This course focuses on developing information to be read or interacted with over the world wide web. As such, we will be focusing on the following topics and concepts: HTML, web authoring tools like FrontPage, web architecture, data-driven applications, dynamic web pages, design, and usability. Perhaps more important than these technical topics is the notion that effective communication involves a solid understanding of rhetoric -- the audience, the conditions of use, the purpose of the document, and so on. Our primary goal, then, is to be able to use the web to create and deploy successful communications. You do not have to be (or become) a web master par excellence to do well in this course. If you recognize the relationships among the different technologies involved, if you can plan the message and the design of a prospective project on the web, and if you can recognize choices and strategies that other designers have made, then you'll do great in this course.
Farkas, David, and Jean Farkas. Principles of Web Design. Allyn and Bacon, 2002.
Nielsen, Jakob. Designing Web Usability. New Riders Publishing, 2000.
Nielsen, Jakob. Useit.com, especially the information on the main page (http://www.useit.com/) and his regular column called AlertBox (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/).
World Wide Web Consortium: http://www.w3.org/
Your favorite guide to HTML (O'Reilly, Idiot's Guide, or what-have-you) and any other special topics that you may work on this semester (ASP manuals for those of you interested in active server pages, for example). You will be able to find many helpful online sites, as well; I like http://www.w3schools.com/html/ quite a bit.
Storage media for your work. Losing your work is not an excuse, unfortunately, so save in many places.
This course is computer assisted. We will be using our computers in class for a variety of tasks, from examining existing web sites to building semester projects. The English Department will provide you with plenty of space for your projects.
We will will try to strike a balance between structure and chaotic production. Every class will have some kind of reading assignment, student presentation, or scholarship -- you are expected to arrive prepared to discuss the day's topic. Each day will also see a considerable chunk of time devoted to production and exploration -- for browsing, research, learning tools, collaborating with classmates on projects, and so on.
Another balance we will try to strike is between scholarship, tool acquisition, and critique. By this, I mean that some of your time will be devoted to acquiring the tools of the trade, some to conducting scholarly research and presenting your findings to the class, and some to applying your skills to critique existing web projects.
Finally, we will also attempt to strike a balance between an introductory and an experienced agenda so that novices will get everything they want from this course, as will more experienced students. If you are pretty familiar with web authoring (and you can demonstrate that familiarity), then you are eligible to make this class something like independent study in web authoring. If you fall into this track, you'll be expected to help the other students with fundamentals. In exchange for this service, you'll get to skip quizzes on HTML and focus on one or two special areas of interest, such as data-driven application development, non-HTML aspects of web development (Flash, etc.), international design issues, and so on.
Office hours are times for you to get individual help. You do not need an appointment to see me during my scheduled hours. If your classes conflict with my hours, please make an appointment for another time. You are also welcome to ask questions about assignments through email.
| A | superior; the work is of near professional quality. The paper meets or exceeds all the objectives of the assignment. The content is mature, thorough, and well-suited for the audience; the style is clear, accurate, and forceful; the information is well-organized and formatted so that it is accessible and attractive; the mechanics and grammar are correct. |
| B | competent; the paper meets the objectives of the assignment, but it needs improvement in style, or it contains easily correctable errors in grammar, format, or content, or its content is superficial. |
| C | average; the paper needs significant improvement in concept, details, development, organization, grammar, or format. It may be formally correct but superficial in content. |
| D | marginally acceptable; the paper meets some of the objectives but ignores others; the content is inadequately developed; or it contains numerous or major errors. |
| F | unacceptable; the paper does not have enough information, does something other than the assignment required, or it contains major errors or excessive errors. |
You can figure an A as 95, A- as 90, B+ as 88 etc. The minimum average for a passing (D) grade is 65.
You must turn in all assigned work to pass the course. If you do not turn in an assignment, you will fail the course (because you did not complete it), even though your average may be passing. You must turn in papers when they are due. Late papers will lose a full letter grade for each class day that they are late. (A paper due Tuesday graded as a B but turned in Wednesday or Thursday will be recorded as a C.) If a paper is so late that it would receive a zero, you must still turn it in for no credit to pass the course. I have assembled a separate web page with this semester's assignments.
You benefit by attending regularly and developing professional work habits. The official attendance policy, as stated in the Undergraduate Catalog, goes as follows: "The effect of absences on grades is determined by the instructor. When absences jeopardize a student's standing in a class, it is the responsibility of the instructor to report that fact to the student's dean. Excessive absences constitute cause for dropping a student from class; in such a case the grade of WF may be given." Since this is a workshop course, your attendance is expected.
Any student who, because of a disability, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements must contact me by the end of the second week of classes to make necessary accommodations.
Plagiarism means "using, stating, offering or reporting as one's own, an idea, expression, or production of another person without proper credit to its source." (Class Schedule, Code of Student Affairs.) Plagiarism means using another student's work or published work without credit. Plagiarism rules include material on the World Wide Web as well as print materials. Plagiarism will result in failure on the assignment and may result in failure in the course. If you are uncertain about what to document or when it is appropriate to request the assistance of a tutor, please ask me.