Introduction to Technical Writing Instructor: Joe Erickson Required Texts Markel, Mike. Technical Communication. Ninth Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin s, 2010. Alred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. Handbook of Technical Writing. Ninth Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin s, 2008. Course Description This course will introduce you to the fundamentals of writing, designing, and communicating technical information to various audiences. Together, we will study technical writing conventions such as organization, style, and tone, as well as the production of graphics and the layout of documents, and you will practice the writing process by producing a variety of common technical documents. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: Identify and target appropriate audiences for specific communication contexts Create technical documents that address the needs of specific purposes or that solve specific problems. Integrate text and graphic elements to create documents that clearly, effectively, and ethically communicate technical information Work effectively with others to produce a collaborative writing project Synthesize and accurately cite external sources of information in support of your writing goals. Edit documents for content, organization, coherence, grammar, tone, and style. By the end of the course, you will have an understanding of how to use writing to communicate complex information to various audiences. Additionally, you will have a stronger sense of how to use writing to both develop and project a strong professional ethos that will help you standout in a crowded and highly competitive professional marketplace. Graded s Critical Analysis 80 points: For this assignment you will analyze the ways in which an author of an article tailors his or her writing to address an intended audience. Based upon your analysis, you will write an essay (between 750 and 1000 words) in which you develop a position regarding how effectively the author reaches his or her intended audience, drawing upon specific examples from the article to support your position. Your examples will be organized around any three of the following four analytical criteria: Content, Organization, Presentation, and Style. We will discuss the meaning and significance of these criteria at recurring intervals throughout the course. The purpose of this assignment is to help further sensitize you to the significant relationships between audience and purpose and how such relationships impact both the writing process and the final written product. You will edit your final draft for effective use and control of grammar, mechanics, style, and presentation. I will provide a more detailed assignment sheet in class. Definition and Description Poster 80 points: For this assignment, you will define and describe a technical object or process and present that description on a poster you design based upon design patterns and organizational schemes we address in class. While the topic you choose will be technical in nature, you will target a general educated audience with your poster. Your poster will
include no more than 1000 words in total and cite at least three current sources in proper APA style. Additionally, you will effectively integrate graphical elements with your text to produce an attractive, accessible, and functional poster that effectively achieves your communicative purpose. The purpose of this assignment is to help you learn and practice techniques for developing and integrating graphics with textual information, to conduct secondary research in support of your communicative purpose, to cite that research properly. You will edit your final project for effective use and control of grammar, mechanics, style, and overall presentation. I will provide a more detailed assignment sheet in class. Formal Instructions 80 points: For this collaborative assignment, you will work with other members of a writing team to produce a set of formal instructions that help your readers perform a specific task. Your ultimate goal is to write your instructions so clearly that your readers will interpret them in exactly the way you intend them to be interpreted. This will involve developing content and organization schemes that conform to the principals of effective document design and that are appropriate for your specific audience and purpose. In addition to the instructions, your group will draft a cover memo addressed to me defining your audience and purpose, and explaining specific design decisions based upon these definitions. The instructions and the memo will be given a single group score out of 60 possible points. Each group member will earn the other 20 points of this assignment individually by writing a one page letter to me explaining your specific contribution to the group project and describing your general experience working with the group on the project. The purpose of this assignment is to learn and practice techniques for developing effective instructional documentation and to gain experience developing a complex document as part of a collaborative team, which is common in the workplace. You will edit your final deliverables for effective use and control of grammar, mechanics, style, and presentation. I will provide