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Advanced Composition
English 202C - Technical Writing

Course Objectives
Sample Syllabus Materials

Sample Assignments

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Course Objectives

ENGL 202C, Technical Writing, serves students who are preparing for careers in the sciences and applied sciences (particularly engineering). This advanced course in writing familiarizes students with the discourse practices prized in their disciplinary and institutional communities-and helps them to manage those practices effectively in their own written work. In this way the course teaches those writing strategies and tactics that scientists and engineers will need in order to write successfully on the job. Accordingly, students in the course can expect to

SAMPLE SYLLABUS MATERIALS

Course Policies

Assignments: In this course, I will try to hold you to the professional standards that prevail in the working world. For example, of the requirements listed below, your employer will take some completely for granted, such as promptness, neat appearance, and correct mechanics.

Promptness. In this course, as in the working world, you must turn in your work on time. All projects are due at the beginning of class on the dates indicated on the syllabus. Assignments turned in late will normally be penalized one letter grade per day unless you have made other arrangements with me in advance.

Appearance. All work should be neatly typed, using standard margins and spacing. Whether it is a letter, a memorandum, or a report, your communication should exhibit appropriate format. In general, letters and memos should be single-spaced with a blank line between paragraphs and reports should be double-spaced. Rough drafts may be neatly handwritten; final drafts should be prepared on a word processor. You are responsible for separating pages and observing appropriate margins.

Grammar, Spelling, Proofreading. At work, even a single error in spelling, grammar, or proofreading can jeopardize the effectiveness of some communications--depending on the rhetorical situation. My grading will reflect the great seriousness with which these matters are often viewed in the working world. If you would like special assistance with any of these skills, I can recommend sources for extra help.

Back-up Copies. Always prepare two legible copies of each major assignment. I will grade one copy and hand it back; the other copy will be for your own safe keeping and permanent records. Sometimes I will request a "clean" copy of one of your papers so that I can use it as a sample, in packets such as this, to illustrate effective and problematic responses to assignments. I won't use your work without obtaining your permission.

Revisions. You will receive feedback on your writing from me and/or from your classmates at various stages of the writing process, from planning through the draft you hand in for a grade. You should try to apply the comments, not only to improve the particular paper you are working on at the time, but also to develop your strategies for writing in general. In some sense, no paper can ever be finished or perfected. However, if you think you can significantly improve a paper after it has been graded, you are welcome to do so if you consult with me during office hours about what you plan to do. If the grade for a revision is higher, it will replace the original grade. Note: cleaning up grammatical and stylistic problems does not constitute significant improvement. You must submit the original, graded paper with your revision.

Attendance and Preparation: I expect you to attend class everyday and to have your textbook and packet of supplementary materials with you. If you have unexcused absences, your class grade may be docked up to one full grade. Excused absences must be arranged in advance and all work missed must be made up. In an emergency, please call or e-mail me.

It is particularly important for you to attend and be prepared to participate in in-class workshops on drafts of your paper. The more you have written before a peer review session, the more you will benefit from the session. You are responsible both for making high quality comments on your classmates' papers and for considering classmates' comments in revising your own work. Your draft should be complete enough for you to be in a position to ask someone to help you with it. If you must miss a workshop, hand in your draft early and arrange to comment on another classmate's paper. Under no circumstances will I accept a "final" paper unless I've seen your rough draft.

Conferences: I strongly encourage you to see me when you have questions about an assignment, when you would like to try out some ideas before a paper is due, or when you have questions about a comment on a draft. You should also see me for help with particular writing problems, to resolve differences about grades, or to suggest ways to improve the course.

Grades: When grading each of your assignments, I will ask one overriding question: "Does it work?" That is, would your communication have the intended effect on the reader you are addressing in the world outside the classroom. I will, of course, recognize the difference between a competent performance (a "C") and good and excellent performances ("B" and "A"). A competent performance is one that stands a reasonable chance of succeeding; an excellent performance is one that seems assured not only of success but also of winning praise.

A - superior; the work is of near professional quality. The document meets or exceeds all the objectives of the assignment. The content is mature, thorough, and well-suited for the audience; the style is clear, accurate, and forceful; the information is well-organized and designed so that it is accessible and attractive; the mechanics and grammar are correct.

B - good; the document meets the objectives of the assignment, but it needs improvement in style, or it contains easily correctable errors in grammar, format, or content, or its content is superficial.

