WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Week 1 Discussion

DQ1 joining Career Quest at

Please access the Career Services website at the following url:

https://www..edu/current-students/career-services/

Then access the CareerQuest website by selecting the option indicated at the right:

careerquest

Then select CareerQuest for Students, as indicated by the red arrow below:

carqueststudents

Proceed through the interface to join the CareerQuest community as a student and complete your profile.

Explore the various options in CareerQuest, including recently posted jobs and other resources and online tools. Joining the CareerQuest community will help you complete various upcoming tasks and assignments in this class.

For this discussion topic, please write a few sentences to your fellow classmates about anything interesting you found through CareerQuest.

Please note that you will not be able to see other students’ responses to this discussion topic until you post your response.

DQ2 Career Planning

In week 1, one of the resources provided for you is a video that introduces you to ‘s Career Services. In this discussion topic, you will consider some of the advice that the Career Services unit provides on career planning. This information will help as you pursue the first writing assignments in the class.

To start, please access the Career Services website at .

You will see the following list of items:

careerserv2

Select Career Planning, as indicated by the red arrow above. After you select this link, when you scroll down, you will see the following three sections, outlined in blue in the image below:

Choosing a Major

Strategies for Career Goals

Career Insider by Vault

careerserv3

Please select at least one of the sections. Peruse the information. Write one paragraph of 125-200 words describing what you found when you examined this information.

Please note that you will not be able to see other students’ responses to this discussion topic until you post your response.

DQ3 locating a professional conference in your field

This discussion topic is designed to help you prepare for writing assignment #1, the report on the professional organization and conference.

Please access the writing assignment instructions by selecting Assignments in the top menu and selecting WA1 – report on professional organization and conference.

Read through the instructions. Then locate a conference sponsored by a professional organization in your field.

In responding to this discussion topic, please post the following:

The name of the organization

The url of the conference it sponsors (this can be the most recent conference or the upcoming conference)

A few sentences about why you picked this conference for writing assignment #1

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Week 2 Discussion

DQ1 Resume and cover-letter tips

Please access “Get Tips for Crafting Your Resume and Cover Letter” from Career Services .

Peruse the resources and tutorials offered.

In responding to this discussion topic, share three strategies you learned from the resources on either resumes or cover letters or both. Try not to duplicate a strategy given by another classmate. When this discussion is completed, we might have a plethora of tips and strategies that are very useful.

Please note that you will not be able to see other students’ responses to this discussion topic until you post your response.

DQ2 sample resume walk-through

Please access the following url:

https://www.careeronestop.org/ResumeGuide/SampleResumeWalkThrough.aspx

You will see the following interface.

Please click on the various sections of the sample resume walk-through, as pointed to by the red arrows below. Read through the various pieces of advice given.

sccap of resume walkthrough

Please write three pieces of advice you found from the website.

Please note that you will not be able to see other students’ responses to this discussion topic until you post your response.

DQ3 post a rough draft of your resume here

This discussion topic is designed to help you get started on writing assignment #2, the resume and cover letter.

For this discussion topic, please complete the following:

1. Post a resume for yourself that you have on file now. You can post it as an attachment in Word, PDF, or RTF format.

If you do not have a resume on file now, you can use the tips and strategies from this week’s resources to help you create a draft of a resume.

Please note that this is a draft of a resume. You don’t need to post a polished, perfect resume to this discussion topic.

2. Respond to at least two other students on their resumes. Try to give at least one area that could use improvement. You might draw upon the tips given in the Resume Tutorial that was given in Content for week 2 or from the Resume and Cover Letter tips page that was given in Content for week 2. You can also draw from the sample resume walk-through that was linked to in this week’s activities.

Your suggestions for improvement can be a short paragraph. You don’t have to write a whole essay noting to your classmate how to improve the resume.

Please be professional and encouraging as you give advice to your classmates on their resumes.

The resume should be posted by Sunday. Your advice to two other classmates is due next Wednesday.

(Of course, please feel free to post your resume before Sunday and your advice before next Wednesday.)

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Week 3 Discussion

DQ1 Using VMock to get feedback on your resume

This discussion topic is designed to help you write writing assignment #2, the resume and cover letter.

In week 2, you viewed a video tutorial on VMock.

In this discussion topic, please answer the following questions:

1. What category did you chose when you submitted your resume to VMock—Entry-Level/Career Changer, Experienced/Career Advancer, or Federal?
2. Give one piece of advice that VMock provided you for Impact.
3. Give one piece of advice that VMock provided you for Presentation.
4. Give one piece of advice that VMock provided you for Competencies.
5. At the top of the interface, VMock has the following:

You can increase your score by ___ points. See how.

When you clicked see how, what advice did VMock give you?

DQ2 using Resunate to get feedback on your resume

In week 2, you viewed a video tutorial on Resunate.

In this discussion topic, please answer the following questions after you have submitted your resume to Resunate and have worked through the interface to improve your resume.

1. Were you able to increase your Job Focus score? If so, how did you increase it?
2. Give one piece of advice that Resunate suggested to you to improve your resume.

DQ3 post a second draft of your resume for your fellow students to see

In week 2, you submitted a rough draft of your resume to a discussion topic.

In this discussion topic, please do the following:

1. Respond to this discussion topic and attach your updated resume to your response. Your updated resume can be as a Word, PDF, or RTF file.
2. In the actual discussion topic response, please write a short paragraph describing some of the changes you have made to the resume since week 2, when you posted the first, rough draft of the resume.

