ENGL 421Y-43515: Technical Writing

Instructor: Cody Reimer

Office: HEAV 303E
Office Hours: 10:30-11:30 TR
Fall 2013
Email: [email protected]
CMS: Blackboard Learn
Dropbox: http://bit.ly/13jSyiK
Skype: cody_reimer

Course Description
This class is designed to help you become better technical communicators, whose work is characterized
by the presentation of technical material in written and visual formats that are user centered and aware
of audience and context. The course and its principles are grounded in rhetorical theory and informed
by current research in technical communication.

Communication across multiple audiences and for multiple purposes continues to be a desired skill set
in technical and professional fields. Beyond field-specific knowledge and experience, successful and
ethical communication drives the professional world. This class, in content and form, models these
successful communication practices. Working individually and in groups in an online environment,
youll learn effective strategies for communicating about and with technology, particularly in
networked workplaces and through usability testing. To achieve success in this course, you must
display the ability to succeed in their future workplaces by developing a variety of informative and
visually effective print and electronic documents.

Required Texts
Technical Communication Today (4th Ed), by Richard Johnson-Sheehan. New York: Longman,
2009. ISBN: 0205171192
A few articles/videos/podcasts Ill post on our class website.
Good and reliable internet connection.

Course Goals
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, Web
browsing, content management, and desktop publishing technologies.

Course Projects and Activities
There are three major units for this course, each with a number of deliverables.

Unit 1Technical Description
In any technical career, you will find that the ability to accurately describe things, places, or processes
is essential. In this project, you will select a thing, place, or process to describe and use rhetorical
strategies to compose a clear and effective technical document.

Unit 2Instructions and Usability
Instructions and other kinds of documentation are among the least noticed but most important
documents in the technical workplace. In this project, you will compose a set of instructions or
procedures/protocols that document how to complete some task. Also, you will create a video to
accompany your instructions or procedures/protocols that demonstrates your documents being enacted.
Finally, you will conduct usability testing on your composed documents.

Unit 3Document Redesign
Effective proposal writing is a crucial skill in today's technical workplaces. In this collaborative project,
you will compose a proposal that presents your group's suggestions for a redesign of a document that is
used in your field of study. As part of this project, groups will also complete a redesign of the selected
document using appropriate technologies.
Discussion Posts
Throughout our 15 weeks together we will be discussing the readings, our projects, ideas, questions,
and the like on the discussion board of Blackboard Learn. Each week you will write one 300 word post
and one thoughtful, substantive response to somebody else's post. These posts should be submitted to
the appropriate week's thread. Posts will be graded Saturday of the week they are due, so be sure to
post early so as to give your classmates something to respond to.

Grading
There are 1000 points available in the course. The course uses flat grading (no shaded grades). Rubrics
explaining the grading for each unit's deliverables will be made available when the unit begins.

A range >900 points Unit 1 (Technical Description): 250 points
B range 899-800 points Unit 2 (Instructions+Usability): 250 points
C range 799-799 points Unit 3 (Document Redesign): 250 points
D range 699-600 points Weekly Discussion Posts: 150 points (10 each)
F range <599 points Professional Ethos: 100 points

Late Work
Work needs to be turned in by its deadline. Without prior approval, I do not accept late work. If a
problem arises that you foresee preventing your ability to turn in your work on time, let me know as
soon as possible so we can work something out. Project management is vital to ensure potential
problems are resolved in a timely manner.

Technology Requirements
In order to participate fully in the course, you should be able to use or willing to learn to use the
technology platform and applications listed below:
Windows or Mac OS
Microsoft Office for PC or Mac (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
Web Browser (e.g., Firefox, Safari, Chrome, or Internet Explorer)
Email (e.g., Purdue Webmail, Outlook, Gmail)
Adobe Acrobat and Reader (for PDF documents, collaborative review)
Start to get familiar with InDesign and Photoshop (or open source alternatives Scribus, GIMP or
Paint.NET). You do not need to be experts with these programs, but you should get a feel for
them as we move forward in class.

Technology Responsibilities
Familiarity with certain technologies is crucial for participation and success in this course. If you need
any assistance now or at any point during the semester, do not hesitate to ask, either through the
questions thread on the Blackboard forum, or via email.

During the semester you will need regular access to the Internet and email. Because the course home
page is the main locus of the class, you are responsible for reading and keeping current with all content
posted there, including what has been submitted by both the instructor and your fellow students. You
will be responsible for configuring your system to access course materials, reading course email,
participating in online discussions, and submitting your work.

Very early in the semester, you will be asked to demonstrate that you can meet these responsibilities:
Post a message on the discussion board in Blackboard
Read the syllabus and ask questions about anything you are uncertain about
Receive and send email regularly and reliably
Receive and send email attachments
Follow file naming conventions
Follow email decorum
Resolve file compatibility issues
Maintain backup copies of your assignments (e.g., USB drive or cloud storage)

If at any time you have problems accessing the Internet from home, you will need to find a public lab
or connection point. Problems with computers will not be an excuse for falling behind or failing to
complete required assignments. If your Internet service goes down, find another connection point. If
your computer breaks, use another one. In other words, find a way to complete the assignments on
time. Because computer problems are a fact of life, always work to complete your assignments early
and make frequent backups to multiple media. Trust in Murphy's Law.

Collaborative Work
Teamwork is a required component of the course. I know it's hard. It's hard for me, but being good at it
matters. You and your project team members are responsible for updating one another and me about
assignment development and progress. In addition, you are also responsible for negotiating together all
aspects of your work, including planning, drafting, revising, file managing, and scheduling of
assignments. When a collaborative project is assigned, you will receive explicit guidelines for
successful collaboration. For more information about good principles of collaboration, see the
textbook's sections on collaborative writing.

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/osrr/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.