Instructor and Course Information

English 421, "Technical Writing"
Instructor: Tracy Clark
Sections: 09-01, 10-01
Office Hrs: T-Th 12-1 p.m.
Office: Heavilon 404
Ph: 765.496.1650
Fax: 765.494.3780
E-Mail: clark9@purdue.edu

Overview

English 421 helps students become better technical communicators, whose work is characterized by the presentation of technical material in written and visual formats that are user centered and aware of audience and context. The course and its principles are grounded in rhetorical theory and informed by current research in technical communication.

Communication across multiple audiences and for multiple purposes continues to be a desired skill set in technical and professional fields. Beyond field-specific knowledge and experience, successful and ethical communication drives the professional world. This class, in content and form, models these successful communication practices. Working individually and in groups, students learn effective strategies for communicating about and with technology, particularly in networked workplaces and through usability testing. To achieve success in this course, students must display the ability to succeed in their future workplaces by developing a variety of informative and visually effective print and electronic documents.

Required Text

Johnson-Sheehan, Richard. Technical Communication Today, 2/e. New York: Longman, 2007.

Course Goals

Writing in Context

• Analyze the invention, manufacture, and distribution of technologies in context and use writing to communicate these attributes in a variety of media and genres.
• Write to the different levels of technical expertise of a range of audiences and stakeholders to foster technical understanding.
• Understand the ethical implications of working within the nexus of technology and culture.

Project Management

• Understand, develop and deploy various strategies for planning, researching, drafting, revising, and editing documents both individually and collaboratively.
• Select and use appropriate technologies that effectively and ethically address professional situations and audiences.
• Build professional ethos through documentation and accountability.

Document Design
Make rhetorical design decisions about technical documents including

• understanding and adapting to genre conventions and expectations of a range of audiences including both technical and non-technical audiences
• understanding and implementing design principles of format and layout
• interpreting and arguing with design
• drafting, researching, testing, revising visual design and information architecture
• ensuring the technical accuracy of visual content

Teamwork
Learn and apply strategies for successful teamwork, such as

• working online with colleagues to determine roles and responsibilities
• managing team conflicts constructively
• responding constructively to peers' work
• soliciting and using peer feedback effectively
• achieving team goals

Research
Understand and use the research methods and strategies necessary to the production of professional documents, including

• working ethically with research participants, subject matter experts, and technical experts
• locating, evaluating, and using print and online information selectively for particular audiences and purposes
• triangulating sources of evidence
• selecting appropriate primary research methods such as interviews, observations, focus groups, and surveys to collect data
• applying concepts of usability research, such as user-centered design

Technology
Use and evaluate the writing technologies frequently used in the workplace, such as emailing, instant messaging, image editing, video editing, presentation design and delivery, HTML editing, Web browsing, content management, and desktop publishing technologies.

Course Projects and Activities

1. Quick Guide Project

For this first major project, you will produce a document containing written and visual instructions for completing a specific task, using a specific software program -- otherwise known as software documentation. Software programs to be covered will be selected through a random drawing; each program assigned is included in the ITaP suite, so you'll have an opportunity to work with the program outside of class time. Besides the actual documentation, you will also produce document specifications; these will describe in detail your proposed documentation and its representative characteristics: target audience, user level, steps and visuals, and the type of document used to convey this information (flyer, brochure, booklet, website, etc.). Another important component of the Quick Guide Project is usability testing, during which at least one classmate will read through your documentation and then actually complete the process under conditions similar to those that your target audience will encounter. Before the usability testing session, you'll need to interview your tester(s) to determine their familiarity with the process you've documented, and then produce a testing "script," in order to facilitate the testing process and anticipate possible "issues" or "irregularities" that testers might encounter). Following the usability testing session, you'll need to produce a brief report in which you discuss observations you've made during testing, as well as discuss testing results. (Individual; 25% of course grade.)

