Mon: Introduction to the course. Review of key parts of syllabus. Review the syllabus by Wednesday and bring in any questions you have.

Those who do not yet have the textbook can go to the link below for free temporary access to the electronic version. You are still expected to obtain a copy of the book, print or electronic, for use for the entire semester.

http://www.macmillanhighered.com/launchpad/techcomm11e 

Wed: Introduction to Technical and Professional Communication, Chapter 1,
To Solve the Skills Gap in Hiring, Create Expectations in the Classroom, and 5 Workplaces Changes Your Boss Is Eying for the Future

Review of Employment Project and beginning discussion of employment documents.

Complete Exercise 1 on page 16 by the end of class time. Below is the description of exercise 1 above from the textbook, for those who do not yet have the book.

"Form small groups and study the home page of your college or university's website. Focus on three measures of excellence in technical communication: clarity, accessibility, and professional appearance. How effectively does the home page meet each of these measures of excellence. Be prepared to share your answers with class."

In addition to explaining how effectively the website meets these measures, explain why your group believes it does or does not. Your answers should be in complete sentences that go beyond surface-level analysis, i.e. more than "Accessibility: very well. Because it looks good." Only one response per group is required for submission, and be sure to record every contributor's name.

Fri: Writing Technical Documents, Chapter 3, Importance of Writing Skills in Business, and engineers: what kind of writing do you have to do on a regular basis? (x-post r/engineering). Discussion of the readings and the types of communication commonly used in the workplace.

By the end of class respond to questions 1-3 on page 50 and complete exercise 3 on page 56. Your response to exercise 3 may be turned in as a revision of the paragraph or a list of recommended revisions.

Mon: Employment Materials, Chapter 15, Purdue Owl: Writing the Personal Statement, and Writing the Curriculum Vitae. Beginning review of cover letters, resumes, personal statements, and curriculum vitaes.

We will also begin creating resumes and cover letters on this day. If possible, Bring a laptop or tablet you can use to create your draft. Drafts or copies of the drafts are due by the end of class.

Wed: Audience and purpose, Chapter 5. Discussion of Chapter 5 and key concepts.

Bring your resume and cover letter drafts for further workshopping.

Fri: Audience Analysis due. Designing Technical and Professional Documents, Chapter 11. Bring your resume and cover letter drafts for further workshopping.

By the end of class complete Exercise 4 on page 113 in groups. Only one submission per group is required. * This has been moved from Wednesday.

Mon: Labor Day, no class.

By noon Tuesday complete exercises 3 and 5 on pages 292-293.

Wed: Memos, Chapter 14. You may find additional resources at Purdue Owl: Parts of a Memo, Format of a Memo, and Sample Memo.

Fri: Group conferences, groups and times to be determined. Bring your employment documents. Location: Classroom.

Mon: Workshop. Bring or have access to a working copy of your reflection letter that can be read by classmates.

By the end of class complete exercises 3 and 4 on page 417. Per the instructions, responses must be formatted as memos.

Wed: Peer review of cover letter/personal statement and resume/curriculum vitae.

Fri: Employment Project due for a grade by 3 p.m. Read Serving Those Who Have Served and Veterans in the Workplace. We will use these articles as a launching point for the Proposal project.

Mon: Introduction to Proposal project, and formation of teams. Anyone who misses this day may be placed in a team at the instructor's discretion.

Wed: Writing Proposals, Chapter 16. Proposal workshop.

Fri: Workshop on proposals.

By the end of class please respond as a team to the following questions, in paragraph form:

1. Identify one to three topics your partner(s) and you are considering for your proposal. Explain the value of a proposal for each topic.

For the topic you have chosen:

2. Your proposal topic may be used for the next project. In consideration of this, explain what you believe the possible scope may be for your project if approved.

3. Who will your target audience be for this proposal? Explain why and how your proposal will address your target audience's needs.

4. What is your plan of work to complete this proposal? Be specific and go beyond summarizing due dates.

Mon: Collaboration in Technical and Professional Communication, Chapter 4.

Wed: Evaluating technical and professional communication, Chapter 13. By the end of class answer questions 1-3 on page 354 and complete exercise 1 on page 356. You can turn in both in the same file or the same print document.

Fri: Conferences.

Mon: Proposal Peer Review.

Wed: Proposal Presentations (attendance required). Location: Avery Hall Bundy.

Eng402-28 8:10-9

Teams: 1, 2, 4, 7

Eng402-09 1:10-2

Teams: 1, 4, 5, 6, 7

Fri: Proposal Presentations (attendance required). Location: Avery Hall Bundy. Proposal due.

Eng402-28 8:10-9

Teams: 3, 5, 6

Eng402-09 1:10-2

Teams: 2, 3, 8

Mon: Introduction to R&D Project. Formation of teams. Anyone who misses this day may be placed in a team at the instructor's discretion.

Wed: The research process, Chapter 6. Research and Project Planning Workshop. During class you will be given time as teams to identify your main goals, expected roles as of this point, and the key tasks your team intends to have completed by team conferences on Friday, October 27. You will be discussing these with the rest of class.

I will be asking about the above when we meet in conference.

Fri: Informational Reports, Chapter 17.

OPTIONAL: Resubmission of revised Employment Project for consideration for a higher grade.

Due date:  11:59 p.m., Friday, October 13, to the original project drop box.

What is required:
Copies of what you originally turned in
Final revised drafts
A memo in which you document what you revised to improve your documents, how they reflect improvement and learning, and highlights of specific features/examples that show this.

Submissions missing any of the above will not be considered.

Mon: Recommendation Reports, Chapter 18.

Wed: Creating Graphics, Chapter 12. By the end of class complete exercises 2 and 4 on page 336-337.

Fri: Review of Nielsen's Usability 101: Introduction to Usability and 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design. Team conferences.

Mon: Progress Report due. Chapter 2 Ethics and Legality.

Wed: Continued discussion of ethics and legality. Discussion of Ethics Scenario. By the end of class complete exercises 1 and 2 on page 39.

Fri: Conferences, times to be determined. During this class I will be meeting with each team to discuss the following:

With a week and a half left in the project, what tasks and/or goals does your team have between now and the due date for final project documents? How do you plan to meet these goals? What kinds of technical and professional communication will/may be necessary to achieve these tasks and/or goals?

Mon: Graphic and Report workshop. Bring or have access to your drafts.

Wed: Graphic peer review.

Fri: Written Report peer review.

Mon: R&D Presentations. Location: Avery Hall Bundy.

Eng402-28 8:10-9

Teams:

Eng402-09 1:10-2

Teams:

Wed: R&D Presentations. Location: Avery Hall Bundy. Final draft of all materials due, including Completion Report.

Eng402-28 8:10-9

Teams:

Eng402-09 1:10-2

Teams:

Fri: Veteran's Day holiday, no class.

Mon: Review of Information Interview project.

Wed: What Is an Information Interview Anyway? and Questions to Ask at the Informational Interview. Interview questions workshop.

Fri: Interview questions workshop. Last day to withdraw.

Thanksgiving Break, no class.

Mon: Interview Request due. Read How to Ask for an Informational Interview (and Get a “Yes”) and reread/review Chapter 6 section on Interviews (pages 136-143).

By the end of class complete exercise 3 on pages 144-145.

Wed: Progress report due. Read Networking: How to Make Contact and Informational Interviews. Workshop.

Fri: Group conferences.

Mon: Workshop and review. Bring or have access to your findings and letter.

Wed: Information Interview Report peer review and workshop.

Fri: Final review.

No class, no exam. Monday, Information Interview Letter due for a grade by 12 p.m. to Blackboard.