syllabus. Please do NOT purchase any books or start any work based on this syllabus; this syllabus may NOT be the one that your individual instructor uses for a course that has not yet started. If you need to verify course textbooks, please refer to the online course description through your student portal. This syllabus is proprietary material of APUS.

Instructor Information	Evaluation Procedures
Course Description	Grading Scale
Course Scope	Course Outline
Course Objectives	Policies
Course Delivery Method	Academic Services
Course Resources	Selected Bibliography

See the Syllabus area of the classroom for your instructor’s contact information.

Students will explore the unique structure, style, process, and documentation found in scientific writing. Through the use of a variety of scientific literary examples, students will apply the research and writing process most effective for objective scientific writing. In addition to interacting on a weekly basis, students will work collaboratively to complete a multi-faceted project. (Pre-requisite: ENGL101)

In this course, we will explore many elements that pertain to good scientific writing. We will cover in detail and practice writing various sections of a scientific paper, such as the abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion,

conclusion, and references; learn grammar tips that apply specifically to scientific writing; examine exemplary scientific prose models; apply Council of Science Editors (CSE) documentation to our own writing; work in groups to compose a documented collaboration project; and more.

After successfully completing this course, students will be able to:

1. Explain the writing and peer-review processes.
2. State elements of scientific writing.
3. Produce objective, Council of Science Editors-documented writing.
4. Explain style and voice appropriate for scientific writing situations.
5. Analyze scientific literary examples for purpose, style, voice, and documentation.
6. Describe the differences between scientific writing and other forms of writing.

This course, delivered via distance learning, will enable students to complete academic work in a flexible manner, completely online. Course materials and access to an online learning management system will be made available to each student.

Online assignments are due by Wednesday or Sunday evening of the week (as explained in the classroom) and include Forum questions (accomplished in groups through a threaded forum), examinations, and individual assignments submitted for review by the faculty member). Assigned faculty will support the students throughout this eight-week course.

Required Course Textbook: Katz, Michael J. 2009. From Research to Manuscript, A Guide to Scientific Writing. Cleveland, Ohio: Springer 205 p. Links

to the above textbook are located inside the classroom under Lessons. Required Readings: See the Course Outline below for weekly required readings.

Additional Resources: Additional Resources, when applicable, will be listed under Lessons inside the classroom.

Web Sites: See the Course Outline below for web links.

Reading Assignments: See the Course Outline below for weekly required readings. Students must complete the required readings before submitting the corresponding assignments for grading.

Supplemental Readings: Supplemental Readings, when applicable, will be listed under Lessons inside the classroom.

Forum: Make your initial post by 11:55 pm ET, Wednesday. Initial posts should be at least 250 words. During the week, read the messages posted by your instructor and classmates and join the discussion. Please respond to at least two classmates, and in your response posts, try to bring together pieces of the discussion and take those ideas further. Remember, the forums are our place for classroom discussion. Your two responses to other students’ posts must be at least 100 words each and are due by 11:55 pm ET, Sunday. (The forum grading rubric is located in the Forums area of the classroom.)

Assignments: Please see the Assignments area of the classroom for detailed instructions, templates, and a grading rubric.

Exams/Quizzes: There will be two quizzes during the semester, a grammar quiz and a final exam. Please see the Tests and Quizzes area of the classroom for complete details, including instructions and due dates.

Final Project: The final project, which includes group work, is detailed inside the classroom under Forums and also Assignments.

Grade Six Forums (100 pts each)	Percentage 30%
Four Assignments (100 pts each)	60%
Grammar Quiz	5%
Final Examination Quiz	5%
Total Percentage	100%

Week Topic Objectives (LO) Readings Assignments and Forums   Tools and Techniques LO 2: State elements of scientific writing. Text Readings: From Research to Manuscript: Please read this week’s Lessons for detailed instructions. 1   LO 6: Describe the differences between scientific writing and other forms of writing. Introduction, xi-xii Part 1, Chapters 1-3, pages 3-34. Web links: IMPORTANT! Please read every word of the APUS Plagiarism policy (the Academic Dishonesty section): http://www.apus.edu/z /student/policies/plagia rism/index.htm Forum 1, Hello… Bookend A (Introductions, Tools and Techniques) 2 Tools and Techniques (concluded) Using CSE Style LO 1: Explain the writing and peer- review processes. LO 3: Produce objective, Council of Science Editors- documented writing. Text Readings: From Research to Manuscript: Part 1, Chapters 4 and 5, pages 35-70. Web links: For CSE info.: http://writing.wisc. edu/Handbook/Doc CSE.html Please read this week’s Lessons for detailed instructions. Forum 2, Essay One Peer Review Assignment 1: Essay One

Please see the Student Handbook to reference the University’s grading scale.

