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ENGL421: Technical Writing (ViEW)Maymester 2000 |
Rebecca M. Longster
M-F 9:50 - 12:00 LAEB B274office: HH 303c
hours: 8:40 - 9:40 MW
phone: 496- 2803
email: <RebeccaL@purdue.edu>
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The ViEW component of English 421: A fundamental assumption of this course is that an increasing amount of workplace writing will take place online -- not merely as documents word processed then printed out, but in email, realtime remote discussion, and other forms. In order to help you learn to communicate online more effectively, much of your work in this course (more than half) will take place in virtual spaces. Your course "textbook" (PWOnline) exists as a website; your classroom will sometimes be a physical computer lab but also frequently a virtual space called "ProNoun" or "the MOO." You'll learn how to access use these resources and be given userids and passwords during the first few class periods. A unique aspect of this section of English 421: Technical Writing is our opportunity to learn to navigate, communicate, and be productive in a virtual workspace.Online participation
The high degree of online communication and work required in this course means that you'll be responsible for ensuring that you have reliable access to the Internet and your system is configured properly for participating actively in all course assignments and activities. We'll discuss the general requirements in more detail in class, but you'll be responsible for figuring out the best method for your own access. You can use PUCC labs or home systems, Windows, Mac, Linux, or whatever setup you like, provided that system allows you to participate fully (including figuring out how to translate files into formats that your classmates and instructor can read). If your primary setup fails, you need to have backup plans.
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Course Info
Required Texts and Supplies:PUCC Computer Career Account. In order to effectively use the computer lab in class, you'll need a career account from PUCC.Course Intro:a reliable email address which you can access in our classroom mac lab and with which you can send and receive readable attachments (preferably an @purdue.edu address).
Professional Writing Online <http://addison.english.purdue.edu/pwonline/home/> (userid and password required--will be supplied in class).
3.5" diskettes (double-sided, high-density)--bring to each class.
ENGL421 begins with two assumptions about technical writing:
writing is social actionPeople write technical documents because they want to do things in the world: the social action involved in technical writing connects the intangible sphere of thought with the concrete realm of activity. A person authoring online help for a word-processing program, for example, aims to help users understand a specific computer program and, in turn, write more effectively. Likewise, an engineer writing a forty-page recommendation report detailing a six-month-long study of groundwater patterns near a proposed kraft-process paper mill informs crucial decisions about mill construction. If a technical document does not initiate, effect, or affect action, then it probably would not be done.writing is technology
Writing is also a technology, in both the narrow and broad senses of the term. In the narrow sense, writing involves the manipulation, arrangement, and use of artifacts, ranging from chalk on stone to the contemporary system of sending electrical impulses over wires to be decoded and displayed as interconnected, fluid pages on the World Wide Web. Broadly speaking, literacy is a complex system of codes that users rely on for sharing information, action, and ideas; writing relies on interlocking social and technical systems including such things as electrical power grids (to run computers and other communication devices), motor transport (to move devices needed for writing and reading, from paper for print to CPUs for computers), and education (where people learn tobe literate).
All of these things make technical writing a complex activity: the range of different types of social action involved, coupled with rapidly shifting technological environments, defy simple explanation. Rather than learning how to respond to a single, oversimplified situation, ENGL421 will help you learn how to analyze, understand, and act with these situations, adapting general strategies to your concrete, specific needs. The Course Goals below suggest some ways you'll learn effective technical communication.
Course Goals
ENGL421 is designed to help you accomplish the following goals:
- Prepare you to be a better communicator in your profession by helping you improve your writing.
- Increase your ability to understand writing situations, including roles played by writers, readers, and users in effective communication.
- Give you practice collaborating with your colleagues.
- Give you practice analyzing writing situations and responding to them in writing.
- Help you use the computer as a versatile and powerful communication tool.
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policies
Attendance Policy: Regular attendance is required in both the physical and the virtual class meetings. In a writing class, you do much of the work in class, thus it is difficult to make up missed work. This is especially true of a Maymester. Two policies flow from this:Consistent tardiness (more than ten minutes late for class) will also result in lower course grades. Additionally, attendance is a portion of your Miscellaneous grade, discussed in the Projects section below. Once the semester is under way, I will be passing around a daily sign-up sheet. Please be sure you have signed it each day and that I get it back at the end of class, as this is the only record of your attendance.
