University of Idaho English 317 Technical Writing Course Syllabus taught by Barb Kirchmeier Summer 2021.

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Instructor: Barb Kirchmeier
barbara@uidaho.edu |brink hall #213 |208 885-8326
office hours: T/W/Th 11:00am-noon
Technical Writing is both a field of study and a profession with a unique history and set
of distinctive practices. It is also the writing done by professionals in other careers. So,
whether you have an interest in becoming a technical writer or are preparing to write in
another career, in today's workplace, you will craft messages using ever changing and
increasingly integrated media. The projects in this course will help you meet these
challenges.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After completing this course, you will be able to
 translate discipline-specific discourse to meet the needs of audiences with lower
levels of technical expertise,
 articulate the affordances and constraints of technologies to stakeholders,
apply rhetorical constructs to produce the visual and verbal design of
communication,
 communicate solutions to rhetorical problems in a variety of print and electronic
genres.
TEXTBOOK: No textbook is required.
Student Bio with Photo 50 points
Project 1: Technical Prose and Presentation Speaking Style 150
Project 2: Technical Definitions and Descriptions 200
Project 3: Data Visualization 200
Project 4: Usability Testing 300
Project 5: Professional Identity 100
Total Possible 1000

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Project Descriptions
All page length and word count guidelines below are based on single-spaced, left-justified text (no indent)
for paragraphs with an extra line of space to separate paragraphs and includes the use of heading levels
and white space. WARNING: page length and word count guidelines are not a valid way to determine
how long a project will take you to complete in this course.
PROJECT 1: Technical Prose and Presentation Speaking Style. In this project, you will analyze
some of your prior writing to determine the level of readability and create a podcast that adapts
prose style concepts for the ear. It takes most students 12 hours to complete this project.
 Memo Report write-up of findings from the analysis, about 4-6 pages.
 Podcast about research at the University of Idaho, up to 3 minutes.
PROJECT 2: Technical Definitions and Technical Descriptions. In this project, you will compose
technical documentation (a type of planning document), and a slidecast of a technical definition
or a technical description. Your goal will be to translate dense technical information to a lay
audience. It takes most students 12 hours to complete this project.
 Technical Documentation, about 350-500 words.
 Slidecast Technical Definition OR Technical Description, up to 3 minutes.
PROJECT 3: Data Visualization. In this project, you will create a mixed-chart infographic that
visualizes a statistical data story. Next, you will compose a screencast to justify design choices.
It takes most students 12-14 hours to complete this project.
 Mixed Chart Infographic.
 Screencast justifying design choices, up to 3 minutes.
PROJECT 4: Usability Test. In this project, you will test two communication products or
websites based on five components of usability, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data.
Next you will write-up your findings in a technical white paper describing your experience as a
user and compose a screencast of one or more usability test findings. It takes most students 14-
16 hours to complete this project.
 Technical White Paper write-up of test findings. about 2000 -2500 words.
 Screencast of a usability test finding, up to 3 minutes.
PROJECT 5: Professional Identity. In this project, you will compose targeted job or graduate
program application materials and compose an e-portfolio. It takes most students 12 hours to
complete this project.
 Cover Letter, 1 page, Resume or CV, up to 2 pages.
 E-Portfolio populated with sample work.

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Course Policies
1. Accelerated Summer Course. The pace of ENGL 317 in the summer is highly
accelerated. I assure you, however, that this pace is doable provided you follow the
project schedules to allocate your time.
The schedules direct you to the course materials you will need to study and apply to
complete each project and also give the estimated number of hours it takes most
students to complete a project.
2. Technology Requirements.
 Computer in good working order.
 Reliable Internet Connectivity.
 Microphone. Most computers have an integrated microphone, but if you need
to purchase one, here are two inexpensive microphones that bblearn
recommends: Logitech 1 ($14.99) and Logitech 2 ($19.99).
 Reliable Backup. You will need a reliable backup to store the latest drafts of
your work other than the hard drive of your computer or an easily lost thumb
drive. Here is one I recommend http://www.dropbox.com
3. Multimedia Project Deliverables. Four of the projects require both print and
multimedia deliverables. Students are not expected to have prior experience in
producing multimedia products and will be invited to create these using free, cloud-
computing tools that will also host the file.
Should you choose to create your digital media another way, your file must be
hosted in the cloud and play as a video without a user needing to download because
you are practicing how to share media as it is shared in workplace environments.
4. Accepted File Formats. The following are the only accepted file formats:
• Print Deliverables: Word or PDF.
• Infographic: jpg, png, or other image file; Word, PPT or PPTX, PDF file or the
URL where the file is hosted.
• Multimedia Deliverables URL where the file is hosted. Digital media files (MP3,
MP4, etc.) are not accepted in this course.
5. Deadlines. All work is due by 11:59 PM on the day/date indicated in the project
schedules. Late assignments will lose one letter grade (or the equivalent number of
points) per day.
If, when I start to grade your work, a file will not open or a URL link does not work, I
will notify you by email, and you will be given 24 hours to submit work correctly in
bblearn, and a late work point penalty will apply. To avoid this problem, verify your
submission.

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6. Verify Submissions to Avoid Point Penalties. When submitting assignments,
students are responsible for verifying that files they uploaded are not corrupted and
will open and that the URL to the audio-essay works.
This means you must return to the submissions box and open any files you
uploaded and check that a URL works. If your work does not submit correctly or if
you failed to submit part of it, you will need to submit all work again in a single
attempt because the last submission is the only one I grade.
7. Center for Disability Access and Resources (CDAR). Reasonable accommodations
are available for students who have documented temporary or permanent
disabilities. All accommodations must be approved through the Center for Disability
Access and Resources located in the Bruce M. Pitman Center, Suite 127 in order to
notify your instructor(s) as soon as possible regarding accommodation(s) needed for
the course. CDAR phone: 208-885-6307. CDAR email: cdar@uidaho.edu. CDAR
website: http://www.uidaho.edu/current-students/cdar.
8. Plagiarism. Violation of the University of Idaho Student Code of Conduct for
Plagiarism will result in a course grade of ‘F'.
9. Contacting Me. You are invited to email me when you have a question or to request
a writing conference (during our current situation, conferences will only be offered
via Zoom). Or you may request feedback on a draft through email. You may expect
a reply within 24 hours, Monday-Friday. I do not respond to emails on the weekend.
10. Request Feedback on a Draft. I don’t provide a general “please look it over before I
turn it in” type of review. Here’s why: I think all too often students get in the habit
(frequently encouraged unwittingly by professors) to show a teacher their work, the
teacher then says fix X, Y, and Z. And the student then fixes X, Y, and Z.
All this does, however, is teach a student how to comply with an authority figure. It
does nothing in my view to help students become confident and more in charge of
their writing.
So, to request feedback on a draft through email, do the following: review your
work, and then if you think some aspects are not effective, explain in your draft
using the review comment feature and/or in your email what problem(s) you see
and be specific, next explain what you did to try to solve the problem(s), and finally
why you are not sure if your solution(s) worked.