Engineering 0011/0711 – Fall, 2015 (2161) Writing  Assignment  #1  

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION   DUE: In class, ENGR 0011: ENGR 0011 Thursday, September 10; ENGR 0711 Wednesday, September 9 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS • •

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Hand in a hard copy of your Letter of Recommendation at the beginning of your Engineering 0011 class on Thursday, September 10 (or your 0711 class on Wednesday, September 9). Be sure to attach a copy of the Evaluation Sheet. The Evaluation Sheet is available at http://www.engineering.pitt.edu/FirstYear/First-Year-Class-Sites/ENGR-0011/Writing-Assignments/Writing-Assignments/ at the link “Writing Assignment #1 Evaluation Sheet.” (for 0711: http://www.engineering.pitt.edu/First-Year/First-Year-Class-Sites/ENGR-0711/WritingAssignments/Writing-Assignments) Print this Evaluation Sheet and attach it to your Letter of Recommendation. Have your hard copy (with attached evaluation sheet) already proofread and printed when you come to class. Do not plan on coming to class and then printing out your writing assignments. Do not plan on using class time to finish writing or proofreading this assignment or any of your writing assignments.

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION ASSIGNMENT MAIN TASK Write about how and why you are an excellent “match” for a particular scholarship. Taking on the role of one of your first year Swanson School professors or advisers, recommend this particular student (you) for a particular scholarship. Imagine it is April 2016, and you have just found an engineering-related scholarship for which you are going to apply. One of the requirements of the scholarship application is a 450-475 word letter of recommendation from one of your first year University of Pittsburgh professors. You decide to ask your Engineering Analysis professor to write this letter of recommendation (or, for this scenario, you may imagine that you have asked any of your first year professors or your first year adviser). In this assignment, you will play the role of this professor (or adviser). You will need to choose a professor who would realistically know quite a bit about your recent background and your first year Swanson School activities and accomplishments. You, as the professor or adviser, will draw on the knowledge you have of this student (you) to write a clear, detailed letter of recommendation for a particular scholarship. The letter must include concrete details of activities and accomplishments from the student’s (your) senior year of high school and from the student’s (your) first year at the Swanson School of Engineering. OVERALL, your effective letter of recommendation must • establish and maintain maximum structural integrity

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how/why this student (you) is an excellent candidate for this scholarship constitute the main structural supports of the letter of recommendation you must explicitly state, throughout the letter, how/why this student matches the criteria for this scholarship; if you do not detail this “match” throughout the letter, the letter will be structurally weak—nothing will stand firmly, your claims and authority will fall apart

OVERALL, your effective letter of recommendation must

 

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have many “concrete” details o when you use concrete details, you provide your readers with “word pictures” that illustrate and reinforce claims and evaluations; if claims and evaluations are not immediately reinforced via concrete details/descriptions, those claims and evaluations rest on very shaky ground, and readers will not be able to believe what you are saying

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“show your work”— this means detailing how you arrived at the claims and evaluations; in your Letter of Recommendation, you must show, via concrete details and explicit explanation, how and why you have arrived at the claim/conclusion that will be an excellent choice to be a recipient of this scholarship

ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS/ELEMENTS OF THE LETTER The INTRODUCTION to your effective letter of recommendation must • note the purpose of this letter • establish the authority of the letter-writer gexplain why the letter writer has the authority to recommend a student for this scholarship; specify how/why the letter writer is an authority on assessing/evaluating freshmen engineering students The INTRODUCTION to an effective letter of recommendation must • briefly explain and how/why the letter writer knows this student well enough to credibly recommend this student for this scholarship gthe letter-writer sees hundreds of freshmen students per semester; how does the letter-writer know this student and the details of his or her high school senior year and 1st year engineering work well enough to provide a substantial, believable recommendation? The INTRODUCTION to an effective letter of recommendation must • provide an initial clarification of the specific connection between this student and this scholarship The “BODY” of your effective letter of recommendation must • provide concrete specifics about the student’s relevant high school senior year and Swanson School first year activities and achievements g “X did very well in my engineering class” does NOT demonstrate how or why this student is the best person for this scholarship The “BODY” of you effective letter of recommendation must • provide concrete/useful numbers (for example, test scores, first year GPA, numerical class ranking, etc.) • provide concretely detailed depictions of the student “in action” gfor example, if the letter-writer claims, “X demonstrated excellent leadership skills in my class,” the letter-writer must describe exactly how the student demonstrated “leadership”: what were the student’s actions in what particular classroom situations; what were the results of those actions? If the letter claims that the student is a strong, effective team member, then the letter-writer must show (via concrete details and clear explanations) the student working successfully as part of a particular team project The “BODY” of your effective letter of recommendation will • demonstrate the letter-writer’s familiarity with the scholarship criteria by specifically stating particular scholarship criteria throughout the letter (see the links below for the kinds of criteria scholarships often have)

