Instructor and Course Information

English 421Y, "Technical Writing Online"
Kevin McKelvey
Section: 0301 and 0401
(Online) Office Hrs: chats by appt.
Office: Heavilon 325E
Ph: 765.494.1643
Fax: 765.494.3780
E-Mail: kamckelv@purdue.edu

Overview

English 421Y 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.

This course attempts to find a middle space between the daily assignments, F2F discussion, and interaction of an onsite course and the self-pacing student may expect of distance education courses. This course uses three modules to work through each project. Keep in mind that this course is not completely self-paced, but students can work ahead on a several assignments and, ultimately, can have more flexibility and responsibility within the course structure. See below for a more detailed description of the project modules and self-pacing.

Required Texts

• The Thomson Handbook (Comprehensive Edition), by David Blakesley and Jeffrey L. Hoogeveen. Boston: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2007. This book is available at local bookstores and may also be purchased online (e.g., through Amazon, here). You can buy the hardcover or paperback versions. This text provides essential information, examples, and principles for effective business writing. We will be reading and discussing chapters from Parts 2 through 7. Other chapters in the book will be useful for reference purposes. You may be interested in watching this short Flash presentation about the book's resources.
• All other course readings will be provided on the course site or via links to sources off-site.

Course Goals

These are general course goals outlined by the Professional Writing Program. Instructors will articulate how each specific project incorporates the 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.

Project Modules and Self-Pacing

This section of 421Y finds the half-way point between the course goals of improving your writing process and collaboration skills while also meeting your expectations as a distance education student. After the first week, our only due dates will be Wednesdays and Fridays for most assignments, and on other days you will be reading, conducting peer review, and working on your projects. Each student should be responsible and flexible in completing each week's work since you have some, but not complete, freedom to pace yourself.

The course is broken down into three modules centered around the course's three major projects. Here are some guidelines to help you understand how self-pacing, peer review, and collaboration will work:

• Students may work ahead on reading responses.
• Students or groups may work ahead within each project, but only within that project, and they must submit peer reviews in a timely manner, when due.
• Students or groups can not work ahead on peer reviews. Begin reviewing and responding on the day that drafts are due.
• In group work, each student must maintain contact with other group members. Check your email daily, and use your course group space effectively.
• Reading responses, comments, and give-and take in the blogs must be submitted weekly. The requirement is that you submit one reading response per week (due Wednesdays) and that you write only five (5) follow-up responses per week to blog posts submitted by your peers..
• In Projects 2 and 3, project logs must be submitted weekly. You'll create a blog post, tag it appropriately (e.g., "Project 2 Log, Group 3") and post it by the end of the day on Fridays. You'll be given specific instructions for what your project logs should include.

Course Projects and Activities

1. Employment Project

You will be asked to locate a job for which you are qualified and apply for it. Step 1 of the project asks you to learn about and use various web-based resources for job seekers and ultimately to select one job to pursue. Step 2 asks you to prepare the all-important "Job Application Letter." Step 3 asks you to prepare a resume suitable for such a position. In Step 4, you will assess your experience in a "Project Assessment Document." In the process of completing each step, you will work closely with your peers and me to shape your writing so that it represents you and your experience fully and effectively, given the rhetorical circumstances. You will also study and respond to examples from the textbook. (Individual; 20% of course grade.) Weeks 1-6

2. Illustrated Instruction Project

The focus of Project 2 is a set of illustrated instructions. For this project, you and your partner(s) will create your own original set of instructions with necessary illustrations for an audience of knowledgeable college students. This will be a longer document, 10-15 pages, with 8-10 illustrations or visuals, two of which your group will design. You need at least 25 steps. Other aspects of the project include a proposal memo, a progress report blog, as well as a usability tests, the completed instructions, and an introductory memo.

All group members will keep a project log and submit Collaborative Project Evaluation forms.

(Collaborative: 25% of course grade.) Weeks 7-12

3. Client-Based Service Learning Project

For Project 3, you will work collaboratively in project teams on a client-based service-learning project that teaches you to manage complex writing challenges in real contexts that matter. You will learnn principles of project management, collaboration, document cycling, usability testing and study, and client-based research. Because you will work with real clients--either in the community or online, you will also learn important principles of professional and ethical communication. The goal will be to start with the White Paper Projects produced already this semester and then, after user-testing and usability study, produce a user-guide that teaches a critical and (perhaps) complex application of the technology to an interested client. You will begin the project by thinking of and contacting clients who may benefit from having such your report, which will consist of several components, including a short multmedia, web-based presentation. (Collaborative; 25% of course grade.) Weeks 12-Finals

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 Responses

Although we will have many readings each week, you are responsible for writing one, 300-word blog post. 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 five (5) comments and replies (e.g., follow-up responses) each week to the blog posts (reading and other responses posted by others) appearing on our course's front page. Your comments and replies should be spaced out over at least three days. Each should be, at minimum, 100 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 your online interaction is the glue that holds the course together, makes collobaration possible, and helps you achieve the course goals. For these reasons--and because we are not meeting F2F--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.

Grading

The three major projects in the course will be comprised of several components, each of which will be worth a percentage of your final grade. For the two collaborative projects, students will complete the required Collaborative Evaluation Form.

All major assignments will be graded on the standard letter-grade scale: A=100-90 B=89-80 C=79-70 D=69-60 F=59 or below.

Students must participate in all of the three major projects and complete a majority of the required weblog posting assignments in order to pass this class.

Class Participation, Reading Responses, Peer Reviews

This portion of your grade will be based on

• How well you implement the guidelines and best practices for posting comments and creating reading responses, as presented on our course site and discussed in the textbook.
• The degree to which your your peer reviews and responses offer insightful feedback and suggestions on your classmates' drafts.
• The degree to which your reading responses and comment posts demonstrate learning of the course content.
• The degree to which your reading responses and comment posts engage with and contribute to the learning of others in the course.
• A class participation and reading response self-evaluation which you will complete at the middle and end of the semester.

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

Because the exchange of information and documents in this class will be entirely electronic, 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 daily 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 weblog postings on the home page, including those 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 proficient participating in the class Drupal space
• 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 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 (running on Drupal)
• Dreamweaver (Web Editor)
• Powerpoint, Word, Keynote, Google Docs (for collaboration)
• Acrobat and Acrobat Reader
• Adobe Connect (for group meetings, as needed)

Collaborative Work

Collaborative work 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

Since this is an online course, your attendance at a physical location is not required. However, you will need to demonstrate active involvement in the course activities by keeping up with reading responses, project logs, and other coursework. You will also need to respond to course email promptly to ensure that good communication flows in all directions. More than one continuous week of absence from course activities is grounds for failure of the class. If you disappear for a few days here, another few days there, and some more later, then your final grade may be lowered, and you will likely see your class participation suffer and your collaboration fail. In addition, if you are frequently "absent" from the online discussions (i.e., you fail to post for several days at a time), your final grade may be lowered.

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]"

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 instructor will stick closely to the course calendar -- it is important that you keep up. When possible, you may certainly complete assignments early, but you must complete them on time. Much of what you do for this class quickly leads to another assignment. And often, your postings and comments are part of a larger discussion that will not wait for you. It will also be difficult for you to do your part in group projects if you miss assigned deadlines. Thus, the majority of missed class assignments cannot be made up. If a serious and unavoidable problem arises, however, you should contact your instructor by email prior to the deadline to determine whether or not an extension for the work will or will not be granted. Late work will rarely, if ever, be accepted without prior approval.