Guidelines for Writing Assignments in ECE 3534

Michael Alley E-mail: alley@vt.edu Office: Durham 331 Report Links Sample Lab Report Evaluation of Lab Reports Grading Marks Gray Areas Writing Lecture Links Writing Lecture #1 Writing Lecture #2 Key: Mechanics Exercise Key: Tense Exercise Key: Style Exercise General Writing Guidelines

The writing component of ECE 3534 is designed to have you practice and build upon the writing principles that you learned in your technical writing course. In ECE 3534, you must do the following: write a formal report on laboratory 2 (5% of grade); and write a description of a microprocessor and establish a definition on a wiki (5% of grade) write a comparison of two microprocessors, based on wiki entries (5% of grade). In using the outlines to write your reports, you are advised to incorporate the provided sentences exactly as they are written. You are also welcome to use the services of the Writing Center. However, you are not allowed to look at any ECE 3534 reports written by other students in previous semesters. Such viewings are considered Honor Code violations and cause for charges to be levied in the Honor Court.

Audience and Format for Laboratory Reports For the laboratory reports in ECE 3534, assume that your principal audience is a technical manager who understands the principles and terminology discussed in ECE 2504. Moreover, this audience is keenly interested in your understanding of the 68HC11 microcontroller and is reading the laboratory reports to follow the testing and designs that you perform on that microcontroller. Also, in writing the laboratory reports for ECE 3534, you are to follow a prescribed format (see outlines below). Part of this format involves prescribed headings and subheadings. Note that to download the outlines onto your computer, right click on document files. Outlines for Laboratory Reports Outline of Report 2 (document) Outline of Report 2 (pdf version) Outline of Report 3 (document) Outline of Report 3 (pdf version) Outline of Report 4 (document) Outline of Report 4 (pdf version) Outline of Report 5 (document) Grading Criteria for Laboratory Reports Sample Laboratory Report Sample Reference Citations Background on Technical Writing If you have not yet taken English 3764 (Technical Writing), you should become familiar with certain concepts of technical writing. A summary can be found in the following pages of The Craft of Scientific Writing, which is available from the reserve desk of the Newman Library: 2-9, 16-33, 53-59, 83-96, 161-167, and 221-227

Last updated 9/04 http://writing.eng.vt.edu/ece3534/