210E F18 Deveau

210E 

Syllabus

Genres of Technical Communication

(ENGL 210E)

General Information                 Course Instructor

Section Number: 001                           Dr. Danielle J. Deveau

Hours: T/Th 11:30am-12:50pm        Office: HH254

Location: HH139                                 Email: d2deveau@uwaterloo.ca

Term: Fall 2018                                   Phone: 519 885 1211 ext. 32122

Office Hours: T/Th 1pm-2:30pm 

Teaching Assistant

Sally Bernadette Beresford Email: s3beresf@uwaterloo.ca Office Hours: By appointment

Course Description and Objectives

This course will introduce you to the principles and practices of technical communication. Through both individual and group work you will produce documents based on various genres that are common in technical communication, and you will become familiar with the typical writing processes and media that are used to produce technical documentation. In addition, you will learn to write prose that is clear, accurate, and correct.

Texts

Markel, Mike. Practical Strategies for Technical Communication. 2^nd ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.

Graded Assignments

Details of the assignments will be distributed during the course.

Course Policies

Assignments and Class Procedures

Assignments are due in-class unless otherwise noted. Late assignments will be penalized 10%. Assignments more that 5 days late will not be accepted. Attendance is mandatory. Completion of informal activities in-class will be evaluated as part of your professionalism grade (5%).

Electronics

Please mute your phones and do not answer them in class. If you have a genuine emergency for which your phone is needed during a particular class, contact me beforehand. Laptops and tablets are allowed for class-related purposes only. Use of devices for non-class-related purposes (surfing, email, chatting) or in a manner that is distracting to other students will lead to my requesting that you not bring your device to class. At some points in the class I may ask the class to shut their laptops.

Academic Integrity

In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of

Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. See the UWaterloo Academic Integrity Webpage (https://uwaterloo.ca/academic-integrity/) and the Arts Academic Integrity Office Webpage (http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/current-undergraduates/academic-responsibility) for more information.

Discipline

A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity to avoid committing academic offenses and to

take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offense, or who

needs help in learning how to avoid offenses (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group

work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate

associate dean. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71,

Student Discipline (http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy71.htm). For typical penalties check

Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties

(http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/guidelines/penaltyguidelines.htm).

Grievance

A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been

unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4 (https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-70). When in doubt please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Appeals

A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71, Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72, Student Appeals (http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy72.htm).

Note for Students with Disabilities

The Office for Persons with Disabilities (OPD), located in Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the OPD at the beginning of each academic term.

Tentative Schedule

Individual Final Portfolios due in Learn by Dec. 10 at 4pm.

Assignments – A walk through

The major project for this course will be to create an information handbook for incoming students in a faculty of your choice (from the student’s perspective).

It should be a comprehensive guide. Information categories can be of your choosing. You should carefully consider your audience and information hierarchies. You should consider what kind of detailed information a student new to campus might need, and how to communicate that information in a way that appeals to them. Your submission should demonstrate mastery of a range of technical communication genres including definitions, descriptions, instructions, and information visualization.

Your submission must also include a fun instruction section titled: “How do I get to Tim Horton’s from [location]?” This will be a detailed set of instructions that a student can take from a location (such as a building or a bus stop) to a Tim Horton’s on campus. You will be graded on the scope and clarity of your instructions, so make sure there is enough detail to be evaluated. Your instructions are due as part of your draft technical documents submission in Week 5, and will be tested in Week 7 by your peers.

You will have some class time to work on this project, but will also need to hold group meetings outside of the classroom. These should be scheduled with an agenda and a minute taker. Meeting minutes and agenda should be included in your draft and final group report submissions. Important email correspondence should also be included. You are expected to demonstrate mastery of technical communication in all aspects of your group project, from email correspondence and agenda setting, to document design and information clarity. Each group member should record his or her project time on a timesheet.

In your first meeting, you should assign project roles. You should also consider how meeting agenda will be set? Where will meetings be held (consider booking a group study room in the library). Who will be responsible for coordination? Who will be responsible for notetaking and document management?

Job Application due Sept. 20^th.

This individual assignment will entail applying for a job as a technical writer to work with your group. If you have been assigned a specialized role (project manager, scheduler, graphics designer, etc.) you should apply for this more specific role. Your application should include a cover letter and a resume. A sample job ad will be distributed in class.

You will have class time to get started on your group project on Set. 11^th, Sept. 13^th, and Sept. 18 ^th. You should review the topics for these weeks prior to class so that you arrive ready to work with your group. On Sept. 25^th you will have a formal, in-class work period. You should set an agenda for this class and bring a “Request for Clarification” for the instructor (this should be a formally written request submitted to the client with outstanding project questions that you need answered). As the client, your instructor will visit each group and answer questions. This is a great opportunity to get detailed help on your project.

Technical Document Drafts due Oct. 4^th.

This submission should include copies of meeting agenda and minutes, as well as samples of email correspondence. It should also include a proposed outline for your student manual and a few sample sections. These sections should have written content and be clean, well-edited, and clear, but do not need to have final graphics/designs. For example, you could have an empty box where a picture will go. While this is a draft, it should still be free of grammatical errors and formatting idiosyncrasies. It must still look like a professional document.

You need to submit a copy of your “How do I get to Tim Horton’s from [location]?” instructions at this time as well.

These will be tested in-class on Oct. 16^th.