2. White Paper Project

The White Paper Project addresses a common report genre in the professional world. White papers are used in technical, industrial, business, educational, and governmental contexts to sum up the gist of what’s known about a subject. For this project, you will be placed into groups of 4-5 students, based on your responses to a preferences questionnaire that you'll complete on the first day of work on this project. During this project you will learn about

• the white paper genre through collaborative creation of a white paper.
• new writing and communication technologies that support technical writing in college and industry, with attention to open source and other freely available software or writing spaces (online networks, blogging, etc.)
• collaboration, project management, and strategies for writing and revising.
• producing a text for the web in HTML that integrates visual content, such as screenshots, tables, and flowcharts

Each group member will keep a project log throughout the duration of the White Paper Project -- including revisions -- and submit a collaborative project evaluation form after submitting the final revision of his or her group's white papers.

(Collaborative: 30% of course grade.)

3. Technical Marketing Materials Project

For Project 3, you will work in groups of 3 or 4 to produce a technical marketing document for technology-based products. This project consists of two stages: planning and production. As was the case for the White Paper Project, credibility is essential. This project will feature the added dimension of creativity, or techne, in presentation of technically-oriented information. We'll work with document templates within either Adobe InDesign CS2 or Microsoft Publisher -- that way, you'll gain experience with professional-looking documents without spending a lot of time and energy learning an entire program!

Each student will keep a weekly project log throughout the duration of this project -- including revisions. You will be asked to email the instructor a collaborative evaluation form after your group has submitted the final version of Project 3.

(Collaborative; 25% of course grade.)

Weblogs

Much of your writing for this class will be posted publicly on the Internet to your individual weblog or our community weblog home page. Weblog posting assignments will include drafts, project logs, and research notes, among others. See posting to your weblog for more information. The calendar specifies what you should post to your weblog and by when, so let that be your guide.

Reading/Class Discussion Responses

Although we will have many readings and discussion topics each week, you are responsible for writing one, 200-word blog post per week. The reading responses will function to synthesize the readings and your reactions to them, much like class discussion. Please refer to guidelines on how to post a reading response.

Comments and Replies

You are required to post three (3) comments and replies (e.g., follow-up responses) each week to the blog posts (reading and other responses posted by classmates) appearing on our course's front page. Your comments and replies should be spaced out over at least two days. Each should be, at minimum, 75 words each.

All comments and replies to another's blog post should follow effective rhetorical strategies for networking with others on the Web. (Readings from the course text provide guidelines to follow.)

• Keep threads alive and relevant.
• Follow-up comments with further discussion.
• Think of your comments and replies as part of a lively class discussion in which everyone participates.

Our activity online substitutes for in-person discussion in interesting (and sometimes deeper) ways. Of course, you are always welcome, and encouraged, to post beyond thsese minimum requirements. The course calendar includes reminders about meeting this ongoing obligation for participating in class discussion.

The format and focus of your weblog comments and replies is described fully in these Guidelines for Posting Comments and Replies. Please bear in mind that since many students are reluctant to speak in class, your online interaction is the glue that holds the course together, makes collobaration possible, and helps you achieve the course goals. For these reasons, your engagement in these online discussions will require serious and consistent attention throughout the course. It won't be possible to make up missed postings later, since the discussion will have already moved on.

Blogs and comments/replies will account for 20 percent of your final course grade.

Grading

Quick Guide Project	25
White Paper Project	30
Technical Marketing Materials Project	25
Daily Assignments, Online Discussion, Attendance	20
Total	100%

Technology Requirements

In order to participate fully in the course, you should already be able to use the technology platform and applications listed below.

• Mac OS System or Windows XP or Vista
• Microsoft Office (Word and PowerPoint) or Mac Office (Word and Keynote)
• Web Browser (e.g., Firefox, Safari, Netscape Communicator, or Internet Explorer)
• Email Program (e.g., Purdue Webmail, Outlook, Eudora, Thunderbird, Gmail, etc.)

Technology Responsibilities

Familiarity with certain technologies is crucial for participation and success in the course. If you need any assistance now or at any point during the semester, please do not hesitate to ask.

During the semester, you'll need regular access to the Internet and email. Because the course home page is the main locus of the class community, you are responsible for reading and keeping current with all content posted there, including what has been submitted by both the instructor and your fellow students. You'll be responsible for configuring your system to access course materials, to read course email and participate in online discussions, and to submit your work. Very early in the semester, you will be asked to demonstrate that you can meet these responsibilities:

• Register for the course website and complete your profile information.
• Post a message about yourself and your interests
• Read the course description and calendar, then ask questions when you are uncertain about requirements or activities.
• Set up your @purdue.edu email or an alternative that you can access regularly and reliably
• Become proficient sending and receiving email attachments, resolving file compatibility issues, and following email decorum.
• Check the course calendar daily for the timely completion of assignments.
• Become more proficient with unfamiliar computer technologies and applications, such as the creation of PDF files.
• Maintain back-up copies of all assignments via your home directory, disks, USB drives, or CDs.