Learning

		LO 4: Explain style and voice appropriate for scientific writing situations.
	Grammar Review and Prose Model	LO 5: Analyze scientific literary examples for purpose, style, voice, and documenta- tion.	Text Readings: From Research to Manuscript: For your grammar exam, please review… Pages 7-8; 29; and Appendix A 183-188.	Please read this week’s Lessons for detailed instructions. Forum 3, Prose Model
3			Please also read the article you chose for the week three forum assignment. See this week’s Lessons for article choices and information.	Grammar Quiz
			Web links:
			http://jn.nutrition.org/ content/135/7/1712.ful l
4	A Deeper Look into Research	LO 3: Produce objective, Council of Science Editors-	Text Readings: From Research to Manuscript: Part II, pages 75-96	Please read this week’s Lessons for detailed instructions.

		documented writing.		Forum 4, The Research Notebook
		LO 4: Explain style and voice appropriate for scientific writing situations.	Web links: https://evernote.co m/	Assignment 2:Research Notebook
5	The Importance of Results	LO 5: Analyze scientific literary examples for purpose, style, voice, and documenta- tion.	Text Readings: From Research to Manuscript: Part II, pages 97-117 Web links:	Please read this week’s Lessons for detailed instructions. Forums 5a and 5b, Group Work I
			http://hubpages.com/hu b/top-10-science- experiments-to-try-at- home
	Proposals and Conclusions	LO 1: Explain the writing and peer- review processes.	Text Readings: From Research to Manuscript: Part II, pages 118-137	Please read this week’s Lessons for detailed instructions.
6		LO 3: Produce objective, Council of Science Editors- documented writing.	Web links: n/a	Optional Forum 6, Essay Two Peer Review Assignment 3: Essay Three

		LO 4: Explain style and voice appropriate for scientific writing situations.
7	Composing the Sections of a Research Paper	LO 3: Produce objective, Council of Science Editors- documented writing. LO 4: Explain style and voice appropriate for scientific writing situations.	Text Readings: From Research to Manuscript: Part II, pages 137 (7. Introduction)-162 Web links: n/a	Please read this week’s Lessons for detailed instructions. Forums 7a and 7b, Group Work II Assignment 4: Group Project
8	Scientific Writing in Review	LO 2: State elements of scientific writing. LO 6: Describe the differences between scientific writing and other forms of writing.	Text Readings: From Research to Manuscript: Part III, pages 165-181. Web links: http://www.plos.org (Public Library of Science) http://www.biomedcentr al.com (BioMed Central)	Please read this week’s Lessons for detailed instructions. Optional Forum 8, Bookend Z Final Exam Quiz

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Please see the Student Handbook to reference all University policies. Quick links to frequently asked question about policies are listed below.

Drop/Withdrawal Policy Plagiarism Policy

Extension Process and Policy Disability Accommodations

Bulk submissions are not accepted during the course or during an extension.

• Cognitive learning is accomplished by receiving consistent and incremental feedback that creates a positive change in performance (Untanir, 2012). Feedback is structured so students increase their cognitive learning and skill sets.
• Thus, submitting bulk-loaded late work (more than one assignment at a time) is highly discouraged and may even result in assignment(s) being returned for revision if the instructor feels his or her feedback from any submission would have improved the student’s assessment of any assignment. Building feedback is essential to your success.

Works Cited: Ultanir, E. (2012). An epistemological glance at the constructivist approach: Constructivist learning in dewey, piaget, and montessori. Online Submission.

