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Section 1757
ROL 314/MWF 3
Office Hours: T/R 6-7
Location: ROL 501/Desk 14
Office phone (352) 392-0664
zwhalen@english.ufl.edu
website: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/zwhalen
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Technical Communication (sixth edition) by Mike Markell (at Goering's and Custom Copy)
Course packet (at Custom Copy under ENC 2210 Dobrin)
Writing handbook (Style: Ten Lessons in
Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams)
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The aim of this course is to prepare you for writing and designing documents
in technical and
professional discourse communities. You will produce a number of technical
genres--correspondence, reports, a proposal, and instructions--for various
technical and lay
audiences. Some of these assignments are taken from cases based on
real-world situations and
present you with a set of rhetorical considerations and constraints.
Other assignments ask you to
help identify actual situations to which you will respond. In both
cases we will approach technical writing rhetorically, discussing such
topics as organizational conventions, visual design, and style in the context
of specific rhetorical situations.
Class will usually take place in a discussion or workshop format in which you will at different times discuss assigned readings, complete in-class writing and other exercises, critique sample documents, critique peers' documents, and even lead discussions. Come to class prepared to interact. Because technical writing in the workplace is often collaborative, you will write the last three assignments in small teams.
This course satisfies the requirements of the Gordon Rule if all assigned work is completed.
Course Objectives
Understand some of the features and processes of technical and professional discourse communities.
Specify and adapt to the constraints of specific rhetorical situations, including audiences, purposes, and uses.
Develop strategies for accommodating multiple audiences in one document and for accommodating both technical and lay audiences.
Learn strategies for making documents accessible and user-centered. These include setting the context and creating pathways through a document.
Learn to strategically orchestrate elements of document design, including type, spacing, and color.
Design and integrate tables and figures in a user-centered way.
Develop individual and collaborative writing processes appropriate for technical documents.
Learn superstructures and conventions for common technical documents such as correspondence, reports, proposals, and instructions.
Refine writing style for more strategic clarity, concision, coherence, cohesion, and emphasis.
Critique and revise your own documents to insure that they fulfill their purposes.
Form a community of writers with your peers
in which you provide one another with extensive written and oral feedback.
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Assignments 2 and 3 come out of cases developed from actual workplace
situations. Each case
presents in narrative form a problem that needs to be solved, positions
you as an employee and
technical/professional communicator, and presents you with specific
writing tasks that address the problem. Each case narrative provides all
the necessary technical and rhetorical information.
1. Job Application Package
For this assignment you will design a cover letter and two versions
of a resume--one print and one electronic--for a job or internship in which
you're interested. I encourage you to actually send your application materials.
The cover letter, directed to your initial contact in the organization,
should be 1-2 pages, and the print resume should be a page. In addition,
you will write a 2-3 page memo to me describing the job, analyzing your
audience, and explaining how you accommodated your audience in your application
materials.
We'll use this assignment to start thinking about document design and
different considerations for print and electronic texts. Stylistically,
we will emphasize cogency when writing the resume and concision when writing
the letter.
2. Four Oaks Case
This assignment comes from a case titled "Four Oaks Pavilion: Solving
More than Noise Problems," appearing in a special issue of the journal
Business Communication Quarterly. In the case you work for the firm of
Kramer Associates, which manages and maintains the Four Oaks Pavilion entertainment
amphitheater. Your firm must respond to reported noise problems and related
public relations problems that have caught the attention of the City Council.
Your assigned task is to write an informal report to the City Council recommending
solutions to both sets of problems. The report should be in letter form
and should be about 3-4 pages long.
In addition to learning about report structures and conventions, we'll learn how to set the context and otherwise create accessibility in a technical document. We'll practice writing problem statements, something we'll also do in the next assignment. This assignment also presents the challenge of accommodating multiple external, non-technical readers with differing agendas.
3. Heated Sidewalk Case
The "Heated Sidewalk Problem" case is taken from Scenarios for Technical
Communication by
Teresa C. Kynell and Wendy Krieg Stone. In this scenario you are a
newly hired technical writer at the engineering and architectural firm
of Michaels and Greenwall Associates. You're faced with the task of writing
a sales letter to a potential buyer about the features and benefits of
the Hot Blocks sidewalk heating product. You also face an ethical problem
when asked to misrepresent the testing data about the product's efficacy
and safety. Your choices are to write the letter to the client as asked,
write a different, more honest letter to the client, and/or to write a
memo to someone in the company expressing your ethical concerns. In addition,
you'll write me a cover memo that explains the ethical principles guiding
your decision and document(s).
We'll use this assignment to discuss the ethics of technical communication and to learn strategies for improving the clarity of our writing.
4. Proposal
This assignment is the first of three related, collaborative assignments.