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Week 4 Discussion

DQ1 your experience in practicing an interview with Quinncia

In week 3, you viewed a video tutorial on Quinncia.

For this discussion topic, follow the steps in the video tutorial to upload your resume and then take a practice interview.

Then answer the following questions:

1. When you uploaded your resume, did you receive any additional feedback from Quinncia that you had not received by using our previous tools?
2. List three pieces of advice that Quinncia gave you during this practice interview. As you can see from the tutorial, Quinncia gives advice after you answer each question. You can choose three pieces of advice that you received after some specific questions if you would like.

DQ2 examining a set of poorly written instructions

Before you start, you will want to read the following. These readings are provided for you in Content for week 4.

Scenario: Anderson College (Part I)

Jay Williams’ Ineffective Instructions

D.A. Jameson, “Management consulting and teaching: Lessons learned teaching professionals to control tone in writing

Also in week 4 of Content, please become familar with the content and advice at these websites:

David McMurrey, “Instructions: Tell Them How to Do It!”

Wikibooks — Writing Instructions

Instructions: How to Write Guides for Busy, Grouchy People — Jerz’s Literacy Weblog

Then answer the following question in responding to this discussion topic:

As you can see from the scenario, a former student worker at Anderson College wrote a set of instructions for Anderwson college that are not well written and are not professional enough to distribute to the faculty members and students of the college.

As you peruse the McMurrey, Wikibooks, and Jerz resources on how to write instructions., and as you examine the set of poorly written instructions, please list at least three problems with the instructions, using the these three resources as a guide. Your response can be a few sentences.

DQ3 an email message to the student worker

Before you start, you will want to read the following. These readings are provided for you in Content for week 4.

Scenario: Anderson College (Part I)

Jay Williams’ Ineffective Instructions

D.A. Jameson, “Management consulting and teaching: Lessons learned teaching professionals to control tone in writing

video — “Using a Holistic Approach to Writing Business Emails”

After reading the scenario, the set of instructions written by Jay Williams, and the Jameson article, please complete the following:

Imagine that you are Dr. Richard Johnson, Dean of the Undergraduate School at Anderson College. You will write an email message to Jay Williams, the student worker, informing him that his instructions are not suitable to be distributed to the students and faculty at Anderson College.

Keep in mind the Jameson article. You want to maintain proper tone and professionalism. While the instructions that Jay wrote are not professional and would be embarrassing to send to the students and faculty members, you do not want to seem unprofessional in your message to Jay. In addition, he is a student worker. You don’t want to overly criticize him in your message.

In responding to this discussion topic, write the following:

the subject line of the email message you write

the body of the email message.

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Week 5 Discussion

DQ1 writing a memo to the faculty members at Anderson College

This discussion topic will also involve the following readings. They are provided in week 4 of Content.

Scenario: Anderson College (Part I)

Jay Williams’ Ineffective Instructions

D.A. Jameson, “Management consulting and teaching: Lessons learned teaching professionals to control tone in writing

In week 4, you identified some of the problems with a poorly written set of instructions. You also rewrote the set of instructions.

In this discussion topic, please complete the following:

Write a memo to the faculty members at Anderson College informing them of the revised instructions and where they can access them.

Please follow the advice provided in the resources in week 4 of Content about writing a memo. In addition, you can be creative in directing the faculty members to where they can access the new set of instructions. You can make up the name of a folder on Google drive or some other folder on the cloud.

This is an internal memo. However, some faculty members might not remember the details about the instructions that the previous student worker wrote. For this reason, you will want to introduce the memo with some level of detail of the history of the instructions, let them know that the instructions have been revised, and let them know where they can access them. Of course, you will want to provide them with your contact information in case they have additional questions.

This is a discussion topic. You will want to reply to this discussion topic and write your memo in the discussion text box.

DQ2 a problem in your workplace or community

Please consider a problem in your workplace or community that you would like to solve. The problem you identify should be focused and solvable.

Some examples might be the following:

Your workplace should use texting to communicate among employees for some situations, rather than email

The alley behind your townhouse community has trash and debris building up. It should be cleaned up.

An intersection in your community should have a traffic light.

Your company now uses Google mail. You feel it should switch to Outlook.

The printer in your department is networked to every computer in your department. Employees waste valuable time walking to the printers to pick up their printouts. Each office should have its own printer.

The library in your community does not have enough books. The library has a policy of disregarding books that are not checked out within a year. This results in many potentially popular books being eliminated.

A sidewalk in your community is in significant disrepair. It should be broken up and redone.

The staff members at your place of work should have a person to confide in to complain or blow the whistle on other employees who are not performing well or who misbehave. There is no Human Resources unit to which an employee can share reports in confidence. You need this type of HR unit or person.

The football field at your local high school has items that need to be repaired. Perhaps the scoreboard, the bleachers, or the field itself have problems that need to be addressed.

Please take some time to consider a problem in your workplace or community, one that can be solved by an individual (e.g., a manager, owner, department head, etc.) or a group of individuals (e.g., a board of directors).

Respond to this discussion topic by stating the following:

whether the problem you have identified is a community problem or a workplace problem

what the problem is

how it can be solved or at least addressed

who can implement this solution

You can write one or two sentences for each of the four items above.

