Course Information
Section: 0302 & 0402
Room: ENAD 233
Days/Time: MWF, 9:30 & 10:30

Course Links Instructor's Home Page
Course Calendar
Professional Writing Online
Purdue's OWL

Instructor Information
Rebecca Whitus Longster

Office Hrs: To Be Announced

Office: Heavilon 303c
Ph: 765.496.2803
Fax: 765.494.3780
E-Mail: 

RebeccaL@purdue.edu 

Professional Writing Online
Projects and Cases
Employment Project
ISP "Welcome" Email Case (ISP)
Client Web Consulting Project (WPS)

Additional Resources
Pronoun MOO
Professional Writing Program
PW Documentation
PW Resources
English Department

Note: All class meetings, both face-to-face (F2F) and electronic, will be held during our regular class time. You are responsible for attending all meetings; missing or arriving late to meetings can negatively affect your course grade. Please consult the course syllabus for additional information about attendance policies. 

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

Overview

English 420 teaches students the rhetorical principles and writing practices necessary for producing effective business letters, 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 420 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 business writing ethically, for multiple audiences, in a variety of professional situations. 

Required Texts

Professional Writing Online , by Johndan Johnson-Eilola, Patricia Sullivan, and James Porter. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Longman, 2001. Available at Follet's and University Book Store. **Be sure to purchase unopened copies of the guide because used password codes are not transferable. Keep your receipt in case your password fails to work and see me immediately. Passwords cannot be shared.

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.

Research
Understand and use various research methods to produce professional documents, including analyzing professional contexts, assessing and using information resources, and determining how various media and technologies affect and are affected by users and readers. 

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.

Course Projects and Activities

1. Employment Project

You will be asked to locate a job for which you are qualified and apply for it. Step 1 of the project asks you to learn about and use various web-based resources for job seekers and ultimately to select one job to pursue. Step 2 asks you to prepare the all-important cover letter (i.e., "Job Application Letter"). Step 3 asks you to prepare a print resume suitable for such a position. In Step 4, you will assess your experience in a "Project Assessment Document." In the process of completing each step, you will work closely with your peers and me to shape your writing so that it represents you and your experience fully and effectively. (Individual; 30% of course grade.) 

2. ISP "Welcome" Email Case (ISP)

For the ISP case you will be asked to think about, identify, and discuss the various uses of email, particularly in a workplace or professional setting. For step one of the project you will complete an exercise on the functions of email.  We will use your responses as a springboard for class discussion and you will be asked to support your assertions in that discussion.  Step two requires that you analyze the problem, identify the audience and context, and plan your response.  In step three you will "fix the problem" by revising the email (either indivdually or as a group).  Step four asks you to individually assess your experience with the ISP case project and the collaboration experience by filling out a group member evaluation form. (Collaborative: 20% of course grade.)

3. Client Web Consulting Project

For Project 3, our class will function as a consulting firm whose goal is to serve clients interested in either revising or developing World Wide Web pages. Your team will be working with an actual business or organization in the community or at Purdue in order to help it better utilize the potential of the WWW. (Collaborative: 40% of course grade.)

Grading

Employment Project
30%
ISP "Welcome" Email Case
20%
Client Web Consulting Project (WPS)
40%
Daily Assignments, Online Discussion, Attendance, Participation
10%
Total
100%
Each of the 3 major projects in the course will be comprised of several components, each of which will be worth a percentage of your final grade for that project. For the two collaborative projects, students will complete the required Group Member Evaluation
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. 

Grading Criteria

Specific criteria for each project and its component parts will vary depending on project context. The three general criteria below, however, will remain consistent for all writing assignments.

PURPOSE:
How effective is the document? Does it

  •  accomplish its intended task?
  •  meet its goals and the demands of its context (both academic and organizational)?
  •  solve a problem or address a significant organizational need or help people?
  •  provide a sound argument in support of its claims?
  •  meet readers' needs?
  •  improve relations between people?
  •  provide relevant, useful, and accurate information?
PRODUCT:
How well constructed is the document? Does it:
  •  demonstrate orderly and coherent presentation of material?
  •  display effective design and formatting?
  •  use visuals effectively?
  •  present professional tone and style?
  •  demonstrate careful proofreading and editing?
PRODUCTION:
How effectively was the document produced? Does it:
  • exhibit a considered writing process? 
  • reveal quality of planning, collaboration, research & invention, drafting, editing, proofreading?

Technology Requirements

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 or Windows
  • Microsoft Office (Word and PowerPoint)
  • Netscape Communicator and Internet Explorer 
  • Email program (including attachments)

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'll need frequent access to the Internet (including email, ftp, and WWW). If you have a computer at home, you'll be responsible for configuring your system to access course materials, to participate in online discussions and the MOO, 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 PUCC 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 on 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 email address and regularly check your email. 
  • Become proficient sending and receiving e-mail attachments, resolving file compatibility issues, and following e-mail decorum.
  • Send an e-mail message to the class list
  • 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(career acct.), disks, and/or e-mail attachments to yourself.

Course Technologies

  • Discussion List
  • ProNoun MOO client

    • http://linnell.english.purdue.edu:7000
  • Dreamweaver, Frontpage, or Netscape Composer (WYSIWIG/HTML Editors)
  • Microsoft Office (specifically Word and Power Point)

Collaborative Work

Collaborative work is a required component of the course, and at least half of your semester grade will be based upon collaborative projects. 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. However, while two of your major projects will be collaborative, I have designed these projects so that I will be able to track individual writing quality, contribution, and so on. I will also ask individual group members to complete Group Member Evaluation at the end of each collaborative project.  Therefore, group members on collaborative projects will earn inividual grades based upon the quality of their work  and contribution.  Some 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

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. Five absences on a MWF schedule (three on a TTH schedule) may result in your final grade being lowered by as much as a letter grade. More than five absences on a MWF schedule (three on a TTH schedule) 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, and extended inactivity in the MOO can also be counted as an absence.

Late Work

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. 


Created by the Professional Writing Program, Putdue University
Modified by Rebecca Whitus Longster, Fall 2001
last updated 10-08-02
Please send corrections and suggestions to: RebeccaL@purdue.edu