English 303: Scientific & Technical Writing
The focus of English 303 is recognizing and responding in writing to different rhetorical situations in scientific and technical discourse communities. A student in English 303 should expect to create and revise documents in multiple genres. Each document should establish a clear purpose, sense of audience awareness, and sense of the writer’s presence and position. A student in English 303 should expect to complete four-to-six projects.
Student Learning Outcomes Statement for English 303:
The Student Outcomes Statement for English 303 is intended to provide instructors and students with a sense of what kinds of knowledge students should be expected to acquire and demonstrate by the end of this course. The student learning outcomes are intended to create a sense of common purpose for the courses and clear expectations for the students. At the same time, the student learning outcomes have been written to maintain the flexibility in the program that allows individual instructors to continue the tradition of innovation and creativity in the classroom that is one of the great strengths of the University of Louisville Composition Program.
Rhetorical Knowledge
Students will produce writing that responds appropriately to a variety of rhetorical situations. Their writing should:
- Demonstrate knowledge of audience, which includes the ability to determine appropriate scope, genre, technical vocabulary and detail, and tone when writing for both technical and non-technical audiences
- Demonstrate knowledge of context, which includes analyzing professional cultures, social contexts, and audiences to determine how they shape the various purposes and forms of writing
- Demonstrate an ability to use, explain and integrate quantitative information with verbal prose to achieve particular rhetorical purposes
- Demonstrate knowledge of research methods that produce professional documents, including analyzing professional contexts and assessing and summarizing information resources
Processes
Students will produce writing reflective of a multi-stage composing and revising process. Their writing should:
- Demonstrates knowledge of the writing process, which means engaging various strategies for planning, researching, drafting, revising, and editing documents that respond effectively and ethically to scientific and technical situations and audiences
- Demonstrates knowledge of collaborative strategies, such as writing in a team setting, working and communicating on-line, setting and achieving project goals, and responding constructively to peers’ work
Conventions
Students will produce writing that strategically employs appropriate conventions in different writing situations. Their writing should:
- Demonstrates control of the editing process, including the production of documents which exhibit concise language, appropriate technical vocabulary, appropriate format, proper sentence structure, and standardized grammar
- Demonstrates knowledge of document design, including the implementation of various principles of format, layout, and design of professional visual/verbal documents that meet multiple needs and integrate a variety of written, visual, and oral elements of design