C - competent; the document needs significant improvement in concept, details, development, organization, grammar, or format. It may be formally correct but superficial in content.

D - marginally acceptable; the document meets some of the objectives but ignores others; the content is inadequately developed; or it contains numerous or major errors.

F - unacceptable; the document does not have enough information, does something other than the assignment required, or it contains major errors or excessive errors

Your grade in Technical Writing will be determined by the grades you receive on written assignments, according to the following weighting:

#1 Job Application Package 15%
#2 Technical Definition/Description 10%
#3 Instruction Set 10%
#4 Report for Decision Making 30%
#5 Progress Report 10%
#6 Usability Memo 15%
#7 Homework and Participation 10%

Portfolio: The portfolio is a record of your semester's formal work. It should contain the paper trail for 6 major papers, including drafts with comments, peer review forms, and optional revisions.

Plagiarism (Cheating) Talking over your ideas and getting comments on your writing from friends are NOT examples of plagiarism. Taking someone else's published or unpublished words and calling them your own IS plagiarism. Plagiarism has dire consequences, as spelled out in the English Department regulations included in this packet.

Nota Bene The Pennsylvania State University encourages qualified people with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities and is committed to the policy that all people shall have equal access to programs, facilities, and admissions without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state or federal authorities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this course or have questions about physical access, please tell me as soon as possible.

SAMPLE ASSIGNMENT SHEETS

Assignment #1: Job Application Packet

Most people obtain jobs through a multi-stage process. First you research the types of jobs you are qualified for and the types of employers you would like to work for. Then you try to convince specific employers to consider you for a job. These days, most employers have too many applicants per job to interview each personally. These employers sort through job application packages (resumes and cover letters) to decide which applicants to consider further. So your first communication with your future employer is likely to be in writing and must persuade him or her to continue the conversation.

For this assignment, you will write:

Two cover letters addressed to different prospective employers and that apply for two different types of jobs. The letters should highlight different aspects of your experience relevant to the different jobs.

Two resumes that may well differ significantly in content or in layout or both. The choices of content and layout should emphasize appropriate experience for each job.

A cover memo addressed to me that overviews the two jobs, reviews what you know about these particular employers, and describes the strategies and tactics you have used to adapt your letter and resume to each situation. I expect you to make good use of the information in this memo in the arguments you present in your cover letters to the employers.

Memo

Write a brief memo (no more than two pages) addressed to me that will help me read, understand, evaluate, and "coach" your resumes and cover letters. For each of the two jobs, the memo must contain a separate job description and audience analysis, as well as a commentary highlighting how you adapted your resumes and cover letters to the different jobs. Since the memo will be of use to you in designing the rest of your job application package, you probably should think about it early-even begin drafting it early. But you should look over it carefully at the very end of the project to make sure that it tells me "how to read" your resumes and cover letters.

Job Description. You may base your job description on job listings that you find in a professional or trade journal, on the Internet, or in other resources on campus at Career Services . The jobs should be different enough that you will have to emphasize different parts of your experience to qualify for the positions. You may also (with my permission) write for a summer job, an internship, or for a scholarship or other award. Note that you must hand in copies of the job ads you use.

Audience Analysis. Investigate the particular companies you are applying to. You may obtain information on many companies from the library, on the Internet, or from Career Services. You may also contact the personnel office of the company directly. Then write one or two paragraphs that specify any special qualities or experience that this company may be looking for in its employees. For example, suppose you are applying for a job as a chemical engineer. A small company may be looking for an engineer who can work on a variety of projects, while another may be looking specifically for someone with experience with polymers. This is also the place to describe anything you know about the particular person you are writing to. Note: I expect you to make extensive use of this information in your cover letter. It might also have a big impact on the organization and choice of details in your resume.

Rhetorical Analysis. Describe how you adapted each resume and cover letter for its particular type of job, company, and reader and why you made those changes. Normally, your reasons will be closely related to the information in the job description and audience analysis.

Resume The purpose of the resume is to describe your qualifications for a type of job. Since this assignment requires you to apply for two somewhat different jobs, you may well decide to create two somewhat different resumes.

Content. Your resume should include contact information and relevant details of your educational training, professional training, special accomplishments, and skills. A resume is not a life history. The goal is to argue that you are qualified for a particular type of job and that you would be a capable, responsible, and personable employee who communicates effectively.

