Department of English

Students in English 6000 develop the knowledge and skills to edit technical and professional documents, including how to copyedit for correct usage, grammar, punctuation, and spelling, as well as for consistency in format and style. Editing to improve content and organization is also covered. The Chicago Manual of Style is used in this course.

This course studies the concepts of and rationale for using document design in technical communication. Students learn techniques for designing and producing technical and professional documents, including instruction in typography, page layout, and color use. The goals of the course are to inform students about the principles of technical and professional communication and to help them gain experience working both individually and collaboratively in designing documents. This course also provides instruction in using software programs for document design.

Students enrolling in this seminar course explore various topics related to the field of technical and professional communication. The focus of the course varies annually, depending on the interests of the professor and student demand. Previous topics have included proposal and grant writing, the correlation between science and public policy, biotechnology, usability and writing in the health professions.

This course provides an opportunity for MTPC students to gain workplace experience and continue to build their technical and professional writing skills. After receiving approval to enroll in this course, students discuss their interests and goals with their instructor and decide upon placement in an office or department within Auburn University. Then, working under a contract, students complete writing and editing tasks throughout the semester, keeping a worklog that documents their progress and time involved in the placement. Students should expect to spend about 60 hours over the semester working for their supervisor.

So that everyone in the class will have an opportunity to work in a range of different situations, students attend weekly class meetings and prepare their assignments to be completed by other students. A final report providing an overview and analysis of the practicum placement is required at the end of the semester. This course is offered in alternate spring semesters.

This course is an introduction to the discipline and profession of technical and professional communication. The English 7010 will cover the historical and current practices in technical and professional communication; the major forms, modes, and genres of technical and professional communication; and also the chief stylistic and rhetorical features of technical and professional communication. The course is usually taught in the fall.

Students enrolled in this course will develop an understanding of educational theory as it relates to the teaching of technical and professional communication and the to teaching of writing generally. Students will discuss various pedagogical approaches to technical and professional communication and the data collecting methods used in educational research. Students will learn how to conduct educational research applied either to technical communication or composition. They will be expected to complete and write a journal article based on this research. This course is in alternate years with English 7030.

This course's focus is dependent upon the interests of the professor and the students. Recent topics for this course have been IText and Emerging Technology, The Rhetoric of Major Reports, and Theories of Science and Technology. This course differs from ENGL 6030 in that its focus is more theoretical in nature. Students spend time learning about the historical and social context of the course's topic and complete a semester-long research paper or project, as well as other smaller projects. This course is offered in alternate years with ENGL 7020.

The capstone project is particularly useful for students preparing to enter doctoral programs in technical communication or a related area. The capstone project is an extended research project; it allows a student to work independently under a professor’s supervision on a project that may or may not have begun in a class setting. An English department faculty member must agree in advance to supervise the capstone project. The faculty supervisor will also be a member of the student’s MTPC advisory committee.

Permission to undertake a capstone project is not automatic. A student must apply for permission by November 22 if the student plans to complete the project in the following spring semester, and by April 22, if the student plans to complete the project in the following fall semester. Permission is granted by the student’s three-member MTPC advisory committee. The committee will consider the student’s choice of topic, preliminary research, plan of work, and ability to work independently.

At the completion of the project, the student will submit a formal paper or report and defend it in a meeting with his or her advisory committee.

The portfolio project is best suited for students who are looking for non-academic employment after graduation. The portfolio project has three parts: the professional workplace portfolio, a memo to accompany the portfolio, and a public presentation of its contents.

The portfolio should be designed to showcase a student’s best work and should include 6-8 samples from class projects, internships, volunteer work, or employment. Samples should represent a variety of different communication situations and can be either individually or collaboratively produced. Students must submit an electronic, browser-based versions of their portfolio (archived on CD-ROM). Print versions are optional.

Portfolios should include the following:

• Résumé
• List of References
• Testimonials and Awards (if applicable; this section could include letters or emails from clients and other records of achievement)
• Technical Communication Samples (each with a cover page that includes a brief list- -50-75 words--identifying the purpose of the sample, the context within which the sample was created, and the software used to create the sample)

In addition to the portfolios, students must write a short memo (1000 words) to present their portfolios to the Technical and Professional Communication faculty committee. Students can use this space to briefly describe how the portfolio represents their training and experience, to reflect on their choices for the selections in the portfolio, and to provide a more extended discussion of the contexts and purposes of the individual samples.

