Susan Ruff 
MIT room 38-583
617-324-1983 (office)
617-455-8248 (cell)
Office Hours
By arrangement pretty much anytime (e-mail or call)
I’m a lecturer in Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) at MIT: I teach communication to students within the context of their technical classes in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and Mathematics. I’m also WAC’s coordinator for communication instruction in communication-intensive classes in the EECS Department. In that capacity, I work with other WAC lecturers, administrators, staff, and EECS faculty to enhance the overall communication education of EECS majors.
With Michael Carter (NCSU), I am researching the communication skills needed by software engineers in industry. We are currently conducting a survey aimed at software engineers and those who work closely with software engineers:
SURVEY LINK: web.mit.edu/ruff/SEcomm
Survey close date: November 16, 2009
Below is a list of the classes I work with, and a brief description of the communication in each.
In the Department of Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science
Micro/Nano
Processing Technology (a lab class) Computer
System Engineering (required for all CS majors) Quantitative
Physiology: Cells and Tissues In the Department of Mathematics Principals
of Mathematical Exposition Project
Lab in Mathematics In teams of three, students explore rich open-ended
questions in mathematics. Each team does three projects during the semester.
For each project, the results are presented in a paper, which is then revised.
Each team presents the results of one of their projects to the class in a
50-minute presentation. Along with the math instructors and TAs, I help teams to prepare for their presentations to the class
by watching and giving feedback on a dry run of the presentation. We also give
feedback on paper drafts. Math
seminars The math department has seminars on various topics.
For each seminar, each class is given by one or two students who research a
topic and then present it to the rest of the students. Each student also writes and revises a
final paper on a topic of their choosing. When requested, I read and give
feedback on select drafts. I'm also available to help students by commenting on their presentations &/or watching dry runs of their presentations. I periodically join math seminar instructors for workshop discussions about teaching and grading communication in math seminars. Past classes: I have taught communication in the following
classes in past years as well: Communication workshop
for math majors doing a year abroad
Modern Optics My background Before coming to MIT in 2003 I was a developmental editor and freelance writer for math and science textbooks for a decade. My education is in math, physics, education, and graphic design. I'm co-editor of Boston Rocks, 2nd Ed., a guidebook to rock climbing in the Boston Area.
Students write and revise professional
letters about their integrated circuits, give presentations about their MEMS
devices, and present posters about their microfluidics devices. WAC lecturers give students feedback on their letters, presentations, and posters. We also give joint
lectures with the technical faculty about writing IEEE letters, supporting
contentions with quantitative evidence from the data, designing effective
visuals, and preparing presentations.
Students write memos about the Therac 25
accidents and about the XWindow system, they write a proposal for a design
project, and they write a design project report. WAC lecturers give tutorials for sections of 20 students on topics such as communicating clearly and concisely in
an industry context and
designing effective visuals. We also give feedback on student writing.
Students work in teams of two on student-directed projects: they write and
revise a report about an osmosis experiment and give a dry run and final
presentation about an exploration of the Hodgkin-Huxley circuit model of a
squid axon. Student teams receive feedback on their writing and presentations from WAC lecturers, technical instructors, and peers. WAC lecturers and technical instructors also lecture jointly about how to translate findings into a written report and how to translate findings into an oral presentation.
Students revise a mathematical paper for
publication in MIT’s Undergraduate
Journal of Mathematics, give three 50-minute presentations to the class on
math topics of their choosing, and write reviews of each other's presentations. Along with Professor Steve Kleiman, I work closely with the students to help them revise their
papers to publication quality. I also give students feedback on their presentations.
Bioelectronics Project Laboratory
Psychoacoustics Project Laboratory
Biology Project Laboratory
Topics in Experimental Biology
In my spare time
I enjoy many ways of exploring the world: travel; rock, ice, and mountain climbing; taking classes; research. Currently I'm researching the communication needs of software engineers in industry.