Iowa State University

Activity Theory and Its Implications for Writing Instruction

Proposes that educational institutions continue to improve the uses of writing in society in two ways: extend writing across the curriculum efforts and raise the awareness of students, the university community, and the public to the role of writing in society by having those who study writing teach an introductory liberal arts course on it. Both are important steps toward removing the remedial stigma attached to writing and its teaching, and toward combating the myth of autonomous literacy that reinforces the remedial stigma.

Collaborative Portfolio Assessment in the English Secondary School System

In the last decade, several groups in the US have also been working toward performance assessment that is tied to the curriculum and assessed by collaboratively by teachers: the New Standards Project, the College Board Pacesetter Project, and several state assessment projects. This paper describes the English system not as a model to be imitated—there are profound differences in the two societies and their education systems—but as a point of reference, a means of seeing the US system and the recent reform efforts in comparative perspective.

Looking Beyond the Interface: Activity Theory and Distributed Learning

Activity theory (AT) has for many years been used in studies of human computer interaction, such as computer interface design and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) (Nardi, 1996). In the last five years it has begun to be used to understand distributed learning, as technological innovations in education have often "seemed to be designed to exploit the capabilities of the technology rather than to meet an instructional need," to be technology-driven rather than theory-driven.

Creating a Multi-Page Document Using AutoFlow

In this tutorial, we are going to create a simple layout for an existing text document.

Cutting and Arranging Clips

Once you have successfully captured your video clips, you will want to edit and arrange them to create you movie. It is very rare to flawlessly capture exactly what you need, with the exact in and out points that you want. You will need to trim unwanted frames and footage from your clips.

Exporting to QuickTime or for use with iDVD

You have this great project that you've just finished, and you need to bring it into another program, display it on your web site, or turn it in on CD or DVD. To do this, you will need to export your movie. iMovie has several 'built-in' configurations that take much of the guesswork out of compressing your video for optimal playback on one of those media types. I often find, however, that the standard choices are not quite what I want or need. This is when the Expert options come into play.

iMovie Tutorial: Capturing Video

This is one in a series which will take you through the act of capturing, editing, and exporting a video using Apple iMovie.

InDesign: Basic Page Setup

InDesign is Adobe's replacement for the aging PageMaker application. In many ways, InDesign is very similar to PageMaker, but there are differences that can throw an experienced PageMaker user for a loop (albeit briefly). In this tutorial you will set up a simple layout and master page.

Postcard Announcing an Exhibit

In this tutorial, we will create a postcard announcing a fictitious exhibit (or a real one if you have one coming up:) using InDesign. This tutorial was originally written for the InDesign Workshop.

Poster Announcing an Exhibit

This tutorial is a companion to 0002, and was part of the InDesign Workshop. We will create a companion poster announcing the same exhibition.

Team Conflict in ICT-Rich Environments: Roles of Technologies in Conflict Management

This study looks at how an information and communication technologies (ICT) rich environment impacts team conflict and conflict management strategies. A case study research method was used. Three teams, part of a graduate class in instructional design, participated in the study. Data were collected through observations of team meetings, interviews with individual members, plus analysis of electronic documents exchanged among team members. Findings indicate that all teams experienced conflict at some level and that conflict management strategies evolved over time. ICT played a dual role in the conflict management of teams. These technologies seemed to facilitate conflict management by offering a formal means of communication, making communication more effective, with minimal wasted or unnecessary efforts; and creating opportunities for more thoughtful reactions, with chances for reflection on the content. However, ICT also aggravated conflict, specifically when strategies for use were imposed, when team members became blunt and forthright, and when misinterpretations occurred because of differing sense of urgency in replying to emails.

Publishing and Its Implications, 1688-2005

One definition of rhetoric is the study of relationships between writers and readers. This course will review changes in publishing from 1688 to the present, considering implications for writers (particularly professional communicators), publishing, and reading audiences. The course will learn about, then examine in detail, the social impact of key innovations from this period.

Technology, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication

This course offers students in various disciplines a critical view of the technologies now shaping workplace communication and our society as a whole. Using rhetorical theories of technology, we will examine the historical roots of communication technology and explore a number of economic and ethical issues spawned by the computer revolution. Students will gain a deep understanding of how technology impacts the decisions of technical communicators in an increasingly electronic workplace.

Theory and Research in Professional Communication

This graduate course will study theoretical constructs and issues that inform workplace professional communication. Inherently a multi-disciplinary activity, professional comm-unication draws on theories from fields as different as rhetoric and science, psychology and philosophy, sociology and linguistics. This term we will focus specifically on rhetoric, on the relationships between author, text and reader, and on philosophies of science and language as they apply to workplace practice.

Beyond Bookmarks: Schemes for Organizing the Web

A clearinghouse of web sites that have applied or adopted standard classification schemes or controlled vocabularies to organize or provide enhanced access to Internet resources.

Multimedia Design in Professional Communication

This course will focus on the fundamentals of developing digital multimedia using a range of software, hardware, and electronic equipment. Solid computer skills, knowledge of rhetoric, and basic web design skills are assumed, but no specific experience with multimedia technologies is prerequisite. Be prepared to approach multimedia vigorously and immersively.

Introduction to Macromedia Dreamweaver (I)

Macromedia Dreamweaver is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor used for web page creation. This video will guide you through the first use of Dreamweaver MX. It is followed by Introduction to Macromedia Dreamweaver (II).