a more detailed assignment sheet in class. Research Report 80 points: For this assignment, you will interpret and draw conclusions from data you are given in a fictitious study that I will provide, and then you will compose a research report of approximately 1500 words describing your conclusions. You will create and appropriately integrate with your text at least two visual data displays and organize your content in a standard research report structure in order to effectively address an expert audience. Your report will include an informative abstract along with the following sections: introduction, materials, methods, results, discussion, conclusion, and recommendations, all of which we will discuss in detail in class. The purpose of this assignment is for you to become familiar with and gain experience working with the research report genre, which has some very specific textual attributes and reader expectations. You will edit your final deliverables for effective use and control of grammar, mechanics, style, and presentation. I will provide a more detailed assignment sheet in class. Professional Job Application 80 points: You will create a job application package for a professional position in an industry of your choosing. The application package will include a cover letter (35 points) and a resume (35 points) that demonstrate your careful understanding of your target audience. These documents should be directed toward an actual position, so you ll need to locate, analyze and submit with your other documents a current job ad (10 points) for the position for which you are applying. This assignment will necessarily involve doing some research to answer the following questions, among others: How are resumes in my industry generally formatted? What specific types of information are expected? What specific skill sets are valued in my industry? How can I make my application standout and make a positive impression on my target audience? We ll be working together in class to develop research strategies for answering these questions. The purpose of this assignment is to apply what you have learned about audience, purpose, research, and the writing process to the very practical task
of locating a professional position of interest and marketing yourself effectively for that position. You will edit your final deliverables for effective use and control of grammar, mechanics, style, and presentation. I will provide a more detailed assignment sheet in class. Blog Portfolio 100 points: You ll establish a weblog (blog) account at wordpress.com and setup a blog specifically for the purposes of this course. Throughout the semester as you complete each of the five major assignments described, you ll create a blog posting in which you write a 250 word reflection on each assignment explaining what specific skills you learned by completing the assignment, who your target audience for the assignment is, and how your target audience relates to the assignment s purpose and the decisions you made while composing or designing the assignment documents. Additionally, for each blog post, you ll attach or provide a link to the assignment upon which your posting refers. The purpose of this assignment is for you to thoughtfully reflect on the rhetorical and professional nature of your work throughout the course, to maintain a record of that reflective activity, and to showcase all of your work in the course in a professional manner. All of this is aimed at helping you develop an understanding of how the act of writing can help you both develop and project a strong professional identity. You will edit your final deliverables for effective use and control of grammar, mechanics, style, and presentation. I will provide a more detailed assignment sheet in class. Course Grades Office Hours There are a total of 500 points possible in this course. The grade breakdown for those points is as follows: 450 500 = A 400 449 = B 350 399 = C 300 349 = D Less than 300 = F My office hours this term are and by appointment. I strongly encourage you to either drop in during my office hours or arrange appointments with me to discuss your work in the course this term. Attendance Policy Attendance in class is mandatory. Missing more than two class periods will negatively affect your overall course grade. Students with extenuating circumstances requiring additional absences should contact me as soon as possible to determine whether exceptions to this policy are necessary or possible. Classroom Participation and Etiquette Our class sessions will often be driven by your active participation. For the purposes of this class, active participation involves coming to each class period ready to engage in meaningful discussion of assigned readings and prepared to submit any assignments that may be due. Class members will treat each other with respect at all times. It is possible that differences of opinion will emerge in our class discussions. You are not required to agree with positions stated by others, and you should feel free to state differences of opinion freely and respectfully, focusing on the issue of debate, not the person holding a position different from your own. Additionally, out of respect for your classmates, please turn off all personal electronic devices before class begins each period.
