Technology for Professional Writers

This course is a variation of Utah State University's twice-annual Technology and the Writer Course. The Technology and the Writer course is based on research done in the 1990s to determine which writing professions demanded the best salaries and were most likely to survive overseas outsourcing.

Hailey, David E. Utah State University (2005). Academic>Courses>Technology>Technical Writing

Theory and Practice of Technical Communication

The aim, or purpose, of this course is to prepare you for a variety of job-related writing tasks. Success in technical writing, however, requires that you first know for whom you are writing and why. Consequently, this course will stress audience awareness and purpose in written communication. The course will also help you select the appropriate materials for a writing assignment and arrange the material in a logical and appropriate sequence. Additionally, you will learn to evaluate your products (and those of others) before submitting them for approval. In other words, you will develop your writing processes, much as you are developing other problem-solving tools necessary for success in your career. You will learn to anticipate the needs of your audience, to select materials and their arrangement to best meet those needs, to prepare the final product, and to analyze and revise until you achieve professional-quality work ready for submission to your audience.

Applen, J.D. University of Central Florida. Academic>Courses>Undergraduate>Technical Writing

United We Stand, Divided We Fall? Thoughts on Cohesiveness in the MA in Writing    

What's happening to all of the things our students in the different strands once shared in common? When I taught the research methods class last fall, I was struck when my students in both strands commented on how they had not realized until then how much they shared and how happy they were to be able to help each other and to inform each other's work. These comments, and the tangible evidence I had of their truthfulness in my students' productive exchanges, are at the heart of my concerns. I am curious if other writing programs with multiple strands are also encountering these issues. Is becoming more separate a natural response to developments and progress in our respective fields? Is it the best response to those developments and progress?

Blakeslee, Ann M. CPTSC Proceedings (2001). Academic>Writing>Education

World Wide Web Publishing of Technical Information

This course will prepare students to: * identify and discuss principles of design and information architecture that apply to web pages and web sites * evaluate the design and architecture of existing web sites and recommend appropriate revisions * design different types of pages and sites * test the usability of pages and sites * use appropriate software to implement effective and ethical decisions regarding the design and architecture of sites

Dragga, Sam. Texas Tech University (1999). Academic>Courses>Web Design>Writing

Writing a Research Paper

Despite the illusion, the research-paper writing process (as with any writing process) is quasi-linear at best. Follow the green navigation bar on the left from top to bottom to follow the nine major steps in writing a research paper.

Hamid, Sarah. Purdue University. Academic>Writing

Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation

A practical Guide to assist in the crafting, implementing and defending of a graduate school thesis or dissertation. Authored by S. Joseph Levine, Michigan State University (levine@msu.edu).

Levine, S. Joseph. Learner Associates (1998). Academic>Writing>Rhetoric

Writing for the Web

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to several new writing genres that are based on "Web 2.0" technology, which include mostly database-driven websites such as blogs, wikis, and virtual environments. These sites are designed to facilitate collaboration and discussion, rather than the one-to-many model of the typical website in which readers do not participate beyond reading or viewing material. Although many of these technologies are used for entertainment, they are also finding their way into professional settings. For instance, a game such as Second Life might be adapted for use in the workplace, allowing employees at distant locations to occupy the same virtual space and model behaviors or objects that would be impractical in physical space.

Barton, Matt. MattBarton.net (2008). Academic>Courses>Web Design>Writing

Writing For the Workplace

This course is designed to help you accomplish the following goals: To give you practice understanding, analyzing, and responding to writing situations. To help you recognize, learn and use persuasive strategies. To help you construct rhetorically effective arguments. To write to multiple audiences, recognizing and anticipating their differing needs. To recognize and use effectively different standard genres. To learn about and incorporate document design into your writing process.

L'Eplattenier, Barbara. University of Arkansas-Little Rock (2002). Academic>Courses>Writing>Persuasive Design

Writing for the World of Work

This course focuses on media, techniques, and formats of writing that are used in professional environments. Students explore the assumptions that govern writing in their fields and practice the writing skills and styles applicable to communicating effectively.

Carter, Kellie Rae. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2003). Academic>Courses>Writing>Business Communication

Writing for the World Wide Web

This is a course about writing and the World Wide Web in at least two different and related ways. First, we will be reading, 'browsing,' and writing about the World Wide Web in order to understand how the web works rhetorically. Second, we will be creating web sites that are good examples of effective web sites.

Krause, Steven D. Eastern Michigan University (2005). Academic>Course Materials>Web Design>Writing

Writing for the World Wide Web

Through course readings, class discussion, and web projects, you'll learn to apply rhetorical principles of audience analysis, invention, organization, style, and design to hypermedia authoring; to use hypertext markup language as a presentation tool for publishing on the World Wide Web; to plan and manage web projects; to develop independent learning and problem-solving skills.

