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Section 0201
Heavilon 227
MTWTHF 9:50-12:00

Dr. David Blakesley
Office Hrs: M-Th 1-2
Office: Heavilon 302c
Ph: 765.494.3772
Fax: 765.494.3780
blakesle@purdue.edu

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project summary

During the Big 1 Case, you will learn strategies for collaborating to write two letters, a statement on policy, and a project assessment memo. All of these documents respond to a scenario involving a delicate situation that has arisen between a hypothetical car manufacturer and one of its clients, a car rental company. This project asks you to work collaboratively, so you will need to practice effective strategies for completing group work, responding to others, and managing a project. You will receive feedback on your work from other groups. You will also complete a collaborative project evaluation form.

project goals

This project emphasizes several important goals that all professional writers should bear in mind and that are consistent with those of the Professional Writing Program at Purdue. In the Employment Project, you will begin focus on these particular course goals:

Writing in Context
Analyze professional cultures, social contexts, and audiences to determine how they shape the various purposes and forms of writing, such as persuasion, organizational communication, and public discourse.

Writing Process
Develop and understand various strategies for planning, researching, drafting, revising, and editing documents that respond effectively and ethically to professional situations and audiences.

Collaboration
Learn and apply strategies for successful collaboration, such as working and communicating on-line with colleagues, setting and achieving project goals, and responding constructively to peers' work.

Technology
Develop strategies for using and adapting various communication technologies to manage projects and produce informative and usable professional documents.

Document Design
Learn to argue with visual data, understanding and implementing various principles of format, layout, and design of professional documents that meet multiple user and reader needs.

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project summary | project goals | deliverables | resources | grading | grading criteria | revision | top

deliverables

Step 1: Respond to these discussion questions as a group by Wednesday, May 23. Your group should e-mail your responses to me by the end of class. Be sure to copy every member of the team with the e-mail message and compose it in a professional manner

Steps 2, 3, and 4: You should write the following documents after discussing the case with your group:

• a letter to the general manager at Big 1 corporate headquarters, for Frank Page's signature
• a memo to Frank Page
• a letter to the airport franchise manager

Printed drafts due for peer/group review on Wednesday, May 30.

Step 5: Project Assessment Memo (PAM): As you near the end of your work on the Employment Project, prepare a two-page overview/analysis of your deliverables and the process you used to complete them. Your Project Assessment Document should answer most of the following questions, each of which is tied to the major goals of the assignment:

Writing in Context:	How did the scenario of the Big 1 case affect how your team wrote your letters/memo? Did it change or affect how you presented your case? Which deliverable seemed to be most affected by the delicate situation? Why?
Process:	What was the most challenging document to produce and why? Briefly describe and explain one of the significant revisions your team made to this document after your initial draft.
Collaboration:	How did responding to the work of others help you improve your own work? What have you learned about your collaboration?
Project Management:	How well did you plan your work on this project? What might you have done differently?
Document Design:	What is the most effective aspect of your deliverables in terms of presentation or design? Have you deliberately adapted a standard form in an unusual or creative way? If so, why?

Your Project Assessment Memo is due when you turn in your completed Big 1 Case materials on Thursday, May 31.

Step 6: Complete the collaborative project evaluation form individually and either e-mail it to me or give me a printed copy in class on or before Thursday, May 31.

All deliverables should be fully revised and submitted to me in printed form by the end of class on Thursday May 31. You should bind them with a paperclip, in the proper order (Steps 1-5). They should, of course, be neatly printed and indicate your professionalism. Be sure that every team member has a copy.

project summary | project goals | deliverables | resources | grading | grading criteria | revision | top

resources

Our main resource for this project is PW Online's overview of the Big 1 Case.

grading

The Big 1 Case is worth 20% of your course grade. The breakdown for each of its components is as follows:

grading criteria

When I assign a grade to your project, I will measure your work against the models discussed in class and will pay particular attention to see whether you have effectively adapted your documents to the scenario described in the Big 1 Case. I will also look closely to see that you were an effective collaborator with your team.

revision

You will have opportunities to revise your work throughout the process and will be permitted to revise once again after receiving your grade on the project, subject to these restrictions: 1) Your team meets with me or a tutor in the Writing Lab to discuss revisions; 2) You turn in your completed revision by Thursday, June 7; 3) you include submission notes that specify precisely what you did to improve your work.

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project summary

project goals

deliverables

resources

grading

grading criteria

revision

External Links & Miscellany

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