Schedule

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English 8115 Schedule

Notes

  • All assignments are due at the beginning of class time.
  • All assignments are to be emailed to me (bgu@gsu.edu) as an attachment.

This schedule is tentative. Deviations may be necessary.

WEEK 1. (8/23)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Go over all the links on my 8115 website, especially Syllabus and Projects pages.
  2. Discuss the brief history of technical communication
  3. Discuss STC’s definition of technical communication: https://www.stc.org/about-stc/defining-technical-communication/
  4. Read and discuss the following on document design:
    Effective Document Design
    The 50 Most Important Rules of Document Design
Readings

 
Assignments Due

 
 
WEEK 2. (8/30)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Read the following on conference proposals:
    Writing Conference Abstracts and Proposals
    Writing for Publication: Conference Proposals and Presentations
    How to Write a Successful Conference Proposal
  2. Identify a conference CFP (call for proposals) in your field.
  3. Start drafting your conference proposal.
  4. Read the following on the C.R.A.P. principles:
    C. R.A.P. Principles of Graphic Design
    The Principle of Proximity in Web Design
    Basic Alignment Principle in Graphic Design
Readings

  1. Kimball, Miles A. (2017). The Golden Age of Technical Communication. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 47(3), 330–358. (Reading1-Kimball)
  2. Tebeaux, Elizabeth. (2017). Whatever Happened to Technical Writing. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 47(1), 3-21. (Reading2-Tebeaux)
Assignments Due

  1. Reading Presentation 1 (Readings 1-2)
 
WEEK 3. (9/6)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Read the following on C. R.A.P. principles:
    The Use of Repetition in Design
    Using Contrast in Graphic Design and Page Layout
    Principles of Design: Contrast
  2. Complete and turn in your conference proposal.
  3. Go over the instructions on the tutorial project on my website.
Readings (Rachel)

  1. Miller, Carolyn R. (1979). A Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing. College English, 40(6), 610-617. (Reading3-Miller)
  2. Tebeaux, Elizabeth. (1980). Let’s Not Ruin Technical Writing, Too: A Comment on the Essays of Carolyn Miller and Elizabeth Harris. College English, 41(7), 822-825. (Reading4-TebeauxResponse)
  3. Miller, Carolyn R. (1980). Carolyn Miller Responds. College English, 41(7), 825-827. (Reading5-MillerResponse)
  4. Miller, Carolyn R. (1989). What’s practical about technical writing. In Berti E. Fearing and W Keats Sparrow (Eds.), Technical Writing: Theory and Practice (pp14-24). (Reading6-Miller)
  5. Tebeaux, Elizabeth. (1989). The high-tech workplace: Implications for technical communication instruction.  In B. E. Fearing and W. K. Sparrow (Eds.), Technical writing: Theory and Practice (pp. 136-144). New York, NY: MLA. (Reading7-Tebeaux)

 
Assignments Due

  1. Reading Presentation 2 (Readings 3-7)
  2. Conference proposal
 
WEEK 4. (9/13)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Read the following on writing tutorials:
    Seven Steps to Creating an Effective Tutorial
    11 Essential Tips to Writing the Ultimate Tutorial
  2. Check out these tutorial samples:
    A mediocre sample: How to Use Photoshop CC: Beginners
    Better examples: 10 Examples of Great End-User Documentation
    Barnes and Noble Nook User Guide
  3. Start working on your tutorial project.
  4. Email me a short description of your tutorial topic
Readings (Daniel)

  1. Faigley, Lester. (1986). Competing theories of process: A critique and a proposal. College English, 48 (6), 527-542. (Reading8-Faigley)
  2. Bruffee, Kenneth A. (1986). Social construction, language, and the authority of knowledge: A bibliographical essay. College English, 48 (8), 773-790. (Reading9-Bruffee)
Assignments Due

  1. Reading Presentation 3 (Readings 8-9)
  2. Email me your tutorial topic
 
WEEK 5. (9/20)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Continue to work on your tutorial project
  2. Read the following articles on document design concept of “Layout”:
    How to Make Awesome Page Layout Designs in Microsoft Word
    How to Create Balanced Page Layouts
Readings (Rose)

  1. Wilson, Greg & Wolford, Rachel. (2017). Technical communicator as (postmodern) discourse worker. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 31(1), 3-29. (Reading10-WilsonWolford)
  2. Thralls, Charlotte & Blyler, Nancy Roundy. (1993). The social perspective and pedagogy in technical communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 2 (3), 249-269. (Reading11-ThrallsBlyler)

