This course is designed for students in the social and natural sciences and history. This course is designed to reinforce disciplinary approaches to writing begun in the 200-level courses, to prepare students for primary and secondary research in their disciplines, to introduce students to the concepts of discourse conventions, to continue critical reading and evaluation of academic texts, and to evaluate the elements of argumentative and persuasive prose. The final assignment is a research project in the student s major area of study which requires the student to work with research and writing methods of her or her discipline. This course focuses on teaching students strategies for effective visual communication, in print and on the Web. Students learn principles of verbal and visual design in order to understand, analyze, evaluate and design effective technical communication.
Students learn software for desktop and web publishing.
For the final projects, students produce a coordinated web site and a multiple-page document. This course gives students additional depth and practice in doing research in their own majors. Students investigate what counts for knowledge in a particular discipline and learn the conventions followed in the presentation of that knowledge and thus to become a socialized writer. Assignments include a forum analysis, annotated bibliography, survey, literature review, interview, inquiry letters, among other things. As a final project, students produce a substantial piece of research writing in the appropriate disciplinary style and present a conference paper based on their research.