 | Writing: Plans and Skills |
Objectives
The objectives of this class are
- to provide a basis for the development of writing assignments within this class;
- by examining the processes and techniques of writing; and
- using the techniques of program development as a foundation and parallel for writing.
This class assumes that in the main, computer scientists will be writing technical reports and not "works of literature." The other assumption (perhaps false) is that students are well-versed in writing as a result of their freshman English classes, but not necessarily as applied to technical writing.
NOTE: NO grade will be assigned to the grammar and spelling elements of a written assignment, and no penalty is associated with poor writing, but we will NOT accept any assignments which present grossly inadequate grammar and poor spelling. Take advantage of technology to check your spelling and grammar, but do not rely on it totally.
Why do you write?
References
- Peyton Jones, S. L., John Hughes, John Lanchbury. Nov. 1993. "How to Give a Good Research Talk", ACM SIGPLAN Notices, Vol. 28, No. 11, pp. 9-12.
- Levine, L., Linda H. Pesante, Susan B. Dunkle. May 1990. "Technical Writing for Software Engineers", Curriculum Module SEI-CM-23, Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 60 pp.
- Wakin, Edward. March/April 1993. "Writing Reports that Work", Beyond Computing, IBM Corp., pp. 57-58.
- Jolliffe, David A. Writing, Teaching , and Learning: Incorporating Writing Throughout the Curriculum, HarperCollins College Publishers, 1994, pp. 6-19.
Helpful Advice
Last updated 2002/08/14
© J.A.N. Lee, 1995-2002.