Module Information

This course aims to equip students with the skills needed to communicate technical information to technical and nontechnical audiences, and to create comprehensible software documentation. A student-centric approach will be adopted to encourage independent and collaborative learning while engaging students in team-based projects. Students will learn interpersonal and intercultural communication skills as well as hone their oral and written communication skills. Assessment modes include a variety of oral and written communication tasks such as reports, software guides, oral presentations, software demonstrations and project blogs.

~ NUSMods

This module can be S/U-ed.

Schedule

I took this module in AY20/21 Semester 1.

  • Venue: Online Classroom
  • Lecture Time: 4pm to 6pm on Mondays & Thursdays
  • Teaching Staff: Ms Toh Peiying Amy

Module Breakdown

  1. CA1 Team Meeting 15%
  2. CA2 Oral Presentation 15%
  3. CA3 Oral Presentation 2 20%
  4. CA4 User Guide 20%
  5. CA5 Critical Reflection Writing 15%
  6. Class Participation 15%

Pre-requisites

  • QET Pass/Exemption
  • You have to take this module together with CS2103T/CS2113T

Module Details

  • Introduction to the Module
  • Principles of Communication
  • Writing Audience-centric Email Messages
  • Audience Engagement in Oral Presentations
  • Building Strong Teams
  • Conducting Productive Team Meetings
  • Giving and Responding to Feedback
  • Writing Reader-Centric User Guides
  • Writing Reader-Centric Developer Guides
  • Conveying Technical Information to Non-technical Audiences
  • Tech and Project Portfolios
  • Writing Progress Reports
  • An Approach to Writing Critical Reflections

Sectional Teaching

There are 2 sectional teaching sessions per week. Each session is 2 hours long. The lessons are conducted in an interactive format, with students working in groups to complete tasks. The groups that we will be working with are the same groups as the ones we will be working with for CS2103T.

Ratings

Workload (7/10) Moderate

The workload is moderate. This is similar to ES2660 in terms of workload.

Organization (8/10)

I feel that the module is well organized. The module is well structured and the content is well organized.

Learning (6/10)

I feel that the module is not very useful. As someone who is not into writing, this is really not for me.

Enjoyment (5/10)

I feel that the module is not very enjoyable. Languages are not my cup of tea.

Usefulness (7/10)

The module is useful for those who are interested in writing. It is also useful for those who are interested in improving their writing skills.

Overall

Overall, I would recommend this module to those who are interested in writing. It is a core module for Computer Science students, so you have to take it anyway. Was planning to S/U this module, but I got an A- for it, so I didn’t.

  • Expected Grade: B+
  • Actual Grade: A-

Other Reviews

  1. Bernard’s Review
  2. Bryan’s Review
  3. Russell’s Review