 
Assignments Due

  1. Reading Presentation 4 (Readings 10-11)
 
WEEK 6. (9/27)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Read the following articles on document design concept of “Typography”:
    Designing for Readers: Five Tips for Effective Typography
    Your Ultimate Guide to Understanding Typography
  2. Complete and turn in your tutorial project
Readings (Dylan)

  1. Hart-Davidson, William. (2001). On writing, technical communication, and information technology: The core competencies of technical communication. Technical Communication, 48(2), 145-155. (Reading12-HartDavidson)
  2. Jones, N. N., Moore, K. R., & Walton, R. (2016). Disrupting the past to disrupt the future: An antenarrative of technical communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 25(4), 211-229. (Reading13-JonesMooreWalton)
  3. Blythe, S., Lauer, C., & Curran, P. G. (2014). Professional and technical communication in a web 2.0 world. Technical Communication Quarterly, 23(4), 265-287. (Reading14-BlytheLauerCurran)

 
Assignments Due

  1. Reading Presentation 5 (Readings 12-14)
  2. Tutorial Project
 
WEEK 7. (10/4)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Go over my instructions on document redesign.
  2. Find an appropriate document for this project.
  3. Read the following articles on document design concept of “Visual Hierarchy”:
    Twelve Visual Hierarchy Rules Every Non-Designer Needs to Know
    6 Principles of Visual Hierarchy for Designers
Readings (Liping)

  1. Barker, Deane. (2016). Chapter 1. What content management is (and isn’t). In Deane Barker, Web Content Management. O’Reilly Media. https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/web-content-management/9781491908112/ch01.html.
  2. Andersen, Rebekka. (2014). Rhetorical work in the age of content management: Implications for the field of technical communication. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 28(2), 115-157. (Reading16-Andersen)
  3. Pullman, George, & Gu, Baotong. (2008). Guest editors’ introduction: Rationalizing and rhetoricizing content management. Technical Communication Quarterly, 17(1), 1-9. (Reading17-PullmanGu-TCQ)
  4. Clark, Dave. (2008). Content management and separation of presentation and content. Technical Communication Quarterly, 17(1), 35-60. (Reading18-Clark)
Assignments Due

  1. Reading Presentation 6 (Readings 15-18)
 
WEEK 8. (10/11)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Continue to work on your document redesign project
  2. Peer edit document design 1st draft
Readings (Fikko)

  1. Batova, Tatiana. (2014). Component content management and quality of information products for global audiences: An integrative literature review. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 57(4), 325-339. (Reading19-Batova)
  2. Halvorso, Kristina. (2011). Content strategy and UX: A modern love story. UX Magazine: http://uxmag.com/articles/content-strategy-and-ux-a-modern-love-story. 
Assignments Due

  1. Reading Presentation 7 (Readings 19-20)
  2. Document design 1st draft
 
WEEK 9. (10/18)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Complete your document redesign project
  2. Start planning your final project: ideas
Readings

  1. Watzman, Susanne. (2012). Visual design principles for usable interfaces. In Andrew Sears & Julie A. Jacko (Eds.), The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies, and Emerging Applications, 3rd Edition (pp. 263-285). https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=b3rg6wmjc5QC&oi=fnd&pg=PA263&dq=visual+design+principles&ots=vB-atYhrPc&sig=hrH4DKVEXQvBDqABlidG1JG4Z84#v=onepage&q=visual%20design%20principles&f=false
  2. Barton, Ben F., & Barton, Marthalee S. (1993). Ideology and the map: Toward a postmodern visual design practice. In Nancy Roundy Blyler & Charlotte Thralls (Eds.), Professional Communication: The social perspective (pp. 49-78). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. (Reading22-BartonBarton)
Assignments Due

  1. Reading Presentation 8 (Readings 21-22)
  2. Document Redesign final draft
 
WEEK 10. (10/25)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Analyze the rhetorical context for your final project: audience, purpose, constraints, conventions, etc.
  2. Gather and organize the content for your final project
  3. Share final project ideas and initial plan
Readings

  1. Carliner, Saul. (2003). Characteristic-based, task-based, and results-based: Three value systems for assessing professionally produced technical communication products. Technical Communication Quarterly, 12(1), 83-100. (Reading23-Carliner)
  2. Bacha, Jeffery. (2018). Mapping use, storytelling, and experience design: User-network tracking as a component of usability and sustainability. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 32(2), 198-228. (Reading24-Bacha)

