Academic Skills for Developing a Project

Credits
6
Types
  • GIA: Elective
  • GRAU: Elective
  • GCED: Elective
Requirements
This subject has not requirements , but it has got previous capacities
Department
THATC
This course aims to help students to develop their communication skills to engage in academic work in English at B2 level of the Common European Framework (CEF). The course will provide students with resources to improve oral and writing skills to effectively communicate in the course of an academic activity. More specifically, it focuses on participants' skills to develop their fluency, accuracy and appropriateness in English to carry out a project in engineering both individually and collaboratively. They will apply the principles of technical communication in international settings and they will present and discuss technical information both in speech and writing.

Teachers

Person in charge

Others

Weekly hours

Theory
2
Problems
2
Laboratory
0
Guided learning
0.4
Autonomous learning
5.6

Competences

Transversal Competences

Third language

  • G3 [Avaluable] - To know the English language in a correct oral and written level, and accordingly to the needs of the graduates in Informatics Engineering. Capacity to work in a multidisciplinary group and in a multi-language environment and to communicate, orally and in a written way, knowledge, procedures, results and ideas related to the technical informatics engineer profession.
    • G3.3 - To conduct an oral presentation in English and answer questions from the audience. To work effectively in an international context, communicating orally in English with people of different nationalities.

    • Objectives

    1. To understand and apply the principles of academic communication in engineering
      Related competences: G3.3,
    2. To understand the importance of intercultural communication in the development of a collaborative project
      Related competences: G3.3,
    3. To recognize academic oral and written genres in English
      Related competences: G3.3,
    4. To analyze a communicative situation for an engineering project and to develop a plan sheet to communicate effectively
      Related competences: G3.3,
    5. To understand and interpret information in English from written sources applying active-reading techniques, and to use information effectively
      Related competences: G3.3,
    6. To understand and interpret information in English from oral sources applying active-listening strategies, and to use information effectively
      Related competences: G3.3,
    7. To prepare an outline for a writing assignment and present the main ideas orally
      Related competences:
    8. To write the draft of a document section and revise a document
      Related competences: G3.3,
    9. To report on the status of a project in writing (planning a project report)
      Related competences: G3.3,
    10. To participate in academic discussion effectively using the correct kind of language and level of formality
      Related competences: G3.3,
    11. To prepare and give a short oral presentation on a technical topic
      Related competences: G3.3,

    Contents

    1. Principles of technical communication
      Problem-solving and genre. Online communication in English. Intercultural communication in international settings.
    2. Project planning and organization
      Defining a communicative task. A plan sheet for an engineering project. Audience and purpose. Communication strategy.
    3. Gathering and exchanging information in academic settings
      Gathering information from oral and written sources. Active reading. Listening comprehension, and note-taking. Organizing ideas and preparing an outline for a project / project proposal. Presenting main ideas orally.
    4. Basic writing techniques for academic work
      From the outline to the draft. Revising a document (content, register, appropriateness). Elements of language and style in academic writing in English. The progress report.
    5. Oral presentations in academic settings
      The process of designing an oral presentation: planning, delivery and evaluation. Strategies and techniques for effective presentation. Elements of language: pronunciation, signposting and discussion. Body language and gesture.

    Activities

    Activity Evaluation act


    Understanding the principles of technical communication

    Becoming familiar with problem-solving approaches for communicative purposes and genre. Analyzing different examples of academic genres and the general communicative strategy used.
    Objectives: 1
    Contents:
    Theory
    3h
    Problems
    3h
    Laboratory
    0h
    Guided learning
    0h
    Autonomous learning
    6h

    Analyzing some fundamental aspects of technical and academic communication in international contexts

    Analyzing strengths and weaknesses of online communication. Adapting to level of formality in English. Using online tools for collaboration. Reflecting on the importance of intercultural communication
    Objectives: 1 2
    Contents:
    Theory
    3h
    Problems
    3h
    Laboratory
    0h
    Guided learning
    0h
    Autonomous learning
    6h

    Planning and organizing a project in engineering Analyzing a communicative situation. Developing a plan sheet to organize a collaborative project. Devising an effective communicative strategy

    Analyzing a communicative situation. Developing a plan sheet to organize a collaborative project. Devising an effective communicative strategy.
    Objectives: 3 4
    Contents:
    Theory
    3h
    Problems
    3h
    Laboratory
    0h
    Guided learning
    0h
    Autonomous learning
    6h

    Gathering information from written sources and writing an outline for a communicative situation

    Analyzing academic documents (a degree thesis, a proposal, a progress report). Applying active-reading techniques. Selecting relevant information. Organizing ideas and writing an outline. Using references and avoiding plagiarism.
    Objectives: 3 5 7
    Contents:
    Theory
    4h
    Problems
    4h
    Laboratory
    0h
    Guided learning
    0h
    Autonomous learning
    11h

    Gathering information from oral sources according to a specific purpose and presenting the main ideas of an academic task orally.

