UniversityofArkansasatLittleRock

CourseSyllabus
RHET3326
Summer2016(Session4)
July5August8
Instructor:Dr.HeidiHarris
Office: SUB 100-A
Email: haharris@ualr.edu
Phone: 501.569.8327
Website: http://hasharris.com/
Office Hours: By arrangement. To set up a time to meet online through Skype or Google Chat,
please email your instructor.

CatalogueDescription
Prerequisite: RHET 1312 or the equivalent. Intensive instruction in the theory and practice of
technical communication. Emphasis on understanding audience, establishing a clear purpose, using
technology, acquiring a sense of the profession, and developing strategies for successfully producing
individual and collaborative documents. Practice writing genres such as reports, instructions,
descriptions, specifications, and proposals. Three credit hours.

RequiredTexts
Dragga, Sam and Elizabeth Tebeaux.
The Essentials of Technical Communication.
2nd Ed
.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. ISBN: 0199890781 (pictured at the left--readings from
this book will be highlighted in
PURPLE
)
Or
Dragga, Sam and Elizabeth Tebeaux.
The Essentials of Technical Communication.
3rd Ed.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. ISBN: 978-0-19-9379996 (pictured at the right--readings
from this book will be highlighted in
ORANGE
)

LearningOutcomes
To successfully complete the course, you will need to be able to demonstrate the following
outcomes in your final letter. Each assignment in the course will provide the opportunity to practice
the following outcomes:
AudienceAwareness
1. Analyze and address audiences, purposes, and situations related to technical writing.
2. Communicate ethically with a variety of audiences.

Collaboration
3. Analyze and respond to the work of others in a professional context.
4. Engage in project planning and management through collaborative writing as a social aspect of
technical communication.
InformationLiteracy
5. Conduct both primary and secondary research using online databases and other resources.
6. Document sources appropriately.
DigitalLiteracy
7. Finding, evaluating, organizing, and presenting information using various delivery system.
8. Design appropriate professional communications in a variety of print and digital forms.

Grading
This course utilizes weighted grades. The accurate grade percentage will be displayed in the
Grades
button of the Blackboard site. You won't need to calculate your grade because Blackboard should
automatically calculate your grade for you.
You should see a grade and feedback on shorter activities within 24-48 hours of the deadline but no
later than the next similar deadline (i.e. you won't have to submit a discussion board post until the
previous discussion board post has been graded). You should see feedback on longer assignments
within 3 days of the submission deadline. I will communicate any changes from these deadlines via
email.
LateWork
You are allowed
ONE (1)
late submission for
any
reason (with the exception of the final report).
Any other work will not be accepted late
unless arrangements are made with me in advance
.
Assignments should be submitted on the due date in the format specified for the assignment.
Failure to submit an assignment according to the guidelines by the deadline counts as a
late submission and will not be graded (i.e., if you submit a Word Document through
Google Docs or in a format that I cannot open).
GradeNegotiation
Grades are not my subjective assessment of your work. They are evaluations of how well you met
the guidelines of each project and how clearly you demonstrate an understanding of the learning
outcomes in the course.
If you know that you need a particular grade to graduate/maintain financial
aid/complete your program/etc.,
please plan to earn that grade throughout the class.
I do not
a) reconsider grades, b) assign extra credit, c) allow previous missed assignments to be made up later
in the course.

GradingScale
A (90%-100%)

To earn an "A" in this class,

you will consistently submit work on-time that
consistently demonstrates
the main features of technical communication (see
pg. 8 in
The Essentials of Technical Communication in the Workplace
for a description of these features). In addition, the course work will
demonstrate a) an awareness of a specific audience and with the deliverable
tailored to that audience, b) effective collaboration with classmates (when
required), c) excellent research that is both relevant to the audience and clearly
documented, and d) effective design for the relevant medium and message.
A-level work demonstrates attention to
all
of the above principles.

B (80%-89%)

To earn an "B" in this class, you will

submit work on-time
that
generally
demonstrates
the main features of technical communication (see pg. 8 in
The
Essentials of Technical Communication in the Workplace
for a description of
these features). In addition, the course work will demonstrate a) an awareness of
a specific audience and tailor assignments for that audience, b) effective
collaboration with classmates (when required), c) excellent research that is both
relevant to the audience and clearly documented, and d) the ability to effectively
design the document for the relevant medium and message. B-level work
demonstrates attention to
most
of the above principles.