The public presentation of the portfolio should showcase a selection of samples (no more than 5) in a 20-minute presentation to be delivered in a technology-enhanced classroom. Presenters should provide visual aids (usually PowerPoint and/or PDF presentations). Audience members will be encouraged to ask questions and provide feedback.

Steven M. Kendus. "Developing a Web-Based Portfolio." Intercom. Nov. 2002: 4-7.
Jack Molisani. "Portfolios: Tools for Acing the Interview." Intercom. Sept./Oct. 2003: 20-22.
Julie S. Scott. "Portfolios for Technical Communicators: Worth the Work." Intercom. Feb. 2000: 26-28.
Kirk R. St. Amant. "The Ten Commandments of Effective Portfolios." Intercom. June 2002: 10-12.
The following textbooks offer more extensive advice for creating portfolios, but are not required reading:
Miles A. Kimball. The Web Portfolio Guide: Creating Electronic Portfolios for the Web. New York: Longman, 2003. (visit the Web site for portfolio resources and gallery samples)
Herb J. Smith and Kim Haimes-Korn. Portfolios for Technical and Professional Communicators. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2007.

Part A:   History, theory, ethics, intercultural communication, gender studies
Connors, Robert. “The Rise of Technical Writing Instruction in America.”
Dobrin, David M. “What’s Technical About Technical Writing?”
Hagge, John. “Ethics, Words, and the World in Moore’s and Miller’s Accounts of Scientific and Technical Discourse.”
Kreth, Melinda, Carolyn R. Miller, and Janice Redish. “Comments on ‘Instrumental Discourse Is as Humanistic as Rhetoric.’”
Miller, Carolyn R. “A Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing.”
Moore, Patrick. “Instrumental Discourse Is as Humanistic as Rhetoric.”
Johnson-Eilola, Johndan. “Relocating the Value of Work: Technical Communication in a Post Industrial Age.”
Slack, Jennifer Darryl, David James Miller, and Jeffrey Doak. “The Technical Communicator as Author: Meaning, Power, Authority.”
Selzer, Jack. “Composing Processes of an Engineer” OR Winsor, Dorothy. “Engineering Writing/Writing Engineering.”
Dragga, Sam. “Cruel Pies: The Inhumanity of Technical Illustrations” OR “Hiding Humanity: Verbal and Visual Ethics in Accident Reports.”
Katz, Stephen. “The Ethics of Expediency: Classical Rhetoric, Technology, and the Holocaust.”
Paradis, James. “Text and Action: The Operator’s Manual in Context and in Court.”
St. Amant, Kirk. “Commentary: When Cultures and Computers Collide: Rethinking Computer-Mediated Communication According to International and Intercultural Communication Expectations.”
Ulijn, Jan M., and Kirk St. Amant. "Mutual Intercultural Perception: How Does It Affect Technical Communication?—Some Data from China, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Italy.”
Allen, Jo. “Gender Issues in Technical Communication: An Overview of the Implications for the Profession, Research, and Pedagogy.”
Baker, Randolph T., and Lisa Zifcak. “Communication and Gender in Workplace 2000: Creating a Contextually Based Integrated Paradigm.”
Durack, Katherine T. “Gender, Technology, and the History of Technical Communication.”
Part B: Theory and research in usability, document design, and visuals
Barnum, Carol.  Usability Testing and Research.
Johnson, Robert N. User-Centered Technology: A Rhetorical Theory for Computers and Other Mundane Artifacts.
Kostelnick, Charles. “From Pen to Print: The New Visual Landscape of Professional Communication.”
Nielsen, Jakob. Designing Web Usability OR Baehr, Craig. Web Development
Schriver, Karen. Dynamics in Document Design OR Kimball, Miles A., and Ann R. Hawkins. Document Design: A Guide for Technical Communicators. 
Nielsen, Jakob. Designing Web Usability OR Baehr, Craig. Web Development
Tufte, Edward. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.