DQ3 how you will demonstrate the problem

Please consider a problem in your workplace or community that you identified in the previous discussion topic.

Then respond to this discussion topic by stating the following:

what evidence is there to show that this problem exists?

how will you demonstrate this evidence to your decision-maker?

Some examples could be the following:

If you are writing about an intersection that needs a traffic light, you might show pictures of the intersection, or even show a brief video of the intersection showing its precariousness. You might also interview 3-4 people who live near or drive through the intersection.

If you are writing about the need for repairing the local football field, you might show pictures of the items in disrepair. You might also interview 3-4 people who have experienced the problem.

If you are writing about a need to move from Google mail to Outlook, you might show screen captures of what the Google mail interface looks like alongside screen captures of what the Outlook interface looks like.

Please note that, in this discussion topic, you do not have to show the pictures, interviews, videos, or screen captures. You simply need to state the ways in which you could demonstrate the problem.

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Week 6 Discussion

DQ1 rewriting the instructions from Jay Williams (response to 2 other students required)

This discussion topic will also involve the following readings. They are provided in week 4 of Content.

Scenario: Anderson College (Part II)

Jay Williams’ Ineffective Instructions

In week 4, you identified some of the problems with a poorly written set of instructions written by Jay Williams, the student worker.

In this discussion topic, you, as the new student worker, will rewrite thise set of instructions. In this discussion topic, please complete the following:

1. Download the poorly written instructions on how to adjust the discussion settings in LEO.
2. Rewrite the instructions using the same graphics that are in the poorly written set of instructions. Please read part II of the Anderson College scenario to
3. Attach your rewritten instructions to this discussion topic.
4. Respond to at least two other students’ rewritten instructions and give them one or two pieces of advice or encouragement.

DQ2 a piece of primary research for your short report

In last week’s discussions, you determined a problem that you want to write about, and you have considered some ways that you can demonstrate that problem.

In this discussion topic, please post one example of primary research you have found to help you persuade your decision-maker of the problem.

Some examples are the following:

If you are writing about an intersection that needs a traffic light, you can attach a . jpg file with a picture that shows the intersection.

If you are writing about the need for repairing the local football field, you can attach a jpg file with a picture that shows items in disrepair.

If you are writing about the need for repairing the local football field, you can attach interview questions you asked of a local resident and the answers that the resident gave.

If you are writing about a need to move from Google mail to Outlook, you can attach a .jpg file with a picture that shows how Outlook looks.

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Week 7 Discussion

Vasquez: the differences between academic and business writing

To complete this discussion topic, you will access the article by Felix S. Vasquez, “Differences between Academic and Business Writing.” The article is available in the e-reserves for this class.

To access the article, please take the following steps:

select Content in the top menu bar of LEO.

select Class Resources

select eReserves

click on the eReserves icon on the interface

locate the article among the list of eReserves articles available.

Professor Vasquez is writing about teaching writing skills in Spanish to students for whom Spanish is not a native language. However, that issue is not the focus of our discussion here. His analysis of business writing and academic writing is the focus of this discussion.

Please answer all of the following questions based on what Vasquez writes in his article, not based on your own understanding. In addition, please do not simply copy text from the article. Please summarize what Vasquez writes in the article, and use quotation marks for occasional quotes from the article if you would like to.

According to Vasquez, what are the similiarities between academic writing and business writing? Try to come up with at least three of them. Please write a paragraph or two in posting your answer.

According to Vasquez, what are the differences between academic writing and business writing? Try to come up with at least three of them. Please write a paragraph or two in posting your answer.

Reflect on three experiences in this course. You can choose from among the writing assignments and from among the discussion topics. What differences have you noticed between the writing that you have done in this course and the writing you completed in a composition course (e.g., freshman composition, or something of that nature)?

Your answers can be a brief paragraph.

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Week 8 Discussion

DQ1 Setting goals

Please watch the following video. Then answer the questions below.

1. Please share a goal you have developed and, if possible, share how you applied the SMART strategy outlined in this video.
2. Please comment on any tools or resources from Career Services that might help you reach one of your goals as you complete WRTG 293.

DQ2 post a draft of your report for your classmates

1. Respond to this discussion topic and attach a draft of writing assignment #5, your short report to the decision-maker, to your response. When you respond, you might indicate to your fellow classmates the status of this rough draft. Perhaps it is a complete report. Perhaps you have half of it completed and are working on the other half. Perhaps you can attach only a couple of sections of it. Overall, this is a rough draft, and it is understood that what you are attaching to this discussion topic is not your final, polished, report to the decision-maker.
2. Please provide feedback to at least one other student’s report. In your feedback, you can offer suggestions for how to make a section clearer, you can ask questions about a point being made, you can suggest ways of persuading the decision-maker, etc.

When selecting a peer to whom to provide feedback, please select someone who has not been given feedback on the paper yet.

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

WA1 — report on professional organization and conference

Writing Assignment #1

Report on

Professional Organization and Conference

Summary of assignment

• Task: You will write a report on a professional organization in your field and a

conference that the organization sponsors.

• Length: 600-900 words

• Format: If you cite the conference or other sources, you should use APA format in

citing the information

• Sources: You will cite sources in this paper if you refer to information you obtained

from other sources. There is no minimum or maximum number of sources for this paper.

