English 352-451 - Technical Writing - Online - Fall 2009

Notice:

There is one (1) assignment per week in this course. If you miss the due date, you will receive no credit. Therefore, you will need to keep up with the assignments from the beginning. If you are new to WebCT, log on immediately and begin familiarizing yourself with the environment.

Assignments & Deadlines (PRINT OUT)
This course takes place in Moodle - click here for login page

Textbook:

• James M. Lipuma, FUEL: Fundamentals of Undergraduate Education and Learning, Kendall Hunt, 2009, ISBN-13: 978-0-7575-6200-6 ($40).

Software:

• Microsoft Office Suite (esp. Word and PowerPoint)
• Camtasia Relay (or webcam)

Required Hardware

• Digital Camera, any type
• Webcam (or Camtasia Relay)
• Microphone

Assignment Deadlines

#	Sunday 11:55	Assignment Due (Percentage of Grade)
1	9/6	Autobiography – write a one or two page autobiography telling me about yourself - where are you from, what are you studying, what are your favorite hobbies, what do you hate the most, and what plans you have for your career, etc. This is my best opportunity to get to know you. Submit to assignments and post in the Introduction Forum. 4-5 paragraphs (5%).
2	9/13	Technical Communication Video and Quiz – Listen to the "What is Technical Communication" video on the Tutorials and Resources webpage (http://web.njit.edu/~cjohnson/tutorials.htm) or from iTunes U / Universities & Colleges / NJIT / Open Courseware / English 352 Technical Writing. There will be a quiz on Technical Communication (5%).
3	9/20	Textbook Reading and Exercises – read Chapter 1 in FUEL and do the online learning styles survey in Figure 1.3. Answer questions 1 & 4 on Page 12 and upload to Moodle (5%).
4	9/27	Found Object Procedure (FOP) 1st Draft – At home, using ordinary, common objects (such as paper, pencils, cardboard, paperclips, tape, etc.) make an object. NO paper airplanes, origami, or any other thing you can find instructions for on the internet. You MUST use objects that everybody can find so that your classmates can test your procedure. Remember many students live in dorms and don't have access to things like construction paper or ribbon. See examples from FTF class. While you are making the object, take notes on how you do it. Expand the notes into a 1 or 2 page procedure that can be understood by others. DO NOT include any images in this first draft – use words only. Take a photograph of your object. Upload your procedure to Moodle and I will distribute it to three of your classmates for testing (10%).
5	10/4	Found Object Procedure Peer Review – I will distribute 3 FOPs to you to test (this is why I want you to make it with items that everyone will be able to find in their household). Each student will attempt to make 3 objects. While you do so, write comments about what you find confusing about the instructions with Tools/Track Changes turned on. Submit 3 documents (with the initials of the author and your initials in the filename) and 3 photos of the object you created (also with your initials and the initials of the author) (10%).
6	10/11	Found Object Procedure Final Draft – Create a fully-formatted final draft of the FOP with a title page, table of contents, a reflection on what you learned from the testing, heading levels and photographs of your object and those of your testers. It should be error-free. 5-7 pages with illustrations (10%).
7	10/18	Textbook Reading and Exercises – read pages 85-95 and 107-111 in FUEL. Create resume using page 126 as your model/template and upload to Moodle (5%).
8	10/25	PowerPoint on Technical Communication Analysis (TCA) Idea – Create a PowerPoint with mostly pictures showing your idea for the Technical Communication Analysis project. 4-7 slides (5%).
9	11/1	Textbook Reading and TCA Annotated Bibliography – Read pages 95-107 and 111-116 in FUEL. Research the type of technical communication you have chosen in the library (or wherever necessary) to gather data for your analysis. List at least three sources in a Word document and write a brief description of each. Describe your idea at the top of the page and give your topic a tentative title. 1-2 pages (5%).
10	11/8	Technical Communication Analysis (TCA) 1st Draft – This first draft should be fairly complete because it is going to be reviewed by me and by three class members. See http://web.njit.edu/~cjohnson/teaching/tca.htm for a complete description of the project (10%).
11	11/15	TCA Peer Review – each student will receive three TCAs to review. Fill in the review sheet and make comments and changes directly in the TCA with Word’s Tools/Track Changes feature turned on (5%).
12	11/22	TCA Final Draft – This is our major assignment for the semester. There are many types of technical communication in the world. You can use manuals, magazine articles, instructions from manufacturers, textbooks, etc. If it’s technical and it’s communication, you can use it. This paper will be reviewed once by me and revised. 6-8 pages with illustrations (15%).
13	11/29	Oral Presentation, Part 1 –Read FUEL pages 118-120 and watch video “Fear is Your Friend” on iTunes U or on U-Tube. Log onto Moodle and write Mini-essay (5%).
14	12/6	Oral Presentation, Part 2 – Choose any topic – your favorite hobby, your area of expertise, etc. Make a PowerPoint. Then download Camtasia Relay and use it to make a presentation with voice-overs. Alternately, you can make a presentation with a webcam and upload it to YouTube. You must submit a URL so we can see it. Each presentation should be 5 minutes maximum (5%).

* Assignments highlighted in yellow are time-sensitive – if you miss these deadlines, your grade for this project will go down.

A = 94 – 100  ///  B+ = 87 – 93  ///  B = 81 – 86  ///  C+ = 76 – 80  ///  C = 70 – 75   ///  D = 65 – 69  ///   F = 0 – 64