BUSN 183 - Business & Technical Communication

3 Credit: (3 lecture, 0 lab, 0 clinical) 3 Contact Hours:

This course focuses on developing effective communication skills for the workplace. Emphasis will be on developing skills in writing business letters, memos, reports, and electronic communication. Technical writing skills, including drafting instructions, creating effective graphics, and descriptive writing, will also be covered. Students will also demonstrate effective oral interpersonal and presentation skills.
Semesters Offered: fall and spring semesters

Course Goals/ Objectives/ Competencies:
Goal 1: Effectively apply appropriate writing conventions when composing business and technical documents.

Utilize correct grammatical structure when composing business and technical documents.
Apply correct punctuation & mechanics when composing business and technical documents.
Develop a clear and concise style for effective communication.

Goal 2: Demonstrate the ability to plan, develop, compose, and format acceptable business documents for various situations, audiences, and purposes.

Prepare effective business communication documents (memos, emails, letters).
Compose electronic communication (emails, blogs, web pages).
Create proposals and reports.
Develop visual elements for written communication.
Create formal and informal reports.
Compose technical documents (instructions, definitions, descriptions, policies, procedures, short reports)

Goal 3: Demonstrate oral presentation skills.

Construct professionally designed PowerPoint (or other electronic visual aid) for a presentation
Demonstrate the ability to present extraneously.
Deliver an organized presentation targeting a professional audience.

Goal 4: Demonstrate the ability to transform AI-generated ideas appropriately, ethically, and professionally in a professional setting.

Generate an outline for a research paper.
Define ethical and unethical uses of AI in terms of fairness, referencing, and accountability.
Demonstrate awareness of AI bias and methods used to distinguish between AI generated content from authentic sources.
Create AI ethics policies for businesses and/or academics, considering the expectations of stakeholders.

Goal 5: Demonstrate career-building skills.

Construct aesthetically pleasing resume and cover letters.
Use action verb statements to demonstrate the transferability of skills.
Write cover and follow-up letters.
Practice expressing career skills verbally.
Tailor a resume to a specific job posting.
Identify one’s own soft and technical skills.

Goal 6: Demonstrate effective collaboration skills.

Present the outcomes of a business communication project.
Develop plans, timelines, and delegations of tasks necessary for completing a project.
Demonstrate interpersonal communication skills.
Meet deadlines agreed upon in collaborative projects.
Reflect upon one’s contribution to the success or failure of a team project.