• Purpose: The information you glean from this assignment will help you become more

aware of professional contacts, trends in the field, and perhaps employment opportunities

in the field.

Steps to Take in Completing this Assignment

1. Locate at least one professional organization in the field or profession that you plan to

pursue.

One way to locate an organization of this nature is to conduct an advanced search on

Google. For example, the following screen capture shows a student searching for

professional organizations in cybersecurity.

Please note that a professional organization is a voluntary, member-based organization. A

training workshop offered by a company is not a professional organization event.

For example, if Cisco offers training workshops and identifies the training workshop as a

conference, that event is actually not a conference offered through a professional organization. It

is a conference offered through a private company. You want to find a conference sponsored by

a professional organization.

2. Find out what annual or regularly scheduled conferences the organization coordinates.

For example, in the field of cybersecurity, the IEEE Computer Society Technical

Committee on Security and Privacy sponsors an annual conference. Its conference for

2019 will be held in Stockholm, Sweden:

3. Write your report, highlighting your findings. Your report will feature the following

sections with these headings:

o Professional Organization (approximately 100-200 words)

o Description of Conference (approximately 300-500 words)

o Personal Applications (approximately 100-200 words)

Information under Each Heading:

Professional Organization

After you have located a conference in your field, explore the website of the organization that

sponsors the conference.

Browse the details on that organization. You might indicate when it started, how large it is, who

is eligible to join, and what its mission statement is, for example.

Remember that if you are copying any information, such as the mission statement, you must

document it with internal and end documentation using APA format.

Description of Conference

1. Peruse the conference website for the organization’s most recent conference or its

upcoming conference.

Some organizations will have one large conference annually (such as the Children’s

Literature Association), and some will have two or more large ones based on membership

interests (such as the National Conference of Teachers of English).

Some organizations may instead offer several regional conferences. The Association of

Business Communication (ABC), for instance, tends to hold several smaller regional

conferences in different parts of the United States each year, and it holds one major

international conference each year as well.

2. Peruse the topics that were or will be covered at the conference by looking at the Call for

Papers or the Report on Presentations. In this section, you will find a list of perhaps 20-

30 topics on which the organization is accepting papers for presentations. You might

have found a conference that has already taken place. In this case, you would find topics

on which participants presented at the conference.

Select three topics of interest to you.

In addition, examine the theme or title of the conference, if there is one.

3. From the information you have gathered on the presentations and the overall theme or

title, write a paragraph on what the most important or interesting topics are in your field

right now. This information will be based on what is covered at the conference.

The following are some examples of this process:

• At the 2019 Association for Business Communication Conference, the theme will be

“Innovations with Business Communication: Companies, Communities, and Classrooms”

(see https://www.businesscommunication.org/page/2019-annual).

o Various tracks for the conference are provided at the conference website,

including consulting and training, organizational communication, employment

issues in business communication, and visual communication.

• At the 2019 Children’s Literature Conference, the theme will be “Activism and Empathy”

( see https://chla.memberclicks.net/2019).

o The conference website provides a list of questions that presentations can address,

including issues of political, social, and environmental struggles, literary genres

and global awareness, and the role of children’s literature in the historical and

political spectrum.

• For the 2019 Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Conference,

TESOL 2019, the conference does not have a specific title (see

https://www.tesol.org/convention-2019).

o The plenary speakers for the conference will talk about topics such as endangered

languages, the power of language, etc. The TESOL organization and conference

is divided into many session strands, including applied linguistics, advocacy and

social justice, and content and language-integrated approaches to teaching.

The goal for this section of your report is to help you become aware of the topics that people are

exploring at this time. These topics will impact your field of study in upcoming years. For this

reason, understanding the trends and topics in your field will help you become more familiar

with your field and will assist you in upcoming job searches as you pursue your career.

Personal Applications

In this last section, you will describe what you have learned about your field from this exercise

and how the information might help your job search or your progress in your career.

Ideally, the report on the professional organization will give you some good ideas about

professional development in your field.

Length of your paper:

Your report should be 600-900 words.

Due Date:

Your instructor will notify you of the due date. You will write a first draft, your instructor will

comment on the first draft, and you will submit a second draft using the comments as your guide.

Template for this Assignment:

For this assignment, you may use the template on the following page. You would insert your

information into the appropriate places in the template.

Name

Class

Date

(page break)

Professional Organization

[insert your information here]

Description of Conference

[insert your information here]

Personal Application

[insert your information here]

(page break)

References

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Resume and cover letter with summary

Writing Assignment #2

Resume and Cover Letter with

Summary of Use of VMock and Resunate

Summary of assignment

• Task: You will follow the guidelines given through the various tools from ’s

Career Services and write a polished resume and cover letter for a specific job posting in

your field. You will also write a summary of the advice given to you for your resume

from VMock and Resunate.

• Length: You will follow the advice from Career Services on the length of your resume

and cover letter. Your summary of how you followed the advice given in VMock and

Resunate should be 200-250 words.

• Purpose: This assignment follows up on the report on the professional organization and

conference. It also introduces you to Career Services and prepares you as you either

search for a job or consider an advancement in your current job.

Steps to Take in Completing this Assignment

1. Locate a job posting in your field.

o Your work in locating a professional conference in writing assignment #1 might

lead you to a job posting. In addition, your work in perusing the Career Services

website might lead you to a job posting.