If at any time you have problems accessing the Internet from home, you'll need to find a public lab or connection point. Problems with computers will not be an excuse for falling behind or failing to complete required assignments. If your Internet service goes down, use another computer. If your computer breaks, use another computer. In other words, find a way to complete the assignments on time. Because computer problems are a fact of life, always work to complete your assignments early and make frequent backups to multiple media.

Course Technologies

• Course Website
• Dreamweaver (Web Editor)
• Powerpoint, Word, Keynote, Google Docs (for collaboration and presentation)
• Acrobat and Acrobat Reader
• Adobe Connect (for group meetings, as needed)

Collaborative Work

Teamwork is a required component of the course. You and your project team members are responsible for updating one another and me about assignment development and progress. In addition, you also are responsible for negotiating together all aspects of your work, including planning, drafting, revising, file managing, and scheduling of assignments. When a collaborative project is assigned, you will receive explicit guidelines for successful collaboration. Individual group members will complete Collaborative Evaluation Forms. For more information about good principles of collaboration, see the brochure, Group Work and Collaborative Writing <http://dhc.ucdavis.edu/vohs/>.

Attendance

Attendance is required at all scheduled electronic and face-to-face (F2F) meetings. Since you will be working in project teams much of the semester, you also will be required to attend any scheduled out-of-class meetings with your team to complete course assignments. More than three absences will result in your final grade being lowered by as much as a letter grade. More than six absences may result in a failing grade for the course. Excused absences may be granted for religious holidays or university-sponsored events, provided you make a written request to me no less than two weeks in advance and that you complete any required work before the due date.  Excused absences may also be granted for job interviews, jury duty, participation in intercollegiate athletic events, participation in academic/professional conferences, and emergencies such as serious/extended illness or injury.  Aside from these issues, there is no distinction made between excused and unexcused absences. Being excessively or regularly late for class or team meetings, both electronic and F2F, can also be counted as an absence.

Academic Integrity

Purdue students and their instructors are expected to adhere to guidelines set forth by the Dean of Students in "Academic Integrity: A Guide for Students," which students are encouraged to read here:

http://www.purdue.edu/ODOS/services/gradeappeals.htm

The preamble of this guide states the following: "Purdue University values intellectual integrity and the highest standards of academic conduct. To be prepared to meet societal needs as leaders and role models, students must be educated in an ethical learning environment that promotes a high standard of honor in scholastic work. Academic dishonesty undermines institutional integrity and threatens the academic fabric of Purdue University. Dishonesty is not an acceptable avenue to success. It diminishes the quality of a Purdue education, which is valued because of Purdue's high academic standards."

Academic dishonesty is defined as follows: "Purdue prohibits "dishonesty in connection with any University activity. Cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the University are examples of dishonesty." [University Regulations, Part V, Section III, B, 2, a] Furthermore, the University Senate has stipulated that "the commitment of acts of cheating, lying, and deceit in any of their diverse forms (such as the use of substitutes for taking examinations, the use of illegal cribs, plagiarism, and copying during examinations) is dishonest and must not be tolerated. Moreover, knowingly to aid and abet, directly or indirectly, other parties in committing dishonest acts is in itself dishonest." [University Senate Document 72-18, December 15, 1972]"

I will assign a grade of F (zero) to written work that violates this policy, and reserve the right to fail policy violators for the course. I also reserve the right to initiate proceedings with the Dean of Students, for particularly egregious cases of academic dishonesty. If you have any questions about this policy, please ask.

In Case of a Campus Emergency

In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines and grading percentages are subject to changes that may be necessitated by a revised semester calendar or other circumstances. You can acquire updated information from the course website, by emailing me, or by contacting me through the English department at 765-494-3740.

Late Work

The majority of missed class assignments cannot be made up. If a serious and unavoidable problem arises, however, you should contact me in writing prior to the deadline to determine whether or not an extension for the work will or will not be granted.