Professor: Dr.

Will Kurlinkus
Time: T, R: 12:00-1:15 pm
Location: Gittinger 232
Email: wkurlinkus@gmail.com
Office: Gittinger 307A
Office Hours: MWF 12:30-1:30; TR 1:30-2:30
Course Website: www.english3153a.wordpress.com







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2.
Course Description

01. Exigence
From the most basic lab report to medical aftercare instructions, from museum displays to
airplane safety guidesin English 3153, Technical Writing, students will learn to analyze and
produce technical documents across a variety of settings. In particular this course will take a
wicked-scenarios approach to writing for science, workplace, and consumer settings asking
questions like: How can an aftercare document help calm anxious patients in an ER? What
responsibility do manufacturers have to communicate the potential dangers of their products in
an easy to understand way? How easy, is easy enough? How should scientistsfrom oil
engineers to meteorologistsrespond to popular misconceptions about their fields?

Students will produce a variety of documents throughout the semester including a design-
scenario journal, a website report, an analysis of a science museum exhibit, a popular translation
of a technical concept in their field (see NPRs Radiolab or Neil deGrasse Tysons Cosmos), a
website usability report, and a rsum packet. In addition to more standard tech-writing skills
like document formatting, grammar, citation, genre analysis, and scientific observation, along the
way students will prepare to enter 21
st
Century tech writing contexts by learning the basics of
web design, visual rhetoric, usability testing, and client-designer-user negotiations.

02. Objectives
More generally, the learning objectives of this course are to:
Learn about and produce several technical communication genres,
Learn about and respond to the rhetorical situations of professional settings,
Learn to design documents in specific ways for specific audiences,
Learn to work, write, and present collaboratively.

Required Texts and Equipment
Anderson, Stephen P. Seductive Information Design: Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective
User Experiences
Krug, Steve. Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing
Usability Problems
External Hard drive or Thumb Drive: 16GB or more
Notebook
Various other readings will be made available on our course website.

Participation & Professionalism

I want to hear from you, in any and all forms you're comfortable with. And, perhaps more
importantly, I want you to hear from each otherto know what one another think of the
readings, course topics, etc.

01. In-Class
3.
Just as you would in any business setting, I expect you not only to come to class meetings but
also to contribute in a professional, respectful, and engaging manner to our meetings by bringing
questions, comments, and criticisms of readings and assignments. Youll have time every class-
period to say something, so make sure you do as professionalism and participation is 10% of
your grade. Beyond speaking in class discussions, youll also be expected to use in-class working
and group-meeting times wisely.

02. Blog
Our course website is in the form of a wordpress blog at http://english3153a.wordpress.com,
extra readings, links, and short-writing prompts will be posted there. It is your responsibility to
follow the blog and make sure you are up-to-date before you come to class (especially if you
miss a class). I might also ask you to respond in the comments section to a post on the blog.

Course Policies

01. Access
Students requiring academic accommodation should contact the Disability Resource Center for
assistance at (405) 325-3852 or TDD: (405) 325-4173. For more information please see the
Disability Resource Center website http://www.ou.edu/drc/home.html

Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully
demonstrating his or her abilities should contact me personally as soon as possible so we can
discuss accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate your educational
opportunities.

02. Attendance
Attendance is an important part of your ability to understand the class material. Therefore, each
unexcused absence after four will result in the lowering of your participation grade by a half a
letter grade. Six unexcused absences will automatically result in failing the course.
Excused absences, such as those for documented illness, family tragedy, religious observance, or
excused travel for intercollegiate athletics, will not affect your grade. If you plan to be absent,
however, please contact me beforehand.

There will be an attendance sheet passed around each day of class. It is your responsibility to
sign the attendance sheet to indicate your presence in class each day. Whether you are excused or
not, if you miss a class, you are expected to make up the work. This means, if you miss on a day
that involves an in-class exercise, you must make arrangements to complete the exercise on your
own time. Additionally, I will count you as absent if you are more than 20 minutes late to class,
sleeping, or if you come to class unprepared to discuss the days assigned readings. I reserve the
right to hold quizzes to spot check for preparedness.

It is the policy of the University to excuse the absences of students that result from religious
observances and to reschedule examinations and additional required classwork that may fall on
religious holidays, without penalty.

