English 306 introduces students to the field of professional writing through a sustained engagement with its practices and principles. To avoid the false dichotomy between theory and practice, students will produce a variety of documents (across a variety of genres) in terms of and in the context of key theoretical understandings of that work: namely, rhetorical theory, ethics, information design, and decision architecture. As future professional communicators, students will be continually required to analyze (that is, theorize) audiences, activities, organizations, and contexts. Professional writing practice is always predicated on a prior theoretical understanding or framework.

In addition to addressing this key binary, the course is organized around two key metaphors: professional writing is mapping and professional writing is decision architecture. Briefly defined, mapping can be understood as the purposeful selection, arrangement, and presentation of information in a usable, primarily visual format for a specific audience. It is an active and creative process, and not merely the passive conveyance of data. Decision architecture is the rhetorical (understood both symbolically and materially) structuring of environments to promote or prescribe certain actions, decisions, or behaviors. These guiding metaphors influence every stage of the course, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly. In this course and in the program at large, professional writing is not merely the transmission or translation of data or information for an uninformed audience. Rather, it is the generative act of creating, maintaining, and reshaping professional and other social environments which in turn structure and guide the thinking and behavior of others (actions with inherently ethical implications).

With this in mind, the course asks the following questions: what is professional writing?, what do professional writers do?, and who does professional writing? Throughout the semester, students will engage readings and one another, complete a variety of in-class exercises, and produce a range of documents in exploring (both theoretically and in practice) the work of professional writing. All work in the course will stress the importance of primary research, document design, effective writing, and audience awareness, considerations that will shape the professional lives of students.

Course Texts

  • Professional Writing and Rhetoric. Tim Peeples. Longman. 2003. 0-321-09975-3
  • Learning from Strangers: Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies. Weiss. Free Press. 1995. 0684823128
  • The Ghost Map. Steven Johnson. Riverhead. 2006. 978-1-59448-269-4

Additional readings will be made available online through the course site. Readings will either be linked externally to other sites or linked internally as PDFs. Students should always make sure that they are able to download the readings. If not, they should make use of computers on campus to insure that they have them.

Course Site

Much of the work for this course will be completed online. Project drafts, reading discussions (described below), and other assignments are managed through the course site. Students, throughout the semester, will engage one another on the course site as well. Familiarity with and knowledge of the workings of the course site are crucial to student success. Additional technology concerns are described below. It is important for students to recognize that “problems” with technology are no longer automatically accepted excuses in the 21st century classroom.

Note: be prudent and professional when selecting a user name for the site. In creating a user name, avoid using a Purdue Career Account alias and remember to maintain professional decorum.

Course Rubric

  • A – Completed on-time, meets requirements above satisfaction, and is ready for a professional setting (ready for use)
  • B – Completed on-time, meets requirements above satisfaction
  • C – Completed on-time, satisfies basic requirements
  • D – Completed late and/or below basic requirements
  • F – Incomplete or not completed, excessively late and well below basic requirements

Grade Breakdown

  • Professional Writing @ Purdue Project - 15%
  • Mapping Project - 30%
  • Interview Report Project - 30%
  • Presentation - 10%
  • Attendance and Participation - 15%

Course Projects

Professional Writing @ Purdue

To familiarize themselves with the scene of Professional Writing at Purdue University, students are asked to research and report on the professional writing major and an instructor in the professional writing program. This project asks students to work individually and in groups in describing and profiling their major. Students will compose both memos and a formal report in mapping their discipline.

Mapping Project

Fully exploring the course themes of decision architecture and mapping, this project asks students to map a campus space or issue @ Purdue. “Mapping” here means the purposeful selection, arrangement, and presentation of information in a usable, primarily visual format for a specific audience. This project seeks to position the creative and constructive work of professional writers as important and necessary. “Mapping” here is not to be understood as the passive mirroring of “reality,” but the active creation of meanings and knowledges. In concert with a primary theme of this course, mapping of this sort productively combines theory and practice in requiring students to frame and define both their audience and their object in specific ways (theorize) in planning and composing their map (practice). Additionally, this project stresses document design and primary research in the form of observations, interviews, and perhaps surveys, as well as secondary research.

Interview Report

In order to explore the work of professional writers and to learn of career opportunities in the field, this project asks students to first locate a professional writer, secure an interview, prepare a set of interview questions, and develop an interviewing strategy. Students will then conduct the interview and write-up a formal document reporting their findings. Students will engage readings on the practice of interviewing, learning the principles of successful and ethical primary research. While in several ways this assignment stands apart from the others, the same underlying theoretical framework is at work. In the planning stages, students will create the interview as an architecture for guiding and shaping the responses of their subject. In the report document (and in the subsequent presentation) students will then map out the findings of their interview, selecting, arranging, and presenting the information for several different audiences.