C (70%-79%)

To earn an "C" in this class, you will

submit most work on-time
that
does not
always clearly demonstrate
the main features of technical communication (see
pg. 8 in
The Essentials of Technical Communication in the Workplace
for a
description of these features). For example, course work may a) struggle with
either an awareness of who the specific audience is or not be tailored to a specific
audience, b) fail to effectively collaborate with classmates (when required), c) not
include adequate research that is both relevant to the audience and/or is not
clearly documented, and d0 not be effectively designed for the relevant medium
and message. C-level work demonstrates a lack of attention to
some
of the above
principles.

D (60%-69%)

To earn an "D" in this class, you will

fail to submit some work on-time
and/or
struggle to clearly demonstrate
the main features of technical communication
(see pg. 8 in
The Essentials of Technical Communication in the Workplace
for a

description of these features). For example, course work may a) not define a
specific audience or not be tailored to that specific audience, b) fail to effectively
collaborate with classmates (when required), c) not include research that is both
relevant to the audience and/or is not clearly documented, and d) not be
effectively designed for the relevant medium and message. D-level work
demonstrates a lack of attention to
the majority
of the above principles.
F (<60%)

To earn an "F" in this class, you will

fail to submit most work on-time
and/or
fail to clearly demonstrate
the main features of technical
communication (see pg. 8 in
The Essentials of Technical Communication in
the Workplace
for a description of these features). Generally, students who
earn an F in this course do not meet deadlines or do not demonstrate the
most basic elements of clear technical writing (i.e., assignments are not
edited for grammar or clarity, do not meet assignment instructions, etc.).

MajorAssignments
The course begins with an introductory email (5% of your total grade) to help me get acquainted
with you and to practice formal email etiquette.
The major assignment in the course is a formal report (25% of the course grade). The discussion
boards and activities in the course all related to the formal report. Students will also write a proposal
(15%), progress report (15%), and peer reviews (10%). The course ends with a reflective letter
(20%).
Discussion boards and short activities constitute 20% of your overall grade in the class. We will not
participate in a discussion board each week (for an overview of which weeks contain discussion
board activities, please see the class schedule). If you are unfamiliar with how to use the discussion
boards in Blackboard 9.1, please view
this tutorial
before beginning the class.
Activities will be graded according to their assigned criteria. Those can be located in the "Think
About It" section of each assignment.
Discussion boards will be graded according to the following criteria (which align with the
course
outcomes
):
Audience Awareness
Discussion board posts will engage classmates in extended discussion of the prompt
indicated in the assignment.
In other words, discussions should not be a single post
with no replies (just as a face-to-face discussion would not consist of you saying
something to someone and then walking away without hearing or responding to their
reply).
Discussion board posts should communicate ethically by considering the content of
classmates' responses and replying in a polite, well-edited manner that is relevant to the
discussion at hand. Consider discussion board posts places to practice the formal, technical

conversations that you will have with colleagues and with your supervisors in your everyday
workplace.
Collaboration
Discussion board posts should respond thoroughly to the thoughts of others beyond the
"Good job!" or "I like this!" post (i.e., "cheerleading.") Be thoughtful in your responses,
adding additional examples, suggestions, recommendations, and content in each post. For
those posts that occur during brainstorming for projects, be sure to engage in classmates'
ideas in order to substantially help them with their projects. In other words, go beyond "this
is my experience with your topic" and into "here are some other sources or angles you might
consider for this project."
Information Literacy
Discussion boards should center around substance. In other words, when at all possible,
research what you are discussing and provide outside information that will benefit your
classmates in addition to your own thoughts, experiences and opinions on an issue.
Hyperlink any external sources into the content of your discussion posts (see
this video

on
how to hyperlink an item in a Blackboard Discussion Forum).
Digital Literacy
Discussion boards will allow you to subscribe to the threads that you post. Subscribing to
discussion board threads you post will allow you to receive UALR Gmail alerts any time
someone has responded to your initial discussion board post. You should respond to those
in discussion board who respond to you in a timely manner (just as you would respond to
others who respond to you in regular conversation). Discussion boards will be evaluated
according to the depth in which you engage in a few discussions, not the overall number of
posts you provide. For further assistance subscribing to discussion forums, please contact
Dr. Harris.

