Descriptions of major course projects are listed here.
The Employment Project deals explicitly with structuring decisions. In this project students will create two primary documents (a resume and a cover letter) which, taken together, will structure, in part, the decision-making process concerning their application for employment. There are, of course, factors beyond the control of individual applicants, but the self that you create with your employment documents (along with the self that the reader constructs for you) goes a long way in securing employment (or at least an interview). This project asks students to work individually, but there will also be chances for students to work with their peers to exchange ideas and feedback during online workshops.
Students will locate a real and specific job or internship for which they are qualified and prepare the application materials for it. If a student already has a good job, they should find one that would be an advance for them, then prepare application materials for that position. In preparing the first deliverable, students are asked to learn about and use various web-based resources for job seekers and ultimately to select one real job to pursue. The second deliverable is a print resume suitable for such a position. The third deliverable is the all-important cover letter (i.e., "Job Application Letter"). The forth deliverable is an assessment of the student's experience in a "Project Assessment Document." In the process of completing each step, students will work closely with their peers and their instructor to shape their writing so that it represents them and their experiences fully and effectively.
First, find a job ad using an internet search engine that you will apply for during the Employment Project. The ad should be for a job you are qualified for now or at the time of graduation. Provide a link to the ad and perform a 600 word job ad analysis. Your analysis should include extensive explanation of why you selected the job. Include interests and career enhancement opportunities the job will provide, as well as your relevant skills and experience that match the job requirements. Look closely at the key words in the job ad and explain how you possess and can demonstrate those qualities. Also, perform some research on the company by checking out their website. Include information you discover that could be relevant to a resume or cover letter. Think of the Job Ad Analysis as a prelude to the Cover Letter. Post (as a blog) by Wednesday of Week Three.
Your printable resume (almost always one page in length) should adapt features drawn from the samples available for review through the course site. It's critical that you shape your resume to the specific job or internship you have chosen to apply for (that it's suited to the context), so be sure to include only the relevant aspects of your professional experience. Additionally, as templates are widely used and this easily spotted by HR personnel, their use is prohibited in this class. The writing needs to be error-free, concise, and presented in an easily readable format. There will be an online workshop period, when students will review one anothers' resumes. Post (attached to a blog) by Wednesday of Week Four.
The job application letter is critical to your efforts in securing a job, perhaps even more critical than your resume itself. It is in the cover letter that you begin structuring the response to your application. With the cover letter you provide a framework through which potential employers view your resume and you as a potential employee. For the Employment Project, your letter should be no longer than one or two pages (one is preferable in most cases), following the suggestions and models. There will be an online workshop period as well. Post (attached to a blog) by Wednesday of Week Five.
Submit, as separate pdf files, final drafts of your employment documents (resume and cover letter). Post (attached to a blog) by Friday of Week Six.
As you near the end of your work on the Employment Project, prepare a two-page overview and analysis of your deliverables and the process you used to produce them. A handout will be provided to help guide the document. Your Project Assessment Document should reflect on what you learned during this assignment and how you will apply that knowledge to a later job search. Post (attached to a blog) by Friday of Week Six.
The Employment Project is worth 20% of the course grade. The breakdown for each of its components is as follows:
When grading this project, the instructor will pay particular attention to whether students have effectively adapted their documents to the job for which they have applied. The writing will need to be precise, accurate, and well-suited to the context (the job/field) and to the rhetorical occasion (in terms of tone, style, and content). In this case, a generic, catch-all resume and cover letter will not satisfy the requirements of the project. Specifically, the following criteria will apply:
An important task for technical writers is producing instruction materials that assist expert and novice users with technology. However, clear, concise, helpful instructions are extremely hard to produce. Many technology users have given up on reading instructions altogether and instead try to operate technology without explicit instructions, with varying rates of success.