Format. Your format may be traditional or innovative as long as it is appropriate and as along as the information is highly accessible and is organized in a way that highlights the most important items (from the employer's perspective).

Style. Your style should be fairly formal. You need not use complete sentences, but you should use a concise, active style and show consistency in expression from section to section.

Cover Letter

While your resume is addressed to any employer with a certain type of job opening, the cover letter is most effective when tailored to a particular employer. The purpose of the cover letter is to persuade that specific employer to grant you an interview. Just as you appreciate being treated as an individual rather than as a statistic, so does an employer. Are you applying hit-or-miss to every company in the country? Or have you invested some effort into finding a company that you are well suited for?

Content and Organization. The opening of your letter should establish why you are writing to your reader. Be explicit about the fact that you are looking for a particular kind of job and explain why you would like to work at that particular company. Preview the body of the letter by stating your major qualifications for the job. The body of the letter develops each qualification with specific evidence. The goal is to show the reader both that you know what that specific company needs and that you have what it takes. You may organize this section in various ways: around your training and experience, around what the job or the company requires, or some other way. The letter should close by inviting a response.

Style. Cover letters are difficult to write because they aim at somewhat conflicting goals. On the one hand, you want to make a good first impression. So you want to sound polite and fairly formal. On the other hand, you want to stand out from the crowd-otherwise, why should the employer hire you rather than any of the other applicants? The best policy is probably to talk to your reader as directly and naturally as possible. Avoid hype.

Format. Use a conventional business letter format. Be brief: if possible, stick to one page.

Standard for Correctness Employers impose a strict standard of correctness on application materials: An error is the equivalent of a bad spot on your shirt. Accordingly, I will mark this assignment on a somewhat stricter scale than usual. If any letter or resume contains more than two typographical or grammatical errors, I reserve the right to dock the entire package one letter grade. I will dock the package even more if there are numerous typographical or grammatical errors.

Assignment #2: Technical Definition/Description

Engineers and scientists are often required to describe a technical object, concept, or process to someone who has little knowledge or experience with the subject at hand. For example, your engineering firm might write a proposal to bid on a contract to develop a helicopter for the Defence Department; one section of the proposal would be a detailed description of the product your propose to develop. Technical descriptions are used before products and processes are developed (as part of proposals and planning documents), during development (in progress reports, for instance), and afterwards (as part of marketing and promotional literature and technical support documents.

There are two different kinds of technical descriptions to consider. Choose whichever one is appropriate, depending on your topic.

A product description explains the features of a specific device, like a scientific instrument or computer program. Possible topics include devices that are specific to your field, or devices you use in everyday life:

A process description explains how a complex event occurs, including a mechanical process (i.e. how donuts are made) or natural event (i.e. how lightning is produced). You can choose a process that is specific to your field, or one that people may be curious about:

Audience and exigence: Select an audience that would be interested in learning about the process or product you explain. For example, you could assume an audience of students reading about your topic in a textbook. You could write a marketing document to persuade people to buy a product. Or, you could write a description that would be part of a proposal being sent to a potential client.

Gathering Information: Look for technical support documents for the product or process you are describing. Search the web courses. for technical documents that are related to your topic, or draw on material you've used in other courses.

Contents

For product descriptions, start with a definition of the product and its various parts. Next, describe each part in more detail, including its dimensions, materials, function, and relation to other parts. Conclude with a description of one complete operating cycle for the product.

For process descriptions, start with a definition of the process and the different steps it involves. Next, describe each step in more detail. Conclude with a summary of one complete cycle in the process.

In either case, though, remember to choose contents based on the audience's level of interest, experience, and knowledge about the topic.

Format: Include design features to help the reader locate information and understand the product or process better: diagrams, headers, bulleted lists and so on.

Length: 2 pages.

Visuals: You can either develop your own visuals (a rough sketch is fine if you don't know how to prepare one with a computer program), or include a "reference visual" (a published copy with instructions on how it would need to be adapted to suit your purpose). Be sure to cite the source for any published visual you would use.

What to hand in

Assignment #3: Instruction Set

Instruction sets are common technical documents for many disciplines and occupations. Employees read instructions to learn how to assemble a product or complete a procedure. Supervisors write out company policies that oftentimes serve as instruction sets. Customers read instructions for using a product. For this assignment, you will develop a set of instructions advising users to perform a specific task.

