ENGL 608
Professional Writing
1. Catalog Entry
ENGL 608
Professional Writing
Credit hours (3)
This online course teaches students to plan, write, revise, and design persuasive professional documents, focusing on the rhetorical, ethical, and social implications of communicating complex information to mixed audiences and of managing writing projects in a team environment.
2. Detailed Description of Course
Because ENGL 608 helps students engage in the professional writing process and master professional writing principles, it may organize units around the following possible topics and subtopics (in parentheses): rhetorical situation analysis (audience, purpose, context), persuasive appeals (ethos, pathos, logos), ethical and legal considerations (copyright, conflict of interest; manipulating, withholding, or falsifying information; plagiarism), professional writing style (clarity, conciseness, fluency, nonsexist language), summaries (summaries, abstracts), activity reports (progress, lab, field, peer review), analytical reports (research, recommendation, feasibility), technical documents (instructions, technical specifications, technical descriptions, technical definitions), graphics (tables, graphs, charts, illustrations, photographs), collaboration (virtual project management, virtual collaboratively writing), and document design and format (headings, bulleted lists, page numbers, headers/footers).
3. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course
English 608 utilizes a variety of instructional strategies, such as video lecture, online discussion board, case studies, and problem-based learning, to help students improve their understanding and composition of professional documents. Students have multiple opportunities to improve their writing in response to instructor and peer feedback. Finally, because English 608 is a graduate-level course, students are expected to assume more responsibility and agency in their own learning. To this end, collaborative projects and presentations may be assigned. In completing such projects, students may be asked to write reflectively in order to foster metacognition and learning transfer; some of this reflective writing may be part of a major, end-of-term assignment for the course.
4. Goals and Objectives of the Course
Given that many enrollees are post-baccalaureate students who likely have some professional experience, the course aims to improve students’ abilities to communicate effectively and persuasively in an organizational context. By the end of the course, students will be able to:
5. Assessment Measures
Knowledge and application of course principles are assessed in a number of ways. Students plan, write, and revise a variety of professional documents. They also analyze the rhetorical, content, design, format, and other features of real-world professional documents, including those they may have produced as part of their professional duties. Students may be asked to present their work and discuss their rhetorical choices with the class. At key moments in the course, students may be asked to engage in metacognitive exercises (e.g., short, reflective writing exercises) to facilitate learning transfer. When theoretical, historical, or other readings are assigned, students may participate in online discussions.
6. Other Course Information
ENGL 608 is a seven-week course offered the second half of fall semester.
Review and Approval
March, 2016
April 1, 2024