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Section 0101
Heavilon 227
T/Th 10:30-11:45

Dr. David Blakesley
Office Hrs: T/Th 1-3
Office: Heavilon 302c
Ph: 765.494.3772
Fax: 765.494.3780
blakesle@purdue.edu

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This course is designed for undergraduates and graduates interested in professional writing and electronic publication. Students in the course will collaborate on the production of two professional journals: a new networked journal and digital community, The Writing Instructor, which debuts at Purdue in March 2001; and WPA: Writing Program Administration, the production of which also takes place at Purdue.

Students will learn to produce documents and coordinate assorted publishing projects, study and apply principles of document design and electronic publication using assorted application software, and work as teams in a computer-networked environment. Students will also complete research on topics relevant to print-based and electronic publication, such as website design, copyright law, intellectual property, and the editorial process. There will also be some opportunities for participating in important academic conferences, such as the Conference on College Composition and Communication and Computers and Writing 2001. Students may also be identified as editorial assistants on one of the two publications.

Lunenfeld, Peter. Snap to Grid: A User's Guide to Digital Arts, Media, and Cultures. MIT Press, 2000. (ISBN: 026212226X)

Lynch, Patrick J., and Sarah Horton. Web Style Guide : Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites. Yale UP, 1999. (ISBN: 0300076754)

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 2nd ed. MLA, 1998.

• Understand the techniques, technologies, culture, and problems of print and electronic publication in the digital age.
• Use, adapt, and evaluate various writing technologies put to use for specific rhetorical purposes in precise contexts.
• Learn to evaluate and apply effective principles of document design in print and digitally.
• Develop multiple and flexible online work strategies to manage documents and research projects.
• Learn and apply strategies for collaborating successfully and equitably with peers on various activities and major projects using a variety of communication technologies.
• Develop strategies for planning, researching, and developing documents which effectively respond to specific professional situations, problems, or research issues.

1A. Collaborative Review and Usability Study of a Networked Journal/Website.

Using the Web Style Guide as a resource, this project will involve summarizing, testing, and critiquing one of the networked journals identified on the TWI Technologies page. This project requires an oral presentation/overview of the subject site and a five-page written report. See the Review and Usability Study Guidelines for further details. (3 groups; 20% of course grade.)

1B. Collaborative Review and Readability Study of a Print-Based Journal.

Using the MLA Style Manual as a resource, this project will involve summarizing, evaluating, and critiquing the contents and design of one of the following journals: College English, College Composition and Communication, Written Communication, Technical Communication Quarterly, Rhetoric Review, or the Journal of Advanced Composition. See the Review and Usability Study Guidelines for further details. An oral presentation and five-page written report is required. (2 groups; 20% of course grade.)

2. Techniques of Copyediting

Using the MLA Style Manual as the final arbiter on issues of mechanics and documentation style, this unit of the course will involve learning proofreader's marks and applying them to an existing article targeted for publication in WPA: Writing Program Administration or The Writing Instructor. (Individual; 10% of course grade.)

3. Class Project: Guide to Electronic Publication

Working collaboratively, students will develop content for a "Guide to Electronic Publication" that will be used at the Computers and Writing 2001 Conference in May 2001 and as a resource on The Writing Instructor website. Relevant topics will include the value of electronic publication, copyright and intellectual property, communication technologies, design principles, technical issues, etc. (20% of course grade.)

4. Production of Print or Electronic Publication and In-Class Projects

Students will work collaboratively and/or individually on various aspects of the production and publication of The Writing Instructor and WPA: Writing Program Administration, applying the principles of document and web-page design learned in Project 1. Some of this work will be completed during class time. Each student will also spend more time on a project that contributes directly to production of one of the journals, such as archiving a past article using a scanner and OCR software, or designing the layout for an article using Pagemaker. (30% of course grade; several short assignments, one more involved project.)

5. Electronic Response Journal/Online Discussion of Snap to Grid: A User's Guide to Digital Arts, Media, and Cultures

Beginning the fourth week, I would like each student to read and respond to each section of Snap to Grid I assign with 250+ word private, informal commentary. I will ask to see these responses in Weeks 6, 10, and 15. In addition, the class will have regular, ongoing discussion of the text on WWWThreads, the web-based threaded discussion list, starting Week4. To earn full credit, each student will need to keep up-to-date with individual responses and to participate regularly and actively on the threaded discussion list. It is not possible to make up for missed responses later. (20% of course grade) * Note: Starting date rolled back to fourth week on 1/28/2001.

6. * Archival Project Proposal and Recommendation Report (Large Group Collaborative Project)

Graduate students in the course will help organize a project that needs to be completed by mid-semester and that consists of a proposal to be considered by the WPA Executive Board for archiving past articles from the WPA journal on the WWW at the TWI site. The completed project will include a one-page proposal in the form of a resolution, accompanied by supporting documentation that addresses concerns and questions, an examination of precedents (e.g., Journal of Advanced Composition), a feasibility study, a discussion of the consequences for the print journal, and a working prototype of one article, showing the Executive Board what such an article would look like on the WWW. Each student in the class will be involved in the project. Graduate students will plan, organize and provide leadership and will meet with me initially to map the project. (This project counts for 10% of the course grade for graduate students, who are working on a 110% scale; for undergraduates, the work on this project will count toward Activity #4, Production)

In-class projects and production activities earn anywhere from 1 to 15 points each, up to 30 total, depending upon the length of the assignment. Graduate students earn 10% credit for their work on the Archival Project, with each of the percentages in the table adjusted to a 110% scale.

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.

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

Microsoft Office (Word and PowerPoint)

Netscape Communicator and Internet Explorer

ProNoun MOO client

Email program (including attachments)

Because the exchange of information and materials in this class will be almost 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. Very early in the semester, you will be asked to demonstrate that you have can meet these responsibilities:

Have access to your Career Account.

Set up your @purdue.edu email address and regularly check your email.

Become proficient sending and receiving email attachments, resolving file compatibility issues, and following email decorum.

Check the course calendar before the beginning of each class.

Become proficient participating in the class MOO space, ProNoun.

Become more proficient with unfamiliar computer technologies and applications, such as html editors and web-page design, desktop publishing applications, and graphics editors.

Maintain back-up copies of all assignments via your home directory, disks, and/or email attachments to yourself.

In addition to using the communication technologies listed below, students will have access to the WPA/TWI production office (Heavilon 204-E), which houses a Gateway PC that runs desktop publishing software, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Omnipage OCR software. The key to that office will be available for check-out from Julie Canaan in Heavilon 302 (the Professional Writing office) during normal business hours. The office and computer can only be used to complete work directly related to course assignments involving production of either journal.

Discussion List
engl5150101002-class@relay.cc.purdue.edu

ProNoun MOO client
http://linnell.english.purdue.edu:7000

Active Integration E-mail (Zaplets)
http://www.zaplets.com

Asynchronous Communication (MOO Client)
http://linnell.english.purdue.edu:7000/

Ultimate Bulletin Board
http://linnell.english.purdue.edu/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi (Purdue)

http://www.infopop.com/ (Mfg.)

Ceilidh (Threaded, Web-Based Discussion)
http://www.lilikoi.com/index_main.html

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 I assign a collaborative project, I will provide you with explicit guidelines for successful collaboration. I will also ask individual group members to complete Collaborative Evaluation Forms. The principles of collaboration I encourage students to follow are contained in the brochure, Group Work and Collaborative Writing <http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/vohs/index.html>.

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. Three absences may result in your final grade being lowered by as much as a letter grade. More than three absences can 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. Being excessively or regularly late for class or team meetings, both electronic and F2F, can also be counted as an absence.

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.

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