4.
03. Student Work
Must be completed and submitted on time.
Late submission of a final graded assignment will result in the deduction of one third of a
letter grade for each day past the due date (for example, a B+ would go to a B).
Missing class or encountering technological misfortunes are not acceptable excuses for
failing to meet a deadline. Save early and save often, and be sure to back up your work. I
recommend that you save your work in two separate locations (e.g., save one copy to your
external hard drive, and another copy on a flash drive or CD-ROM). The hard drives of the
classroom computers are wiped every night, so plan to back up your work somewhere else if
you do your composing work there.
The grade will not be affected when an assignment is late for reasons that would result in an
excused absence. Students who know they will miss the class when the assignment is due
must contact the instructor as soon as possible in advance of class to arrange for submission
of the assignment.

04. Group Work
On collaborative writing assignments, all students will receive the same grade as their group
members. Your grade for these collaborative assignments is based on the product that you and
your classmates produce. During the final project, however, you will write an evaluation of how
your group worked together. These evaluations will form part of my assessment under
Productivity and Professionalism and possibly affect your grade on that project if something
seems amiss.

05. Copyright and Plagiarism
All students are expected to conform to college-level standards of ethics, academic integrity, and
academic honesty. By enrolling in this course, you agree to be bound by the Academic
Misconduct Code published in The University of Oklahoma Student Code
(www.ou.edu/studentcode/OUStudentCode.pdf). For further clarification please see:
www.ou.edu/provost/integrity-rights/.

All members of the community recognize the necessity of being honest with themselves and with
others. Cheating in class, plagiarizing, lying and employing other modes of deceit diminish the
integrity of the educational experience. None of these should be used as a strategy to obtain a
false sense of success. The need for honest relations among all members of the community is
essential.

06. Class Cancellation
Class cancellation is a possibility in the unlikely event of an emergency. I will contact you via
email and request that a note on department letterhead be placed on the classroom door. In
addition, I will contact you as soon as possible following the cancellation to let you know what
will be expected of you for our next class meeting.

07. Changes to the Schedule
Changes are a possibility, even likely. Our topic is constantly growing and changing so a
particular issue might arise that Id like us to cover. I will notify you of any changes in class and
5.
I will post on the course website. If we should need to rearrange the syllabus, I will also post a
revised syllabus to the course website.


Project List/Grade Breakdown


Grading Scale
A 100-90 D 69-60
B 89-80 F 59-below
C 79-70


Schedule
Date Readings Due In Class Writing
Due


Unit 1. Report Writing and Editing


Objectives: Intro to tech writing, rhetoric, and design; report writing/analysis; basic
HTML and CSS; grammar; web design.

T 8.19 Intro to technical writing, rhetoric, and
wicked communication design
What is technical
writing? Intro
Assignment 1 and
Rhetorical Analysis

R 8.21 Hart-Davidson, What Are the Work Patterns
of Technical Communication?: 50-75.
Krug, Dont Make Me Think: 11-39.
CodingHTML
See Code Academy
for Review

T 8.26 Krug: Dont Make Me Think: 51-74. CodingCSS Wicked
Professionalism and Participation 10%
Journal (Design Scenarios, Finger Exercises, Editing) 15%
Project 1: Professional Genre Analysis Hypertext 15%
Project 2: Museum Analysis 10%
Project 3: Popular Translation 15%
Project 5: Usability Report 25%
Project 4: Job Application Packet 10%
6.
Kolin: Writing Effective Short Reports and
Proposals

Scenario 1
Due
R 8.28 Anderson: xii-34
Riordan, Chapter 2, Profiling Audiences
35-52
CodingPositioning

Report
Genre
Chosen
T. 9.2 Anderson: 35-73
Pfaffenberger: Technological Dramas
Report Genre
AnalysisRhetorical
Analysis in class
Bring 3
report
examples
to class
R 9.4 Donald Norman: Three Levels of Design:
63-98
Henze, What Do Technical Communicators
Need to Know About Genre? 337-360

Report Genre
AnalysisCitation
Wicked
Scenario 2
Due
T 9.9 Ceraso: How Can Technical Communicators
Plan for Users? 237-260
Kramer and Bernhardt: Teaching Text
Design: 240-264.
Studio Day
R 9.11 Anderson: 75-103
Monotype: Designing Business Documents
Studio Day


Unit 2. Visual Analysis and Production


Objectives: Visual rhetoric and tech writing; politics of museum exhibits; report writing
and visual formatting; info-graphics.

