Postechian Core Capability: Global Citizen 100%

Purpose: The purpose of this course is to improve the students’ ability to communicate technical information in written English.



Organize and write with clarity, coherence and concision
Study, investigate and practice the components of a scientific research paper.
Summarize, paraphrase, cite, and quote scientific research articles
Gain a perspective on peer review by evaluating and editing classmates' works.

The course will have two components:
1) How to organize, write and revise documents. This component will focus on the technical aspects of composition. It will be fulfilled by a combination of lectures and examples by the instructor, and writing by the students.
2) How to express ideas in English. This component will focus on grammar and vocabulary. It will be fulfilled by examples and editing exercises.

The instructor will guide the students through the process of producing a scientific manuscript. Specified components of the manuscript will be completed in sequence. The instructor will read, edit and comment on each component. Students will have the option of revising the components and resubmitting them.

Expectations.
Students will attend all classes, complete all assignments, submit assignments on time, and participate in classroom exercises.

Plagiarism: Any student caught plagiarizing will receive a grade of 0 for the section plagiarized and I will inform his/her supervisor.

You can be at any stage of your research process to take this course. Students without ongoing research will be tasked with working on a Review Paper, and similar preliminary projects.

Recent discussions have suggested the need for an evaluation of student progress in this course. However, since this is not a major class, assigning grades seems unrealistic. As a compromise, students who complete all class assignments and regularly attend class will receive an S. Those who do not will receive a U. This policy should make this a more productive class.

Attendance:
Graduate students must manage constantly changing demands on their time. Frequently, important obligations may conflict with this course; the English faculty recognize this and understand that other obligations may be more important than attending this class on any particular day. However, distinguishing between acceptable, excusable absences and unexcused absences is a subjective matter that we want to avoid. Thus, as a compromise, we will allow a very generous six absences, with no distinction between excused and unexcused. Upon the seventh absence, for any reason, you will receive a U.

The primary source of content will be lectures and exercises uploaded to PLMS for students to download and use.

The first half of the class will focus on studying and analyzing examples of scientific writing within the context of your own field, as well as some general instruction and practice in sentence and paragraph-level construction.

The second half of the course will focus on peer workshops, where we actively read and offer constructive feedback on each other's work. Students are able to submit any type of writing that they are currently working on, or interested in working on.

Classes will be taught primarily offline.

Lecture + solo/group classwork (peer editing & vocab and grammar exercises) + individual feedback sessions