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Classes

Professor

Sam Dragga

English Bldg 474

TT 12-2

742-2500, ext 270

e-mail:sam.dragga@ttu.edu

Learning Outcomes

In this course you should learn to

identify various definitions and philosophies of ethics pertinent to the field of technical communication.
recognize the nature and scope of ethical dilemmas in the field of technical communication.
differentiate ethical dilemmas from legal dilemmas and the implications of each
determine possible solutions to ethical dilemmas encountered by technical communicators.
compose persuasive judgments on ethical dilemmas
explain the applicability of theories of ethics to the field of technical communication.

Texts

Dombrowski, Paul, Ethics in Technical Communication (Allyn & Bacon, 2000).

Herrington, TyAnna K., A Legal Primer for the Digital Age (Pearson Longman, 2003).

May, Steven (ed.), Case Studies in Organizational Communication: Ethical Perspectives and Practices (Sage, 2006).

Requirements

You must submit all written assignments: failure to do so will result in a failing grade for the course.
You must submit all assignments on time: failure to do so will result in a failing grade on the assignment.
You must participate in class discussions and activities. Failure to do so will result in a failing grade for the course.
If you miss class, you must submit a memo of at least 500 words that briefly explains your absence and summarizes the material covered during the class you missed.

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Evaluation

20%	=	asynchronous class discussion
15%	=	discussion leadership
10%	=	ethics case
10%	=	answers to ethics cases
35%	=	slide presentation and script
10%	=	final examination

90-99		The document is superior. It exceeds all the objectives of the assignment. The information is ethical, sophisticated, thorough, and ideally suited for the audience. The style is clear and appropriate to the subject, purpose, and audience. The organization and design of the document make the information understandable, accessible, and usable. The mechanics and grammar are correct. Your supervisor would be impressed and consider you for promotion.
80-89		The document is good. It meets the objectives of the assignment, but requires minor improvements or reveals easily correctable errors in organization, style, design, grammar, or mechanics. Your supervisor would consider you a promising candidate to tackle bigger and better projects.
70-79		The document is adequate. It omits useful information or requires significant improvement in organization, style, design, grammar, or mechanics. It may be formally correct but superficial in its discussion. Your supervisor would consider you acceptable in the position you have but needing close supervision and unsuitable for promotion.
60-69		The document is disappointing. It meets some of the objectives of the assignment but ignores others; the discussion is inadequately developed, omits important information, or displays numerous or major errors in organization, style, design, grammar, or mechanics. Your supervisor would put you on probation for possible demotion or termination.
50-59		The document is unsatisfactory. It omits critical information, does something other than the assignment required, or displays major or excessive errors in organization, style, design, grammar, or mechanics. You would be demoted or lose your job altogether.

Note

Students who require special arrangements because of a disability should contact the instructor as soon as possible to determine the necessary accommodations.

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Schedule of Classes

TH	1/08	introduction to ethics

T	1/13	ethics and rhetoric (Dombrowski, chapters 1 and 2)
TH	1/15	historical overview of ethics (Dombrowski, chapter 3;

T	1/20	ethical cases and perspectives (May, chapters 1 and 2)
TH	1/22	cases one and two (Dombrowski, chapter 8)

T	1/27	cases three and four (Dombrowski, chapter 8)
TH	1/29	case six (Dombrowski, chapter 8)

T	2/03	ethics case due
TH	2/05	case: Nazi research (Dombrowski, chapter 4)

T	2/10	case: the Challenger disaster (Dombrowski, chapter 5)
TH	2/12	case: tobacco (Dombrowski, chapter 6)

T	2/17	case: star wars (Dombrowski, chapter 7)
TH	2/19	ethics and the law (Herrington, chapters 1 and 2)

T	2/24	ethical and legal aspects of business relationships and agreements (Herrington, chapters 3 and 4)
TH	2/26	ethical and legal aspects of intellectual property (Herrington, chapter 5)

T	3/03	positive examples (May, case studies 19 and 21)
TH	3/05	answers to ethics cases due

T	3/10	no class
TH	3/12	no class

T	3/17	no class
TH	3/19	no class

T	3/24	May, case study 6
TH	3/26	May, case study 8

T	3/31	May, case study 9
TH	4/02	May, case study 10

T	4/07	May, case study 13
TH	4/09	May, case study 14

T	4/14	May, case study 16
TH	4/16	May, case study 17

T	4/21	class presentations
TH	4/23	class presentations

T	4/28	slide presentation and script due

T	5/05	final examination due by 7 p.m. (CDT)

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Answers to Ethics Cases

Description of Assignments

Note: Projects submitted for this course may not be submitted for any other course, in whole or in part, in this or any other semester.

WebBoard: Asynchronous Class Discussion

Compose a 500-word commentary (questions, insights, observations) on the assigned readings, posting it to the online discussion. Deadlines for your posting are each Tuesday and Thursday by 3:00 p.m. (CT). In your comments, answer the following questions:

What was helpful to you about this reading?
What connections do you see in this reading to your major project?
What confused you about this reading?
What would you have liked to see in this reading that was missing?

Once you have posted your comments on the readings, you will have approximately ten minutes at the beginning of each class to respond to the postings of at least two other students. In class we will address questions raised in the asynchronous discussion.

Discussion Leadership

You will be assigned a case from Case Studies in Organizational Communication to research so that you might effectively inform and moderate the class discussion of this case during one of the following classes: 3/17, 3/19, 3/24, 3/26, 3/31, 4/2, 4/7, 4/9, 4/14, 4/16.

Ethics Case

You will compose an ethics case of approximately 1000 words suitable for publication in Intercom, the magazine of the Society for Technical Communication. In your case, you will pose a genuine ethical dilemma for a practitioner in the field of technical communication: that is, a case for which no simple answers are readily available. In a cover letter, you will explain the nature and scope of the ethical dilemma that your case offers. Address your letter to the editor of the ethics section of Intercom: John Bryan, University of Cincinnati, Professional Writing Program, Cincinnati, OH 45221-1069.

You will write a 250-word answer to each of five ethics cases written by the students in the class (your choice but excluding your case).

Slide Presentation and Script

The major project for this course will be a PowerPoint presentation (at least 20 slides) and accompanying script (at least 12 double-spaced pages) for a 20-minute research-based conference-style presentation on a case of ethics in technical communication. Consider the cases in Case Studies in Organizational Communication as examples of the kind of presentation you will prepare: that is, a real case about a real ethical dilemma/crisis at a real organization but taking a theoretically informed critical position on the case. Develop your presentation to be delivered to colleagues at a regional or national professional meeting in the coming year.

In your presentation you will review the existing research on your specific case and apply pertinent theories of ethics in your analysis of the case. That is, your presentation will both summarize or categorize existing knowledge and offer a genuine contribution to the profession's understanding of the subject of ethics. In designing your presentation, assume that your audience already recognizes the importance of communicating ethically, but might be insensitive to the ethical implications of certain practices or behaviors or might be uninformed regarding effective processes for making ethical decisions.

Your PowerPoint slides should summarize and illustrate key points in your script. Your script should explicate and elaborate on your PowerPoint slides.

Final Examination

The final examination will ask you to solve a specific ethical dilemma in order to demonstrate your understanding of the principles and processes of ethics that you have studied in this course. A good answer to this case will discuss theories of ethics, cite pertinent sources, and offer a persuasive explanation of your proposed solution. You will be given the final examination on April 28 and have till 7 o'clock in the evening on Tuesday, May 5 (the examination period for this class) to e-mail the completed examination to sam.dragga@ttu.edu.

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