CS 325 - Technical Writing in Computer Science

• Write a concise, objective and accurate summary of an article directed toward a general audience on a computer science topic and a concise summary of a math or computer science article that includes a discussion of mathematical concepts. This is an extended paraphrase that does not use any quoted material or near quotes. Topics might relate to controlling round-off error, creating strong passwords, and user interface design among other topics.
• Demonstrating knowledge of how to correct passive voice and wordiness by restructuring the sentence syntax, using strong verbs, and reducing use of prepositions.
• Demonstrate knowledge of how to edit and track changes in a word-processing software and using standard proofreader’s marks.
• Language related outcomes: Correctly use American English punctuation, especially commas (for introductory clauses and non-essential clauses), colons, semi-colons, and italics. Be able to show differences between US and UK punctuation rules. Demonstrate familiarity with commonly confused words in English and be able to select the correct spelling given a sentence in a test situation.
• Math and Computer Science related outcomes: Demonstrate ability to create a drop-down list using parallelism. Demonstrate ability to correct standard errors in table and graph constructions following Zobel’s guidelines, paying attention to scaling, notes, and avoiding redundancies. Diagram a written procedure with a flowchart using ISO symbols. Be able to format a mathematical displayed equation. Show yes-no decision points in a computer problem and at least one loop.
• Locate a job announcement or an internship opening in the computer science industry and apply to it.
• Demonstrate knowledge of US copyright and trademark law by explaining the concepts of fair use, permission, and public domain.
• Stylistic outcomes: Ability to identify the differences between MLA, APA, and IEEE documentation styles. Review an article that has been submitted to an ACM journal.
• Ability to produce relevant bibliography using library databases
• Write a literature survey
• Produce a Power Point presentation and demonstrate efficient oral presentation techniques.