1. Definitions and Documents
Tuesday
In our first class, we'll review the class website and schedule of assignments for the entire semester. I'll answer any questions you have and try to let you know as much as possible about my expectations for the class.
We'll also discuss your very first assignment for the semester—an interview with a technical professional about their writing methods. It's never too early to start thinking about who you might want to interview.
Finally, we'll conduct a get-acquainted exercise that will give you a chance to speak with everyone in class to learn more about them.
Thursday
For today's class, you were to read Chapter 1 of the Burnett textbook regarding definitions of technical communication, forms of communication in the workplace, and the constraints communicators face when addressing both internal and external audiences. We'll discuss these in some depth during the first part of class, and then we'll break into groups of three to analyze the short memo in Exercise 4 on pages 29-30.
After that, we'll talk long range about the information design projects that constitute 45% of your final grade, and I'll show you examples of what I consider to be extremely good work from previous semesters.
Lastly, we'll discuss briefly your search for an interview subject.