ICS 139WCritical Writing on Information

Technology

Lecture 1Emily Navarro

Duplication of course material for any commercial purpose without the explicit written permission of

the professor is prohibited

Today’s Lecture

• Course introduction

• “System change” assignment overview

• Personal Statement assignment overview

• In class writing

Course Introduction

Course Basics

• Course: ICS 139W – Critical Writing on Information Technology

• Professor: Emily Navarro (emilyo@uci.edu)

• TA: Steve Slota (sslota@uci.edu)

• Lecture: T Th 3:30-4:50pm, MSTB 120

• Discussion: F 12-12:50 or 1-1:50 (DBH 1429) (attend one per week)• Informal consultation hour

• Course Website:• http://www.ics.uci.edu/~emilyo/teaching/ics139wf2015/

index.html

Course Basics (II)

• Office hours• Emily: Tuesdays 2:15-3:15pm DBH 5221• Steve: in discussion, or by appointment

• Questions and announcements• Email or in class• Class email list

• Course materials• English dictionary and thesaurus• A writing guide (see UCI Writing Center resources)

Course Goals

• To give you the opportunity to focus on writing in your specific academic discipline (CS)

• To help you become comfortable writing technical documents for a variety of audiences

• To help you become comfortable with giving presentations

How do we achieve course goals?

• Writing assignments

• Peer editing

• Oral presentations

• Lectures on writing concepts and techniques

Writing Principles

• Every person needs to learn to express ideas and feelings in writing

• There is no one right way to write anything

• The ability to write is not an expression of a body of knowledge that can be learned like a list of vocabulary words

Writing Principles (continued)

• Every controlled writing experience will help students improve the ability to express themselves• Therefore each writing effort must be seen as

a success

• The most help any writing teacher/reviewer can give at any point is to show, in a positive way, what is good about a piece and how it might be improved

• All writing at any level is hard work and every writer should be encouraged to feel the pride of authorship

Grading

• Writing Assignments: • Personal Statement: 15%• Influencing Policy: 15%• Changing the System Introductory Tutorial: 15%• Changing the System Proposal: 20%• Resumé and cover letter: 10%• Three to five smaller in-class exercises: 5%

• Class attendance and participation, including three or four oral presentations: 20%• Really good reason for absence, let me know and provide

documentation

• No exams

Writing Assignment Requirements

• Submission mechanics• Submit a hard copy at the BEGINNING of class• ALSO submit an electronic copy via EEE Dropbox• Submitting only one or the other will result in a 5%

penalty for the assignment

• Intermediate versions• should be as good as you can make them• count for 1/3 of your grade on the assignment • must include marked copies of all earlier versions • both instructor marks and peer editing marks• refers to paper submission only

Writing Assignment Requirements (II)

• Plagiarism• DON’T DO IT!• Plagiarism = presenting someone else’s work as

your own• Cite any resources from which you pull information• “Two or more” rule of thumb• All assignments are checked thoroughly for

plagiarism• Plagiarism consequences• Fail the assignment• Offense recorded with Student Affairs

Writing Assignment Requirements (III)

• Grammatical/spelling mechanics• A good command of English syntax, spelling,

and punctuation is assumed• Course focuses on content, organization,

audience, and style• We will not mark every grammatical error on

your assignments• But they can lower your grade

• If you need help with this, the UCI Writing Center has many resources

Spelling/Grammar Checkers

• Spell check will not fined words witch are miss used butt spelled rite!

• Marketing are bad for brand big and small. You Know What I am Saying? It is no wondering that advertisings are bad for company in America, Chicago and Germany. ... McDonald's and Coca Cola are good brand. ... Gates do good marketing job in Microsoft.

Spelling/Grammar Checkers

• Spell check will not fined words witch are miss used butt spelled rite!

• Marketing are bad for brand big and small. You Know What I am Saying? It is no wondering that advertisings are bad for company in America, Chicago and Germany. ... McDonald's and Coca Cola are good brand. ... Gates do good marketing job in Microsoft.

Passes MS Word’s grammar checker!

Writing Assignment Requirements (IV)

• Counting words and pages• one page = one standard, double-spaced

typewritten page; ~300 words, 10-12 point font

• Typography: All papers must be• Typewritten • Double-spaced• Except for• Influencing Policy letter final version

• Change proposal cover letter

Writing Assignment Requirements (V)

• Binding• Smaller assignments: one staple in upper left

corner• Larger assignments (that include previous

drafts): one large paper clip or purse clip • Include your name on each piece

• For more details see “Writing Assignment Requirements” linked off the class Website

“System Change” Assignment

Basic Idea

• Examine some software system you are familiar with from two perspectives:• Introducing new users to the system• Proposing changes to the system

• You will create documents and oral presentations for each of these purposes• Focus on the different audiences • and how your writing/presenting needs to be

tailored to each

Stage I – Choosing a System

• Can be conventional application software, a mobile app, or a Website with complex navigation/interaction/functionality

• Audience: our class

• Deliverables:• 9/29: Email to Steve• Name the system• Describe it if unfamiliar• Sketch out the changes you are proposing

