English 102.23

This course is limited to upper division students. All students must have completed Writing 2 before taking this course. You should also know that the topics you will write about in this class should be related to your major. If you are just entering your curriculum, consider taking this course later in your program.

Texts

Required: Writing 109HP Reader, Emmerling, (at AS Notes)

WSC. Writing, Speaking, and Communications Skills for Health Professionals, First Ed., New Haven: Yale University Press. (2001) ISBN#: 0-300-08862-0 (at Bookstore)

Course website: www.writingcures.com

Recommended: Grammar Handbook such as Hacker’s A Pocket Manual of Style

English Dictionary

We may use various articles which will be made available well in advance of the class meeting in which you will need them. Details TBA in class.

In addition, from time to time you will be collecting and bringing your own artifacts to class to share.

Course Goals

Whether or not you immediately enter the health professions, it is important for each citizen to be a knowledgeable medical consumer. To this end, we will focus on issues surrounding health care in our country including substance abuse, the doctor/patient relationship, access to healthcare in our country, and medical ethics. We will become acquainted with and analyze the validity of a variety of sources, both electronic and print. Selected class meetings will begin with students presenting a brief overview (1-2 minutes) about the reliability of on-line sources of medical information.

Course Objectives:

Recognize and analyze discipline-specific formats and organizational strategies.
Understand specialized terminology of the discipline.
Understand how evidence is typically used in the field to support theories or arguments.
Access secondary source materials using a range of resources including professional journals and databases, websites, and popular literature.
Be aware of the difference between primary and secondary research.
Conduct a significant independent research project.
Cite and document sources in a manner appropriate to the field.
Produce a series of shorter texts that demonstrate typical contents, formats, and stylistic conventions of the field.
Refine and develop a mature style of writing appropriate for the field.
Tailor writing to meet the requirements of lay, professional, or specialized audiences.
Translate complex writing into clear, concise language.

Course Requirements

5 journals (counted as participation)
Abstract of scientific article
Patient brochure
Personal statement/alternative assignment
Medical Report paper (using CSE documentation)
Class Participation (including discussions and peer reviews)
Medical report oral presentation
Website-print analysis short presentation

Breakdown of Grade:

Short assignments, oral presentations 60% Due

Abstract (150 words) 5% 4/17 Brochure 15 %

Draft 5% 5/10 Final 10% 5/24 Personal Statement/Alternative 15%

Recommendations 2% 4/12 Draft 5% 4/24

Final (5300 char) 7% 5/17

Oral Presentation (short 3-5 mins) 5%

Final Presentation (10mins) 15%

Medical Report Paper 40%

Reference list, topic (6 refs) 5% 4/24

Outline (Proper headings) 5% 5/1

Rough Draft (7-10 pages) 5% 5/8

Final Draft (10-12 pages) 25% 6/5

1)Participation and attendance can affect your grade up to 10%

2)This course MUST be taken for a letter grade.

Conferences

There will be two 15-minute conferences. These are mandatory. Missing any will count as an absence. The purpose of these conferences is to review your work one on one, to answer any questions you may have about class assignments or policy, and to review your points. Of course you are always welcome to visit me during office hours in addition to the mandatory conferences.

Course Policies

Attendance/Discussion Participation/Class Design

This course will be run workshop-style; it will feature mini-lectures by the instructor, combined with many student-centered, discussion-focused learning activities. All class members should attend class regularly, read carefully, write thoughtfully, and participate actively. Since this course will rely heavily on discussion, and the writing activities will be challenging, it is necessary that you prepare thoroughly for each class meeting: read the material before class on the day it is scheduled for discussion, and come to class ready with constructive questions and comments. There will be various in-class writing assignments that are due in class. These assignments generally cannot be “made up” later. Your participation in groupwork and other activities is crucial; thus excessive absenteeism (more than 2 absences) may lower your grade. I do not distinguish between excused and unexcused absences so save them for when you need them. If you are unable to attend class, please notify me, arrange to deliver work due in class the day of your absence, and figure out some way to “catch up” on the week’s discussion with another class participant.

This is not a lecture course; it will be conducted as a workshop. *Important note on class participation: each day you start with a B-. You can easily and painlessly raise that grade to an A by volunteering opinions and insights one or several times per class session - nothing excessive; just throw in your “two cents” occasionally. If you say nothing but appear reasonably interested during the session, your grade will remain a B-. If you say nothing and appear unreasonably disinterested during the session (e.g. head on desk, snoring out loud, chatting with neighbors while other folks are talking, talking on celly, reading and highlighting physics notes, listening to iPod, etc.), your grade drops to C or lower. At the end of each class session, I record your participation grade for that day in my spreadsheet, and I average out those grades at the end of the quarter.

Reading and writing are complemented by discussion. When you talk about your ideas in class you have a chance to hone your understanding, to grow in expressive power. We will be writing in class and out of class, formally and informally. We will read one another’s writing and the writing of others. This is a genuine source of pleasure and a sure sign of education in progress.

Late work: No! No! No! Late work will not be accepted unless you have made prior arrangements with me in writing. All work is due at the beginning of class. Please plan ahead. I’m not especially sensitive to last minute computer malfunctions.

Plagiarism: Don’t do it! You are responsible for the content and integrity of all of your work in this class. Cheating and plagiarism will, at a minimum, result in an F for the project and may result in failing this course or expulsion from the University. Plagiarism is defined as the act of using the ideas of work of another person or persons as if they were one’s own, without giving proper credit to the sources. This includes, but is not limited to, failure to use quotation marks when quoting from outside source, submitting a paper written by a friend or purchased from a term paper service, or retyping another student’s paper and submitting it as one’s own. See Course Reader for paper on plagiarism.

Academic Conduct and Disability Accommodation:

Disabled Students Program (DSP) provides a wide array of academic support services to eligible students with documented disabilities. These services include note takers, readers, sign language interpreters, facilitation of access, and adaptive computing equipment. If you have a disability and would like to discuss accommodations, please contact them (893-2668) directly and/or me as soon as possible.

Drop Deadline: April 27

Final Note:

This class is demanding. If you experience difficulty, please contact me. In addition there are campus resources available to you, including:

Campus Learning Assistance Service: 893-3269. CLAS helps students increase their mastery of course materials through course-specific tutoring and academic skills development. Visit www.clas.ucsb.edu for more information or visit the CLAS office in Building 477 from 9-5 daily.

Counseling and Career Services: 893-4411. www.counseling.ucsb.edu offers counseling for personal and career concerns, self-help information and connections to off-campus mental health resources.