Seminar: Scientific and Technical English for Computer Scientists (STE, WiSe 2025/26)
Lecture 1 hour, Blanchette; exercise 1 hour, Blanchette, Desharnais-Schäfer, and Lempa
Recognized as “Einführung persönliche und soziale Kompetenz” in the bachelor program.
Overview
This bachelor-level seminar is aimed at computer science students to help them develop their English-language scientific and technical writing skills. These skills will help you create the various kinds of documents used in academia and industry.
In this seminar, you will
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learn the basics of scientific and technical writing for computer science, such as the proper use of citations, quotations, and code excerpts;
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acquire techniques for structuring the writing process, to help avoid the blank page syndrome;
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learn the fundamentals of writing in plain formal English, including grammar, punctuation, and style;
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learn how to develop various types of documents, such as papers, theses, slides, posters, and documentation.
The first lecture reviews computer aids, including spell-checkers and artificial intelligence chatbots, that can be used to improve the quality of your writing. The following nine lectures are dedicated to the fundamentals of English writing: structure, style, grammar, punctuation, presentation issues, citations, quotations, and revisions. The next three lectures focus on specific issues associated with theses, papers, slides, posters, and software documentation. The last two lectures feature mystery guest speakers.
Organization
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1+1 hours per week
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Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Jasmin Blanchette
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Teaching assistants: Dr. Martin Desharnais-Schäfer and Elisabeth Lempa
Place and Time
The lectures take about 45 minutes each and are followed by an exercise session.
We will make videos of the lectures available on LMUcast as a convenience to students with schedule conflicts. We will do our best to put the videos online shortly after the lecture, but we offer no guarantees about their availability or quality.
Schedule
The course consists of 15 lectures:
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Practicalities and Computer Aids
slides -
Structure
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Style
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Words and Phrases
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Sentences and Paragraphs
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Punctuation, Part 1
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Punctuation, Part 2
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Textual Presentation
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Citations and Quotations
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Revisions
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Theses and Papers
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Slides and Posters
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Software Documentation
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Guest Lecture 1
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Guest Lecture 2
slides
Materials
The slides of the lectures are available above under Schedule. The exercise sheets are also available there. Solutions will be gradually be made available there as well. All materials are provided for your convenience and are subject to changes.
Additional material referenced in the lectures or the exercises is available on Moodle.
Exams
The possible grades for this seminar are pass and fail. A written exam at the end of the semester tests your understanding. The exam is on paper and closed book. You will be given 90 minutes to complete it. There will also be a retake exam.
If you need some adjustments to compensate for disabilities or impairments, please contact the lecturer at least one week before the exam.
The seminar is being taught for the first time. A mock exam, together with answers, is available so that you can practice.
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