Payne, Don. Iowa State University (2002). Academic>Courses>Web Design>Writing

Writing for the World Wide Web

Course goals: to analyze specific audiences and rhetorical situations in the design of large-scale Web sites; to apply the principles of information architecture to the creation of intuitive navigation systems and a seamless user experience; to learn how hypertext markup language (HTML) renders Web pages and supports the use of graphics, video, and other media; and to learn the basics of visual design and production as they relate to Web photographs and graphic images.

Honeycutt, Lee. Iowa State University (2002). Academic>Courses>Web Design>Writing

Writing for the World-Wide Web

Teaches how to apply the principles of information architecture to the creation of intuitive navigation systems and a seamless user experience.

Sauer, Geoffrey. Iowa State University (2004). Academic>Courses>Web Design>Writing

Writing for the World-Wide Web

Teaches how to apply the principles of information architecture to the creation of intuitive navigation systems and a seamless user experience.

Sauer, Geoffrey. Iowa State University (2003). Academic>Courses>Web Design>Writing

Writing for the World-Wide Web

As a student in this course you will have the opportunity to learn to write for the World Wide Web and use appropriate hardware and software.

Tesdell, Lee S. Minnesota State University, Mankato (2003). Academic>Courses>Web Design>Writing

Writing in the Professions

This course is designed to familiarize you with the type of writing you'll encounter and produce as a college-educated professional. You'll learn how to write clearly, confidently, and effectively for an international audience. You'll also learn how to compose great resumes, emails, proposals, and Power Point presentations. You'll learn productive strategies for working in groups. Finally, you'll get to work with powerful, yet easy-to-use software.

Barton, Matt. MattBarton.net (2008). Academic>Courses>Business Communication>Writing

Writing Program Administrators: Job Board

Post announcements about job openings in this forum. Posters are encouraged to send their announcements to WPA-L as well.

Council of Writing Program Administrators, The. Careers>Job Listings>Academic>Writing

Writing Report Abstracts

Describes the two types of abstracts: informational and Descriptive, then gives some tips on how to write effective report abstracts.

Purdue University (1998). Academic>Course Materials>Writing

Writing Research Papers: A Step-by-Step Procedure

In this section of our site, we offer you handouts and exercises on different aspects of research and the writing of research papers. If you are interested in a more extensive tutorial on research papers, check out our new Research Paper Workshop.

Purdue University (1998). Academic>Writing

Writing Technical Definitions  

Regardless of what industry you work in, as a professional communicator you will encounter the difficulty of defining a new or unfamiliar term for your readers. How will you explain a new concept like random access memory? How would you even know where to begin? Technical Communication/4e presents several options you have for writing technical definitions, providing examples of both short and extended definitions. For this exercise you will construct a technical definition for a specific audience. The strategy you choose for defining the concept depends on the audience(s) you select, that audience’s need(s) for the information, and the type of document in which the definition would appear.

Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson (2001). Academic>Course Materials>Writing

Writing to Inform, Convince, and Persuade

This course introduces the writing process and the types of academic writing you may be expected to complete in your college career such as research papers, argumentative papers, and literature reviews. The course is designed to help you develop a clear thesis in a written paper and support that thesis with appropriate sources. Time will be spent discussing rhetorical elements in writing such as audience, purpose, and argumentative structure. In addition, you will practice steps in the writing process such as invention, research, organization, drafting, revision, and editing. Your assignments will report, synthesize, and draw conclusions regarding the significance of what you read. Assignments may include 1) summary or abstract; 2) rhetorical analysis; (3) short thesis paper; (4) prospectus; (5) evaluation or review of literature; (6) research paper. Some courses are taught in a computer classroom and some in a traditional classroom.

Ratliff, Clancy. University of Minnesota (2003). Academic>Courses>Writing>Rhetoric

Introduction to Professional Writing

English 306 introduces you to the rhetorical principles and theoretical concepts that you will need as a professional writer. These principles and concepts will help you analyze and respond effectively to a variety of workplace writing scenarios. While the course will address some practical skills such as how to write memos, emails, and reports, we will focus most of our attention on theories of rhetoric, language, and information. We will learn how information operates in organizations, theories about information architecture, as well as rhetorical concepts that will allow you to effectively assess and approach any writing situation you might encounter. Additionally, the course will introduce you to the strategies and skills necessary for using various communication technologies in workplace contexts.

Bay, Jennifer. Purdue University (2007). Academic>Courses>Business Communication>Technical Writing