Rhetoric
3257-003: Scientific and Technical Presentations
Dr. Bernadette Longo
Spring 2004: TTh 11:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., VoTech R380
| Office | 89 Classroom Office Bldg. |
| Office phone | 612-624-8791 |
| Office hours | TTh 9:30 - 11:30 & 4:00 - 5:00 and by appointment |
| blongo@umn.edu | |
| WebCT url | webct3.umn.edu |
| Course home | www.tc.umn.edu/~blongo/courses/home.htm |
| Participation and Attendance | Course Policies | Assignments |
| Grading | Assignment Due Dates | Assignment Descriptions |
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In this course you will learn about oral presentation skills for scientific
or technical topics. These topics will be covered: audience analysis, organization,
delivery, presentations for non-expert audiences, visuals, and critique.
TEXT
Gurak, Laura. Oral Presentations for Technical Communication. NY: Allyn
& Bacon. 2000.
PARTICIPATION
AND ATTENDANCE
Participation is essential because you will do much of the course work in class.
You can have two absences (excused or unexcused) during the semester without
penalty. After that, I will deduct 5 points for each absence from three to four.
If you are absent more than four times, I will lower your course grade. The
only exceptions to this attendance policy, according to UMN policy, are verified
illness, participation in athletic or other UMN-sponsored events, serious family
emergencies, subpoenas, jury duty, military service, religious observance. These
absences must be documented to be considered exceptions to this attendance policy.
Work missed because of an absence
cannot be made up unless due to an extended illness, personal crisis or a pre-approved
documented absence. Chronic lateness may be counted as an absence. If I am late
to class, please wait ten minutes after the beginning of class. I will notify
you if class is cancelled.
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COURSE
POLICIES
Presentations are to be given on the day you are scheduled to present. If you
have an emergency and cannot present on your scheduled day, please follow the
rules in the section above for documenting your absence according to UMN policy.
Do not come to class on your scheduled day and ask me to reschedule your presentation.
If you come to class on the day of your scheduled presentation and are not adequately
prepared, give your presentation to the best of your ability. If you do not
give your presentation on your scheduled day, you will receive zero points for
that assignment.
Technical communication relies heavily
on collaboration. It would be unrealistic of me to expect you to work in isolation.
I encourage you to bounce ideas off each other, offer each other suggestions,
and seek other opinions about your work. When you use the work of someone else,
though, document your source. If you have questions about plagiarism as you
complete your work, ask me. I will pursue plagiarism cases according to UMN
policy for academic dishonesty and reserve the right to fail a student in the
course for plagiarism, i.e., using other people's work without proper documentation
and citation.
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COURSE
ASSIGNMENTS (1000 possible points)
All assignments must be completed for you to pass the course.
| PowerPoint issues presentation | 100 points |
| Presentation 1 | 150 points |
| Presentation 2 | 200 points |
| Presentation 3 | 200 points |
| Presentation 4 | 200 points |
| Impromptu presentations or quizzes | 100 points |
| Attendance | 50 points |
GRADING
Your assignment grades will be given in points. The maximum points possible
in the course is 100. Your
final course grades will be assigned according to the following scale:
|
A
|
1000-950
|
Achievement that is outstanding relative to level necessary to meet course requirements |
|
A-
|
949-900
|
|
|
B+
|
899-880
|
|
|
B
|
879-850
|
Achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements |
|
B-
|
849-800
|
|
|
C+
|
799-780
|
|
|
C
|
779-750
|
Achievement that meets the course requirements in every aspect |
|
C-
|
749-700
|
|
|
D+
|
699-680
|
|
|
D
|
679-600
|
Achievement that is worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the course requirements |
|
F
|
599 and lower
|
Represents failure and signifies that the work was either 1) completed but at a level of achievement that is not worthy of credit or 2) was not completed and there was no agreement between the instructor and the student that the student would be awarded an I |
If you have questions about the UMN
grading policy, more information is available at http://www.umn.edu/usenate/policies/gradingpolicy.html
This syllabus and the due date schedule may be revised by the instructor at
any time during the semester. All revisions will be reasonable and based on
class needs.
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