English 3153

Instructor: Dr. Krista Bryson

E-Mail: krista.bryson@ou.edu
Office: Cate 2, Room 338
Technical Writing Office Hours: TR 12-3:00 pm or Ask

Materials
Overview
! Rocket Surgery Made Easy
From the most basic lab report to medical aftercare instructions, from ! Technical Communication: A
museum displays to airplane safety guidesin English 3153, students learn
Reader-Centered Approach
to analyze and produce technical documents across a variety of settings.
In particular this course will take a user-centered design research
! Notebook
approach to writing for science, workplace, and consumer settings. ! Other readings made
available online for free

Goals Assignments
! Learn to produce technical communication genres,
! Learn to respond to the rhetorical situations of professional settings, 1. Application Packet: 15%
designing documents in specific ways for specific audiences, 2. Instructions Set: 20%
! Learn the basics of scannable document design,
3. Grant: 20%
! Learn to translate technical information to non-technical
audiences, 4. Usability Test: 35%
! Learn how to run a usability test and research users, 5. Journals: 10%
! Learn to work, write, and present collaboratively.
Tips
Attendance, Participation, Late Work
1. Attend All Classes
Attendance is vital to your ability to understand course material. Each
2. Ask Questions
unexcused absence after two will result in the lowering of your assignment
grade by a letter grade for that unit. Six unexcused absences will 3. Come to Office Hours
automatically result in failing the course. There will be an attendance sheet
passed around each day of class. It is your responsibility to sign it each day. 4. Imagine the texts you produce in
Late submission of a final assignment will result in the deduction of a 20% this class as writing samples for a
penalty up until a week. After a week you will receive 0%. future career.

Access Journal Expectations

Each day I expect you to jot, sketch, or quote
Students requiring academic accommodation should contact the Disability
something in your journal about one of our
Resource Center for assistance at http://www.ou.edu/drc/home.html Any
readings. I might also ask you to write
student who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully
something specific in your journal as an
demonstrating his or her abilities should contact me personally ASAP so we
activity.
can discuss accommodations to ensure full educational opportunities.
Once a week, you will create an easel.ly
infographic summarizing something weve
Digital Readings read, done, or learned.

You will be required to purchase a digital version of Paul Andersons Technical

I will collect and grade journals/infographics
Communication: A Reader-Centered Approach from the Cengage website as
on a random day once a unit. Make sure they
posted on the course blog.
are complete and dated.

Technical Writing 1


Unit 1: Application Packet

T 2.7 [DUE]: Peer Review. Draft of 1 resume and 1 cover letter
R. 2.9 Editing and Formatting Workshop

Unit 2: Instruction Set

T 2.14 Reader-Centered Instructions. Anderson: Chapter 27
In Class: Lego Group instruction creation; comparing types of instructions
Introduce Assignment 2


R 2.16 [DUE]: Assignment 1: Application Packet
1. Tierny: The Dilemmas of Maker Culture;
2. The Makers Bill of Rights;
In Class: Lego Instruction test; Theory of instruction sets and parts

T 2.21 1. Ilama Creating User Personas
2. Read and Grade Instruction Examples based on readings and powerpoints
Due: Bring in a user-persona for your proposed instruction set
In Class: Instruction set design theory

R 2.23 Scavenger Hunt: In Teams Redesign/Create Public Instructions Day: Culture Jam
T 2.28 Workshop: usability test an instruction set
R 3.2 [DUE]: Peer Review. Draft Due

Unit 3: Grant Unit
T 3.7 1. Listen to Radiolab Colors and 9-Volt Nirvana. (For more, listen to Space, Falling, or Emergence)
2. Listen: Euala Biss on Anti-Vaccination
http://www.fastcompany.com/3041381/strong-female-lead/why-women-are-ditching-stem-
careers-and-how-to-change-it
http://www.wired.com/2015/08/qcamp/
http://www.aauw.org/2015/11/09/princess-or-geek/
In-Class: Be prepared to talk about a misconception or problem in your field
[DUE]: Assignment 2

R 3.9 1. Grant Reading 1: Bryson
2. Grant Sample 1: Bryson
In Class: Introduce Assignment 3

T 3.14 No ClassSpring Break
R 3.16 No ClassSpring Break

T 3.21 1. Finish Grant Workbook Part 1: Bryson
2. Writing Reader-Centered Proposals. Anderson: Chapter 23
In Class: Grade Sample Grants

R 3.23 1. Finish Grant Workbook Part 2: Bryson

T 3.28 Museum Field Trip Meet at Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural HistoryFill-out activity sheet.

1

R 3.30 [DUE]: Peer Review

Unit 4: Usability Test

T. 4.4 1. Usability Test Report Example 1
2. Web Design Principles 1: Beyond Task Completion

R 4.6 1. Rocket Surgery. Steve Krug: 13-37.
2. Top 5 Web Design Mistakes Small Businesses Make
3. Web Design Principles 2
In Class: Introduce Assignment 4; web design principles
[DUE]: Assignment 3

T 4.11 1. Rocket Surgery. Krug: 39-61;
2. IDEO Methods Cards
In Class: Web design principles and analysis; user-centered methods; creating scenarios; Studio
Time

R 4.13 1. Rocket Surgery. Krug: 63-89 and 147-153;
2. Creating Communications with a Team. Anderson: Chapter 18
In Class: User-centered methods beyond usability tests; Teamwork tips; Studio Time

T 4.18 1. Rocket Surgery. Krug: 91-119;
2. Writing Reader-Centered Empirical Research Reports. Anderson. Chapter 24
In Class: Lab reports parts and common errors 1; Studio Time
[DUE]: Assignment 4.1

R 4.20 1. Rocket Surgery. Krug: 121-132.
2. Memos. Kolin: 133-141.
In Class: Lab reports part 2

T 4.25 Creating and Delivering Listener-Centered Oral Presentations. Anderson: Chapter 19
In Class: Studio Time
[DUE]: Assignment 4.2

R 4.27 In-Class Studio Time

T 5.2 In-Class Studio Time

R. 5.4 [DUE]: Group Presentations and project 4.3

Final Report Due: Midnight by Exam Day