Late Policy All assignments are due on the due dates posted on this syllabus. Late work will not be accepted except in the event of a documented medical emergency. If you anticipate that you will be unable to make a deadline, than I encourage you to discuss it with me in advance so that we can determine if alternative arrangements can be made. Academic Dishonesty Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. If you are found to be in violation of the university s official academic dishonesty policy (provide link to such policy here), I will recommend that you be removed from the course and assigned a failing grade. Disability Statement If you need accommodation for a documented disability, please talk to me after class to discuss such arrangements. I am happy to provide reasonable accommodation whenever possible. Class Schedule TW = Technical Writing; HTW = Handbook to Technical Writing Date Class Topic Readings/s Due for Class Week 1 T 8/31 Introductions Course Overview H 9/2 The Writing Process Critical Analysis Instructions TW: Chapter 1 Introduction to Technical Communication TW: Chapter 3 Writing Technical Documents Week 2 T 9/7 Audience Analysis TW: Chapter 5 Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose HTW: Style and Tone Copy of Critical Analysis Article for Approval H 9/9 Organization TW: Chapter 7 Organizing Your Information HB: Introductions, Conclusions, Paragraphs
Date Class Topic Readings/s Due for Class Week 3 T 9/14 Style, Grammar, and Mechanics TW: Chapter 10 Writing Effective Sentences HTW: Agreement, Colons, Commas, Pronoun References, Modifiers, Quotation Marks, Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Elements, and Voice H 9/16 Peer Review of Critical Analysis Full Draft of Critical Analysis Two Printed Copies for Peer Review Week 4 T 9/21 Definition and Description Introduction TW: Chapter 20 Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions (540 557 only) HTW: Research H 9/23 Writing Definitions and Descriptions Documenting and Paraphrasing TW: Appendix A Skimming Your Sources and Taking Notes HTW: Documenting Sources Final Draft of Critical Analysis Week 5 T 9/28 Poster Design Guidelines Bring Pencils and Sketchbook 3 Research Articles For Approval H 9/30 In Class Computer Work Time Week 6 T 10/5 Peer Review of Definition and Description Poster H 10/7 Research Report Introduction Printed Copy of Poster for Peer Review for Peer Review TW: Chapter 18 Writing Lab Reports
Date Class Topic Readings/s Due for Class Week 7 T 10/12 Writing Reports Definition and Description Poster Final Draft H 10/14 Visual Data Displays Sign up for Individual Conferences TW: Chapter 12 Creating Graphics HTW: Graphs and Tables Week 8 T 10/19 In Class Computer Work Day Current version of your research report with necessary materials for in-class work. H 10/21 Individual Conferences Rough Draft of Research Report for Conference Feedback Week 9 T 10/26 Revision Strategies TW: Appendix C Editing and Proofreading Your Documents H 10/28 Peer Review Full and Revised Research Report Draft for Peer Review Week 10 T11/2 Formal Instructions Introduction TW: Chapter 20 Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions (558 574 only) TW: Chapter 4 Writing Collaboratively H 11/4 Document Design TW: Chapter 11 Designing Documents and Websites (253 283) Final Draft of Research Report for Submission Week 11 T 11/9 Developing Illustrations and Graphics TW: Chapter 12 Creating Graphics (325 335) HTW: Drawings, Illustrating Instructions, and Photographs
Date Class Topic Readings/s Due for Class H 11/11 Group Work in Class All Necessary Materials for In-Class Work on Projects. Week 12 T 11/16 Correspondence TW: Chapter 14 Writing Letters, Memos, and Emails H 11/18 Usability HTW: Usability Testing and You Viewpoint Week 13 T 11/23 Peer Review of Group Instructions Project H 11/25 Workplace Ethics Full Draft of Group Instructions for Peer Review TW: Chapter 2 Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations Week 14 T 11/30 Professional Job Application Introduction H 12/2 Cover Letter Examples and Writing Strategies TW: Chapter 15 Preparing Job Application Materials Final Draft of Group Instructions with Individual Letters Find and bring two relevant job ads from job or career websites like Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com or elsewhere. Week 15 T 12/7 Resume Examples and Writing Strategies H 12/9 Peer Review of Job Application Try to find example resumes online, and bring one or two to class to share. Full Drafts of Cover Letter (with job ad) and Resume for Peer Review
Date Class Topic Readings/s Due for Class Week 16 T 12/14 In-class work time to put finishing touches on Blog Portfolios and/or Job Application Bring, in digital form, any documents that you still need to upload to your portfolio blog H 12/16 Course Wrap up Final Drafts of Job Application All Portfolio Blogs Should be Finalized by Class time.