(Online) Participation

In addition to the three major course projects, students will complete a variety of in-class exercises and participate in online reading discussions. To better facilitate productive conversations, students will be assigned rotating forum roles each week. Students will contribute either a launch post (which starts the conversation), a query post (which directly addresses the launch post with a question or qualification), or an extension post (which extends the conversation by moderating differing viewpoints or following further a developing line of thought). Finally, students will post meta-comments which attempt to bring disparate elements of conversation together. These students should survey all the threads for each week and attempt to connect or articulate them (this term will be addressed throughout the semester). These students will in essence attempt to map the week’s conversation for the benefit of the class. Forum roles are discussed in more detail here. The course calendar will indicate which students are responsible for which posts each week (students will be placed in forum teams to facilitate this). Additionally, students not responsible for a meta-comment are assigned a “floating” post that should take the form of a query or an extension post.

In addition to the forum component, students will be asked to document their work on course projects online at several points in the semester. Documenting work done is an important component of professional writing specifically and professional practice generally.

Attendance

Attendance is welcomed, expected, and mandatory. To best utilize class time, students should come to class on time. Students are considered absent if they are 1) more than 10 minutes late, 2) doing computer activities unrelated to class assignments, 3) unprepared for class, and/or 4) not in class at all. There will be regular in-class work and/or a sign-in sheet to record student attendance and preparation for class. Students may choose to make-up three (3) sessions without penalty. The instructor will supply students wishing to make-up missed classes with an out of class assignment. Make-up work will be due one week from the day it is assigned. After three absences students must attend a conference with the instructor to discuss whether they should continue in the course. Absences not made-up and/or each absence after the first three will result in a significant reduction of the final grade. Six (6) absences constitute automatic failure of the course.

Collaborative Work

Collaborative work is a required component of the course. When instructors assign a collaborative project, they will provide students with explicit guidelines for successful collaboration. In general, however, students and their project team members are responsible for updating one another and the instructor about assignment development and progress. In addition, students also are responsible for negotiating together all aspects of work, including planning, drafting, revising, file managing, and scheduling of assignments. Individual group members will also be asked to complete Collaborative Evaluation Forms.

Technology Requirements

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

  • Mac OS System or Windows XP
  • 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, Netscape Mail, Outlook, Eudora, Thunderbird, etc.

Technology Responsibilities

Because the exchange of information and documents in this class will be almost entirely electronic, familiarity with certain technologies is crucial for participation and success in the course. If students need any assistance now or at any point during the semester, they should not hesitate to ask. During the semester, students will need frequent access to the Internet and email. If they have a computer at home, they will be responsible for configuring their system to access course materials, to read course email and participate in online discussions, and to complete other work (Internet Service Providers should be able to help students configure their system). If students do not have a system at home or cannot get their system configured, they will be able to use any of the standard ITaP labs. Students are also required to subscribe to and participate on course web site. Very early in the semester, students will be asked to demonstrate that they can meet these responsibilities:

  • Have access to Career Account.
  • Set up @purdue.edu email address and regularly check email. Alternative email addresses (@yahoo, @hotmail, etc.) are often inappropriate for professional communication, so use @purdue account in ENGL 420).
  • Become proficient sending and receiving email attachments, resolving file compatibility issues, and following email decorum.
  • Check the course calendar before each class meeting.
  • Become proficient participating in the class Drupal space.
  • Become more proficient with unfamiliar computer technologies and applications, including Web editing software, document cycling systems, desktop publishing applications, and graphics programs.
  • Maintain back-up copies of all assignments via home directory, disks, USB drives, or CDs.

Course Technologies

  • Course Website (running on Drupal)
  • Dreamweaver (Web Editor)
  • PowerPoint, Word, Keynote
  • Acrobat and Acrobat Reader

Late Work

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

Plagiarism

Cheating: All written work submitted for a grade in this course must be the product of your own composition. Ideas generated due to reading and group discussion may provide the inspiration for your work, but should not be the sole ideas represented. With collaborative projects, of course, ideas should be representative of the group’s work.

Plagiarism is the act of presenting as your own work another individual’s ideas, words, data, or research material. The concept applies equally to written, spoken, or electronic texts, published or unpublished. All ideas and quotations that you borrow from any source must be acknowledged: you should always give the name of your author, the title of the text cited, and the page number(s) of the citation. Correctly citing using APA format is also required: this includes quote marks around quoted material and block quotes for quotes running longer than four lines. See APA Handbook for help with avoiding plagiarism. The only exceptions to this requirement would involve what is familiar and commonly held (e.g. the fact that the earth is round). You should know that penalties for plagiarism are severe and can entail suspension from the University. Students are responsible for reading and understanding the University policy on Cheating and Plagiarism set forth in Purdue University’s Academic Integrity: A Guide for Students available at http://www.purdue.edu/ODOS/osrr/integrity.htm.

Classroom Behavior

Insults, slurs, or attacks of any kind will not be allowed in this class (this includes f2f meetings and on the course website). Any student who engages in this type of behavior in the classroom will be permanently removed from the class. In other words, forced to drop the course, in addition to other possible punishment given by Purdue University (See the Purdue University Student Code of Conduct Available at http://www.purdue.edu/odos/administration/codeconduct.htm). In order to have an effective teaching and learning environment we must practice both respect and tolerance, without question.

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