Course Description
ENGL 419: Multimedia Writing
Time: MWF 1:30-2:20
Location: SC 183
Instructor: J. Tirrell
Contact: jtirrell@purdue.edu
Office: HEAV 207
Office hours: MWF 2:30-3:30
Course Overview
This course helps students practice and understand the principles of multimedia design and implementation, with emphasis on writing in multimedia contexts. Students closely examine various multimedia products, doing oral and/or written analyses of a number of such pieces. Course readings focus on how different media communicate meaning, shape our reactions, and interact with one another. Students propose, plan, and develop a a number of individual and/or group multimedia projects, including those for the Web, using a variety of technologies that support and enhance the presentation of content in multimedia forms.
Course Goals
Responsibility
- Engage the culture and problems associated with multimedia writing
- Develop project standards through negotiation with clients
Project Management
- Use, adapt, and evaluate various writing techniques and technologies for specific rhetorical purposes
- Learn to evaluate and apply effective principles of document design in print and digital media
- Develop multiple and flexible online work strategies to make a professional portfolio
- Plan and articulate design decisions throughout the production process
- Develop strategies for planning, researching, and producing documents that effectively respond to specific professional situations, problems, or research issues
Teamwork
- Learn and apply strategies for successful team work, such as:
- working online with colleagues
- determining roles and responsibilities
- managing team conflicts constructively
- responding constructively to peers' work
- using peer feedback
- achieving team goals
Course Readings
Readings will be provided online. Students are responsible for printing texts, reading them, and bringing them to class.
Required Technology
- access to and ability to interact with the course website
- access to word processing, visual design, and web design software
- an email address checked regularly for course-related business
- Purdue student web space (web.ics.purdue.edu/~yourlogin)
Be aware that routine work with technology is a major component of this class. Students need not be technological experts to succeed in this class; the class's purpose is education and improvement. Nevertheless, be aware that digital technology exposure is integral to the class, and
computer problems are not valid excuses for incomplete work. Learn and practice the core principle of digital data work: redundant backup. Digital technology will fail you; be prepared for that eventuality.
Grade Breakdown
project 1 = 20%
project 2 = 20%
project 3 = 20%
midterm = 20%
homework = 20%
Late Work
Late work is not accepted.
Collaborative Work
Collaborative work is a required component of the course. Your project team will be responsible for its own management and progress. A Collaborative Evaluation Form will be completed by all group members to assess the contributions of group members.
Wide Online Audience
Because of the nature of this course, student work may be accessible to a wide audience through the Web. A student's grades, of course, never will be shared. Students in this class must explicitly allow their work to be viewed by a wide audience by signing the
Course Contract. If this is a problem for a student, the student should withdraw from the class.
Attendance and Punctuality
Because this is a discussion and workshop driven class, attendance is vital and mandatory. Role is taken shortly after class begins. If a student is not present when role is taken, that student will be counted absent.
Students may miss four class meetings without direct grade penalty. Every absence thereafter lowers a student's final grade by a full letter. If there are extraordinary circumstances that will prevent a student from attending class, he or she must contact the instructor beforehand. The maxim this class abides by is for all members of the class to show respect to one another by meeting at designated times and places prepared to work.
Academic Integrity
Purdue students and their instructors are expected to adhere to guidelines set forth by the Dean of Students in
"Academic Integrity: A Guide for Students." If you are uncertain if some element of your work constitutes plagiarism, please speak with the course instructor. The point of any class is to educate, not to punish. Nevertheless, the consequences of plagiarism are appropriately dire. Plagiarism simply should never be an option for any student.
Special Needs Statement
I and the university will make every effort to accommodate special needs students. If you require special accommodations, please see me privately within the first week of class to make arrangements. According to university policy, students must register with Adaptive Programs in the Office of the Dean of Students before classroom accommodations can be provided.
Assignments
As outlined in the Course Description, the overall grade in this class has five components: three projects, a midterm, and homework. This section provides an overview of these elements.
Projects:
Project 1: Data Mapping
Project 2: Packaging and Promotion
Project 3: Client Service Learning
Midterm:
The Midterm examination consists of two parts: an in-class portion that covers class terms, concepts, and readings (this is completed over two class meetings); a take-home portion that invites a practical solution to a multimedia design problem (this is completed over a calendar week outside of class). The midterm review is available
here.
Homework:
Homework includes in-class work, reading responses, written homework, blog posts, etc. The homework grade component comprises all the minor assignments necessary for the progress of the course. Most of these assignments are worth one or two points each.
Students must produce thorough, insightful work to receive full credit for homework grades. The final homework grade is a cumulative score based upon how many points you gained against how many were possible for the semester. The semester total is usually somewhere around 50 points.