T 9.16 Jorgensen-Earp: Satisfaction of Metaphorical
Expectations 41-59
Anderson: 105-136
Visual
Rhetoric
Presentation;
Intro
Assignment 2
Project 1 Due

R 9.18 Morris: Death on Display 204-224
Kress and Van Leeuwen: Ideal and real 186-99
#IfTheyGunne
dMeDown
Wicked
Scenario 3 Due
T 9.23 Gallagher: Displaying Race: Cultural Projection
and Commemoration 177-194.
Class Field Trip to Sam Noble Natural History
Museum
Museum Day
R 9.25 Schriver: What do Technical Communicators
Need to Know About Information Design?: 386-
424
Anderson: 137-167

Draft
Workshop

7.


Unit 3. The Ethics of Popular Translation


Objectives: Ethical issues in technical writing; writing for international audiences;
accessibility; translation of technical concepts to a variety of audiences; simple video
production.

T 9.30 Scott: How Can Technical Communicators
Work in an Ethical and Legal Manner? 213-234
Radiolab: , Oops, Making the Hippo Dance

Infographics
and Infonoises;
YouTube
Examples

Project 2 Due

R 10.2 No ClassWill Gone
T 10.7 Educational Comic Selection: Clan Apis and
Medical Comics
Judy Segal: A Rhetoric of Death and Dying
Comics and
young
audiences;
Creating user
Profiles
Wicked
Scenario 4 Due
R 10.9 Anderson: 169-197
St. Amant: What Do Technical Communicators
Need to Know About International
Environments: 479-494
International
Audiences;
ethos contact
zones and
ethics (anti-
vaccination)

T 10.14 Anderson: 199-216
Playgrounds: Rosenberg, Worlds Coolest
Playgrounds; NPR Benincasa, For Kids With
Special Needs, More Places To Play;
Accessibility
(redundancy
and multiple
access points)
and failed
designs (Bic
for Her, etc.)
Wicked
Scenario 5 Due
R 10.16 Mirel: How Can Technical Communicators
Evaluate the Usability of Artifacts? 285-306
Draft
Workshop


Unit 4. Usability Report and Website Redesign


Objectives: Usability analysis and proposal report writing; participatory and user-
centered web design; web design basics; working on teams.

T 10.21 Krug, Rocket Surgery: 13-37
Smith: Top 5 Web Design Mistakes Small
Intro to
Usability vs.
Project 3 Due
8.
Businesses Make Usefulness
TestingHow
can we best
learn about
users?
R 10.23 Krug, Rocket Surgery: 39-61
The Web Style Guide, Chapter 7, Visual Design
and Visual Design Principles
Beyond
usability: how
else can we
learn about
users?
Ethnography
and
participatory
design.
Wicked
Scenario 6 Due
T 10.28 Krug, Rocket Surgery: 63-89 and 147-153

Creating task
list/protocol
and scenarios
Choice of
Website Due

R 10.30 Krug, Rocket Surgery: 91-119
Anderson: Writing Reader-Centered Proposals
483-506
Emotional
feedback
loops; ethics
and informed
consent

T 11.4 Krug, Rocket Surgery: 121-132
Ethnographic film reading
Ethnography
and self-
reporting
Progress
Memo Due:
Protocol
written
R 11.6 Proposal Report Student Examples Creating
forums for
noisy users
Wicked
Scenario 7 Due
T 11.11 Studio Time Usability
Videos Due
R 11.13 Studio Time



Unit 5. Resumes and Cover Letters


Objectives: Job ad analysis; resume and cover letter writing; visual rhetoric and resumes.

T 11.18 Job Ad Analysis Project 4 Due


R 11.20 Paul Anderson: Technical Communication: Wicked
9.
Obtaining a Job, 22-58
Kolin 142-178
Gallery of Best Resumes pp. 7-14
Scenario 8 Due
T 11.25 Kolin 179-196
R 11.27 Thanksgiving Vacation
T 12.2 Draft Workshop Wicked
Scenario 9 Due
R 12.4 Last Day of Class Project 5 Due