You will work in a group of three or four to propose an approach to the
next assignment. Your group will identify a problem--in this case a task
(from your job, course work, daily life) that requires instructions or
needs better instructions--and then propose a solution--in this case a
set of print or online instructions that would make the task easier and
safer to perform. Your proposal of 3-5 pages will also involve explaining
how the problem and solution fit the requirements of the instructions assignment
and explaining (in a management section) how your group will actually produce
the solution.
This assignment will, of course, expose you more thoroughly to the genre
of the proposal. In addition to learning proposal superstructures and conventions,
we'll work on creating a more cohesive, coherent arrangement and style.
We'll also continue working with visual aids, including an organizational
chart and timeline.
5. Instructions
Now your group will actually carry out what you proposed in the last
assignment (provided I
approved your proposal). The instructions will be around 5-8 pages
long and include visuals
including figures showing the task being performed. Your audience should
have little to no
experience performing the task. Our invention for the instructions
will include a task analysis for the step-by-step section. As with the
job application package, we'll emphasize document design,
including the integration of visuals; to that end the invention process
will also include designing
thumbnail sketches and document grids. In terms of style, our focus
will once again be on clarity of action.
6. User Test Report
Your final major assignment is a follow-up to the instructions and
introduces you to an increasingly important component of the document production
process--usability testing. Working as a team of document design consultants,
your group will administer and report on a usability test of another group's
instructions. After learning about strategies for user testing, your group
will design a user-testing guide and then test another group's instructions
on a small number of prospective users.
After conducting the tests and gathering as much feedback as possible,
your group will write a 3-5 page empirical research report to the other
group that describes the test's objectives and methods, summarizes your
findings, and outlines recommendations for improving their instructions.
You'll also need to attach your testing guide as an appendix.
At the end of the semester, each group will have the opportunity to
revise their instructions based on the user test report they receive. The
original and revised grades will then be averaged for a new grade.
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Job Application Package
15%
Four Oaks Case
15%
Heated Sidewalk Case
15%
Proposal
10%
Instructions
25%
User Test Report
10%
Professionalism and Participation
10%
(includes performances in discussions, in-class work, and writing workshops)
When grading, I will ask two overriding questions: 1) how well do you accommodate your audience and otherwise adapt your text to its situation?; 2) how likely would your text achieve its desired effect in the workplace? I will also pay particular attention to the arrangement, style, and visual design of your documents. The specific criteria for each assignment will be clarified in the assignment sheets, class discussions and exercises, and writing workshop guides.
For the three collaborative assignments, you will be evaluated based
on your final product, my
observations of your performance in the group, and the self and peer
evaluations you complete. If
you do not give 100% to your group, your individual grade will likely
be lowered.
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All assignments, including visuals, should be computer generated.
Bring two copies of the assignment to the writing workshop. Drafts for writing workshops should not be "rough," but complete and polished. You will be graded on this.
Writing workshops are mandatory. I will not accept a final text that has not been workshopped. If you miss a workshop, it is your responsibility to arrange for a make-up session with your classmates and/or tutors at the Writing Center.
Submit all drafts of assignments with the final versions in a 10 x 13 envelope (not folder). In theupper left corner of the envelope, write your name, the course name, number, and section, and my name.
All assignments are due the beginning of the class indicated on the schedule. Late assignments will not be accepted unless you have made special arrangements with me in advance.
Attendance
Promptness and attendance are imperative in a discussion/workshop class.
It should go without
saying that you should arrive to class on time and well prepared. Tardiness,
like sporadic absences, disrupts the class. Don't enter the class more
than ten minutes after it has begun. Being tardy three times will count
as an unexcused absence. Your letter grade will be lowered one full letter
grade after the fourth unexcused absence (university-sponsored events and
documented illnesses are usually excused). Additional absences may cause
you to fail the course. If you miss class, you are responsible for getting
any assignments and making up any work.
Grade Complaints
A low grade on a single assignment will not prohibit a good course
grade if your work improves.
You may only discuss grade complaints with me by submitting a written
memo clearly stating and explaining in detail your dissatisfaction. After
doing this, if you still have grade complaints about multiple assignments
and have received a final course grade that is lower than you expected,
contact the Director of Writing Programs in the Department of English to
contest final course grades.
Academic Dishonesty
Unless it is specifically connected to assigned collaborative work,
all work should be individual.
Evidence of collusion (working with someone not connected to the class
or assignment), plagiarism (use of someone else's published or unpublished
words or design without acknowledgment) or multiple submissions (submitting
the same paper in different courses) will lead to the university's procedures
for dealing with academic dishonesty. All students are expected to honor
their commitment to the university's Honor Code.
Harassment
Every student in this class is expected to participate in a responsible
and mature manner that
enhances education. Any conduct that disrupts the learning process
may lead to disciplinary action.