2. Watch the VMock tutorial
3. Watch the Resunate tutorial
4. Write a resume that is specific to the job posting you found

o Submit your resume to VMock.

o Submit your resume to Resunate

5. Based on the feedback in both VMock and Resunate, revise your resume.
6. Submit the following to the Assignment folder

o the job posting

o the resume

o the cover letter

o a summary of how you applied the advice given in VMock and Resunate. This

summary should be 200-250 words.

Due Date:

Your instructor will notify you of the due date. Your instructor will work with you on any

revisions he or she asks for.

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Interviewing Skills

Writing Assignment #3

Report and Video on Interviewing Skills

Summary of assignment

• Task: You will use InterviewStream to conduct an interview at your computer using the questions compiled for this class. InterviewStream will record you practicing your responses to the interview questions. You will then write a summary of your use of InterviewStream.

• Assignment Code in InterviewStream: Our WRTG 293 class has pre-selected interview questions that you will be answering. In order to see the pre-selected interview questions, you must use our assignment code in the InterviewStream interface.

The assignment code will be provide to you by your instructor. You must use the assignment code provided by your instructor in order for your instructor to see your completed interview.

• Length: Your summary will be 300-400 words in length.

• Purpose: This assignment follows up on the report on the professional organization and conference as well as the resume and cover letter assignment. It also gives you experience in using additional tools available from Career Services. It prepares you for future job interviews.

Steps to Take in Completing this Assignment

1. Watch the Quinncia tutorial
2. Take the Quinncia interview practice session
3. Watch the InterviewStream tutorial
4. Complete the interview for WRTG 293 students in InterviewStream
5. In the assignment folder, submit a summary of 300-400 words that describes your experience using InterviewStream.

Due Date:

Your instructor will notify you of the due date. Your instructor will work with you on any revisions he or she asks for.

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Memo to instructor on topic for report to Decision maker

Writing Assignment #4

Memo on

Short Report to Decision-maker

Summary of the Assignment:

• Task: In this paper, you will write a memo to your instructor.

• Length: 125-200 words

• Format in Citing and Listing Sources: no sources required

Description of the Memo:

This assignment is designed to help prepare you in writing the short report to the decision-maker,

which is the last writing assignment in the class. For this reason, you must read the instructions

for writing assignment #5, the short report to the decision-maker, before attempting to write this

memo.

In writing this memo, please use the format given on the next page:

Template for Submitting Your Memo

Note: Please use the format outlined below, including the headers provided in bold, for the

memo.

To: [Instructor’s Name]

From: [Your Name]

Date: [Today’s Date]

Subject: Request to Write Short Report on [fill in the topic of your short report]

Summary

[Write one or two sentences describing why you are writing this memo.]

What the Problem Is and Why It Needs to Be Investigated

[In one or two paragraphs, describe the problem in your workplace or community to which you

are going to propose a solution. In addition, explain why you think this problem is significant

and should be addressed.]

What Primary Research I Will Conduct about the Problem

[In a one or two paragraphs, describe primary research you will conduct on the problem and

solution. Primary research can be interviews with individuals, pictures, surveys of individuals,

actual workplace documents, etc. Primary research is not articles from the library.]

How My Organization or Community Will Benefit from My Recommendations

[In one or two paragraphs, describe your recommendations to the problem/situation you are

describing. Include a description of the potential benefits that your organization or community

will experience if your recommendations are carried out.]

Length of the Paper:

Your memo should be 125-200 words in length.

Due Date:

Your instructor will notify you of the due date. You will write only one draft of this assignment.

If the topic you choose needs modification, your instructor will let you know.

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Report to decision maker

Writing Assignment #5

Short Report to a Decision-maker

Summary of assignment

• Task: You will write a report that does the following:

o defines a problem persuasively and accurately

o proposes a solution to the problem to a decision-maker or group of decision-makers who can implement the recommendation

• Topic: You will choose a problem in your workplace or your community

• Length: 1400-1600 words

• Citing Sources: You will not cite any sources in this paper except interviews or surveys you conduct through primary research. For this reason, you will not list any sources at the end of your report.

o Instructions on citing an interview in APA format

• Formatting the Report: You will need to insert a running head and page numbers into the report in APA format.

• Writing Process: You will submit a first draft of the report to the assignment folder. The first draft will be given comments by the instructor. After receiving comments from the instructor, you will submit a revised draft. The final draft will be graded.

If you do not submit a second draft, the first draft will be graded.

• Components of the report:

o title page

o memo to the decision-maker (app. 80-120 words)

o executive summary (app. 150-200 words)

o table of contents

o introduction (app. 100-200 words)

o discussion (app. 900-1100 words)

o conclusion (app. 75-100 words)

o recommendations (app. 100-200 words)

Topic Selection:

You must use the same topic on which you wrote your memo for writing assignment #4. If you have a need to change your topic, you must contact your instructor as soon as possible.

(Please continue to the next page.)

Details on the Different Parts of the Assignment

Title Page

The following image shows the format you should follow for your title page:

Memo to the Decision-maker

In your memo, you will include the headings

The following screen capture shows a format you can follow for your memo.

Executive Summary

The executive summary should be a stand-alone document. In other words, if a reader were to read only your executive summary, the reader would have a good understanding of the problem you are writing about and the solution you are proposing to that problem. In this report, your executive summary should be 150-200 words.

