Moon buggy, pardon the pun.
NASA pics are awesome.

Winter 2008

English 424: Technical Writing

Welcome to English 424: Technical Writing. This website is a wiki, like Wikipedia, which allows us to create webpages and work online pretty easily. We'll spend a good bit of time getting started setting things up right away. We'll be doing a great deal of work in the wiki, but we'll also be using Microsoft Word for a lot of your work as well. We'll be discussing file formats, file naming and tracking, and a bunch more. Again, welcome to the course. Attach:test.doc

Sample Convo

04-21 :: Context/Genre Analysis: Proposals, Project, & White Sands

04-16 :: Context/Genre Analysis: Proposals, Project, & White Sands

Board from class

04-14 :: Context/Genre Analysis: Proposals, Project,

Board from class

04-09 :: Context/Genre Analysis: Proposals, Project,

Board from class

04-07 :: Context/Genre Analysis: Proposals, Project, & White Sands

Background is discussion of White Sands, Ornatoski, more (eReserves or Handouts above):
- Homework Discussion: Project, Purpose, Proposals

Proposals: The Ultimate Persuasive Document

Overview: The Whole in a Nutshell
Problem: [For this project, the "problem" is that "writing" is understood too simply as making marks and filling in forms--not as the "system" or the "tools" which actually create or maintain the purposes, culture, ideology--even what the organization is. So the project is an opportunity to: 1) document/describe a writing/communication context--its goals/culture, and what it says it is and does, and what actually happens, and 2) to analyze how and why.]
Proposed Research, Activity, and/or "Solutions": [For this project, this section will simply show how the "topic" you're suggesting can do what what the project needs to.]

Structure of Report and Getting Cranking

Technical Report

Abstract
Introduction & Background
Context Data
Context Analysis
Genre Data
Genre Analysis
Final Conclusions, Reflection, and anything else

Final Portfolios

Home Page, Page for each Project
Contextualizing
Reflecting
Consistent Theme & Images

03-26 :: Airbag Case: The Difficulty of Excellent "Tool" Design

Background is discussion of Redish (eReserves or Handouts above):
- Homework Discussion: Examples of satisficing and dynamic reading
- What are the implications of this for the design of the "letter" (can we come up with name for what this thing we're writing? Airbag letter, sure, but that doesn't say what it's trying to do.)
- Documenting your writing (that is, your recursive problem-solving--analyze, write, test, re-analyze, re-write) "process" in a way that links to things technical communicators need to know--your thinking about writing instructions, about how to "argue" in constructive, congenial ways? Explaining complex or risky issues--danger--using statistics or data?
- User testing, usability, usefulness, or "system-centered, user-friendly, user-centered"
- Homework:
  - Revise Airbag Letter
  - Draft of memo about the project--connecting changes to tech comm/rhetoric concepts
  - Ideas for Context/Genre Analysis Project :: Several Ideas in Wiki
  - Reading: Ornatowski
- Board from class

03-24 :: Airbag Case: The Difficulty of Excellent "Tool" Design

Background is discussion of Redish (eReserves or Handouts above):
- Problem of Genre: Is this a letter?
- What do Instructions look like?
- Discussion of these issues
- Homework for Wed:
  - Wiki entries:
    - "Satisficing" examples of from your own experience;
    - Two examples interactive readers/communicators
    - Revised Airbag Letter
- Board from class

03-17 :: Airbag Case: Multi-purpose Writing and Design Serving Users

Background in the Case and more Discussion of Johnson:
- Case Docs in Handouts

02-20 :: CRS Dialogues: Transitions & Tactics

Sharing Examples of:
- Transition Moves
- Strategies for Connecting to the Audiences/Community
Situating CRS Project in the Issues in the Field

02-18 :: CRS Dialogues, Dialect & Feature "Grappling", Miller

Sharing particular discourse "features" & discussion
Discussing the 2nd half of the dialogue--a move connect/share rhetoric concepts and application
The transition trick & making it useful/connected for audience
Miller & the Problem of Practicality, gets at the heart of what we do

02-04 :: PDM User Test, Reading, Concepts

User Testing PDMs, Project Portfolios --

User Testing "Body Chunks"
- Identify "Parts": support first, then claim, then warrant
- Checking Fit to Purpose: Is the claim explicitly stating how this development shows writer learning about a particular concept? Does the support/evidence seem like a significant, meaningful, interesting, or funny development, or does the writer explain how it is?
User Testing the Overview (Document Definition)
- Does the Overview:
  - State what the document is?
  - Explain the need/problem the document is a response to?
  - Explain how the document is going to work at the problem?
  - Have a Talking Head trying to "pithily" (I know it's not a word) Name the Purpose?

01-30 :: Developing PDMs, Reading Discussion

Ingrediants

One pretty well developed IM
A Collection of Drafts and work papers like audience analysis, situation analysis, etc.
A Selection of Specific Changes between various "stages" in the process
A Selection of Concepts--Terminology of Rhetoric & Information Design
One draft of a chunk

To begin, select one interesting or significant change between drafts. Analyze how this particular change shows growth in awareness of the concepts this course is about: purpose, audience, ethos, argument, claim, support, warrant, etc. Write chunk arguing how your experience in developing the IM has involved applying, learning, developing, understanding, etc. the concepts of the course. You're arguing you are learning an approach to analyzing situations and how to write/design to deal with such situations/problems. Repeat 3-4 times using different examples, and different concepts, and then write an Overview that tries to explain why writing this stuff is important.

01-23 :: Presenting & Explaining Good "Chunks" of Other's IMs

Presentations: What's good, and why?
Working towards a rubric for evaluating IMs
But what is still missing? Bridging to the PDM

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