Professional Writing

You can view and download a copy of the course syllabus by pointing your browser on your phone, tablet, or laptop to egsnider.com/231syllabus.pdf or by visiting our Blackboard site at blackboard.bsu.edu ENG 231.001 CRN: 31999 Summer I 2013 MTWRF 11:00 AM 12:35 PM RB 284 Eva Grouling Snider RB 257 (540) 588-7954 esnider@bsu.edu @snidereg (Twitter) snidereg (Skype) egsnider.com

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ENG 231

Office Hours: MTWRF 1:15 2:15 PM

Course Description............... 2 Objectives.............................. 2 Texts....................................... 3

Assessment............................ 3 Badges................................4-5 Policies............................... 5-6

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Syllabus

 Course Description
In this course, we will explore professional writing: what it means to write for and with others, to design and create content for complex work environments, and to conduct primary research in a professional context. We will begin by discussing the professional in professional writing, including concepts of professionalism and professionalism in the production of documents. We will also discuss and practice writing in common genres of professional writing, including proposals, memos, letters, e-mail, bibliographies, instructions, resumes, and CVs. The main line of the course, however, will be an exploratory primary research project on users of a discursive technology. Near the beginning of the semester, you will write a proposal for a research project that incorporates surveys, interviews, and artifact analysis to begin to explore how everyday users of a particular discursive technology interact with that technology. From there, you will learn the theories and practices of conducting primary research in a professional context, including survey building, interviewing, and artifact analysis/coding. You will produce an exploratory white paper, which presents your research findings and suggests directions for future, more in-depth research, and you will present your findings to the rest of the class. This course will immerse you in various concepts central to the field of professional writing, including qualitative field research, project management, visual rhetoric and document design, and professionalism. You will be expected to produce high quality deliverables grounded in real-world situations.

Objectives
By the end of the course, a successful student will be able to: + Respond appropriately to different rhetorical situations and understand how audience, purpose, genre, and style shape reading and writing + Manage complex individual and collaborative projects, including multiple deliverables and set deadlines + Engage in and reflect upon writing as a set of complex processes, including drafting, revising, providing feedback, and publishing/delivering + Understand principles of design and adapt them to create visually effective documents + Conduct qualitative research on real people acting discursively with technology in real-world situations + Effectively use technological tools for drafting, collaboration, and document design, and reflect upon your own digital discursive activities + Understand and navigate common professional genres, including proposals, memos, letters, instructions, fact sheets, reports, and presentations + Adopt a user-centered approach to professional writing that focuses on the needs of the audience
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 Texts
Your only required text is Robin Williamss The Non-Designers Design Book, 3rd edition (2008). Its available at the Bookstore, but its also available on Kindle for $12, as of the time of this writing. I considered requiring a professional writing textbook, but they tend to be unnecessarily bulky and expensive. You may want to consider picking one up. If you do, I suggest Paul Andersons Technical Communication: A Reader-Centered Approach.

Assessment
Your grade in this class will be determined by your performance on the major assignments, as well as your attendance and participation: + Style Guide................................................... 5% + Research Proposal.................................... 10% + Intro. to Professional Genres...................... 5% + Annotated Bibliography.............................. 5% + CITI Training................................................. 5% + Survey + Interview Scripts........................ 10% + Presentation of Findings........................... 10% + White Paper............................................... 20% + Fact Sheet.................................................. 10% + Attendance................................................ 10% + Participation.............................................. 10% Total......................................................... 100%

On each assignment, you will receive a whole letter grade of A, B, C, D, or F. I do not award +/grades. The reason for that is that I believe the differences between a B- and a C+ are negligible and deeply subjective. If you do excellent work, you will earn an A. If you do good work with some flaws, you will earn a B. If you do decent work with some significant flaws, you will earn a C. If you do barely acceptable work, you will earn a D. If you do not do the work or do not meet the assignment criteria, you will earn an F. I know this system will take some getting used to for most of you, but I hope you will come to see the value in its simplicity and transparency. Please note, though, that just because you will only receive full letter grades on individual assignments does not mean you will receive a full letter grade for your final grade. Your final grade is determined by the amounts listed above, with letter grades translated to numbers for calculation purposes (A=95, B=85, C=75, D=65). As such, final grades can include +/- grades.
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 Badges
Badges are a completely optional, but encouraged, component of the course. You can still get an A in the class without completing any badges. If, however, you do complete badges, they will add percentage points to your final grade. Every two badges you earn (rounded down), your final grade will go up by 1 percentage point (e.g., from a 94 to a 95). You will be submitting evidence for your badges using Dropbox. If you do not already have a Dropbox account, you will need to sign up for one. During the first week of class, I will share a Dropbox folder with you called YourLastName_Badges. That folder will serve as the base of operations for your badges. Whenever you complete one of the badges listed below, upload your evidence or documents to the Dropbox folder. I will receive an e-mail notification that you have added content. From there, I will put the badge in your Dropbox folder. I will also award hidden badges occasionally. The criteria for earning these badges are not announced ahead of time (i.e., hidden). You can earn hidden badges by being a particularly dedicated and attentive student. Below are the eight badges you can earn in the class, including what evidence you will need to upload to Dropbox in order to earn each badge. Conference Maniac: Come to my office during office hours to talk about something from the class. Audio record our conversation and upload to your Dropbox folder. Cultural Enrichment: Attend a lecture, presentation, or workshop on campus relating to communication in some way. Take a picture of a handout or materials and upload it to your Dropbox folder. First!: Be the first person in the class to either present or lead class discussion. You do not need to provide evidence to earn this badge. Google Fu: Complete at least two of the classes on Power Searching with Google. Take a screenshot of the furthest activity you completed and upload it to your Dropbox folder.
Title of Badge What a badge looks like. Earning criteria go here.

