25 Jan Throughout the session,

ENGL216 Technical Writing

Week 1 Discussion

INTRODUCTION, TECHNICAL COMMUNICATIONS, AND AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

In team discussion, be sure to introduce yourselves with trust-building details. Read and discuss the key points of Chapter 1. Find or create a technical document (examples can be found in our text on p. 4). Using the 5 goals suggested in our text (p. 4), analyze your document’s success or incompleteness. Provide examples from the document. Consider the audience for the document and whether it meets the intended audience’s requirements. Who is this audience? What are the individual cultural backgrounds to be taken into account? Select a country and examine your document in the light of this new, culturally different, audience. What needs to be changed?

ENGL216 Technical Writing

Week 2 Discussion

DOCUMENT DESIGN AND READER PERSPECTIVES

1. In your study groups, discuss the reading’s key points: explain the ABC format and its benefits for all correspondence, discuss ways to incorporate the “You” attitude in your writing and its importance.

2. Review the elements of document design (Chapter 5—color consistency, grids, white space, the use of lists, parallelism, fonts, and so on).

3. Choose 3 elements and explain their importance in creating a good first impression.

4. Create your narrated PowerPoint (or video/VoiceThread/Kaltura) post.

ENGL216 Technical Writing

Week 3 Discussion

PROCESSES AND INSTRUCTIONS; RESEARCH AND ETHICS

In your study group, discuss and describe the differences between a process and an instructional document: what situations dictate which document to use? Provide examples. Research for the workplace is different from academic research (see Figure 9-1 in our text). Consider the topic your have chosen for your Course Project: describe your topic and the kinds of sources necessary for your review. Will you use primary research? If so, describe it; if not, describe a type of primary research that could be used. What ethical or legal issues must you consider? (Refer to Chapter 1 for a review.)

ENGL216 Technical Writing

Week 4 Discussion

INFORMAL AND FORMAL REPORTS, PROPOSALS, AND PERSUASION

Using Chapters 10-11, compare and contrast formats for formal and informal reports. Describe an example of either kind of report you have actually used or locate one on the internet. Explain how the document meets (or fails to meet) the standard described in our text. Is it more or less difficult to compose a solicited or an unsolicited proposal? Why? Describe a situation in which you would compose an unsolicited proposal. Who is your imagined audience—internal or external? How might you persuade your reader to agree to your proposal? What ethical or legal issues must you anticipate?

ENGL216 Technical Writing

Week 5 Discussion

VISUAL ELEMENTS AND STYLE

Graphs, charts, diagrams, schematics, and images can enhance and support technical documents (Chapter 13). In team discussion, review suggestions and experiences you have with illustrated documents. What kinds of visual images are you planning for your document? Will your visual images support and enhance meaning? Provide examples. Review Chapter 2 on drafting text content and the interactive Parallelism tutorial. Based on your reading, understanding and experience, how do you solve the problem of writer’s block? Explore the challenges of writing and provide solutions.

ENGL216 Technical Writing

Week 6 Discussion

TRANSMITTAL DOCUMENTS, EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES, APPENDICES, WRITING FOR THE WEB, AND COLLABORATION

This week we have an extra large Discussion. This board is worth 20 points, as usual. The Peer Review board is worth 60. Together they equal 80, of course. I am attaching the rubric for the Peer Review, and posting it in Course Announcements.

Part One:

Each week, you are to compose discussion in written form and to provide a narrated slide presentation. Here is a good practice to follow:

Meet with your peers and brainstorm the assignment together. Freely exchange ideas in your group to help each other achieve the best outcomes.

On your own, create a short document that responds to the discussion questions (and provides the basis of your narrated presentation)

Organize your ideas into bullet points on your slides

Use visual images to support your text

Gracefully narrate your ideas in a 1-2 minute slide presentation.

Respond to your classmates’ presentations in writing, audio, or video.

Part Two:

Next, please check the announcement area to find out which team you’ll be working with. Then, use the drop-down menu to navigate to your team’s Discussion area. In this Discussion area, you will need to do the following.

Please post your rough draft as an attachment by Wednesday.

Post two peer reviews for two of your teammates by Sunday or no later than the date your professor has announced. Important: Use the peer review form located in Files, and post your feedback as an attachment.

For example, If there are five people on your team, there should be five drafts posted by the instructed due date. The first person to post a draft should do a peer review for the second and third people to post their drafts, and so on, with the last person to post looping around to do peer reviews for number one and two.

Meeting the deadlines is important! If, for some reason, a team member is late in posting a draft, you do not need to wait for him or her before proceeding with the peer-review process. If someone is late posting a draft, he or she should know that the opportunity to participate may be missed. Participating in the peer-review process counts as part of your discussion grade for this week. Discussion grades will be reduced if these deadlines are not met.

ENGL216 Technical Writing

Week 7 Discussion

PEER AND PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS AND FINAL EDITS

1. Review pages 52-54 and Chapter 17 (on style). Exchange your best current draft of your work with your peer reviewers from last week. In teams or with partners, practice your oral presentations and document all of the feedback you receive.

2. Incorporate changes and explain how peer and professional critique helped your achieve your best outcome.

3. Then, organize all of your thoughts and content regarding your project and create a narrated slide presentation to accompany your final project paper. Your presentation should not be longer than 5 minutes and must be at least 3 minutes. To use this short time well, you must prepare nobly.

4. Respond to your classmates’ presentations in writing, audio, or video, providing them with specific feedback. .

ENGL216 Technical Writing

Week 8 Discussion

REFLECTIVE ASSESSMENT

Throughout the session, you have worked collaboratively as well as individually. You have seen and created a number of presentations. You have observed professional presentations and those of your peers. Reflecting on all you have learned from external sources, your text, course lectures, professional reviewers, and your peers, identify areas where you achieved improvement as well as areas still needing improvement. Be specific and concrete. Freely exchange ideas and information. Assess the collaboration value your peers brought to your work. Did you enter collaborations meaningfully and offer ideas freely? Did others? If there was high and helpful energy in the collaborations, specify positive outcomes. If the energy was low, how might you help to improve team collaboration when next offered it? Complete this discussion by Thursday of Week 8.