• 10/6: 1-2 minute oral presentation in lecture• Based on feedback from Steve

Stage II – Tutorial/Introduction for Novices

• Write an introduction to the system (as it currently stands) for novices • 3-4 pages• High-level description of the system, its capabilities, tasks it

performs• Do not include tedious minor details • E.g., which keys to press, which menu items to choose

• Audience: novices (friendly, yet professional tone)

• Deliverables:• 10/13: First draft• 10/15 or 10/22: 2-minute oral version of introduction• 10/20: Final version

Suggested Outline for Tutorial/Introduction

1. Make clear any assumptions you are making about your intended audience (e.g., computer literate but not web-savvy)

2. Motivations: Why should a novice care about your system?

3. Introduce and describe the system from a user’s perspective

1. How does a user interface with it (input/output)?

2. What are its main features, grouped by topic?

Hints

• Be very clear about what background knowledge you are assuming about your readers

• Research the impact of your system for motivation

• Use section headings to organize your text

• Use analogies to help explain difficult concepts

Stage III – Proposal for Change

• Write a proposal for changing the system• 5-6 pages plus a single-page cover letter

• Address the proposal to whoever is in charge of making the changes happen

• Audience: decision-makers (business management—correct and professional tone, addressing corporate higher-ups)

• Deliverables:• 10/29: First draft for joint editing in class + presentation slides• 11/10: Revision of proposal and slides based on joint editing• 11/19, 12/1, 12/3: Final oral proposal for change (~4 min.)• 12/3: Final written version + final presentation slides

Hints

• http://www.scribendi.com/advice/how_to_write_a_business_pitch.en.html

• You want to be convincing, so you need to do your research about how this change will benefit the company by researching things like• Industry analysis• Customer needs• Marketing strategy• Business model• Competition• Risks• Financial projections

Hints (continued)

• Avoid a laundry list of bugs to fix

• Arrange proposed changes into some order

A Possible Outline

1. Cover letter

2. Motivation for proposed changesa) What problems do the current proposed changes

address?

b) Why are these problems more important than others?

c) Why should management care?

3. Goals of the proposed changesa) How will the proposed changes address these

problems?

b) What precise outcome will the proposed changes produce?

A Possible Outline (continued)

4. Potential pitfalls of proposed changesa) Why are they not already in place?

b) How difficult are they to implement?

c) What is the cost?

5. Conclusion

Suggestions/Advice

• Choose software that you know/care about

• Be mindful of your audience

• Use graphics effectively

• Cite your sources of information

• Use outlines to experiment with different organization strategies

• For oral portions, do not simply read from a script

• Seek advice from us

• Oral presentation graded on preparedness (not speaking style, nervousness, etc.)

Personal Statement Assignment

Basic Idea

• http://www.ics.uci.edu/~emilyo/teaching/ics139wf2015/assignments/personalStatement.html

• Part of required application materials for professional school (med/law/business), graduate school

• Articulates your compatibility with a given program

• Complements other materials

• Required for fellowship applications

Two Goals of Writing a Personal Statement

1. Understand the purpose of why you are writing

• What is the goal?

2. Understand your audience• What sort of things will the admissions

committee be looking for?

Factors when writing

• Audience: Who will read it?• Admissions committees will determine your

“compatibility” with the school. Review university’s website, mission guidelines, and even make use of specific language

• Purpose: Why are you writing it?• Admission committees need to see how you have

prepared, what you will contribute, and how their program helps you achieve your goals

• Author: What makes you unique?• Hardest aspect to get right

Exercises

• Specific qualities• What are three things you would like the admissions

officer to know after they have forgotten about the rest of your statement?

• Describe an experience that highlighted these qualities

• Unique experiences• What sets you apart from other applications (personal or

family history, people or events that shaped you)?

• Personal preparation• What are your career goals?• How did you learn about this field? How did you become

interested?• Any gaps in your record that need to be addressed?

Common Complaints from Admissions Officers

• https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/642/03/

• Not looking at the questions they are asking• “We can tell when applicants use answers to other

schools’ questions for our essays…”

• Lack of originality• “If you’re screening 5,500 applications over a four- or

six-month period, you want to see something that’s really interesting.”

• Failing to explain errors or weaknesses in their background

Common Complaints from Admissions Officers (cont.)

• Too much speculation on future achievements• “…we determine [a student’s potential success],

principally, based on the basis of what the student has done in the past. Applicants make a mistake by doing a lot of speculation about what they’re going to do in the future rather than telling us about what they’ve done in the past.”

• Stating and not evaluating• “They give a recitation of their experience but no

evaluation of what effect that particular experience had on them, no assessment of what certain experiences or honors meant.”

Next Time

• Read articles on course Website

• Send email to Steve with your proposed Changing System topic

• Lecture 2: peer review, oral presentation techniques, Influencing Policy assignment overview

Next, Next Time

• Lecture (Thursday)• Possible finishing up of Lecture 2• Personal Statement draft due • Peer editing of Personal Statements

In Class Writing

• Purpose: to assess your ability to produce clear and correct writing

• Topic is easy so you can concentrate on mechanics, grammar, usage, clarity, organization• Strive for perfection!

• 200-300 words, or roughly 3-5 sentences