Improve Yourself: Take a short course at the library. Take a picture of a handout or materials and upload it to your Dropbox folder.

Perfectionist: Attend every class this semester. You do not need to provide evidence to earn this badge.
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 Badges (cont.)
Revisionist History: Resubmit one of your completed assignments with significant revisions. Take a screenshot of your submission in Blackboard and upload it to your Dropbox folder. Writers Block: Visit the Writing Center for this class. Tell them you are doing so and provide my e-mail address. They will send me a confirmation e-mail, which I will forward to you. Take a screenshot of that forwarded e-mail and upload it to your Dropbox folder.

Policies
Workload: This is a five-week summer course, so you can expect roughly triple the workload of a regular 15-week semester each week. In addition to our in-class meetings, I expect you to spend roughly 15 hours a week on the work of the class. Professionalism: This course is focused on professional writing. Well talk about what that means, but one of the important considerations in learning to write like a professional is learning to act like a professional. That will mean different things for different people, but in general it means that you will show up to class on time, do your work, be accountable to your group members and your teacher, and have a positive attitude inside and outside class. Attendance: For your sake, for my sake, for your classmates sakes: come to class. As you know, 10% of your final grade is based on attendance. If you miss 2 or fewer classes (out-of-class conferences count here), you will receive an A for that portion of your final grade. If you miss 3 classes, you will receive a B, 4 classes a C, and 5 classes a D. If you miss more than 5 classes, you will automatically fail the class. If you have to miss class, please let me know in advance and I will do my best to get you caught up. You can also always visit my office hours to catch up. In rare cases of extreme need, I will excuse an absence. Finally, attending class on time is extremely important. As such, every 3 times you are late to class count as a single absence. Technology: Obviously, our class meets in a computer classroom. Even if we did not, technology would be a crucial component of the course. Youre studying technology and will be using it extensively in your daily work. Still, please be respectful of me and your classmates and keep your extracurricular technology use to a minimum. I understand the allure of Facebook, and Im not going to call you out for killing a few minutes here and there. If I or others see a pattern of you being distracted by recreational technology use, it will affect your participation grade. Submission: You will be turning in many different types of assignments in this class. For major assignments, please submit them through Blackboard under the Assignments page. Simply click the title of the assignment and submit your files there. For smaller assignments, such as
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 Policies (cont.)
reading responses and progress reports, please simply print them and bring them to class. For anything well be conferencing about, please bring a print copy to the conference in addition to submitting through Blackboard. Most assignments will note what file type you should submit, but by default you should always submit documents as PDF files. Unless otherwise noted, I do not accept Microsoft Word documents or e-mailed documents. Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty: Be nice and cite! Its good practice to give credit to other people where credit is due. Also, dont falsify any research data. Youll be in serious trouble if you do. Finally, since well be doing a good deal of collaborative work in this class, youll be responsible for not only yourself, but for others. Please be sure to maintain timely, considerate, and ethical communication with anyone you are working with. For more on plagiarism and academic dishonesty, see Ball States Student Academic Ethics Policy. Accommodations: If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible. My office location and hours are listed at the top of this document. For additional information, please contact Larry Markle, Director of the Office of Disabled Student Development, at lmarkle@bsu.edu, 285-5293, Student Center 116. Writing Center: The Writing Center is located in RB 291. They provide assistance for any and all types of writers at any stage of the writing process. You can bring anything for this class in there: proposals, reports, designs, etc. The Writing Center is full of awesome and brilliant people who can help you work on any aspect of your writing. They accept walk-ins, but youre more likely to get help if you make an appointment.

Thank you for taking English 231: Professional Writing. Students like you are the beating heart of this course. If there is ever anything I can do to make the class better for you, please dont hesitate to ask.

ENG 231

Syllabus

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