This presentation traces the design and implementation of an online first-year composition course at a Research I institution during the 2017-18 academic year. The speaker will share lessons learned from designing and teaching the course, as well as training and mentoring graduate instructors to teach online for the first time (Bourelle, 2016). Topics covered will include positioning a digital rhetorics themed distance learning course within a STEM-based university, teaching multimodal assignments in an online course, and integrating information design concepts such as user-centeredness (Blythe, 2001) and wicked problems (Rittel & Webber, 1973) into online first-year writing curricula.

1. COMPOSE
DESIGN
EDUCATE
DEVELOPING A DIGITAL RHETORICS
THEMED ONLINE WRITING COURSE
Allegra W. Smith | @argella
PhD Student and Online Course Developer
Department of English, Purdue University

2. PURDUE FAST FACTS
30,000+ undergraduate students (as of 2016)
115-150 first year writing sections per semester
taught by graduate students across 6 programs (RC,
literature, creative writing, linguistics, second language
studies, theory & cultural studies) and limited term lecturers
home of the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)

3. WHY ONLINE FYW AT
PURDUE? WHY NOW?
“[There were] several key motivations. The first and most important is ‘if we’re
not gonna do it, the University of Phoenix is gonna do it;’ and the argument
against online 106 had been, ‘oh, that’s not the way we do things, online
education is never good enough,’ etc… and my counterargument to that is
somebody else is gonna do it, and they’re gonna do a terrible job of it and we
might as well get the professional development opportunities for everyone and
be able to do it right. So that was the first thing. The second thing is the dean
really wanted it… so anything we can do that makes him happy, that at the same
time makes us happy, is a bonus. And then finally, classroom space is [at] a huge
premium . We had fewer 106 classes this semester because we don’t have room.
So to be able to offload classroom space is a good thing."
-- Dr. Bradley Dilger, Introductory Composition Director

4. DEVELOPMENT
TEAM
Bradley Dilger (Purdue WPA)
Debbie Runshe (Instructional Designer)
Ola Swatek (Curriculum Designer, Summer '17)
Allegra W. Smith (Online Course Developer)
Libby Chernouski (Instructor)
Rachel Atherton (Instructor and Photographic
Recluse)

5. MASTER COURSE

6. VIDEO EXPRESS ROOM

7. VIDEO EXPRESS ROOM

8. CURRICULUM DESIGN
course projects, modules, and rationale

9. MODULES
Module 1: Defining Literacy & Technology
Module 2: Drafting & Revising Multimodal
Communication
Module 3: Generating Research Questions
Module 4: Finding & Evaluating Sources
Module 5: Organizing Researched Arguments
Module 6: Revision & Remediation
Module 7: Visual Modes of Communication
Module 8: Displaying Information & Making
Arguments with Visuals
Module 9: Presenting & Reflecting

10. SYLLABUS ARC
Project 1
Observe and Reflect
Digital Autobiography
Project 3
Remix and Present|
Advocacy Infographic
Project 2
Research & Analyze
Researched Argument

11. INFORMATION DESIGN
a lens for inquiry and a hinge between humanities
instructors and STEM students

12. HOW DO WE USE
DESIGN IN
RHET/COMP?
1. Synonymize “plan” or “structure,” e.g., “program
design,” “course design;”
2. Affirm the rhetorical function of visuals and layout,
or to explain or revalue visual elements on the same
plane as text;
3. Recognize digital, multimedia compositions, moving
beyond print-based composing;
4. Draw attention to the materiality of composing;
5. Invoke/discuss design studies, calling for
interdisciplinary work (Purdy, 2014, p. 615–620)

13. INFORMATION DESIGN
FYC PEDAGOGY
“Design is an essential ingredient to the success of all these efforts.
For example, to develop an online interaction, a technical
communicator must not only write the message presented to
users, but must first predict users’ goals, moods, and motivations,
and gear the message accordingly. If several different types of
users encounter the same content, then the communicator must
also discover this difference and display a message that’s tailored
not only to the context and mood, but to the type of user.”
-- Saul Carliner, 2000

14. GUIDING
QUESTIONS
• How do we support communication with deliberate
choices (textual, visual, methodological, etc.) that are
rhetorically attuned and user-centered?
• How do we present and organize information so that it is
usable by stakeholders?
• What happens to our documents after we create and
distribute them? How does information spread in a
networked age with a 24/7 news cycle (and how can we plan
for the contingencies that may arise within this system)?
• What are the values that govern how we construct,
(re)present, and share information? What are our ethical
responsibilities—both within our respective disciplines, and
as digital communicators and global citizens?

15. MODULAR FLEXIBILITY
developing a "grid" approach to designing
curriculum and assessing multimodal student work

16. SYLLABUS ARC
Project 1
Observe and Reflect
Project 3
Remix and Present
Project 2
Research & Analyze

17. GRID APPROACH

18. NEXT STEPS
Modular videos: drawing on Purdue's
network of alumni and friends to create
reusable video lessons
New syllabus approaches: piloting a second
syllabus approach (Academic Writing &
Research) this summer; hoping to build a
third next year
Assessment & data collection: aligning
online teaching with ICaP's
long-term assessment projects and
corpus of student writing

19. THANK
YOU
Allegra W. Smith
@argella // smit2632@purdue.edu