 

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frequently, specifically describe exactly why this scholarship’s criteria match with this student’s relevant, specific experiences/achievements                g readers must see, clearly and specifically, how and why the particular qualifications of X meet with the particular criteria detailed by the scholarship g “X would be an excellent recipient for this scholarship” does NOT demonstrate how or why this student is a good candidate/match for this scholarship g useful explanations of the match between this student and this scholarship will proceed something like this: The Y Scholarship honors students who demonstrate determination, thoroughness and creativity in technical problem solving. I saw X display these very qualities when I was assisting X and her team with building a Lego Mindstorm robot for a Pittsburgh Science Center technology fair. Prior to the fair, the team’s robot was not performing reliably. While X’s teammates insisted the problem was with the code, X’s careful observation of how and when the robot stopped working led her to disassemble the sensor motor. She found a small defect, and proceeded to devise a fix by reconfiguring a paper clip to reinforce the defective part. The robot then worked consistently throughout the Science Center demonstrations. X’s assessments and solutions in this situation show strongly suggest that she will address technical problem solving carefully and creatively.” gThe letter writer uses the example and “word picture” of the Lego Mindstorm robot problem to show the student “in action” as an observant, innovative problem-solver. •

The CONCLUSION to your effective letter of recommendation must • NOT be made up of bland, general, ineffective clichés The CONCLUSION to your effective letter of recommendation must • specifically reinforce the strong “match” between this student and this scholarship g “I hope you can see that X is a good candidate” is NOT a useful statement in a conclusion g the letter-writer should not be “hoping”; the letter-writer should have been be showing how and why this student meets the particular criteria for this particular scholarship; the conclusion must reinforce these “pictures” of the students and further fortify the student çè scholarship match FINDING OR INVENTING A SCHOLARSHIP You may “invent” a scholarship and its criteria, but those criteria should be similar to criteria that are actually part of real scholarships. Here are some sample scholarships: http://smart.asee.org http://www.nsbe.org/Programs/Scholarships/Scholarship-Vault.aspx#PCI https://www.pheaa.org/funding-opportunities/other-educational-aid/nets-scitech-scholarship.shtml http://www.iie.org/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program https://www.aist.org/AIST/aist/AIST/Foundation/2015_Foundation_Brochure.pdf http://www.ams-awma.org/ams_scholarship.htm http://www.greatmindsinstem.org/college/henaac-scholarship-application-guidelines http://www.aremafoundation.org/scholarships.html CORRECT, PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATION OF YOUR LETTER OVERALL, your effective letter of recommendation will reflect your professionalism and attention to the assigned task by • meeting the stated word count specifications o The body of the letter (this does not include names and addresses, “greeting” or “closing”/signature) must be between 450 and 475 words. You may exceed this word count by several words, but you must keep your letter to one page (including your signature). • meeting all format specifications • having correct, careful sentence structure throughout • having correct, careful vocabulary/word choice throughout • having correct grammar and punctuation throughout • submitting a PROOFREAD letter with NO ERRORS o if you are not sure about punctuation, grammar, best sentence structure, etc., do not guess; make an appointment at the Writing Center http://www.composition.pitt.edu/writingcenter/index.html, and/or consult a reliable resource such as the Online Writing Lab at Purdue https://owl.english.purdue.edu) (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/679/01/ o See “Getting Help Along the Way” on page 5

 

