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Engineers can't write good. It's a widely-known fact. But since we spend most of our time trying to convey rather complex ideas, it's our responsibility, nay, our duty to become good writers. ENGR 240 is an attempt to make us so. There were some useful tidbits offered in this course (such as a PowerPoint/research assignment), but I feel time would have been better spent in a more elementary course in English grammar. I've proof-read some works from my classmates that would lead me to believe that the Canadian secondary-education system views literacy as a curiosity rather than a necessity. For some group reports, I've insisted that I edit the final submission on the threat of withdrawing my name from the roster. I have three years towards an English degree under my belt, so I naturally feel that my writing skills are a wee bit above par. I promise you that if you can't clearly, properly write a report, technical or otherwise, you will not succeed at engineering. I also feel that the Faculty does not stress this fact enough. (Without sounding bigoted, I think that the Faculty is afraid of being held liable for being insensitive to international students... but I digress.) My current line of work places me in a position to approve/reject engineering reports as a matter of their content. If I read a report by someone who doesn't know the difference between "your/you're" or "their/there/they're", I feel that it is an indication of their lack of conscientiousness, and I will therefore be very critical of the credibility of their technical content. The same goes with someone reading your C.V. If you have a typo or spelling error, that will reflect on your lack of attention to detail. Don't rely on Microsoft Word to catch all of your errors. When I took ENGR 240, it was taught by an instructor from the Writing department. I was under the impression that the prof had us pegged as bunch of 'illiterate engineers' and therefore, to my knowledge, nobody got higher than a 'B+'. So don't bend over backwards for this course - extra effort will likely go unnoticed. Attitude aside, this course wasn't terribly difficult. The only assignments for this class (aside from the PowerPoint presentation) were done in-class, and were rather simple and tedious. I didn't save anything from this class, so I'm afraid I have nothing to offer. I can, however, offer some advice for 'writing'. Read. Read literature. 20th Century British authors are good, as they typically follow proper grammar and syntax. Orwell, Huxley, C.S. Lewis, Graham Greene, and Tolkien are good to start with; Douglas Adams and Stephen Fry are more contemporary and have some excellent books (the 'Hitchhiker's' books and 'Making History', respectively). Find a subject/story that interests you and then pay attention to the writing style and grammar. I know it's hard to spend time reading recreationally while studying engineering, but that's the only real way to really improve your writing skills. |
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