 
Assignments Due

  1. Reading Presentation 9 (Readings 23-24)
 
WEEK 11. (11/1)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Analyze the context of your final project: audience, purpose, constraints, etc.
  2. Discuss the content design of your final project.
Readings

  1. Schneider C., Weinmann, M, & Vom Brocke, J. (20). Digital nudging: Guiding online user choices through interface design. Communications of The ACM, 61(7), 67-73. (Reading25-WeinmannVomBrocke)
  2. Gu, Baotong, & Yu, Meng. (2016). East meets west on flat design: Convergence and divergence in Chinese and American user interface design. Technical Communication, 63(3), 231-247. (Reading26-GuYu)
  3. Flach, J. M., Stappers, P. J., & Voorhorst, F. A. (2017). Beyond affordances: Closing the generalization gap between design and cognitive science. Design Issues, 33(1), 76-89. (Reading27-Affordances)
Assignments Due

  1. Reading Presentation 10 (Readings 25-27)
 
WEEK 12. (11/8)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Discuss the format design for your final project
Reading (Jennifer)

  1. Welwema, Josephine. (2015). The art of storytelling: A pedagogy for proposal writing. Writing and Pedagogy, 7(1), 15-38. (Reading28-Walwema)
  2. Santos, Marc C., & McIntyre, Megan M. (2016). Toward a technical communication made whole: Disequilibrium, creativity, and postpedagogy. Composition Forum, 33. (Reading29-SantosMcIntyre)
  3. Schneider, Stephen. Usable pedagogies: Usability, rhetoric, and sociocultural pedagogy in the technical writing classroom. Technical Communication Quarterly, 14(4), 447-467. (Reading30-Schneider)
Assignments Due

  1. Reading Presentation 11 (Readings 28-30)
 
WEEK 13. (11/15)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Complete a first draft for your final project
  2. Peer edit of your final project
Reading

 
Assignments Due

  1. First draft of your final project

 
 
WEEK 14. (11/22)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Thanksgiving Break–No Classes
Reading

 
Assignments Due

 
 
WEEK 15. (11/29)
Weekly Tasks

  1. Edit, complete, and turn in your final project.
Reading

 
Assignments Due

  1. Final project
 

 

ENGL 8115 Readings

Historical Perspectives

  1. Kimball, Miles A. (2017). The Golden Age of Technical Communication. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 47(3), 330–358. (Reading1-Kimball)
  2. Tebeaux, Elizabeth. (2017). Whatever Happened to Technical Writing. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 47(1), 3-21. (Reading2-Tebeaux)

 

Field identity

  1. Miller, Carolyn R. (1979). A Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing. College English, 40(6), 610-617. (Reading3-Miller)
  2. Tebeaux, Elizabeth. (1980). Let’s Not Ruin Technical Writing, Too: A Comment on the Essays of Carolyn Miller and Elizabeth Harris. College English, 41(7), 822-825. (Reading4-TebeauxResponse)
  3. Miller, Carolyn R. (1980). Carolyn Miller Responds. College English, 41(7), 825-827. (Reading5-MillerResponse)
  4. Miller, Carolyn R. (1989). What’s practical about technical writing. In Berti E. Fearing and W Keats Sparrow (Eds.), Technical Writing: Theory and Practice (pp14-24). (Reading6-Miller)
  5. Tebeaux, Elizabeth. (1989). The high-tech workplace: Implications for technical communication instruction.  In B. E. Fearing and W. K. Sparrow (Eds.), Technical writing: Theory and Practice (pp. 136-144). New York, NY: MLA. (Reading7-Tebeaux)

 

Theoretical evolutions

  1. Faigley, Lester. (1986). Competing theories of process: A critique and a proposal. College English, 48 (6), 527-542. (Reading8-Faigley)
  2. Bruffee, Kenneth A. (1986). Social construction, language, and the authority of knowledge: A bibliographical essay. College English, 48 (8), 773-790. (Reading9-Bruffee)

 

Social and postmodern perspectives

  1. Wilson, Greg & Wolford, Rachel. (2017). Technical communicator as (postmodern) discourse worker. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 31(1), 3-29. (Reading10-WilsonWolford)
  2. Thralls, Charlotte & Blyler, Nancy Roundy. (1993). The social perspective and pedagogy in technical communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 2 (3), 249-269. (Reading11-ThrallsBlyler)