Introduction to Macromedia Dreamweaver (II)

Macromedia Dreamweaver is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor used for web page creation. This video will continue to guide you through the first use of Dreamweaver MX. It follows Introduction to Macromedia Dreamweaver (I).

Quintilian's Institutes of Oratory

A classical discussion of how to speak appropriately to audiences.

Designer's Cafe

A page with links to facilitate users who build website with Macromedia Dreamweaver and Flash.

Multimedia Design in Professional Communication

This course will focus on the fundamentals of developing digital multimedia using a range of software, hardware, and electronic equipment. Through readings, class discussion and multimedia projects, you'll learn to apply rhetorical principles (audience analysis, invention, organization, style, design) to multimedia authoring; to learn production techniques for multimedia development (including CD-ROM, streaming video, DVD video and Flash interactivity), from storyboarding to nonlinear editing; to plan and manage collaborative multimedia projects; to master software genres commonly used for multimedia training program in education and industry.

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.

EJI(sm): A Registry of Innovative E-Journal Features, Functionalities, and Content

A categorized registry of electronic journals, journal services, or 'knowledge environments' that offer or provide innovative or novel access, organization, or navigational features, functionalities, or content. E-Journals that include multimedia components are listed inM-Bed(sm), while those that offer pay-per-view access are listed in Just-in-Time(sm). Some e-journals in EJI(sm) require free registration or a paid subscription to access select registry entries.

Technical Communication

In this course we will explore the various forms and media by which working professionals convey technical information to both expert and novice audiences. As a student in this course, you will learn to write a variety of genres used in technical communication -- resumés and cover letters, memos, proposals, progress reports and final reports.

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.

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.

Authority in Hypertext

This is an alternative/modified title page for a web of documents focused on the issue of authority and exists as the result of my decision to include this site on authority in hypertext as part of another project. This page exists for several reasons: the passage of time, the nature of the WWW, and the fact that the authority web exists. I will briefly discuss each of these reasons.

GRApES: Group for Research in Applied English Studies

GRApES is a group of applied linguists and rhetoricians in the English Department at ISU who meet regularly to discuss their various research pursuits, looking for areas of mutual interest in terms of methodology and theory. As you will see below, the group is quite diverse in interests and expertise. Our goal is to collaborate on joint research projects. Feel free to contact any of us about our research.

The Limits of the Apprenticeship Models in WAC/WID Research

One of the most significant developments in writing research over the last twelve years has been the large number of naturalistic studies of writing in the disciplines (college-level) and in the professions (non-academic writing). A number of these are based on the metaphor of apprenticeship, most recently the theory of 'cognitive apprenticeship' drawn from research in situated cognition. The learning and teaching of students in schools or colleges, as well as workers in non-academic settings, is compared to the learning and teaching of apprentices in pre- or early-industrial societies, who learned on the job while doing progressively more complex and central tasks, under the watchful eye of a master or expert. A central advantage of the apprentice metaphors is that it allows us focus on actions and motives that the official school curriculum and traditional theories of education (and their metaphors of 'banking' or 'transmission') find it difficult do discussthe 'hidden curriculum' that many have studied. Yet metaphors of apprenticeship--drawn from earlier versions of capitalism--are, I would argue, severely limited in their capacity to explain the ways newcomers learn new genres in late capitalist work environments, to theorize, in other words, the relation between formal schooling and industrial society. I want to suggest here three basic ways that theories based on the apprentice metaphor are limited.

Technical Communication

In this course, we will explore the various forms and media by which working professionals convey technical information to both internal and external audiences. As a student in this course, you will learn to write a variety of genres used in technical communication -- résumés and cover letters, memos, proposals, progress reports, and final reports. To facilitate production of such documents, you will also learn to use several types of desktop software, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as others.

Technology and Professional Workgroups

Through both theory and practice, we will explore various computer technologies used to support professional communication within groups. In the first part of the course, we will study major theories of group interaction and computer-mediated communication to gain critical faculties for examining the use of technology by professional workgroups. In the second part, we will use these theories to investigate specific technologies, such as email, Lotus Notes, NetMeeting, and other groupware applications used in various professional contexts. You will leave this course with not only a working familiarity with such technologies, but also a theoretical framework for critiquing their use in future workplace settings.

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.

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.

Aristotle's Rhetoric

Welcome to the online version of Aristotle's Rhetoric. These hypertext pages are based on the 1954 translation of noted classical scholar W. Rhys Roberts. In editing this text, every effort was made to preserve the original style of Roberts' print edition, though footnotes and parenthetical Greek phrasings were omitted due to the typographical restrictions of hypertext markup language. In addition, British punctuation rules were generally altered to conform to American style, though British spelling conventions were retained.

Composition and Rhetoric Bibliographic Database

Welcome to the home page of the Composition & Rhetoric Bibliographic Database project. Citations from journals and books in composition and rhetoric studies have been archived in both EndNote and Refer/BibIX bibliographic formats.

Bibliography for Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Communication

This bibliography contains citations for over 7,600 articles and books dealing with issues related to rhetoric, composition, professional communication, and associated topics, such as linguistics, psychology, and philosophy.

Recommended Texts for Research Methods Classes

A list of recommended texts for use in a research methods class, accompanied by brief reviews. The list was generated in a discussion on attw-l in February 2000.