Project 1: Data Mapping
For Project 1, we will explore how information is transmitted through visual representation. Data mapping or data visualization comprises a wide range of methods, but their focus is the same: to communicate something to a specific audience for a particular purpose.
Each student will produce a data map. The choice of what data to present, what audience to target, and what purpose to accomplish is up to the student. Examples of data maps include INA's Interactive Mapping, INA's Iconographics, the map of high school romantic relationships, Bungie's Halo 3 heat maps, the relationship chart among scientific paradigms, Worldmapper, The Shape of Song, Megan Jaegerman's iconographics, and Joseph Jacinto Mora's "Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúncula." When students construct their data maps, they should not simply copy the methods of any of these examples and put in different data. These examples use strategies appropriate to their specific purposes.
To produce their maps, students will do critical research over visual rhetoric. Students also will analyze their work and the work of others.
A student's data map may be delivered in a print, digital, or other format, depending upon what is appropriate for a student's purpose. All projects must be organized, accessible, and professional.
Project Deliverables:
- thorough design plan
- data map
- postmortem
Due Dates:
- Design plan first drafts due by the beginning of class on Friday, Jan. 25
- Data map first drafts due by the beginning of class on Monday, Jan. 28
- Revised design plan due by the beginning of class on Wednesday, Jan. 30
- Revised data map due by the beginning of class on Friday, Feb. 1
- Project 1 final draft (design plan, data map, postmortem) due Wednesday, Feb. 6
Grading:
Breakdown
- Design Plan = 10%
- Data Map = 80%
- Postmortem = 10%
Rubrics
Excellent design plans will:
- account for all the design plan elements outlined in Compose, Design, Advocate
- proceed through a structure based on the sequence of design plan elements in Compose, Design, Advocate
- provide a coherent narrative rather than a collection of disconnected parts
- speak in third person about the data map and how it functions, not in first person about the designer's process of creation
- speak in present tense about how the data map works, not in the future tense about what it will or might do
- demonstrate thoroughly what rhetorical purpose the data map intends, who is targeted, and how the message is to be delivered
- demonstrate coherence between the design plan and the resulting data map
- be in a finished, polished format appropriate for an academic/professional reader, including appropriate grammar and mechanics
Excellent data maps will:
- communicate data in a clear and organized way through a primarily visual format
- reveal information not easily transmitted in another format
- accomplish a legitimate, specific rhetorical purpose not already accomplished by an existing text
- target a legitimate, specific audience other than the map creator
- have an appearance appropriate to the audience and situation, including appropriate grammar and visual style
Excellent postmortems will:
- account thoroughly for all the sections of the postmortem form
- focus on the designer's process of creating the data map
- provide valuable insight into project successes, difficulties, and what lessons have been learned going forward
- provide documentation that would be necessary in a professional setting
- be in a finished, polished format, including appropriate grammar and mechanics, such that the postmortem could be given as-is to a professional superior
Process
Grading is done holistically. This means that there is not a set point value corresponding to the severity and frequency of individual errors. Projects are evaluated upon their overall rhetorical effectiveness based upon the provided rubrics. I use the criteria in the rubrics as a checklist for each project. Projects are then assigned a letter score based upon this evaluation. These letter scores are translated to a percentage for the overall project grade.
Applicable Resources:
Applicable Links:
Project 2: Packaging and Promotion
For Project 2, we will work with a very familiar subject: commerce. More specifically, we will be dealing with pragmatic issues of product packaging and promotion. Like all acts of communication, particularly those that are explicitly persuasive, advertising is thoroughly rhetorical.
Each student will select five songs from our class song pool. These five songs will be used to create a compilation CD. Each student will produce an appropriate complete package for the CD (covers, jewel case liner, disk with label, etc.) and one promotional material that targets a specific, appropriate audience. Both the CD package and the promotional material should look as professional as possible; the goal is to make them indistinguishable from existing commercial work. Promotional materials include, but are not limited to, the following:
- animated .gif banner
- Flash banner
- radio spot
- video spot
- newspaper advertisement
- magazine advertisement
- flyer
- poster
- other
CD packages and promotional materials should be complete and of a professional, marketable caliber. Each CD package and promotional item should be accompanied by a thorough design plan. Neither the CD package nor any promotional materials may contain any copyrighted material.
To produce their packages and promotional materials, students will read practical texts over package and promotional material design. Students will also analyze existing professional examples and their own work.
