Rhetoric 3316.06: Writing for the Workplace

Rhetoric 3316 studies and practices 'workplace communication required of professionals who write as part of their jobs. Emphasis on developing a sense of audience and purpose, writing in teams, and learning problem-solving strategies. Intensive practice writing workplace documents such as memos, letters, e-mail, resumes, and reports.'

Nahrwold, Cynthia. University of Arkansas-Little Rock. Academic>Courses>Writing>Business Communication

Rhetoric 5/4304: Technical Style and Editing

Rhetoric 5/4304 emphasizes the editing process of technical materials, which includes the following: knowing different levels of editing, copyediting and proofreading, editing for organization and content, editing graphics, editing for effective document design, and learning how to work effectively and efficiently as a team member. We'll do hands-on editing to give you necessary knowledge/practice and to develop your editing skills.

Nahrwold, Cynthia. University of Arkansas-Little Rock (2002). Academic>Courses>Editing>Technical Editing

Rhetoric and Community Service

In this course, you will extend your critical and rhetorical skills beyond the classroom and the library into the world of community action and service by working or volunteering at least two hours a week at a local nonprofit community service agency or group (dealing, for example, with homeless outreach, adult literacy, tutoring inner-city children, elder care, AIDS support, drug rehabilitation, domestic violence, environmental issues, or civil rights issues). Up to one hour a week on-site may be used to gather information for assignmen

Locker, Kitty O. Ohio State University, The. Academic>Courses>Graduate>Rhetoric

Rhetoric and Technical Communication

The Greek word for persuasion derives from the Greek verb 'to believe' Therefore, we can see that rhetoric may be argumentative but also expository (modes of discourse that seek to win acceptance of information or explanation). This understanding is critical for those of us who seek to accommodate technology or science to a user.

Coppola, Nancy W. New Jersey Institute of Technology. Academic>Courses>Graduate>Rhetoric

Rhetoric, Privacy, and Persuasion in Cyberspace

This course provides a theoretical and critical overview of communication in cyberspace, such as email, MOOs, Web pages, Usenet newsgroups, e-lists, and other forms of Internet-based communication. Although television and radio have had significant impacts on the rhetorical situations of human discourse, the interactive, simultaneous, global technologies of the Internet are being viewed as an even greater force (some say revolution) in how we communicate with each other. This revolution can be understood from many perspectives, but rhetoric offers a critical lens through which to see the social and cultural implications--particularly the persuasive power and implications for personal privacy-- of this technology. Communication in cyberspace is different from traditional communication in many ways. In rhetorical studies, for example, communication is usually evaluated first by deciding if it is spoken or written and then by considering such communication in terms of the rhetorical canons. Yet online communication blurs the boundaries between oral and written discourse and raises questions about the traditional canons. In addition, interactions in cyberspace raise questions about identity, literacy, gender, community, intellectual property, privacy, commerce, the classroom, and the corporation. An interdisciplinary body of research called Internet Studies has arisen in response to this phenomenon. As a result, this class will analyze Internet discourse using rhetorical and other theory, with an emphasis on the persuasive power of electronic space. We will apply these ways of thinking to discourse taken from the Internet. Students will have an opportunity to publish white papers as part of the Internet Studies Center at the University of Minnesota.

Gurak, Laura J. University of Minnesota (2002). Academic>Courses>Graduate

Risk Communication  

Almost all of us are or will be involved in risk communication—as either producers or consumers—in two broad capacities: as professionals (scientists, engineers, technical communicators, business managers, foresters, etc.) and as citizens.

Waddell, Craig. Michigan Tech University (2003). Academic>Courses>Risk Communication

Scientific and Technical Communication

Effective communication skills in the workplace can prevent problems, streamline production, and determine who gets promoted and who doesn'ï¿t. This course will develop your use of several genres of scientific and technical writing, as well as teach you planning, drafting, and revision strategies that will dramatically improve the quality of your communication. A significant part of this course will be devoted to exploring new communication technologies, such as web design and presentation software and hardware. Graphics and document design have always been important elements of technical communication, but new technology has made them required features of workplace communication. In short, technical communicators are both writers and designers. As such, you must also regularly confront a range of ethical questions ï¿ from the political implications of the language you use to the decisions you make about the appropriateness or appeal of particular images. Throughout the semester, weï¿ll consider the ethical implications of what often seems to be (but isnï¿t) a straightforward, value-free form of communication.

Smith, Erin. Michigan Tech University (2002). Academic>Courses>Scientific Communication>Technical Writing

Seeing, Writing and Rhetoric

The primary aim of Writing 205/Writing Studio 2 is to help you become more adept at meeting the writing demands of the university. In your earlier work in writing courses, you may have focused on reflection or understanding what you have come to know through experience and observation.

Murray, Joddy. Morrismurray.net (2001). Academic>Courses>Writing>Rhetoric

Software Documentation

As a technical communicator, you will either write computer documentation, or work with people who do. It's as simple as that. Thus, you need to be familiar with the process of designing effective documentation, both paper and online. You may already be familiar with some of the principles and concepts involved. In some sense, software documentation represents a particular application of the principles of document design. However, software documentation warrants treatment as a separate area of study because the content area to which these general theories are applied is sufficiently distinctive and volatile. In particular, the computer places users in a task environment which is or can be nonlinear andwhich is prone to overload and confuse them with its levels andcategories of information. The basic principles we will cover in this course are these: audienceanalysis, document organization, and the facilitation of informationaccess. Also relevant are task analysis, layering for multipleaudiences, interface design, minimalist design, the social context ofdocumentation, and document testing.

Thury, Eva. Drexel University. Academic>Courses>Documentation

Spatial and Visual Rhetorics

Both spatial and visual rhetorics attend to issues of boundaries. From the structure of our classroom spaces to the margins of the page, rhetoric and compositionist are investigating the ways spatial and visual experiences are impacting our work as teachers and scholars.

Kimme Hea, Amy C. University of Arizona (2003). Academic>Courses>Visual Rhetoric

Special Topics in Technical and Professional Communication:  Grant Writing

Course goals: to prepare you to communicate effectively, ethically, responsibly, and professionally in a workplace environment; to provide you with skills, strategies, and conceptual knowledge to help you address a variety of communication and research tasks related to grant proposal writing; to help you understand the symbiotic relationships among form and content, and audience and purpose; and to give you practice in researching, writing, reviewing, and editing a grant proposal, and to improve your own individual communication and management skills.

Tovey, Janice. East Carolina University (2003). Academic>Courses>Graduate

Studies in Reading Theory and Document Design

This course will cover how reading theory interacts with a rhetoric of graphics to influence the way that documents are designed for maximum effect on the audience.

Zachry, Mark. Utah State University (2002). Academic>Courses>Graduate>Rhetoric

Studio Design in Human-Computer Interaction

In this course, students work on collaborative projects to design innovative human-computer interactions (HCIs) aimed at transforming the way people do things in their everyday lives at work, in the home, and at play. Students work with activity analysis to observe and analyze everyday practices, with object-oriented modeling to represent and transform those practices, and with UI prototyping for selected implementation. The course serves as the capstone in the HCI MS Certificate but is open to any junior or senior with technical skills seeking an opportunity to engage in an extended design studio leading to an HCI design. Prerequisites: In general: at least one course in one of the following areas: web design, database design, graphics design, document design, or software engineering design. For those completing the MS Certificate in Human-Computer Interaction: Fundamentals of HCI Usability, Electronic Coaching Systems, and Communication Design for the Web.

Carter, Kellie Rae and Cheryl Geisler. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2003). Academic>Courses>Human Computer Interaction

TC 517: Usability Testing

The web site for a Master's level course on Usability Testing in the Technical Communication department at the University of Washington.

Rose, Emma. University of Washington-Seattle. Academic>Courses>Usability>Testing

Teaching Business and Technical Communication

English 504 introduces students to varying perspectives about the design and implementation of instruction in business and technical communication—with primary attention to academic classroom instruction but some attention to workplace training.

Burnett, Rebecca E. Iowa State University (2003). Academic>Courses>Education>Technical Writing

Teaching Professional Writing--Bridging Theory and Practice

Technical and professional communication is a growing field, and there is a need for teachers and trainers at all levels (e.g., high school, college, and business/corporate settings). My goal is to prepare you to meet that need. In this course, you'll learn about professional writing and develop strategies to be a more effective teacher of writing through a hands-on apprenticeship and classroom practice. You'll be exposed to several classroom settings, and you'll learn to design and test assignments. In addition, we'll talk about ways to connect strategies for teaching professional writing to strategies in related fields such as composition, corporate training, and instructional design. Finally, we will study the recent history of the field to better understand current issues: the essential ones of audience, purpose, and exigency, as well as document design, ethics, the rhetoric of science and technology, and the relationships among technology, corporate culture, and professional communication.

Dubinsky, Jim. Virginia Tech (2001). Academic>Courses>Graduate>Business Communication

Teaching Technical and Professional Communication

This course is designed to provide you a theoretical and pedagogical foundation for teaching an introductory undergraduate course in technical communication.

Dragga, Sam. Texas Tech University (1998). Academic>Courses>Business Communication>Technical Writing

Teaching Technical Communication

This course covers the theoretical and practical aspects of teaching the technical communication service course in particular, and the teaching of technical communication in general. Topics covered include technical communication pedagogy (social, literacy-based, cultural, and constructivist) and pedagogical methodology (including service-learning), theoretical approaches to ethics, genre studies and workplace writing, relations between academia and industry, and various theoretical approaches to assessment of courses, programs, and instructors.

Barker, Thomas. Texas Tech University (2004). Academic>Courses>TC>Education

Teaching Technical Writing: The Möbius Loop of Theory and Practice

In this course you will build a pedagogical and theoretical foundation for teaching an introductory technical writing course in a community college, university, or industry setting. You will learn by means of extensive readings, writing, collaborative activities, classroom observations, interviews, and conversation ('teacher talk').

Dubinsky, Jim. Virginia Tech (1999). Academic>Courses>Graduate

Technical and Business Writing

English 301 is an introductory course in the principles and practice of technical and business writing. Technical and business writing is, of course, part of the universe of written discourse, and so you will be building on writing skills that you already have and acquiring skills that you will be able to use in other writing tasks. While it is difficult to define technical and business writing precisely, we can say that it differs, generally, from other kinds of writing in its subject matter, purpose and approach, formal conventions, and style. At the same time, the differences are differences of degree rather than absolute differences. The subject matter of technical and business writing is, obviously, the world of science, technology, and business. However, subject matter that is not normally considered 'technical' can be the subject of technical writing, provided the approach to it is objective rather than subjective. In other words, the purpose and approach may allow an otherwise 'untechnical”'subject to become 'technical.' The two primary purposes of the writing you do in this course will be to inform and to persuade. You will study some basic principles of defining, instructing, and evaluating, and you will concentrate on presenting material objectively. When you persuade, you will persuade on the basis of verifiable evidence, not on the basis of appeals to emotion. Most technical and business writing observes specific conventions of form, and you will be introduced to a variety of these. Three elements of form that are particularly important in technical and business writing and are seldom used in other kinds of writing are headings, lists, and illustrations. These elements of form, when used effectively, will, of necessity, also affect organization and style. In addition, there are specific conventions of form that govern memo writing, letter writing, and report writing, and you will practice using these.

Rodman, Lilita. University of British Columbia. Academic>Courses>Writing>Business Communication

Technical and Professional Editing

In this class, you will learn how to edit technical documents, from proofreading for errors at the surface to ensuring that the document contains appropriate content, organization, and visuals for its audiences. Students will also learn how to use traditional editing marks, editing functions within word processors, and principles of layout and design.

Eaton, Angela. Texas Tech University (2006). Academic>Courses>Technical Editing

Technical and Professional Writing

To understand technical documents as audience-centered and write for a target audience. To realize that knowledge is socially constructed and that writing is determined to a large extent by context. To improve grammar, mechanics, and style. To write for the Internet and become familiar with the weblog as a writing genre. To design and test a set of instructions. To use software tools, simple design principles, and effective typography to create documents with superior readability and usability. To create a major report using multiple information-gathering techniques, including library research and interview. To learn the differences among various writing genres used in the workplace, including the memo, proposal, progress report, and research report.

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