Before deciding on a task, consider the following guidelines:

Topics

Your instructions should help users to perform any kind of task that requires several steps or stages. Here are some topic ideas:

Rhetorical Situation

Before you begin to write, consider the rhetorical situation for your instructions. Use the rhetorical analysis worksheet to help you determine the purpose, audience, and context for your instructions. Next, use the instructions planning worksheet to help you develop the contents for your instructions (see below).

Contents

Depending on the nature of your task, you may wish to include some or all of the following contents.

Organization

Obviously, instructions are normally organized in a chronological order. Beyond that, here are some other guidelines:

Format

Your instructions should be designed to accommodate multiple reading styles and user needs. Accordingly, your design should include:

Length should be 3-5 pages.

What to hand in:

Evaluation

Audience Accommodation: The instructions are appropriate for the intended audience. They're written from a user-centered, rather than system-centered, perspective. They anticipate the user's questions, difficulties, and needs.

Content: The instructions include all of the information needed to complete the task at hand. Background information, warnings, and definitions are included where appropriate.

Organization: The instructions are organized logically. Items within numbered lists are organized chronologically. Sub-sections are clearly marked with headings.

Format: The instructions include each of the format features listed above. The overall design is clear and consistent. The instructions use fonts, white space, contrast, alignment, headings and sub-headings appropriately and consistently.

Style: The instructions effectively create a professional ethos. The tone is effective for the audience. Instructions are written as active voice commands. Headings and numbered and bulleted items are in parallel form. The document is free from typographical or grammatical errors.

Assignment #4: Technical Report

For Assignment #4, you will write a report for decision making (or what is sometimes called a recommendation report). Your report will aid a reader in solving a problem by presenting the results of research and your evaluation of the significance of the findings. The recommendations will suggest specific actions to solve the problem. Your research methods will probably include library (or secondary) research, but since the problem is particular to a time and place, you will also conduct research by "primary" means of information gathering. The report will highlight criteria for decision making in its structure.

Your report will answer one of the following questions:

The Problem

Look for a project with practical application; that is, be able to define how a specific reader will use your report. The best projects are real and "local" rather than theoretical. (Don't ask huge questions, such as whether universal health care is feasible in the United States.) Practical topics relate to your work, organizations, or field of specialization. The recommendation must require the investigation of at least two criteria for decision making in at least two of the three categories: technical, managerial, and social (see pp. 506-510).

Research

You must use at least two types of research, such as letter of inquiry, questionnaire, interview, site inspection, Internet research, and library research. (If your project is an analysis of uses of the Internet in your discipline, one type may suffice.)

Format

Your report will include the following elements:

The body of the report, including introduction and conclusions, will probably run about 10 double-spaced pages in 12-point type. The preliminary and supplemental pages will be additional. Number pages, use a running header, and use headings in the report text. Note that the report is worth 30% of your grade for the course. Please manage your time well.

Sample Topics Is it feasible to install speed bumps on Shortlidge road?
Is it better for the contracting company I work for to install concrete slab driveways or regular asphalt driveways in the development they're working on?
Which type of marketing would be better for the Meals-on-Wheels new promotional campaign: flyers and brochures, or a public relations video?
Which law school is better for a career in intellectual property, Dickinson or Pitt?
Why do the necks of subjects ache when our lab does tests for zero-gravity muscular motion, and how can we fix the problem?
Why are the Internet connections so slow in Pollock Hall, and how can we make them faster?
Are more bicycle paths feasible for the Penn State campus?
Is a Diver Propulsion Vehicle a feasible project for the senior design project in mechanical engineering?
What resources are available on the Internet to support research in my discipline? (Categorize by type, recommend particular ways to use the net for specific inquiries.)

Evaluation criteria

I will evaluate the reports according to these expectations:

The executive summary reflects the entire report concisely. Introduction, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are covered. Significant factual information is present. Sentences are efficient, and the summary does not exceed one page.

The introduction states a problem (with who-what-when-where-why-so what information), identifies a research question, explains methods, and forecasts the rest of the report.

The body sections reflect criteria for decision-making. Headings are parallel. Each body section is a mini report, with an introduction, findings, and conclusion. The introduction defines the issue and explains its significance. The findings report what you have discovered through research. The "conclusion" (just on that issue) tries to define the significance of the findings for the research question and to reconcile any conflicts.

