Communicators are increasingly involved in much more than writing or layout. They also create value for their organizations by helping to make decisions about the appropriate platform for documentation, by creating single-source solutions, by collecting and disseminating knowledge, and by organizing communication projects in order to complete the job on time and on budget. Although the official title of this course involves a particular industry, there is nothing industry-specific about managing projects, documentation code, and knowledge. Value added through effective management, therefore, is the overall theme of this course. We will approach this theme through three broad topics:
At the same time, as a practical matter, we will be exploring the tools involved in those three topics. For example, single-sourcing solutions may argue for XML, Acrobat, databases, or other document-based tools. The much-discussed topic of knowledge management often invokes data collection, collaboration, and communication tools like Lotus Notes or MS Exchange. And managing and implementing documentation projects often involves tools like MS Project and source code control tools like SourceSafe.
Although I will explain backgrounds for the readings and certain concepts and ideas, the dominant mode of class sessions will be discussion. I will expect you to ask questions, connect ideas from various readings, and connect ideas from the readings to arguments as you see them practiced around you. In addition, I will ask each of you to be responsible for leading one class discussion this semester. Class participation and the reading responses are worth 15% of your grade. All class discussions will take place in Web Board (http://wb.engl.ttu.edu), where I have established several conferences in order to break up the work into smaller chunks.
Attendance is expected. If you have a good reason for missing class (I get to determine what a good reason is), we need to make arrangements ahead of time. Distance students' attendance and participation will be judged on their textual input to the class.
In order to accommodate the distance section and to join on-site students with professional counterparts, we will form 5 "study" groups of 5 students each. Each group will consist of 3 on-campus students and 2 distance students. Through this system, the distance students have partners "on the ground" at the university and the local students have partner "on the ground" in industry. While all students are encouraged to e-mail or call one another (or the professor) if they have particular problems, your partners should be your starting point when it comes to matters arising out of industry or geographic problems. Please see the note on group formation for more details.
Note on distance section (270): Although I intend for both sections to do the same work and to collaborate, those of you off-site are not expected to "attend" class in the same way as the twice-a-week students. We will have an official meeting time in the English MOO once a week (Monday nights at 6:00), where we can engage in the same kind of class discussion as the brick-and-mortar students. Most of our our work, however, will take place in Web Board (http://wb.engl.ttu.edu), our local asynchronous discussion area.
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. I will hold virtual office hours in our MOO and/or NetMeeting: if you need help with the latter, the MATC program has some "Getting Started " pages. My NetMeeting information is listed at ils.cuseeme.com, but you can also dial me directly at 24.15.152.244 (my home computer) or 129.118.43.69 (my Texas Tech desktop computer).
| A |
superior. 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. The paper has publication potential. |
| 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 | unsatisfactory for graduate courses. The paper needs significant improvement in concept, details, development, organization, grammar, or format. It may be formally correct but superficial in content, or it may not meet the terms of the assignment. |
You can figure an A as 95, A- as 90, B+ as 88 etc.
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.
Since this is a workshop course, your attendance is expected. For a graduate course, "attendance" means a lot more than showing up to class. Since we have a distance section, attendance means posting reading responses and class discussion when it's due. It means logging in to the MOO for regularly-scheduled on-line discussions. It also means participating in workgroup activities. For the f2f students, attendance means coming to class having read the materials and being ready to be called upon to lead discussion on the topic of the day. It also means having work submitted electronically when it is due.
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.