- You are allowed two absences, excused or unexcused before your final grade is lowered. On your third absence, and each subsequent absence, your course grade will be lowered one full grade. Five absences will result in an "F" for the class.
- You may not make up missed in-class assignments.
Assignments:
You must complete all major assignments. If you do not submit the final report for each project, you will automatically fail the class.
Late Work: You should submit your work on time. Late work will only be accepted if you consult with me prior to the class period in which the work is due.Your reports and assignments should be presentable. If you hand in poorly proofread documents, they will be returned to you for correction before they are graded.
If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to find out the information and assignments you missed and be prepared for the next class.
Computer Responsibilities: You have the following computer-related responsibilities in this class:
During the semester, you'll need frequent access to the Internet (including email, ftp, and WWW). If you use a computer at home, you'll be responsible for configuring your system to access course materials and participate in online discussions and 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. You will be required to complete a technology assessment to demonstrate that you can meet the technology requirements for the course.
Professional Writing Online (on-line textbook)
http://addison.english.purdue.edu/pwonline/home/welcome.html
(you'll be given a userid and password in class; this resource is available free to students in English 421)
ProNoun (portal to the MOO classroom)
http://linnell.english.purdue.edu:7000
Important: You are responsible for maintaining backup copies of all of your files.
You are responsible for spending time outside of class to get up to speed on computer technologies and applications that are unfamiliar to you.
Although you are free to choose what type of computer you use outside the class, all in-class work, shared files for group projects, and electronically submitted files must be in the appropriate format (including computer platform, application, and version). You are responsible for learning and making any necessary cross-platform translations between Macintosh and Windows machines.
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projects
Group workGroup work is an important component of the English 421: Technical Writing course -- in fact,it is a required component. The majority of your work in the course will be group-written (that is, co-authored) assignments.
With the increased use of networked computers (e.g., corporate intranets), collaborative writing will move online and become "distance collaboration." You are likely to find yourself using e-mail, web, and videoconferencing tools to collaborate with colleagues and clients across the globe.
Learning to write collaboratively is an Art in and of itself. Alignments and responsibilites, schedules and decision-making policies should be carefully planned, arranged, and discussed, not merely assumed. In other words, pay attention to the two components of collaboration: project management and group dynamics. Planning is especially important.
Working successfully on a writing team requires that you find time outside of class to meet with your teammates. (If you have an extremely heavy workload or complicated schedule, you might find it to your advantage to take English 421 during a semester when you have more time to devote to the course.) Your instructor will arrange writing teams in different configurations: sometimes you will be on a team with people in the same field or major; other times, you will be mixed. A writing team in English 421 usually consists of 2-4 students. The brief descriptions below will be linked to more detailed project pages later in the semester.
ISP "Welcome" Email Case (20%):
Instructional Writing/Software Documentation (20%): Run a brief software tutorial for students in the class (includes printed doc handout). (Group project--Individual grade)
Web Page Solutions Consulting Project (40%): Research and propose a web-related project for a realworld client. Although the project may include some coding or programming, most projects will emphasize usability studies or technical proposals. (Group project--Individual grade)
Class Assignments for Web Solutions Consulting Project
Miscellaneous (20%): in and out of class assignments, including editing exercises, technology tutorials and exercises, MOO session transcripts of group meetings, short memos, required e-mail postings, oral presentation evaluations, groupwork evaluations, evaluations of classmates' writing, and other short assignments. (Individual grade.)
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resources
PW Doc Page <http://addison.english.purdue.edu/pw/doc/>Instructions on using standard lab software (somewhat dated, but still useful).PUCC Home Page <http://labinfo.cc.purdue.edu> See this page for information about PUCC, including scheduled open hours and locations for labs.
Professional Writing at Purdue <http://addison.english. purdue.edu/pw/> Home page for Purdue's Professional Writing programs, including technical writing and business writing classes.
Professional Writing Online < http://addison.english.purdue.edu/pwonline/> Early beta version of online textbook (password required).
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page last updated: 5.14.99
corrections and suggestions to:RebeccaL@purdue.edu