The conclusion section for the entire report weighs the results from all the criteria and answers the research question. All the criteria should be accounted for. The conclusion does not introduce any new criteria. The section includes interpretive (not just factual) statements: words like "more important because..." or "a more immediate need" or "long term benefits outweigh short-term costs." You put the findings for each criteria in relation to one another. You justify and explain your answer to the research question. The conclusion answers the research question: An explicit statement will say something like "A is the better choice" or "X is not feasible at this time."

The recommendations direct specific action (without explanation or justification). The recommendations may (but do not have to be) in list form. If there is a list, the verbs may be "command" verbs (imperative mood). Items in the list are in parallel form.

All the report parts are present (title, table of contents, executive summary, report, illustrations, references etc.). Illustrations support the argument (they highlight important information that would be harder to understand with words alone) and they are constructed and labeled according to conventions. Format reveals the structure. Headings show main divisions. A running head and page numbers help readers find their place. Preliminary pages are numbered with roman numerals. Sentence style emphasizes strong verbs. Grammar and mechanics are correct. References are complete and accurate. The citation style is the one used by the writer's discipline (e.g., APA for social science and business, reference notes for engineering, MLA for literature, Chicago-author/date for technical writing).

AND, finally: The problem is significant, research is good, reasoning is sound. The report is convincing and important.

Assignment #5: Progress Report

Definition, purpose, and resulting action

A progress report updates a project supervisor on work accomplished and work remaining on a long-term project. The report helps an organization coordinate related projects. The report should persuade the supervisor that you will achieve the intended goals by the specified deadline. The report also offers an opportunity to propose a slight change in focus or methods or to request additional support. If the progress is satisfactory, the supervisor will continue support of the project (and of the investigator). If progress is not satisfactory, a project may be canceled or assignments redefined. Text reference: pp. 477-484.

Your assignment

Prepare a progress report on your major report project. The progress report should:

You may describe problems encountered (especially if the problems will shape the final outcome, such as a shift in purpose), but don't whine. If possible, explain how the problems have or will be resolved. The report should be positive in tone without being inflated in its assessment. The best way to accomplish this goal is to be specific about accomplishments. The best way to be specific about accomplishments is to have some! Plan your research and writing so that you will be able to describe your progress in a way that attracts the approval of a supervisor. In other words, work on the most important tasks first, and budget your time wisely.

The planning worksheet you developed for the recommendation report becomes a measure of the accomplishments. Are you on schedule? Have you varied that plan, and if so, how?

Report format, structure, and style

Present your report in memo format. You can address the report either to me or to a client for whom you are preparing your recommendation report. (Note that contents will differ somewhat depending on your main audience. Your client is less interested in writing tasks than I am, but we are both interested in the results of your research.)

Layout and Design: Use headings to show where the subdivisions begin and end. Consider using visuals (i.e. tables, Gantt charts) to display spatial information. Number pages. The report will probably be 2-3 typed pages (depending on type style and spacing mostly).

Structure:

  1. Begin the report with a brief overview of the project's purpose and scope.
  2. For the body of the memo, describe the work you have accomplished so far, any problems you have encountered, and what remains to be done. There are two essential ways to structure the progress report: chronologically (work completed-work in progress-work remaining) or by task (interview, library research, writing). Either way, you need to be very specific! For instance, rather than saying "conducted interview," say "interviewed G. Smith and P. Jones regarding feasibility of computer-based instruction to teach productivity skills".
  3. Optional: Within the body of the memo, or at towards the end of the report, writers sometimes include a table to summarize tasks and completion dates. You may also wish to include a separate section describing any complications you've encountered and how you plan to address them.
  4. For the conclusion, indicate whether the project is on schedule according to the management plan.

Style: Use active voice verbs and concrete nouns to suggest achievement. Save evaluative terms ("good") for the overall assessment in the conclusion.

Evaluation criteria

  1. The document meets the objectives of a progress report in content and organization.
  2. A brief project description orients the reader to the project. The content is specific, and achievements and problems are easy to identify. Achievements are reasonable for this point in the project.
  3. Organization and format make it easy to find the relevant information.
  4. Style is businesslike: the writer neither whines about problems and looks for excuses nor inflates the accomplishments unreasonably. Action verbs suggest accomplishment. Format, grammar, and mechanics conform to conventions for memo reports.