 

Scope and competency

  1. Hart-Davidson, William. (2001). On writing, technical communication, and information technology: The core competencies of technical communication. Technical Communication, 48(2), 145-155. (Reading12-HartDavidson)
  2. Jones, N. N., Moore, K. R., & Walton, R. (2016). Disrupting the past to disrupt the future: An antenarrative of technical communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 25(4), 211-229. (Reading13-JonesMooreWalton)
  3. Blythe, S., Lauer, C., & Curran, P. G. (2014). Professional and technical communication in a web 2.0 world. Technical Communication Quarterly, 23(4), 265-287. (Reading14-BlytheLauerCurran)

 

Content management

  1. Barker, Deane. (2016). Chapter 1. What content management is (and isn’t). In Deane Barker, Web Content Management. O’Reilly Media. https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/web-content-management/9781491908112/ch01.html.
  2. Andersen, Rebekka. (2014). Rhetorical work in the age of content management: Implications for the field of technical communication. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 28(2), 115-157. (Reading16-Andersen)
  3. Pullman, George, & Gu, Baotong. (2008). Guest editors’ introduction: Rationalizing and rhetoricizing content management. Technical Communication Quarterly, 17(1), 1-9. (Reading17-PullmanGu-TCQ)
  4. Clark, Dave. (2008). Content management and separation of presentation and content. Technical Communication Quarterly, 17(1), 35-60. (Reading18-Clark)

 

Global content management

  1. Batova, Tatiana. (2014). Component content management and quality of information products for global audiences: An integrative literature review. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 57(4), 325-339. (Reading19-Batova)
  2. Halvorso, Kristina. (2011). Content strategy and UX: A modern love story. UX Magazine: http://uxmag.com/articles/content-strategy-and-ux-a-modern-love-story. 

 

Visual design

  1. Watzman, Susanne. (2012). Visual design principles for usable interfaces. In Andrew Sears & Julie A. Jacko (Eds.), The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies, and Emerging Applications, 3rd Edition (pp. 263-285). https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=b3rg6wmjc5QC&oi=fnd&pg=PA263&dq=visual+design+principles&ots=vB-atYhrPc&sig=hrH4DKVEXQvBDqABlidG1JG4Z84#v=onepage&q=visual%20design%20principles&f=false
  2. Barton, Ben F., & Barton, Marthalee S. (1993). Ideology and the map: Toward a postmodern visual design practice. In Nancy Roundy Blyler & Charlotte Thralls (Eds.), Professional Communication: The social perspective (pp. 49-78). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. (Reading22-BartonBarton)

 

Usability, UX, etc.

  1. Carliner, Saul. (2003). Characteristic-based, task-based, and results-based: Three value systems for assessing professionally produced technical communication products. Technical Communication Quarterly, 12(1), 83-100. (Reading23-Carliner)
  2. Bacha, Jeffery. (2018). Mapping use, storytelling, and experience design: User-network tracking as a component of usability and sustainability. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 32(2), 198-228. (Reading24-Bacha)

 

Affordances and interface design

  1. Schneider C., Weinmann, M, & Vom Brocke, J. (20). Digital nudging: Guiding online user choices through interface design. Communications of The ACM, 61(7), 67-73. (Reading25-WeinmannVomBrocke)
  2. Gu, Baotong, & Yu, Meng. (2016). East meets west on flat design: Convergence and divergence in Chinese and American user interface design. Technical Communication, 63(3), 231-247. (Reading26-GuYu)
  3. Flach, J. M., Stappers, P. J., & Voorhorst, F. A. (2017). Beyond affordances: Closing the generalization gap between design and cognitive science. Design Issues, 33(1), 76-89. (Reading27-Affordances)

Pedagogy

  1. Welwema, Josephine. (2015). The art of storytelling: A pedagogy for proposal writing. Writing and Pedagogy, 7(1), 15-38. (Reading28-Walwema)
  2. Santos, Marc C., & McIntyre, Megan M. (2016). Toward a technical communication made whole: Disequilibrium, creativity, and postpedagogy. Composition Forum, 33. (Reading29-SantosMcIntyre)
  3. Schneider, Stephen. Usable pedagogies: Usability, rhetoric, and sociocultural pedagogy in the technical writing classroom. Technical Communication Quarterly, 14(4), 447-467. (Reading30-Schneider)