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Posts from 2017-07-12

#WednesdayWorkshop: Simplifying and Varying Sentences

#WednesdayWorkshop: Simplifying and Varying Sentences published on

Every Wednesday, I will share resources that demonstrate how to improve your writing. This week, I focus on how to simplify and vary your sentences to make your ideas stronger, clearer, and easier to read.

The first resource is a short video from the American Chemical Society titled, “Technical Writing: How to Simplify Sentences” (3m45s). While the video focuses on only one sentence, it shows a complete revision process that takes the sentence from a wordy 35 words to a slim and clear 15 words.

My second resource, “Revising for Sentence Fluency” (7m8s), demonstrates how to analyze a draft for sentence variety, by counting the words in each sentence and noting how each sentence begins. While the video uses what is probably a first-year composition essay, the strategy still applies to technical writing. If you want a better idea of the variety required in writing in your field, apply the strategy to some example documents from your field.

 


 
Last updated on 12th July, 2017, 11:11 PM

Labor Log Examples

Labor Log Examples published on

I have two labor logs to share as examples that you can follow as you work on your entries for the rest of the term. You will notice that they use different strategies, but both show well-developed details and have strong design elements and organization.

Submission Format Change

To give you more flexibility for the labor logs, I have set them to accept either an uploaded Word Doc or PDF, OR a website URL (like a link to a Google Doc). If you use Google Docs, be sure that you have set the share settings so that I can view and make comments.


 
Last updated on 12th July, 2017, 10:00 PM

Policy Updates

Policy Updates published on

I have two policy updates for you. Both are effective immediately and apply to all work from this point forward.

  1. If you do not turn in your work by the end of the grace period, you receive a zero for that activity, and you cannot revise. This policy applies to all work in the course: major projects, labor logs, and discussions. Why? Unlimited, punishment-free revisions are NOT intended to support those who never did the work in the first place.
  2. Deadlines for revisions will be announced in the grading summary blog post and/or in a comment with the returned work. Why? I want to create a manageable workload for both you and me. If there were no deadline, many of you would wait until the end of the term, and there would be a burdensome load for all of us.

 
Last updated on 12th July, 2017, 9:31 PM

Grades for the 07-07 Labor Logs

Grades for the 07-07 Labor Logs published on

I have graded all of your Labor Logs for last week.  In this post, I am providing details on how you all did so that you can improve on your next submission. I will post a couple of examples of excellent work later in the week to help you understand the requirements for the assignment. I am waiting for permission from all of the authors.

If you need to revise your work, please submit your revision by 11:59 PM on Friday, July 14.

Overall Feedback for the Class

  • 2/3 of the requirements met by almost everyone: Nearly all of the class members included details on the time worked and the intensity of that work. Quite a few people were missing the reflection. Without all three parts, logs will be marked unacceptable in the future.
  • Off-topic information included: The Labor Logs should be about the work in this class. You can certainly mention other things as they relate to the course. For instance, you might mention that you went home during the weekend, so your work falls a little short of the goals you set for this week. You should not be including details about completely unrelated things you have done. The assignment is to write a log of your work for the class, not diary entries.
  • Underdeveloped sections: In many cases, the information in the logs was the bare minimum, showing little work or effort on the part of the writer. The log should include much more detail, such as the specific things that were written and how the intensity of the work varied from one piece to the next.
  • Lack of relevant organization: Most of the Labor Logs used chronological order, which would be fine if the log allowed you to easily see the details. For instance, if you used a table that listed the various things you have done, it would be easy for you to find all the different kinds of work later, when you are writing your final. Without strong headings as organization, it is hard to find what kind of work you have done on which projects.
  • Ineffective design choice: Using headings and lists would help with document design. Remember that at the end of the term, you are going to come back to these Labor Logs to write your final and argue for the grade you should earn. Think about what you can do to make the information you need easy to find and use at the end of the term.. More ideas that can help with document design are on the Ten Ways to Improve Your Writing page on the course website.

Grade Strategy

Canvas has a Pass/No Pass grading scheme that we will use for this course. You need to Pass all your Labor Logs (along with the other requirements) to receive a B in the course.

100 (P) Acceptable work. Meets all expectations for Labor Logs. There may still be room for improvement, but it is good enough to Pass.
 75 (P) Earns a passing grade this week, but in the future your logs will need more attention to details, organization, and design to earn a passing grade.
   0 (F) Unacceptable work. Please revise.

 
Last updated on 12th July, 2017, 4:42 AM

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