The following image shows the format you should follow for your executive summary. Please keep in mind that this executive summary is about 260 words in length, so it is longer than the one you will write. However, it provides a guide for how you can approach your executive summary.

Table of Contents

This video shows how to create your table of contents.

Introduction

In your introduction, you will tell your decision-maker what problem the report is analyzing. It will do the following

• describe the context of the work or community situation

• describe the problem being analyzed in that business or community situation

• state the questions your report will answer

• define any terms, if necessary

Discussion

The discussion area is the main part of your report. In this section, you will provide evidence of the problem and justify your recommendations. You will need to be clear, thorough, and persuasive.

The following examples demonstrate the need for clarity, thoroughness, and persuasiveness:

• If you are writing a report recommending that your company allow teleworking, you do not want to write a few sentences about how teleworking is convenient. You want to quote some co-workers you have interviewed about how teleworking will benefit them.

• If you are writing a report recommending that your company move from Google mail to Outlook, you do not want a few sentences on how good Outlook is. You want to show some screen captures of Google mail to demonstrate that it is awkward, is cumbersome, or has inconvenient features. You also want to show some screen captures of Outlook to demonstrate that it does not feature these shortcomings and improves upon these problems.

• If you are writing a report recommending that a sidewalk be repaired in your neighborhood, you do not want a few sentences describing why sidewalks should be smooth. You want to show some photographs of the sidewalk that is in disrepair, demonstrating why its current state is unsafe, unsightly, or otherwise undesired.

• If you are writing a report recommending that your local high school repair parts of its football field, you do not want a few sentences describing the value of athletics for high school students. You want to show some photographs demonstrating where the field needs to be repaired, quote individuals that you have interviewed on the problems with the field now, etc.

Notice that in all four examples listed above, primary research was included. Interviews with co-workers or individuals in the community, screen captures of software applications, or photographs of the neighborhood or the football field all represent primary research. Such research adds to the persuasiveness of the report.

Without this type of evidence, the report is not thorough and lacks persuasiveness. The decision-maker will not be persuaded that the problem you are outlining is an actual problem unless you can demonstrate that it is an actual problem in the context.

Moreover, in the discussion, you describe, in paragraph form, your conclusions and your recommendations. You need to explain why you have come to these conclusions and why you are making these specific recommendations.

Conclusion

In the conclusion, you take an objective stance. You summarize the findings of your research without putting your own opinion into the analysis.

In your conclusion, you will do the following:

• summarize your findings

• connect your findings to the problem you have identified

• present the conclusions in parallel form

• bullet the list of conclusions

You stated your conclusion in the Discussion section. However, in the Conclusion section, you will list the conclusion concisely and succinctly in bulleted form.

Recommendations

In the recommendation, you take a subjective stance in the report. You give your opinion on how the problem should be addressed.

In your recommendation, you will do the following:

• number specific steps of action you recommend in parallel form, beginning with a verb

• rank the recommendations, listing the most important recommendation first, the second most important recommendation second, etc.

Please note that this section should be brief. A busy administrator does not want to pore through long, dense paragraphs trying to locate your recommendations. The decision-maker should be able to see at a glance what your recommendations are.

You stated your recommendations in the Discussion section. However, in the Recommendation section, you will number the recommendations concisely and succinctly.

Due Date

Your instructor will notify you of the due date. You will write a first draft, your instructor will comment on the first draft, and you will submit a second draft using the comments as your guide.

Guides to Help You in Writing this Assignment:

• Victoria University of Wellington

• Writing Effective Short Reports

• Report Writing by Massey University

Submitting the assignment:

You will submit a first draft of the essay to the assignment folder. The first draft will not be graded. The instructor will provide comments to it.

After receiving comments from the instructor, you will submit a revised draft. The final draft will be graded.

<pclass=”msonormal” style=”box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: “Open Sans”, “Helvetica Neue”, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;”>WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Quiz Academic Integrity

Question 1 Academic integrity is defined as

Question options:

1. a) the most straightforward pursuit of knowledge.
2. b) the dishonest pursuit of knowledge
3. c) the honest and responsible pursuit of knowledge
4. d) the honest and responsible pursuit of a career

Question 2 Plagiarism occurs when you

Question options:

1. a) present another person’s ideas as his or her own
2. b) present another person’s ideas only intentionally as your own
3. c) present another person’s ideas only unintentionally as your own
4. d) present another person’s ideas, intentionally or unintentionally, as your own

Question 3 Which of the following is not plagiarism?

Question options:

1. a) Offering information from one’s personal experience
2. b) Using ideas from a source without citing the source
3. c) Quoting from a source without citing the source
4. d) Using information from a website that most readers know about, such as CNN, without citing the source

Question 4 Not providing quotation marks around a direct quotation is

Question options:

1. a) bad writing, but not plagiarism. One should never use quotation marks.
2. b) plagiarism because it leads to the false assumption that the words are your own.
3. c) acceptable as long as you put the source in parentheses after the sentence.
4. d) the best way to cite a source because you are sure to get the author’s exact meaning.

Question 5 Imagine you encounter a piece of text that is 30 words long from page 110 of an article. You would like to use this text in your paper. What should you do?

Question options:

1. a) Put the text word-for-word in your paper without using quotation marks. Then include the source in your list of references at the end of the paper.
2. b) Quote the text word-for-word in your paper. If you do this and do not use quotation marks, you can avoid including it in your list of references at the end of the paper.
3. c) Quote the text word-for-word in your paper using quotation marks and the page number. If you do this, you don’t include the source in your list of references at the end of the paper.
4. d) Put the text word-for-word in your paper, but make sure to put quotations around the text and cite the source. Note that it came from page 110. Then include the source in your list of references at the end of the paper.

Question 6 A rubric is

Question options:

1. a) is an argument that is supported by research and strong evidence.
2. b) describes the criteria that must be met for an assignment to be successful
3. c) begins with the ability to identify when additional information is needed.
4. d) is a game in cube form that children and adults play

Question 7 A database is

Question options:

1. a) a collection of logically stored information
2. b) anything stored in the cloud
3. c) a collection of baseball facts
4. d) a mathematical principle

Question 8 US News & World Report would be an example of

Question options:

1. a) an academic journal
2. b) a trade journal
3. c) a popular journal
4. d) a scholarly journal

Question 9 If you are writing a paper on the poetry of Eminem, an example of a primary source would be

Question options:

1. a) an article that analyzes Eminem’s lyrics.
2. b) lyrics from a song that you wrote that features lyrics similar to Eminem’s lyrics.
3. c) an encyclopedia entry on Eminem.
4. d) lyrics from one of Eminem’s songs.

Question 10 Coverage refers to

Question options:

the way a source investigates, discusses, and handles a topic

sources that are well documented and grounded in scholarly or credible research, data, or both.

whether the author of the source is well-versed, established, and perhaps even well-known on the topic.

the date the article was published.

Question 11 Currency refers to

Question options:

1. a) the way a source investigates, discusses, and handles a topic
2. b) the the date the article was published.
3. c) whether the author of the source is well versed, established, and perhaps even well-known on the topic.
4. d) the cost of the article and what country it is to be purchased from

Question 12 Reliability refers to

Question options:

1. a) the way a source investigates, discusses, and handles a topic.
2. b) sources that are well documented and grounded in scholarly or credible research, data, or both.
3. c) whether the author of the source is well-versed, established, and perhaps even well-known on the topic.
4. d) the date the article was published.

Question 13 When you are incorporating quotations, paraphrases, or summaries,

Question options:

they should not be connected to your words or ideas. If they are, the reader will not know what your ideas are and what the source’s ideas are.

they need to be connected to your words or ideas. This helps you to be sure the author’s words and ideas are supporting what you think and not replacing what you think.

they should contradict your ideas. This strategy shows that you are acknowledging the counter argument for your topic.

they should be put into the last half of the paper. This arrangement allows you to state your ideas first and then bring other ideas into the analysis.

Question 14 Three well-known citation/documentation styles are

Question options:

1. a) Chicago, Washington, and Dallas
2. b) EPA, MLA, and APA
3. c) Chicago, Turabian, and Moravian
4. d) MLA, APA, and Chicago

Question 15 Which of the following is not a vital characteristic of academic integrity?

Question options:

1. a) completing academic assignments in an honest manner
2. b) having school and departmental policies that are exactly alike
3. c) properly incorporating and acknowledging sources
4. d) presenting accurate and truthful data and research information

WRTG 293 Introduction to Professional Writing

Quiz — APA

Imagine you have a book with the following title: Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom.

Question 1 How would you capitalize the letters in a references list in APA style?

Question options:

1. a) Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom
2. b) Oversold and underused: computers in the classroom
3. c) Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom
4. d) Oversold And Underused: Computers In The Classroom

Question 2Imagine you have found an article on the web that does not have an author and does not identify a sponsoring organization. You would like to use this article as a source for your paper. Your citation for this source in your References list should begin with which of the following?

Question options:

1. a) the url for source
2. b) the title of the article
3. c) the date of the article’s publication
4. d) the word Anonymous

Question 3 If a quote is 40 words or longer, then

Question options:

1. a) you are probably relying on the author too much. Don’t use a quote this long.
2. b) place it in a free-standing block with a ½-inch margin but still use quotation marks.
3. c) single-space it in the paragraph and don’t use quotation marks.
4. d) place it in a free-standing block with a ½-inch margin and don’t use quotation marks.

Question 4 You have an article by Muntean that you would like to use in your paper. You want to integrate this source into your writing by using a signal phrase and then quoting from Muntean. This is the first time in your paper that you are citing Muntean.

Which of the following methods would be correct in APA style?

Question options:

1. a) Muntean (2011) has argued, “By using gamification in e-learning we wish to trigger a more efficient and engaging learning behavior” (p. 1).
2. b) Muntean argues, “By using gamification in e-learning we wish to trigger a more efficient and engaging learning behavior” (p. 1).
3. c) “By using gamification in e-learning we wish to trigger a more efficient and engaging learning behavior” (2011, p. 1, Muntean).
4. d) Muntean (p.1) argues, “By using gamificaton in e-learning we wish to trigger a more efficient and engaging learning behavior” (2011).

Question 5 The following is a good example of how to cite a source in a paragraph:

Question options:

1. a) Example 1:

The review of the research on gamification in education conducted by Dicheva, Dichev, Agre, and Angelova (2015) showed that more direct, empirical research on the effectiveness of gaming on education is needed. Moreover, most studies do not feature an assessment on the effects of the gaming environment on student learning (Dicheva, Dichev, Agre, & Angelova, 2015). In addition, early adopters of gamification techniques in the classroom tended to be computer science instructors, implying that a degree of familiarity with the gaming environment is needed before seeing significant trends in the use of gamification in instruction (Dicheva, Dichev, Agre, & Angelova, 2015). Overall, the review demonstrated an acute need for more research and for a supportive infrastructure for gamification methods (Dicheva, Dichev, Agre, & Angelova, 2015).

1. b) Example 2:

The review of the research on gamification in education conducted by Dicheva, Dichev, Agre, and Angelova (2015) showed that more direct, empirical research on the effectiveness of gaming on education is needed. Moreover, they discovered that most studies do not feature an assessment on the effects of the gaming environment on student learning. In addition, early adopters of gamification techniques in the classroom tended to be computer science instructors, implying that a degree of familiarity with the gaming environment is needed before seeing significant trends in the use of gamification in instruction (Dicheva, et al.) Overall, the review demonstrated an acute need for more research and for a supportive infrastructure for gamification methods.

1. c) Example 3:

The review of the research on gamification in education showed that more direct, empirical research on the effectiveness of gaming on education is needed. Moreover, most studies do not feature an assessment on the effects of the gaming environment on student learning. In addition, early adopters of gamification techniques in the classroom tended to be computer science instructors, implying that a degree of familiarity with the gaming environment is needed before seeing significant trends in the use of gamification in instruction. Overall, the review demonstrated an acute need for more research and for a supportive infrastructure for gamification methods ((Dicheva, Dichev, Agre, & Angelova, 2015).

1. d) Example 4:

The review of the research on gamification in education conducted by Dicheva, Dichev, Agre, and Angelova (2015) showed that more direct, empirical research on the effectiveness of gaming on education is needed. Moreover, most studies do not feature an assessment on the effects of the gaming environment on student learning. In addition, early adopters of gamification techniques in the classroom tended to be computer science instructors, implying that a degree of familiarity with the gaming environment is needed before seeing significant trends in the use of gamification in instruction. Overall, the review demonstrated an acute need for more research and for a supportive infrastructure for gamification methods.

Question 6 The following is a correct example of citing a source in APA format:

Question options:

1. a) Research by Dicheva, Dichev, Agre, & Angelova supports the argument that more research is needed on gamification applications for education (2015).
2. b) Research by Dicheva, Dichev, Agre, and Angelova supports the argument that more research is needed on gamification applications for education (2015).
3. c) Research by Dicheva, Dichev, Agre, and Angelova (2015) supports the argument that more research is needed on gamification applications for education.
4. d) Research by Dicheva, Dichev, Agre, & Angelova (2015) supports the argument that more research is needed on gamification applications for education.

Question 7 Imagine you have found an article by Chen, Burton, Mihaela, and Whittinghill. In that article, the authors cite a quote from Hamari, Koivisto, and Sarsa. You decide to use this quote in your paper.

This is an example of citing an indirect source. In other words, you are citing a source that is cited in another paper.

Which option would be the correct way to cite the source in APA format and to list the source on the References page in APA format?

Question options:

1. a) Choice #1:

Hamari, Koivisto, and Sarsa (as cited in Chen, Burton, Mihaela, & D.M. Whittinghill, 2015, p. 39)…

Then, in the References list, you would list Hamari, Koivisto, and Sarsa.

1. b) Choice #2:

Chen, Burton, Mihaela, and Whittinghill (in their article, they cite Hamari, Koivisto, and Sarsa, 2014)…

Then, in the References list, you would list Chen, Burton, Mihaela, and Whittinghill..

1. c) Choice #3:

Chen, Burton, Mihaela, and Whittinghill (in their article, they cite Hamari, Koivisto, and Sarsa, 2014)…

Then, in the References list, you would list Hamari, Koivisto, and Sarsa.

1. d) Choice #4:

Hamari, Koivisto, and Sarsa (as cited in Chen, Burton, Mihaela, & Whittinghill, 2015, p. 39)…

Then, in the References list, you would list Chen, Burton, Mihaela, and Whittinghill.

Question 8 Consider the following scenario:

• You are using a website from the Office of Budget and Economics as a source in your paper.

• The year for the website is 2015.

• The website is divided into sections

• You use information from the first paragraph of a section called “Forecast Summary.”

You should integrate the source in the following way:

Question options:

1. a) According to the Office of Budget and Economics (2015), lumber and log prices have decreased dramatically in the past year (Forecast Summary section, para. 1).
2. b) According to the Office of Budget and Economics (2015), lumber and log prices have decreased dramatically in the past year (“Office of Budget and Economy,” para. 1).
3. c) According to the Office of Budget and Economics (2015), in the section called “Forecast Summary,” lumber and log prices have decreased dramatically in the past year (para. 1).
4. d) According to the Office of Budget and Economics (2015), lumber and log prices have decreased dramatically in the past year (paragraph 1, “Forecast Summary”).

Question 9 Which of the following shows the correct indentation when listing a source in APA format?

Question options:

1. a) Choice 1:
2. b) Choice 2:
3. c) Choice 3:
4. d) Choice 4:

Question10 :Which of the following is an example of the correct way to quote a source if the text being quoted is 40 words or longer?

Question options:

1. a) Choice 1:
2. b) Choice 2:
3. c) Choice 3:
4. d) Choice 4:

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