Assignment #6: Usability Memo

This last assignment serves as a kind of final examination in that it tests how well your have learned the concepts in this course, especially the rhetorical concepts of audience, purpose, organization, style, and visual design.

As you have learned in this course, technical communication happens all around us; it is indeed a central part of our professional and personal lives. You consult a cookbook to figure out how to make mashed potatoes. You access the help menu to find out how to put footnotes into a Word document. You check the ITS FAQ to determine how to upload files to your Website. Yet, more often than not, these activities lead to feelings of frustration and powerlessness. How come technical writing so often doesn't work? Why doesn't anyone know how to program a VCR? How come 80% of child safety seats are improperly installed? And why is filing taxes such a painful process?

In this assignment, you'll write a usability memo that helps to answer this question. You'll apply the basic principles of technical communication to determine what makes a document effective or ineffective. People in the field of usability would call this kind of investigation a heuristic evaluation. In such an evaluation, researchers apply the "best practices" of technical communication in the research literature to a document in development, in order to assess its usability for readers (although one of your other goals is to convince me that you have learned the basic principles of technical communication).

For this assignment, you will: (1) choose a piece of technical communication, a document, to analyze (this is a very important part of the assignment, for some documents will be easier to analyze than others); (2) evaluate the document for usability; (3) write a usability report that organizes your analysis in both a logical and convincing way.

1) Choose a Document

Locate a piece of technical communication that you might use in your everyday life. In other words, you should be a part of the target audience for the instructions.

Here are some ideas (don't be limited by them):

As a first step, try to gather at least three or four possible documents. Do not just choose the first one you find. Then, consider the length and complexity of the document. If your document is very long, you won't be able to analyze it in enough detail. If your document is too short, you might have trouble coming up with enough elements to discuss. Next, take some time to look through the documents briefly and consider them from a rhetorical perspective. If the document is already perfect, you won't have much to say in your memo. Try to find a document that has at least some rhetorical problems that are immediately obvious (you'll find more as you work through the worksheets for this assignment). That way, you'll definitely have some factors to discuss in the body section and some recommendations to make at the end of the memo.

2) Evaluate the Document for Usability

First, fill out the planning worksheet for this assignment. This will help you to get a better sense of the audience and purpose for your document.

Next, use the usability worksheet to evaluate the instructions. As you work through the checklist, try to put yourself in the place of a user who is actually reading the document. In other words, it's not just a matter of whether a certain element is in the document, but whether or not the user would reasonably be able to find and understand that element. For example, an instruction manual might include a 1-800 number for customer service, but the number might be buried in fine print at the end of the document where no one will see it. An online help section might provide instructions on how to do "Mail Merge," but it might not explain to the user what "Mail Merge" is or why one might want to use it. Make sure to note any place in the document where a user might have trouble performing a task or understanding content, places where users might have questions, places where terms need to be defined, and so on.

3) Write the Usability Memo

Your report should take the form of a memo, and your memo should be addressed to the person or group in charge of the document you're reporting on. For instance, if you are analyzing the effectiveness of some instructions from the ITS Website, you would address whoever is in charge of writing documentation for that site. Call or e-mail ITS to find out. If you can't, make up a name and position, but remember that you are addressing the person who wrote (or managed the writing of) the document you are reporting on. As you write, provide specific details and examples to support your usability claims. Since your audience may not be familiar with the principles we've discussed in class, you should explain why a certain feature makes the document ineffective or why a certain suggestion would improve the document.

Contents

Format

See pages 592-595 in your textbook for sample memos and their conventions. You can change certain design features for the memo (e.g., type face and size), but you should include the following:

The length should be at least three (3) single-spaced pages.

Grading & Evaluation

Content. The memo includes each of the sections listed above. Within each section, the usability claims are supported by concrete examples and evidence. The section goes beyond reporting answers to the usability questions: it explains why a given item is effective or ineffective. That is, the memo moves well beyond description and into analysis.

Organization. The memo is organized in a logical manner overall and within each section. Headers mark each section.

Format. The memo includes each of the format features listed above. The overall design is clear and consistent. The memo uses fonts, white space, headings and sub-headings appropriately and effectively.

Style. The memo creates a professional ethos, one that demonstrates a solid understanding of the basic principles of technical communication. The tone is effective for the audience. The document is free from typographical and grammatical errors.