Project Deliverables:
- CD package (with design plan)
- promotional item (with design plan)
- postmortem
Due Dates:
- CD package design plan draft due 2/15
- CD package draft 1 due 2/20
- Promotional material design plan draft due 2/25
- Promotional material draft 1 due 2/29
- CD package revised draft with revised design plan due 3/5
- Promotional material revised draft with revised design plan due 3/7
- Project 2 final draft (CD package and design plan, promotional material and design plan, postmortem) due 3/24
Grading:
Breakdown
- CD package design plan = 5%
- promotional material design plan = 5%
- CD package = 40%
- promotional material = 40%
- postmortem = 10%
Rubrics
Excellent design plans will:
- account for all the design plan elements outlined in Compose, Design, Advocate
- proceed through a structure based on the sequence of design plan elements in Compose, Design, Advocate
- provide a coherent narrative rather than a collection of disconnected parts
- speak in third person about how the text (CD package or promotional material) functions, not in first person about the designer's process of creation
- speak in present tense about how the text (CD package or promotional material) works, not in the future tense about what it will or might do
- demonstrate thoroughly what rhetorical purpose the text (CD package or promotional material) intends, who is targeted, and how the message is to be delivered
- demonstrate coherence between the design plans and the resulting CD packages and promotional materials
- be in a finished, polished format appropriate for an academic/professional reader, including appropriate grammar and mechanics
Excellent CD packages and promotional materials will:
- accomplish a legitimate, specific rhetorical purpose not already accomplished by existing texts
- target a legitimate, specific audience (other than just the designer)
- suit context appropriately
- share visual and textual themes between each other, so that the CD package and promotional material are connected together
- commit no intellectual property theft, including using copyrighted materials without explicit permission to do so
- exhibit grammar and visuals appropriate to the texts' audience, context, and purpose
- be in a professional, polished state befitting a commercial product
Excellent postmortems will:
- account thoroughly for all the sections of the postmortem form
- focus on the designer's process of creating the data map
- provide valuable insight into project successes, difficulties, and what lessons have been learned going forward
- provide documentation that would be necessary in a professional setting
- be in a finished, polished format, including appropriate grammar and mechanics, such that the postmortem could be given as-is to a professional superior
Applicable Resources:
Applicable Links:
Project 3: Client Service Learning
For Project 3, we will be working with a client organization to create its website. Class members will work in small groups each comprising four members. Each group will produce a revised website, but only one will be selected and used by the organization. Only the group whose website is selected by the client will receive full credit for the "final website" grade component. Each group will also produce a short document that covers basic information about how to make changes to the website. The selected group must provide assistance to get its design up and running on the client's server, but the group is not expected to provide continuing support.
The groups are as follows:
| Group 1 wiki |
Group 2 wiki |
Group 3 wiki |
Group 4 wiki |
Group 5 wiki |
| Nick Finney |
Tyler Wykoff |
Erol Erturk |
Adam Culp |
Andy Bohn |
| Bernadette Medina |
Matt Draper |
Ashley Watson |
Russell Martin |
Brad Fawaz |
| Gabriel Masters-Jackson |
Albert Albert |
Sarah Cox |
Bobby Del Bello |
Jon Kasperan |
| Amy Lankey |
Zach McNulty |
Pan Wen |
Austin Agarwal |
Micah Johnston |
Each group has a wiki page for team communication. The members page contains a class email list
To produce their websites, groups will do rhetorical research through course readings and activities. Groups will also use specifications and feedback from the organization's contact.
At the end of the project, each group member will complete a postmortem that evaluates the contributions of the all group members, including himself or herself. The group's postmortems will be the basis for each student's "individual postmortem" grade component.
Project Deliverables:
- design plan
- final website (with short document covering basic information about how to make changes)
- individual postmortem
Due Dates:
- draft design plan 4/16
- draft website and short document 4/16
- final design plan 4/28
- final website and short document 4/28
- individual Project 3 postmortem 5/2
Grading:
Breakdown
- design plan = 10% (group grade)
- final website and short document = 80% (group grade—only the group whose site is selected will receive full credit for this component)
- postmortem = 10% (individual grade—formed from a student's average numerical score on his or her group's postmortems)
Rubrics
Excellent design plans will:
- account for all the design plan elements outlined in Compose, Design, Advocate
- proceed through a structure based on the sequence of design plan elements in Compose, Design, Advocate
- provide a coherent narrative rather than a collection of disconnected parts
- speak in third person about how the website functions, not in first person about the designer's process of creation
- speak in present tense about how the website works, not in the future tense about what it will or might do
- demonstrate thoroughly what rhetorical purpose the website intends, who is targeted, and how the message is to be delivered
- demonstrate thoroughly how the website's medium, strategies, and arrangement accomplish its goals
- demonstrate coherence between the design plan and the resulting website
- be in a finished, polished format appropriate for an academic/professional reader, including appropriate grammar and mechanics
The website grade corresponds directly to the client organization's evaluation. For this reason, it is paramount that groups shape their website in accord with the client organization's specifications, and that groups respond to feedback provided by the client organization.
The postmortem grade is formed from the average of a person's evaluation scores.
Applicable Resources:
Applicable Links: