ENGL 2116-014: Introduction to Technical Communication » Major Assignments

Major Assignments

Weekly Discussion Posts (weekly)

Every week, you will have a prompt to inspire your to write at least a 250-word response on Canvas. These posts are 20 points each, and you’ll have 15 of them, so that’s 300 points total (30% of your final grade). You should set a weekly reminder to do these because I won’t accept late ones. Also, these are due on Thursdays at 11pm–not midnight–so set that reminder.

Résumé and Cover Letter (DUE February 1st)

Go to the lesson page for January 23rd and review the supplemental reading online. SHOW. DON’T TELL. This is a portfolio assignment, so you’ll have a chance to revise it.

Prose Revision Assignment (DUE February 15th)

Go to the Prose Revision Assignment page to see the three paragraphs you are to revise–using the ideas we’ve discussed.

Set of Instructions Assignment (DUE February 22nd)

Your instructions shouldn’t be more than five pages. Use a visual, and follow the other directions below. Don’t think too big on this assignment: you aren’t going to put a car together, but you might change a tire or the oil (“don’t you just ditch the car when the oil gets dirty”). Please come up with a procedure that you can describe step by step in two and a half pages. Obviously, you won’t be writing in paragraph form. Remember to include DANGERS, WARNINGS, CAUTIONS, and NOTES as applicable:

  • Dangers identify immediate hazard to life or limb
  • Warnings protect users from injury and manufacturers from legal action.
  • Cautions protect machinery.
  • Notes are tips for better performance and ease of use.

Use the following directions to create your instructions:

  1. For a technology (an object, tool, or system) prepare an order form for all the parts. Each part will need a part number in addition to the name. Consider the appearance of the order sheet, its columns and spaces, the complicating factors of model year and interchangeable parts in your design of the media.-or-Instead of an order form, list the items (parts, tools, skills, time, etc.) a user may need to complete the task. For instance, if you’re describing how to fix a computer, you may list the following items as necessary:
  2. Write a brief description of the technology or procedure for a lay or semi-technical audience (for example, college students, storeowners, catalog customers, etc.). This is a description and NOT a set of instructions. It should be about two paragraphs (8-10 college-level sentences).
  3. Write ONE explanation (set of instructions) on how the technology or procedure is carried out. By “carried out” I mean explain one of the following: how is it set; how is it set up; how is it used; how does one go about doing…you know…doing the steps; how does it (or the system) work. Be sure to include warnings, cautions, notes, and dangers if needed.
  4. List the sources you used to create the instructions or describe the procedure. I realize that some of you won’t need to do this, so it isn’t a requirement, but, if you do use sources, be good students and list them.
  1. Small screw drivers
  2. Anti-static wrist band
  3. Thermal glue
  4. Other tools
  5. Parts the user will be replacing, adding, “modding” (heatsink, CPU, disk drive, power supply, etc)

-or-

If you’re describing a simple procedure, list the main terms that a lay or semi-technical audience may need defined before reading the instructions. For instance, if you’re describing how a toilet refills itself, you may have to list and describe the following items:

  1. Fillvalve—the valve that opens to fill the toilet…I guess.
  2. Flushvalve—the valve that opens to flush…why not?
    Flushvalve washer—it’s got to be something connected to the thing above.
  3. Lever—if you don’t know this piece, you aren’t allowed in my house.
  4. Brass float rod—the rod attached to the flushvalve that holds the float ball.
  5. Plastic float ball—that plastic ball that hangs on the end of the float rod.
  6. Chain and stopper—the chain that rises with the float ball; the stopper is attached to the end of the chain.
  7. Toilet tempering valve/mixing valve—valve that mixes hot and cold water to prevent sweating (condensation).

5. An alternative assignment can be to describe a science. For instance, why does rain fall? What’s Global Warming? But be forewarned!!! These descriptions must be in your own words. I’m sure you’ll consult sources, but do not steal material word for word from ANY source (print or online).

6. Please do not do instructions on the following:

  • recipes–unless you are willing to explain the science behind what is happening to the food as it is cooked or processed. You can’t just put down a recipe with ingredients and steps to make the food. You need to discuss the science behind cooking.
  • Video game walkthroughs

7. Questions?

This is a portfolio assignment, so you’ll have a chance to revise it. If you’re wondering how long this should be, it should be long enough to adequately demonstrate the instructions or explain the science. If it’s not long enough, I’ll let you know for your revision.

I, Robot Essay (DUE March 31st)

This quick read is perfect for you. It’s filled with suspense, drama, humor, and robots! Take a look at possible short essay topics to choose from. Feel free to create your own, but remember that you have to read the entire book in order to do the essay. Don’t forget to review the I, Robot Discussion page.

Logistics

Good luck. All essays are meant to be at least five full pages in a normal typed, double spaced format. All should have a title other than, “I, Robot Essay.” Also, all essays should be well written, unified, coherent documents nearly free of mechanical, logical, or structural errors (representative of appropriate college-level writing for a 2000-level course). Do not pad your essays with unnecessary long quotations. Quotations do not count towards your page requirement, and I will reduce your grade if you try to extend your essay by using long quotations. If you do use them, make sure they’re relevant and then make sure you go beyond the 5-page requirement.

I will deduct points for poorly written essays and essays not fitting the proper format. For instance, your papers should be formatted appropriately for essays with your Name, ENGL 2116-XXX, the Chapter and question you’re answering, and the Date single spaced, and everything else should be double spaced after that starting with a centered title. You should use a 12 pt Times New Roman font and have no more than 1-inch margins. Number pages after the first page. Upload your paper to Canvas in .doc, .docx, or .pdf formats. I’ll deduct the following points for not following the format/content directions:

  • No title: -10 pts
  • Improper margins: -15 pts
  • Improper font (too big): -20 pts
  • Double Spacing headings or triple spacing between paragraphs: -5 pts
  • Less than 5 pages: -20 pts
  • Less than 4 pages: -30 pts
  • Less than 3 pages: -40 pts
  • Less than 2 pages: No credit

Of course, the above formatting issues are just surface features and are to be considered after you write a well-reasoned argument that shows you’ve read the novel. As always, if you do cite outside sources, you have to have an appropriate Works Cited/References page, and that doesn’t count towards the 5-page requirement.