What to hand in:

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENT OPTIONS

The following assignments were developed in part and provided by English graduate students connected with the Leonhard Center Technical Writing Initiative.

Article Adaptation

As a technical writer, (or future engineer, scientist, etc.), you will often write for technical audiences, who understand the terminology, concepts, and values of your discipline. However, you will also need to write about technical information for a non-technical audience, or an audience that may not share your terminology, values, or concerns. This type of writing can be difficult, but adapting information for a non-technical audience is a valuable skill to have. For instance, engineers often report to local government officials, doctors need to explain procedures to hospital boards, and research scientists must relate their work-in-progress to grant-funding foundations. This assignment is designed to give you experience in defining and explaining research findings to a specific audience who needs the information but lacks your background knowledge in this area.

For this assignment, you will choose a technical document or article from your discipline and write a document explaining it to an audience outside that community. Imagine that a co-worker, colleague, client, or some other audience wants you to explain the findings of that article to them. Your readers are probably smart people-but they don't share the expertise you have in your specific field. Your job is to "translate" the article from a highly scientific or technical language into something that audience can understand.

The format for this assignment is open, but it will depend on the audience you choose. Here are some possible choices:

How to get started:

Specifications:

Evaluation Criteria

What to hand in: A copy of the original article, your planning worksheet (to remind me of your audience, purpose, etc.), your rough drafts, and your finished document. Secure all documents with a clip or put them in a folder. Article Adaptation Materials

Locating academic journals in your field:

Researchers in every academic discipline publish their findings in highly specialized academic journals. An academic journal is different from a trade journal, magazine, or newsletter. In order to be published in an academic journal, an article must first be peer-reviewed. That means that other professors or researchers in the field read the article, comment on it, and recommend to the editor whether or not it should be published. The peer-review process ensures that each article is well-researched, credible, and important to the discipline.

To locate academic journals in your field, go to the Penn State library website. Click on Research Tools, then choose By Subject. You'll see an alphabetic list of academic disciplines. Click on your major or discipline. You'll be taken to a web guide for research in your field. Each discipline has a slightly different web guide to scholarly research. Look for a list of academic journals or a database where you can search for journal articles.

Or, ask one of your professors what the top journals are in your discipline.

Once you've found some journals in your field.

Most academic journals have websites. Some provide articles online for subscribers. So do two things:

Look for the journal's website on the Internet and evaluate their credibility. Even if the journal does not provide articles online, you can often examine the editorial policy and skim tables of contents. Look at the editorial policy and determine whether or not the journal uses a peer-review system. If it doesn't, then you should look for a more reputable journal.

Search for the journal on the CAT. Be sure to select "journal title" from the dropdown box. Penn State now subscribes to online versions of many journals. Look for a web link when the search comes up. If there's no link, you'll have to actually get your butt over to the library. Note the location of the current issues of the journal-sometimes there in a different spot from less recent issues.

Article Adaptation - Planning Worksheet

1. What article will you be adapting? Give the title and the name of the journal it came from.

2. Who is the audience for your adaptation? How does this topic relate to the audience's concerns, values, beliefs, and interests? In other words, why should they care about the topic?

3. What format will you be re-writing for? How are these kinds of documents usually written? (Think about style, organization, use of visuals, and so on).

4. What does your audience know about the topic already? What might not they know?

5. What technical terms or concepts will you need to explain? How can you define them in terms the audience will understand? (i.e. definition by metaphor, comparison-contrast, negation, etc.)

6. What visual elements can you use to attract the reader's attention or to illustrate relevant terms, concepts, relationships, trends, or ideas?

Assignment: Article Adaptation-Draft Workshop Checklist

Audience accommodation:

Content:

Organization:

Style & Mechanics:

Layout & Design:

Assignment: Collaborative Evaluations

After working collaboratively on the last assignments (and others throughout your college career), you have gained insight into the promise and peril of group work. This last assignment offers you the chance to design an evaluation form for yourself and your peers to complete. Your evaluation form must follow the specifications below, but the questions will be largely up to you. This is an individual assignment. We will have a normal rough draft session for this assignment on Tuesday, May 1st. As you design these forms, keep in mind that 5% of your grade will be based on your groups' evaluation of your collaborative effort AND that you will have to fill out your own form. A letter of transmittal should be attached to the evaluative form.

Objectives:

Specifications-your evaluative form must include the following elements: