e-mail, you must use e-mail in this class. Make sure your
current email address is the same as the one associated with your UT EID. My address is [email protected].
Both your TAs and I will answer email within 24 hours except on weekends.

Teaching Assistants
Your teaching assistants this semester are graduate students from various UT departments. They will lead the lab
sessions, grade some of your work, and consult with you about improving your writing and speaking. Their office
is in ECJ 3.256. You can always check on their office hours at the “People” link on the CE 333T home page.

CE 333T Syllabus 3
Course Policies
Please be aware of the following policies that will help you get the most out of this class.

Active Learning
Research on learning and teaching has shown definitively that students learn better if they are active in the
process. Passive learning – when students listen to a teacher lecture for more than 20 minutes – is just not
effective. We will practice active learning in several ways: through in-class and in-lab discussion, through hands-
on writing and review in the lab, through team work, and through student-led teaching sessions. You will work in
teams in both lecture and lab, and during several sessions, student teams will teach the grammar and writing
lessons. Take it from me, the best way to learn is to teach someone else.

Late Assignments
Because improving your writing is a cumulative activity, each assignment builds on the previous one. This class,
therefore, has a relatively strict late-paper policy. All written assignments are due at the beginning of your class
on the day indicated on the Schedule of Assignments. Written assignments are considered late from the end of
that class until one week later. Ten percent of the grade will be deducted from late written assignments, whether
they are handed in one hour late or one week late. Assignments later than one week will not be accepted and
will receive a grade of "0." The final written assignment must come in bound and on time; see Schedule in this
document and on the websites for due date and time. See me as soon as possible to discuss emergencies or serious
issues, such as health problems, that interfere with your ability to comply with this policy.

Attendance Requirements
Please make every effort not to miss classes. All labs and lectures involve your active participation and
collaboration with other students. You have a responsibility to your classmates and your project partner, as well as
to yourself, to come to class and learn how to accomplish successfully the work for the course.

If you must miss a lecture or a lab session, please let your TA know before the class time. If you are absent more
than 4 times from lecture or more than once from lab, class participation points will be deducted from your
final grade. If serious issues arise, such as with your or a family member’s health, please let me know what’s
going on. We can develop a special schedule to accommodate the crisis, but I can’t make accommodations if you
don’t communicate with me.

For the written peer review labs, you should bring a word-processed draft of your current assignment, at least 3/4
complete. To receive full attendance credit for these labs, you and your draft must both attend.

Academic Integrity*
Both faculty and students at world-class universities must maintain high standards of academic integrity.
According to the UT General Information Catalog, “Since the value of a university degree depends on the
absolute integrity of the work done by each student for that degree, a student must maintain a high standard of
individual honor in his or her scholastic work” (p. 108). Students who violate University rules on scholastic
dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal
from the University. Since such dishonesty harms the individual, all students, and the integrity of the University,
policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced.

I expect that you or you and your partner are the sole author(s) of all your written work, except where you have
given proper credit for borrowed words and graphics. If you repeat phrases or sentences from another source, you
must place the phrase in quotation marks as well as cite the source. We will talk in class about why giving this
credit is critical to the scientific and technological endeavor.

If you are writing about a similar topic in another class, you may “borrow” from your own writing, but you must
indicate the source (i.e., reference your own report/presentation) and place any duplicated language in quotation

CE 333T Syllabus 4
marks. If you are writing about a similar topic in another class, please talk to me early in the semester to avoid
any unintentional self-plagiarism.

For more information on academic integrity and scholastic dishonesty, please see the Student Judicial Services
website at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/. See also the plagiarism scenarios on the course website.

Honor Code*
The core values of the University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual
opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through
integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community.

Evaluation Plan
An evaluation of the course and instructor will be conducted at the end of the semester using the
approved UT Course/Instructor evaluation forms. In order to gather more timely evaluation, I will also ask
you several times during the semester to comment (anonymously) on the content and organization of the course. I
use your comments to adjust the course to the students’ needs.

University Web Sites and Privacy*

Web-based, password-protected class sites will be associated with all academic courses taught at the University.
Syllabi, handouts, assignments and other resources are types of information that may be available within these
sites. Site activities could include exchanging e-mail, engaging in class discussions and chats, and exchanging
files. In addition, electronic class rosters will be a component of the sites.
Students who do not want their names included in these electronic class rosters must restrict their directory
information in the Office of the Registrar, Main Building, Room 1. For information on restricting directory
information, see the General Information Catalog or go to:
http://www.utexas.edu/student/registrar/catalogs/gi06-07/app/appc09.html

Accessibility*
The University of Texas at Austin provides, upon request, appropriate academic adjustments for qualified students with
disabilities. For more information, contact the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for
Students with Disabilities, 471-6259 (voice) or 232-2937 (video phone) or
http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd.

* The text in italics in these sections is taken from statements prepared by UT-Austin.

CE 333T Syllabus 5
 CE 333T
Spring 2011
Schedule of Assignments

Date Topic or Activity Assignment Due Readings

You are responsible for Engineering
preparing items formatted in Communication (EC)
italics or all-caps. Scott Foresman
Handbook (SF)

1/19 Introduction: Communicating with EC chapter 1

clients, managers, and co-workers
1/20 Introductions & sustainability EPA definition
LAB projects
1/24 Résumés
1/26 RfPs and sustainability projects; UT RfP; regional
RfP
Organizing for readers; Sustainability reading
Correspondence EC chap. 3; sec. 8.3
1/27 Peer review of Application Letter Draft of job application letter EC chap. 6, pp 94-
LAB Résumé Workshop Draft of Resume 99
1/31 Planning your Proposal; Evaluating EC sec. 8.4
sustainability definitions Sustain. docs on Bb
Grammar review: Controlling EC section 4.2.1
Passive Voice SF section 23
2/2 Researching; Evaluating Information #1: JOB APP. LETTER EC chap. 2
and RESUME SF chaps. 44, 45
Grammar review: Pruning Project topics posted by EC sec. 4.2.2
noon
2/3 LAB Peer review of Problem Description; Draft of Problem Description
Team discussion of project topics; subsection
Response to Project topics
posted by 5:00 p.m.
2/7 Designing documents Partnership Agreement EC sections 8.1-8.2
2/9 Introductions for proposals; Draft of Problem
Grammar rev.: Maintaining connectionDescription (not graded) EC sect. 4.3.1
SF chap. 14
2/10 Designing documents: Creating the shell
Style Sheet #1 (in lab)
LAB for your complete proposal;
Informal presentations Informal presentation
2/14 Project Rationale & Methodology; Partnership Agreement (final EC, chap. 2, pp 26-
Using and Documenting sources Due date) 32
SF chaps. 46, 47,
49,

CE 333T Syllabus 6
Date Topic or Activity Assignment Due Readings
You are responsible for Engineering
preparing items formatted in Communication (EC)
italics or all-caps. Scott Foresman
Handbook (SF)

51 (incl. p. 749)
2/16 Graphics in documents Chapter 5
2/17 Peer Review of INTRODUCTION Draft of Introduction (incl.
LAB (incl. Prob. Description and Project Prob. Description and Project
Rationale & Methodology); Rationale & Methodology);
Informal presentations Informal presentation
2/21 Oral Presentations: lessons from Chapter 7
Informal presentations
2/23 Presentation Graphics #2: INTRODUCTION (incl. Chapter 7
Problem Description and
Project Rationale & Method.)
2/24 Designing documents collaboratively Style Sheet #2 (in lab)
LAB Student-led rev #1: Maintaining Focus EC, sec. 4.3.2
2/28 Technology Analysis;
Constructing Arguments: ethos, pathos, SF chap. 26
logos
3/2 Constructing Arguments, part 2; Homework #1due SF chaps. 9,10
Thinking and Reading Critically SF chap. 8
3/3 LAB Presentation Review ORAL BRIEFINGS (5 mins.)
3/7 Ethics and spoken communication
Grammar rev.: Avoiding empty pronouns EC sec. 4.2.3
3/9 Listening Contextually #3: TECHNOLOGY Chap.5,
ANALYSIS + References Sustainable
Community
Develop.
3/10 Presentation Review ORAL BRIEFINGS (5 mins.)
LAB
SPRING BREAK SPRING BREAK
3/21 Implementation plans and Audience Town Meeting
scenario
3/23 Communicating with the public Choose role in TM
3/24 Conference week—NO LAB Conference week—NO LAB
LAB
3/28 Communicating with the public, part 2
3/30 TOWN MEETING TOWN MEETING
3/31 Peer review of Implementation Plan Draft of Implementation Plan

CE 333T Syllabus 7
Date Topic or Activity Assignment Due Readings
You are responsible for Engineering
preparing items formatted in Communication (EC)
italics or all-caps. Scott Foresman
Handbook (SF)

LAB Student-led rev. #2: Parallelism EC sec. 4.3.3

4/2 Oral presentations: Nerves, questions, EC secs. 7.5-7.7
and teamwork
4/6 Ethical leadership: Lessons from #4: SF chaps. 35-37
TM IMPLEMENTATION EC sec. 4.6
Grammar review: Punctuation PLAN
4/7 LAB Presentation Workshop
4/11 Executive Summaries
4/13 Lessons from Implementation Plans Homework #2 due
4/14 Peer review of Executive Summary; Draft of Executive Summary
LAB Student-led rev.#3: Precise words SF chaps. 22,24,25,
27,30
EC sec. 4.5
4/18 Revising and polishing Chap. 6, pp 99-112
4/20 Review Session
4/21 #5: PROPOSAL due 4:00 p.m. in
LAB ECJ 8.6
4/25 ORAL PRESENTATIONS
4/27 ORAL PRESENTATIONS
4/28 ORAL PRESENTATIONS
5/2 ORAL PRESENTATIONS
5/4 ORAL PRESENTATIONS
5/5 LAB ORAL
PRESENTATIONS

Lab sessions will be held in ECJ 3.402 except on these dates: 3/24 (individual conferences), 4/21 (no lab), 4/28
and 5/5 (oral presentations).

CE 333T Syllabus 8