Ethical Dilemmas (DUE April 19th)

Here’s the link to your ethical dilemma homework. Remember, this is a “writing intensive” course, and I’m sure no one will debate it isn’t.

Although this definition isn’t hermetic, we’re focusing on ethics as it–the subject–relates to professions; therefore, ethics can be consider a code of conduct, which Ch. 3 in Tebeaux and Dragga suggests. This assignment (as well as our course webpages devoted to ethics) is designed to get you thinking about the gray area of ethics…no absolute right or wrong.

Proposals, Annotated Bibliography, Visuals (DUE April 26th)

I’m going to have you find 10 sources for your annotated bibliography. I expect these to be individual projects–not groups. Normally, the annotated bibliography shows the reader (me) that you’ve explored a topic, done background research. This research is supposed to inform your research questions and, ultimately, your final report, design, presentation, etc. Instead of doing a full research project, you’ll be setting one up and talking about how you might approach it. So there’s no confusion, below is what you need for this assignment (include everything together in one file):

  1. a proposal (at least 400 words) that explains what you want to research
  2. an annotated bibliography that details sources
    • I have VERY SPECIFIC requirements for these annotations
  3. a visual or visuals that are related to your research topic.
    • Images, charts, graphs, tables, etc.–you only need one
    • It has to be relevant to your proposal

Please consider topics that revolve around one of the following:

  • Proposing a technical or scientific solution to a problem.
  • Expanding a company or organization’s business model(s).
  • Describing a technology (must be different from your set of instructions).
  • Describing a science (must be different from your set of instructions).
  • Something else related to technology or technical communication.

Please make sure these are actual, real world problems–no magic wands or science fiction technologies.

Because this is in place of a research project, include a 400-word description of how you would go about conducting a project with the information you found. Your research question or questions would be a part of this description. Things to consider would be the following:

All the topics below do not have to be addressed–use your best judgment.

  • Purpose of the project–what or why or how are you going to address the project’s research question
  • Scope of the project–what are the boundaries of the project (you can’t cover everything)
  • Methodology of the project–how might you go about gathering the necessary information or items for the project
  • Timeframe of the project–how long might an actual project of this size take
  • Budget for the project–how much might a project you’re proposing cost (if applicable)
  • Possible impact of the project–what result or results might you expect (this might already be addressed in the purpose)

Annotation Requirements

The goal of this assignment is to do research the right way. By “the right way” I mean that you should always gather more information than you need; then, you should sort through the information in order to learn more about your topic. Some information might be more helpful than other information, but you wouldn’t know that if you simply gathered the first few sources that came from google. In order for me to see what topic you’re considering, I want to read an annotated list of sources. Check here for more details about annotation requirements (Scroll down to “Annotation Example”).

Please note that means you should have 4-5 sentences per source.

Final Portfolios (May 1st)

I have a list of portfolio requirements for you to follow as you’re putting together the final portfolio.

Final Presentations (May 3rd)

I always try to give students the opportunity to do some kind of public speaking in every class I teach. Although this isn’t a public speaking class, presenting information to an audience orally is germane to the spirit of the field of technical/professional communication. Most of you will have to do some kind of public presenting in the future, so it’s a good idea to get all the practice you can. You’re welcome.

Because we aren’t face to face, you’ll make a 4-5 minute video based on your Final Project. You will speak and have visuals. It shouldn’t be a video of just you talking for 4-5 min; instead, consider this a “voice over” that narrates your presentation.

This has do be at least 4-5 min–don’t go under 4 min, and don’t go over 5 min. The goal is for you to choose the appropriate details to fit into this timeframe.

I have a final oral presentations page up that gives you more details about adapting your final projects to a 4-5 min presentation.

Final Exam (May 11th)

Your Final Exam is Wednesday, 5/11 on Canvas. I hope to have it opened by Monday, May 9, but you’ll have until 11:00 pm on Wednesday, 5/11 to finish it. It’s two and a half hours to finish it once you start (assuming you start before 8:30 pm because the exam closes promptly at 11:00 pm). If you’ve read the material this semester, it will be easy. Make sure you go over the following:

  • Using simple, direct verbs for résumé duties
  • Revising for passive voice, parallelism, and other wordiness
  • General guidelines for block and modified block letter formats
  • Key Terms and Ideas from Chapters 3, 6, 8, and 9 in Dragga and Tebeaux (This is your textbook)
    • Ch. 3: Writing ethically (and inclusively)
    • Ch. 6: Designing effective and ethical visuals
    • Ch. 8: Parts of reports
    • Ch. 9: Rhetorical Strategies of Proposals
  • Effective presentation guidelines–preparation, eye contact, voice projection, relevance, and…
  • I, Robot issues related to technology and technical communication
  • Research strategies and databases commands
  • Source credibility and authority
  • Ethics as a personal philosophy–Utilitarianism, Deontology, Teleology, Theologism, Objectivism, and Toscanoism
  • Statistics…well, manipulation with statistics (see Darrel Huff)
    • Mean, median, mode
    • Relative size of graphics
    • Four out of five people know stats are bogus…
  • And other pertinent stuff we brought up in class

The Final Exam is slightly cumulative, and, even though you have 2 hours and 30 minutes, it should only take you 45-60 min.