Writing Expectations

All writing projects completed in this course must follow the stated instructions (inside the classroom) VERY carefully. Always check the grading rubrics to see what your instructor will be on the lookout for when grading your work. Also, be sure you have read the APUS Plagiarism Policy (the ENTIRE Academic Dishonesty section) before submitting work in this or in any other course. See the above Course Outline or the Policies section on this Syllabus for links.

Citation and Reference Style

Attention: Students will follow CSE style as the sole citation and reference style during this course. Instructions regarding CSE style may be found inside the classroom under Lessons.

Late Assignments

Students are expected to submit classroom assignments by the posted due date and to complete the course according to the published class schedule. As adults, students, and working professionals, I understand you must manage competing demands on your time. Should you need additional time to complete an assignment, please contact me before the due date so we can discuss the situation and determine an acceptable resolution.

Work posted or submitted after the assignment due date will be reduced by 10% of the potential total score possible for each day late up to a total of five days, including forum posts/replies, quizzes, and assignments. Beginning on the sixth day late through the end of the course, late work, including forum posts/replies, quizzes, and

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assignments, will be accepted with a grade reduction of 50% of the potential total score earned.

Netiquette

Online universities promote the advancement of knowledge through positive and constructive debate, both inside and outside the classroom. Forums on the Internet, however, can occasionally degenerate into needless insults and “flaming.” Such activity and the loss of good manners are not acceptable in a university setting. Basic academic rules of good behavior and proper “Netiquette” must persist. Remember that you are in a place for the rewards and excitement of learning, which does not include descent to personal attacks or student attempts to stifle the learning of others.

Technology Limitations: While you should feel free to explore the full range of creative composition in your formal papers, keep e-mail layouts simple. The Sakai classroom may not fully support MIME or HTML encoded messages, which means that bold face, italics, underlining, and a variety of color-coding or other visual effects will not translate in your e-mail messages.

Humor Note: Despite the best of intentions, jokes and especially satire can easily get lost or taken seriously. If you feel the need for humor, you may wish to add “emoticons” to help alert your readers: ;-), : ), .

Disclaimer Statement

Course content may vary from the outline to meet the needs of this particular group.

The Online Library is available to enrolled students and faculty from inside the electronic campus. This is your starting point for access to online books, subscription periodicals, and Web resources that are designed to support your classes and generally not available through search engines on the open Web. In addition, the Online Library provides access to special learning resources, which the University has contracted  to  assist  with  your  studies.  Questions  can  be  directed to librarian@apus.edu.

Charles Town Library and Inter Library Loan: The University maintains a special library with a limited number of supporting volumes, collection of our professors’ publications, and services to search and borrow research books and articles from other libraries.

Electronic Books: You can use the online library to uncover and download over 50,000 titles, which have been scanned and made available in electronic format.

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Electronic Journals: The University provides access to over 12,000 journals, which are available in electronic form and only through limited subscription services.

Tutor.com: AMU and APU Civilian & Coast Guard students are eligible for 10 free hours of tutoring provided by APUS. Tutor.com connects you with a professional tutor online 24/7 to provide help with assignments, studying, test prep, resume writing, and more. Tutor.com is tutoring the way it was meant to be. You get expert tutoring whenever you need help, and you work one-to-one with your tutor in your online classroom on your specific problem until it is done.

Request a Library Guide for your course (http://apus.libguides.com/index.php)

The AMU/APU Library Guides provide access to collections of trusted sites on the Open Web and licensed resources on the Deep Web. The following are specially tailored for academic research at APUS:

Program Portals contain topical and methodological resources to help launch general research in the degree program. To locate, search by department name, or navigate by school.

Course Lib-Guides narrow the focus to relevant resources for the corresponding course. To locate, search by class code (e.g., SOCI111), or class name.

If a guide you need is not available yet, please email the APUS Library: librarian@apus.edu.

Turnitin is integrated such that your written assignments may be automatically submitted to an originality analysis software system through the Sakai Assignments tool.

Course forums will be run through Turnitin.com every week. Your instructor has the right to regrade assignments during the course if suspicion of plagiarism or any other misleading events present themselves.

Please see the above Course Outline on the Syllabus and Lessons inside the classroom for all required readings and links.