Technology
To be successful in this online course, you will need to be able to effectively use the following tools
(note: you might not necessarily be familiar with all of these tools at the beginning of the class, but
you must be able to learn and utilize these throughout the course):
ReliableInternetAccess
You will need consistent internet access to complete this course. If you are unsure that your internet
connection is reliable or if you do not have regular and consistent access to a computer (i.e., access
to a computer with internet multiple days a week), please drop this course now. If you only have
access to a computer once a week or if your internet access is unreliable, completing this course will
be very difficult.
UALREmail
Due to FERPA regulations regarding student privacy
,
I will only respond to emails
submitted through your UALR email account.

If you need help accessing your email account, please contact Technology Support. For help with
technology on the UALR campus, please contact Technology Support
http://ualr.edu/itservices/

.
Blackboard
All assignments will be submitted through Blackboard, and communication with your classmates
(i.e., discussion boards) will also take place in Blackboard. For help with Blackboard, see
http://ualr.edu/blackboard/
.
GoogleDrive
Because you can only submit one late assignment for the course, store your documents, files, and
work in a reliable place. I would recommend using Google Drive (to which you have access through
your UALR Gmail account) or a similar cloud storage system.
I
f you store your documents on your computer, a thumb drive, or another source that can be
lost or damaged, you are risking your grade in the course.
GoogleDocs
You will need access to Google Documents, which you have access to through your UALR Gmail
account (see the Week One introductory video for a demonstration of how to access Google Docs).
For the formal report, you may need access to Microsoft Word or another word processing
application that allows you to do a little more sophisticated page layout and design.
If you prefer to work in Pages, Microsoft Word, or another word processing program, you will need
to convert your documents to Google Docs before you submit them and provide me the option to
"Comment" or "Edit."

Netiquette
Appropriate academic conduct in online courses follows these basic rules of netiquette:
Using proper capitalization, spelling, and grammar.
Signing your name to all e-mail messages and discussion postings.
Providing descriptive but concise subject lines.
Furthermore, appropriate academic conduct means maintaining a safe learning environment based
on mutual respect and civility. All participants in this online course are expected to behave
professionally by adhering to these standards of conduct in the online environment:
Never transmit or promote content known to be illegal or that violates course policies.
Respect other people's privacy as well as your own.
Never use harassing, threatening, embarrassing, or otherwise abusive language or actions.
Online communication that fails to meet these standards of conduct will be removed from the
course. Repeated misconduct may result in being blocked from online discussions, receiving a grade
penalty, or being dismissed from the course.

AcademicIntegrityPolicy
Academic dishonesty cannot be condoned or tolerated in the university community. Such behavior
is considered a student conduct violation and students found responsible of committing an
academic
offense
on the campus, or in connection with an institution-related or sponsored activity, or while
representing the university or academic department, will be disciplined by the university. Students
committing academic offenses, including plagiarism and using work for two classes without the
instructors written permission, will be subject to receive a failing grade for the assignment. Repeated
offenses may result in a failing grade for the course. For further information about the UALR
Academic Integrity Policy, contact the Dean of Students at 501.569.3328, deanofstudents@ualr.edu,
or visit the office located in the Donaghey Student Center, Room 215.

DisabilityStatement
Students with Disabilities: Your success in this class is important to me, and it is the policy and
practice of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to create inclusive learning environments
consistent with federal and state law. If you have a documented disability (or need to have a
disability documented), and need an accommodation, please contact me privately as soon as
possible, so that we can discuss with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) how to meet your
specific needs and the requirements of the course. The DRC offers resources and coordinates
reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are
established through an interactive process among youre your instructor(s) and the DRC. Thus, if
you have a disability, please contact me and/or the DRC at 501-569-3143 (V/TTY) or 501-683-7629
(VP). For more information, please visit the
DRC website

NondiscriminationPolicy
UALR adheres to a policy that enables all individuals, regardless of race, color, gender, national
origin, age, sexual orientation, veterans status, or disability to work and study in an environment
unfettered by discriminatory behavior or acts. Harassment of an individual or group will not be
condoned by any personstudent, faculty, or staff memberwho violates this policy will be subject
to disciplinary action. Any person who believes they have been discriminated against should contact
the Human Resources Office to obtain assistance and information concerning the filing of
complaints (501.569.3180). It is not the intent of this policy to infringe upon or limit educational,
scholarly, or artistic expression. At the same time the University prohibits discriminatory practices, it
promotes equal opportunity through affirmative action.