    Applying active-listening techniques. Taking notes. Practice in presenting the main ideas of academic work orally.
    Objectives: 6 10
    Contents:
    Theory
    4h
    Problems
    4h
    Laboratory
    0h
    Guided learning
    0h
    Autonomous learning
    11h

    Applying writing techniques to write an academic document

    Drafting a document section. Revising a document: content, register, appropriateness. Revising language and style in academic writing to achieve fluency and accuracy.
    Objectives: 4 8 9
    Contents:
    Theory
    4h
    Problems
    4h
    Laboratory
    0h
    Guided learning
    0h
    Autonomous learning
    12h

    Designing technical presentation in academic settiings

    Applying a three-stage procedure: planning, delivery and evaluation. Devising strategy at the planning stage. Selecting information and structuring the presentation.
    Objectives: 4 11
    Contents:
    Theory
    3h
    Problems
    4h
    Laboratory
    0h
    Guided learning
    4h
    Autonomous learning
    8h

    Delivering an oral presentation and evaluating it

    Preparing the speech. Designing visuals. Choosing the correct kind of language. Considering pronunciation and elements of language for signposting and discussion. Using body language and gesture. Applying evaluation criteria for oral presentations. Self-evaluation and peer evaluation.
    Objectives: 10 11
    Contents:
    Theory
    2h
    Problems
    3h
    Laboratory
    0h
    Guided learning
    2h
    Autonomous learning
    10h

    Mid-term test

    A test on the recognizing the basic elements of technical communication and devising a communications strategy.
    Objectives: 1 2 3 4 5 7
    Week: 7
    Theory
    0h
    Problems
    0h
    Laboratory
    0h
    Guided learning
    0h
    Autonomous learning
    0h

    Delivering and evaluating the oral presentation

    The students deliver their oral presentations in class and evaluate their partners.
    Objectives: 11
    Week: 14
    Theory
    0h
    Problems
    0h
    Laboratory
    0h
    Guided learning
    0h
    Autonomous learning
    0h

    End-term test

    Exam on the process of writing and academic genres
    Objectives: 1 3 4 5 8
    Week: 15 (Outside class hours)
    Theory
    0h
    Problems
    0h
    Laboratory
    0h
    Guided learning
    0h
    Autonomous learning
    0h

    Teaching methodology

    Class session combine content presentation by teacher, extensive practice and students' participation. Students' participation and involvement are critical for the development of course activities.
    The work on the course contents is based on the development of projects and tasks.
    The activities are based on problem-solving tasks with practical exercises and analysis of samples.

    Evaluation methodology

    Course assessment is based on continuous assessment tasks (course assignments and class participation) and written tests with the following percentages:

    -Course assignments. Practical assignments based on the different contents of the course: 15%. These assignments will be done either in class or as homework.
    -Course project Written document and oral presentation: 25%.
    -Mid-term test: 25%
    -Class participation. Students are expected to complete activities and tasks and bring their answers to class for discussion. They are also expected to work in collaboration with others. 10%
    -End-term test: 25%

    -Students need to complete all the continuous assessment tasks in order to cover all the contents of the course and successfully perform in the exams.
    -The average mark resulting from the exams must be a minimum of 3.5 in order to pass the subject. If the exam average is under 3.5, continuous assessment tasks will not be taken into account and the final grade will be the weighted average of the exam marks.
    -Students will not get a participation mark if they do not attend a minimum of 50% of the course sessions.

    Bibliography

    Basic

    • Course workbook: academic skills for developing a project - Secció d'Anglès (UPC), Cpet, 2012.

    Complementary

    Web links

    • "Quantum LEAP: Learning English for Academic Purposes". A virtual environment to practise academic English. http://www.quantumleap.cat

    Previous capacities

    In order to carry out academic / professional communication activities in English, students are recommended to have acquired B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF) or higher.