This assignment asks students to choose a specific technical object or process they know well and write instructions for its use. The instructions can be over one complex process or the general use of the item. Writing software instructions is recommended for this project because screen captures make serviceable, easy-to-produce graphics. Choosing easy to access (or, better yet, free) software will also make the peer review more productive because students will perform usability tests on one another's instructions. However, students may choose computer hardware, mobile phone technology, etc. Students will produce two sets of instructions: one for experienced users and one for novice users. Both sets will be clear, concise, helpful, user-centered instructions that use words and graphics to assist the appropriate audience. Both sets of instructions will carefully and respectfully consider audience experience, expectations, knowledge, competency, and vocabulary. Documents are expected to be in a size other than 8.5 by 11 unless there is a necessary reason for them to be so.
Write a blog post that describes in detail what object or process you have selected for this project. Include exactly what the object or process is and what your instructions will cover. Also explain why your instructions are legitimate and necessary, and why you are qualified and credible to write about this topic. Then identify your two separate audiences and how they differ. What are the needs, expectations, values, and concerns of each? Lastly, include ideas for possible graphics that can be used and layouts you will employ for your instructions. Post (attached to a blog) by Friday of Week Seven.
Sample Graphics
Using the principles from Chapters 24 and 25 of The Thomson Handbook, design rough drafts of graphics for your instructions. Graphics could be screen captures, photos, drawings, illustrations, etc. Post your sample graphics to your blog as attachments. Include at least two graphics. Though these graphics are drafts, they should be substantial and near completion for this step.
Thumbnails
Using the drawing function in Microsoft Word (or another program that is familiar), students should prepare a thumbnail sketch of each instruction set (novice and expert), convert the file to .pdf, and post it to their blog (some examples will be provided). Thumbnails should identify colors, typefaces, and other design elements the instructions will employ. They should also indicate the dimensions of the documents as well as other important physical features. Post (attached to a blog) by Friday of Week Eight.
Turn in rough drafts of both sets of instructions by attaching them to a blog post in .pdf format. Rather than traditional peer review, students will create usability tests (described in Technical Communication Today and discussed in Instructor Blog #6) that their fellow students will complete. Usability testing focuses explicitly on the documents' usability in the real world. These tests should be attached to the blog post with the instruction set drafts. The body of the blog post should describe the instruction sets, the key (and concrete) distinctions between an expert and novice user, and how each set differs to account for each audience. It also should describe the basics of the corresponding usability test and how you wish to receive feedback (a completed survey email, a summary posted as a comment, etc.) Students should consult the handout "Eliciting Good Responses" as they compose this blog post. Post by Friday of Week Nine. Usability Testing is to be completed by Monday of Week Eleven.
Post final drafts of your instructions in .pdf format as attachments to a blog. If it would not make sense to put your instructions in .pdf format—for example, if you produce online instructions—please contact your instructor before the due date. Instructions should comply with the grading criteria described below. Post (attached to a blog) by Friday of Week Eleven.
As you near the end of your work on the Instructions Project, prepare a two-page overview and analysis of your deliverables and the process you used to produce them. A handout will be provided to help guide the document. Your Project Assessment Document should reflect on what you learned during this assignment and how you will apply that knowledge later. Post (attached to a blog) by Monday of Week Twelve.
The Instructions Project is worth 25% of the course grade. The breakdown for each of its components is as follows:
In grading, the instructors will consider the following criteria:
Building on the skills developed in the Employment Project and the Instructions Project, students in groups of four or five (groups appended below) will research and present technological solutions to specific, meaningful problems (e.g., problems of internet security, alternative energy, prescription medication options, etc). This project will result in one primary document, a White Paper prepared for a specific audience, as well as several supporting documents (project proposal, Gantt chart, activity reports and research reports). In researching, designing, composing, and revising the White Paper, students should keep in mind their primary and secondary audiences, as well as any tertiary and gatekeeping audiences. When composing the documents, students should pay close attention to:
Additionally, students should consider the physical, political, economic and ethical contexts of their audiences.
