Course Information
ENGL 421 03-01, MWF 10:30 HEAV 227
ENGL 421 04-01, MWF11:30 HEAV 227

Course Links
Course Calendar
Professional Writing Online, Version 2.0
Purdue's OWL
ICS (PUCC)
Center for Career Opportunities

Instructor Information
Peg Dunkle
Office Hrs: MWF. 12:30-1:20 or by
appointment
Office: HEAV 405
Phone: 496-1647
Email: dunklem@purdue.edu

Projects:
WebSite-Resume Project
Team Mini-Project
Community Web Project
Research Review Project

Additional Resources
Professional Writing Program
English Department

 Note: All class meetings are face-to-face (F2F) during our regular class time. You are responsible for attending all meetings; missing or arriving late to meetings may negatively affect your course grade.   

Document Map
Overview | Required Texts | Course Goals | Projects & Activities | Grading | Technology | Other Policies

Overview

English 421 teaches students the rhetorical principles and writing practices necessary for producing effective communications such as memos, reports, and collaborative projects in professional contexts. The curriculum is informed by current research in rhetoric and professional writing and is guided by the needs and practices of business, industry, and society at large as well as by the expectations of Purdue students and programs. All sections of English 421 are offered in networked computer classrooms to ensure that students taking the course are prepared for the writing environment of the 21st-century workplace. The course teaches the rhetorical principles that help students shape their professional writing ethically, for multiple audiences, and in a variety of professional situations. You will find course materials on line at http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~dunklem/courses.html

Text

Professional Writing Online, Version 2.0 , 2004, by James Porter, Patricia Sullivan, and Johndan Johnson-Eilola, is available online at www.ablongman.com/pwo, and at Follett's and University Book Store. Be sure to purchase unopened copies of the Access Code Card for Students because used password codes are not transferable. Keep your receipt in case your password fails to work and see me immediately.

Course Goals

These are general course goals outlined by the Professional Writing Program.

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.

Course Projects and Activities:
You must use your calendar links to the actual project deliverables due dates.

1.WebSite-Resume Project: For the WebSite-Resume Project you will create a web page in your Purdue space that will represent you for your future employer. You will include a link to your resume and several project you have worked on in classes or in the workplace. (Individual, 20% of your final grade)


2. Team Mini-Project: As part of a team, you will investigate local, state and Federal law regarding work place discrimination. Each team will be given a work-place scenario and will respond to the situation with a memo supported by the research. You will also present your findings to the class. (Team, 10% of your course grade)

3. Community Web Project (CWP): For Project 3, you will be assigned to a team that will function as a consulting firm whose goal is to serve clients interested in revising World Wide Web pages. Your team will use an actual organization in the community. The team will research the client by gathering all the information locally and nationally. Based on the research, you will develop an audience profile and a usability study to be implemented in class. You will report the results of your research and improvement recommendations in a written report. (Team, 40% of your course grade)

4. Research Review: You will analyze a document about research in your field. You will explain your research to the class and must use a visual to explain the research. You may present the research in a power point or poster format. Following the presentation you will submit a summary memo and a glossary. The project asks you to work individually, but there will be opportunities for you to work with your peers to exchange ideas and provide feedback. (Individual, 20% of your final grade)

5. Daily Assignments:Daily Assignments given throughout the semester will relate to writing and project development. Most will be assigned and completed in class. Each assignment will be assigned a point value. You may not make up any of the assignments. (Individual; 10% of course grade)

Grading

WebSite-Resume Project 1
20%
Feb. 15
Team Mini-Project: Human Relations in the Workplace
10%
Feb 6
Community Web Project (Collaborative, Project 2)
40%
April 4
Research Review (Individual)
20%
April 14
Daily Assignments, Online Discussion, Participation
10%
Daily
Total
100%
  

Each of the two major projects in the course will be comprised of several components, each of which will be worth a percentage of your project grade.

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.

 

Technology Responsibilities

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. During the semester, you will need frequent access to the Internet (including e-mail, FTP, and WWW). If you have a computer at home, you'll be responsible for configuring your system to access course materials and to complete other work. (Your Internet Service Provider should be able to help you configure your system.) If you do not have a system at home or cannot get your system configured, you will be able to use any of the standard ICS labs. One of your first course assignments will be completing a technology checklist and solving any technology access problems that you may encounter. You are also required to subscribe to and participate in a course mailing list. 

Very early in the semester, you will be asked to demonstrate that you can meet these responsibilities:

  • Have access to your Career Account.  Set up your @purdue.edu e-mail address and regularly check your e-mail.  Become proficient sending and receiving e-mail attachments, resolving file compatibility issues, and following e-mail decorum. Check the course calendar before the beginning of each class.   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 e-mail attachments to yourself.

Throughout the semester, you will have opportunities to become more proficient writing in a variety of forms now commonly used in the digital workplace:

  • E-mail Discussion List Dreamweaver, Frontpage, or Netscape Composer (WYSIWIG/HTML Editors)
  • Power Point and Photoshop

Other Policies:You will be expected to check the course calendar on a regular basis. Daily assignments and additional resources will be added throughout the semester, and it is your responsibility to keep up-to-date. 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://trc.ucdavis.edu/trc/papers/vohs/toc.html>. 

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/administration/integrity.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.

Attendance

Attendance is required. Since you will be working in project teams during the semester, you may be required to attend 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 may 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 can also be counted as an absence.

Late Work

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.
LATE PROJECTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.  

 
 

English 421--Technical Writing
Purdue University
Last Modified: 12/17/07