Conferences
I encourage you to see me during my office hours, especially when you
have questions about an
assignment, need help with a particular writing problem, want extra
feedback on a draft, or have
questions about my comments on your work. Of course, we can also correspond
via
e-mail.
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Please note that this schedule is tentative. It is the students responsibility to be aware of due dates as they approach. Any changes in schedule including due dates will be noted on the website.
Week 1: 8/26-8/30
Block 1 Course overview; what is tech writing?; memo format
Assignment: Markel chapters 1 & 15; introductory
memo
Block 2 Introductory memo due; student introductions; discuss
chapters 1 & 15 and rhetorical approach. Introduction to the NWE
Assignment: Markel chapter 3
Block 3 Discuss chapter 3; introduce job
application package
Assignment: Markel chapter 16
______________________________
Week 2: 9/4-9/6 (9/2 Labor Day)
Block 4 Quiz; discuss chapter16; brainstorm about possible target
jobs
Assignment: packet
Block 5 Resume superstructure and guidelines; relevancy and memorableness
Assignment: Markel chapter 21
_______________________________
Week 3: 9/9-9/13
Block 6 Discuss chapter 21; electronic and web resume designs
Block 7 Letter format; cover letter superstructure and guidelines
Assignment: study samples in Markel and packet
Block 8 Critique packet samples; prep for writing workshops
Assignment: Markel chapters 10 & 11, Williams
Lessons 3 & 7 homework
________________________________
Week 4: 9/16-9/20
Block 9 Concision; discuss Markel chapters 10 &11, Williams
lessons 3 & 7
Block 10 Writing workshop for job
application package
Assignment: packet
Block 11 Job application package due;
discuss writing for cases using example of Farnsworth case
Assignment: packet (p. 59 -77)
___________________________________
Week 5: 9/23-9/27
Block 12 Introduce Four Oaks
Assignment: packet
Block 13 Role play about rhetorical situation
Assignment: packet
Block 14 Invent for recommendation report
Assignment: Redish et al. article in packet
______________________________________
Week 6: 9/30-10/4
No class monday September 30!
Block 15 Accessibility; setting the context
Assignment: Markel chapters 18 & 19; web samples
Block 16 Quiz. Report Superstructure and Guidelines; critique samples
_______________________________________
Week 7: 10/7-10/11
Block 17 Writing workshop for Four Oaks assignment
Block 18 Four Oaks report due; introduce Heated Sidewalk case
Assignment: packet
Block 19 Discuss rhetorical situation and ethical dilemma
_______________________________________
Week 8: 10/14-10/18
Block 21 Invent for letter/memo
Assignment: packet
Block 21 Ethics of technical communication
Assignment: Markel chapter 2
Block 22 Discuss Markel chapter 2; Clarity
_________________________________________
Week 9: 10/21-10/25
Block 23 Writing workshop for Heated Sidewalk assignment
Block 24 Heated Sidewalk assignment due; introduce proposal and
instructions assignments; proposal superstructure and guidelines
Assignment: Markel chapter 17
Block 25 Collaboration; assign groups
Assignment: Markel chapter 4
_________________________________________
Week 10: 10/28-11/1
Block 26 Problem statement exercise; invent for introduction and
problem sections
Assignment: Markel chapter 13 & 14
Block 27 Invent for solution and management sections; designing and integrating visuals
Block 28 Assignment: Markel chapters 7 & 8
_________________________________________
Week 11: 11/4-11/8
Block 29 Coherence/cohesion
Block 30 Proposal due; review instructions assignments; instructions
superstructure and guidelines
Assignment: Markel chapter 20
Block 31 Task analysis; invent for step-by-step and troubleshooting sections
__________________________________________
Week 12: 11/13 (11/11 Veterans' Day; 11/15 Homecoming)
Block 32 Document design and visuals (focus on figures)
Assignment: packet; Markel chapter 13 (review)
__________________________________________
Week 13: 11/18-11/22
Block 33 Thumbnail sketches and grids
Block 34 Grids due; verbal and visual clarity; legal and ethical
considerations
Assignment: study samples in Markel and packet
Block 35 Critique samples
_____________________________________________
Week 14: 11/25-11/27 (11/28-11/29 Thanksgiving Break)
Block 36 Writing workshop for instructions
Block 37 Instructions due; self and peer evaluations; introduce
user testing
Assignment: Markel chapter 10, exercises 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8.
Block 38 User testing; groups invent user test guides
______________________________________________
Week 15: 12/2-12/6
Block 39 Invent user test guides
Assignment: user tests
Block 40 User tests (no class, on your own)
Block 41 Empirical research reports; invent for user test report
______________________________________________
Week 16: 12/9-12/11
Block 42 User test reports due; discuss revision
Block 43 Revision of instructions due; course evaluations
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