White Papers are documents produced for decision-makers; that is, they work to structure decision-making through communication. They rarely tell an audience what decision to make; rather, their focus is on creating a framework from which decision-makers can make decisions. They provide tailored research, allow for different readings and readers, and account for each audience's unique context of use. Their style, as well, contributes to decision-making. Word choice, sentence structure and visual appearance all create an impression of the authors, their credibility and trustworthiness. Style also impacts the mood and mindset of the reader, which contribute significantly in decision making. This project asks students, in groups, to prepare a White Paper that allows a specific decision-maker to decide among competing solutions to a particular problem.
| Group 1 | jstn | JFlitt | breal | Jeff | |
| Group 2 | Ben | bpo | bjdunfor | ymyang | |
| Group 3 | jonesae | Isaac | ck86 | nmhess | |
| Group 4 | Chris | Matt | Zephyrus | Matt2178 | |
| Group 5 | grfnpt | Kristin | jrdavies | secolema | |
| Group 6 | DigtalSHU | Beachside32 | TANoNati | Bill D | |
| Group 7 | Joey M. | estefano | HiggsBoson | Zebulon | Doddy |
| Group 8 | ajwaters | dbasso | apersohn | Lpetrovi | winninraces |
Email addresses are available on the Members page. Students may also communicate through instant messaging, the chat and wiki features of Google Docs, or anything else.
Each group will deliver a 500 word proposal for its project posted as a blog. Proposals should cover the basics of the project (topic; potential sources of research; primary, secondary, tertiary and gatekeeping audiences; and document design). The proposal should also suggest a division of labor: who will be responsible for what (this should prepare the group to produce the Gantt Chart). The goal of this proposal is to interest the instructor in the project and persuade him that the project is feasible, valuable and in concert with the goals of the project and the course. Post (as a blog) by Friday of week twelve.
Groups are also responsible for weekly activity reports (300 words) in order to keep the instructor abreast of progress the group has made over the week. Group activity reports (submitted as a blog) are due by midnight, each Friday, starting with week twelve and concluding in week sixteen.
As the course and the professional world stress the value of documenting work processes, individual students are required to keep weekly work blogs of the tasks they have completed. These activity reports or "work blogs" (200 words) should briefly and professionally describe work done and how this work contributed to the goals of the group. Students will post and clearly label five work blogs by Sunday of each week of the project starting in week twelve and concluding in week sixteen.
In a thoroughly executed Gantt chart, students should layout group tasks, a time table for the completion of each tasks, and the individual responsibilities of each member. (Information about constructing Gantt charts will be provided.) To produce the Gantt chart, groups must identify specifically what each group member will be doing at each step of the process. Post (attached to a blog) by Wednesday of week thirteen.
Each group member should prepare at least one thumbnail sketch of the white paper and post them to his or her blog (some examples will be provided). Each group member should then review and comment on the thumbnail sketches of their fellow group members to negotiate a consistent look for the white paper. Thumbnails should be posted (attached to a blog post) by Wednesday of week fourteen.
Each group member is responsible for a minimum of three research blogs. These blog posts (250 words) should summarize and analyze relevant research in the context of the project and suggest ways in which the content can be incorporated into the documents (as text, as a sidebar, or as an illustration). (Handouts and samples will be provided.) Research blogs must be completed (and properly categorized) by Friday of week fourteen.
Groups will design and compose a professional quality white paper (1600 – 1800 words) that lays out three to five researched and viable solutions to their chosen issue or problem for multiple audiences. The document should structure the decision-making process by framing the issue and providing options without advocating for any one solution. Draft Day: Friday of week fifteen. Final Draft Due: Friday of week sixteen.
Group members are asked to complete the Collaborative Project Evaluation Form to assess their collaborative experiences, the effectiveness of the group, and the contributions of individual group members. Students are also asked to “sign off” on the work blogs of their fellow group members, verifying that the work each describes is work they actually completed. Evaluations are private, and should be emailed to the instructor by Friday of week sixteen.
The White Paper Project is worth 25% of the final grade. The breakdown for each of its components is as follows: