MATSE 203Technical Communications

3 credits · Materials Science and Engineering · Penn State

This course is a 3 credit general education course in technical writing, for undergraduates majoring in Materials Science and Engineering. In it, students will learn how to develop a variety of documents which they will be expected to write during the course of their college and professional careers, including technical/lab reports, posters, fellowship and internship applications, job search documents, progress reports, and formal and informal communications. Other topics would include ethics, literature surveys, critical evaluation of sources, citing of references, and proper data presentation. Embedded within each of these topics and document types will be instruction in the writing process, identifying and assessing your audience, organizing documents, adopting a professional style, learning active and passive voices, and using review and editing techniques.