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LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION: ESSENTIAL FORMAT SPECIFICATIONS/DETAILS Your Letter of Recommendation must (MUST, MUST) meet these format specifications. If your Letter does not meet all format specifications, you will need to resubmit your letter. Resubmitting your letter will result in a deduction of points for late submission 1 inch margins, left, right, top bottom; all text must be Times New Roman 10 pt.; line spacing must be 1.0 (not 1.15 or 1.5) All text must be “full justified”   Your name, Engineering Instructor, 0011/0711 class time (for example, Tyler Draper, Dr. Bursic, 2:00) (Double space—Two 1.0 spaces; at the end of the typed line, hit “enter/return” twice ) The professor’s Pitt address The professor’s Pitt email The professor’s Pitt phone number (Double space—Two 1.0 spaces; at the end of the typed line, hit “enter/return” twice) The recipient’s title/name (for example, Dr. William Land, or DuPont Creativity in ChemE Scholarship Committee-- you can “invent” this) The recipient’s address (you can “invent” this) (Double space—Two 1.0 spaces; at the end of the typed line, hit “enter/return” twice) The date the letter was written, which will be a date in April, 2015 (use this format: YYYY-MM-DD) (Double space—Two 1.0 spaces; hit “enter/return” twice) Dear Dr. Land: (don’t forget the punctuation) (Double space—Two 1.0 spaces; at the end of the typed line, hit “enter/return” twice) Opening Paragraph (Double space between paragraphs—Two 1.0 spaces; at the end of the last typed line of a paragraph, hit “enter/return” twice) Next Paragraph (No indent!) Double space—Two 1.0 spaces; at the end of the last typed line of a paragraph, hit “enter/return” twice) Next Paragraph (No indent!) (Double space between paragraphs —Two 1.0 spaces; at the end of the last typed line of a paragraph, hit “enter/return” twice) Next Paragraph (No indent!) (Double space—Two 1.0 spaces; at the end of the last typed line of a paragraph, hit the “enter/return” twice) Closing Paragraph (No indent!) (put word count in parentheses at the end of this paragraph) Double space—Two 1.0 spaces; hit “enter/return” twice) Letter closing (for example: Sincerely, or Best Regards,) (Double space—Two 1.0 spaces; at the end of the “closing,” hit “enter/return” twice) Signature (you may leave this blank, use a cursive font, or sign it “by hand”) (Double space—Two 1.0 spaces; at the end of the signature, hit “enter/return” twice) Typed Name and Position (for example, Dr. Dan Budny, Director, Freshmen Programs)

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LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION: HOW IT MUST LOOK At a glance, your letter must look like this; be sure to check (above) for detailed (margins, font, font size, etc.) specifications. Your name, ENGR 0011/0711 Instructor and class time (for example, Budny 10:00 Professor’s Pitt address Professor’s Pitt email Professor’s Pitt phone number Recipient’s name/title Recipient’s addres Date (YYYY-MM-DD) Greeting: (for example, Dear Ms. Gates:) Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph (word count—put the number of words in parentheses at the end of the last paragraph) (note: your letter may more than or fewer than 4 paragraphs) Closing, (for example, Sincerely,) Professor’s Signature (you may use a “cursive” font or sign “by hand”) Typed Name of Professor, Professional Title of the letter-writer LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION: GETTING HELP ALONG THE WAY • The University of Pittsburgh Writing Center, 317B O’Hara Student Center, is here to help you with this or any writing project. You can make an appointment for a one-on-one meeting with a WC consultant by going to http://www.composition.pitt.edu/writingcenter/index.html, clicking on “schedule an appointment online,” and following the instructions. • WC Consultants are familiar with your Engineering Writing Assignments and can assist you with any aspect of your Writing Assignments from getting started to helping you do your final proofreading. • WC Consultants cannot write any aspect of your paper for you or proofread or make changes for you. WC Consultants can help you see how to maximize the effectiveness and professional presentation of your writing. o Important note: If you would like to meet with a WC Consultant you must make an appointment for a time no later than 6:00 p.m. the day before an assignment is due. For example, Assignment #1 is due Thursday, Sept. 4. The last open appointment for working on Assignment #1 with a WC consultant will be at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, September 3 (Tuesday, Sept. 2 for 0711). If you attempt to make an appointment for the day that a paper is due, that appointment will be cancelled. • Your Writing Instructor is here to help you with any aspect of your assignment. Contact your Writing Instructor via email with any questions you have about this or any Engineering Writing Assignment. Contact your Writing Instructor via email if you would like to schedule an appointment to meet with him or with her to further discuss any aspect of this or any writing assignment. o VERY important note: You must contact your Writing Instructor with any questions by 5:00 p.m. the day before an assignment is due. For example, Assignment #1 is due Thursday, Sept. 10. You cannot contact your Writing Instructor after 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, September 9 (Tuesday, Sept. 8 for 0711). You cannot contact your Writing Instructor the same day that an assignment is due. • For basic, online help with grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, vocabulary, etc. check “The OWL”—the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/. At “The OWL” you can search for particular information, for example, “commas,” or “sentence fragment,” or “sentence clarity.” The OWL will provide useful information and examples.

 

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