Course-PM

FSP011 Technical communication 3 lp1 HT19 (1.5 hp)

The course is offered by the department of Communication and Learning in Science

Contact details

Examiner: Anthony Norman 

Teacher/lecturer: Charlie Keeling (keeling@chalmers.se)

Course purpose

The course Technical Communication 3 aims to prepare students of chemical engineering for the intensive communicative situation they meet in their work as engineers in Sweden or abroad. The overall aim of the course is that students establish a solid foundation for choosing effective communicative strategies in various discipline-specific contexts (both in speech and writing). The pedagogical cornerstone of the course is that students' learning is enhanced and improved through working with technical communication in integration with discipline courses.

An important personal learning goal in this course is that students appreciate the importance of effective documentation and communication, as well as their fundamental connection to learning both during and after education at Chalmers. Competence development goals aim at developing those written and oral competencies already established in earlier communication courses, as a way of increasing communication awareness, including form and style, as well as communication strategies. After the completed course, students will be able to present, report, and critically evaluate project and research work.

Schedule (link to course schedule in TimeEdit)

TimeEdit

Course design

Technical communication 3 is the second course of the three Technical Communication courses delivered in English and it is integrated with a parallel chemistry course. Emphasis is placed on presenting and documenting research in order to develop understanding and knowledge for both the courses. Activities involve critical reading of research, presentation in speech and writing of a group project in the chemistry course, and assessment and discussion of each other's text in peer-response activities. The set-up of the joint project promotes working in project forms and prepares students for thesis work in English.

This course is not a heavy content course; it is aimed at facilitation, and involves structured activities to support the reading and writing process. Being active and engaging in the process is critical for successful learning outcomes. The course centers around an integrated project with KBT241, which FSP011 provides support for.

You can find a detailed project description here.

Course literature

Course literature is made available through Canvas, where relevant.

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

• describe, analyse and discuss communicative strategies (in speech and writing) used in technical communication in order to increase awareness of how technical content is, or should be, structured.
• evaluate and critically review relevant research.
• present technical content both in speech and writing, where communicative strategies are successfully adjusted to the audience and the purpose of the presentation.
• assess and evaluate technical presentations, both their own and others', as well as discuss and suggest relevant changes of communicative strategies for the improvement of such presentations.

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen. Study plan

Examination form

The written report and the oral presentation (multimedia proposal) have shared examination in both courses, but separate grading. Despite the separate grading, the technical content teacher and communication teacher discuss both pieces of assessment together during the assessment process. The final grade for Technical Communication 3 is given in the scale U, 3-5.

Your final grade is built on your final written report and final presentation/opposition.

- If the final version of the written report receives a U, the student will have an opportunity to revise based on teacher feedback; however after revision the report can only receive a 3.

- If the final presentation receives a U, students will receive feedback and an opportunity to present again at a later session, however the students can only receive a 3 for the repeat presentation.

Criteria

Criteria are important guidelines which help you not only understand how you will be assessed, but also help you during the writing process.

• Grading criteria will be reviewed in session 5 after the multimedia "proposal" has been submitted.

Changes made since the last occasion

• Course has been simplified and streamlined.
• The multimedia proposal will be delivered in session 4. It is a video submission in a less formal context e.g. in the media.
• All sessions will be held in Zoom.
• The final paper will be presented and opposed in the final session. One session will be dedicated to the peer review before this.
• The project report in session 4 will have given peers a clear idea of what others are focusing on inb terms of problem and topic.