ENC 4260 • Advanced Technical Writing • USF Sarasota-Manatee

ENC 4260

Advanced Technical Writing

Spring 2009 / Online Course

Saturday, 3:00 to 5:45 pm, Room A320B). This is a web-based course; it meets on Sarasota campus only on Jan 10 and Apr 25, 2009.

IMPORTANT: The Jan 10 and Apr 25 on-campus meetings are required by the USF administration, not the instructor. If you do not attend the Jan 10 meeting and have not been excused in advance by the instructor, the registrar will cancel your enrollment in the course. Under these circumstances, I will not approve reinstatement. You may be liable for fees if you do not drop the course promptly. (Exemption from attending the Jan 10 class requires verifiable documentation of a serious health problem or similar issue. Merely having to travel a long distance or take time off work will not exempt a student from this requirement. There will be no exemption from the Apr 25 final exam on campus.)

University of South Florida (USF)
Sarasota/Manatee Campus | Spring 2009
Instructor: T. E. Roberts
thorsdag (at) comcast dot net
http://www.sarasota.usf.edu/CAS/troberts/

Updated 4 Jan 2009

Please report malfunctioning links to the instructor.
Report malfunctioning instructor to the dean.

Students should review all material posted here before the end of the semester.

Course Syllabus and Information

Syllabus for ENC 4260, Spring 2009 (24 Nov 2008, subject to change) Because of USF budget cutbacks, students wanting a printed syllabus should print it for themselves. The file is designed also to be used as an online document. (If you would like USF to supply a printed syllabus, please contact the instructor in time to bring this to class on Jan. 10.)

Student Background Information (print, fill out, sign, and bring this and your student ID with you to class on campus on Jan 10; this is also available as the last page of the course syllabus listed above)

How to Prepare Revisions of Assignments

Assignment Due Dates

Assignment 1 (500-700 words): Mon, Jan 19, 2009

Assignment 2 (500-700 words): Mon, Feb 9, 2009

Assignment 3 (500-700 words): Mon, Mar 2, 2009

Assignment 4 Outline (required): Mon, Mar 23, 2009

Assignment 4 (2,000-2,500 words): Mon, Apr 20, 2009

Final exam (on campus): Sat, Apr 25, 2009

Course Textbook + Readings

REQUIRED Pocket Guide to Technical Communication, 4th edition, 2007, by William Sanborn Pfeiffer. Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 0131721054. (available from Amazon.com, campus bookstore, and other sources)

OPTIONAL RESOURCES

(free PDF file, 137 pages, 3.1 MB): ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE by Robert Pirsig

(Especially useful for IT majors and others pursuing a career in information technology and related fields): Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications (Third Edition). Available on Amazon.com at this link.

(Useful for understanding the role of graphic images in technical communication): The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (Second Edition), by Edward Tufte. Available on Amazon.com at this link.

(Useful historical survey): “Two Centuries of Progress in Technical Communication,” by Bradford R. Connatser, Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Vol. 37 (2), 129-149, at this link.

(Required for the course ENC 4931, Special Topics: Technical Editing): Carolyn D. Rude, The Longman Guide to Technical Editing (ISBN 0321365798). Available at various websites.

(Useful if you expect to work with mathematical data or mathematicians): Prof. Roger L. Cooke, Empirical Mathematics: Numerical Data and Models (free PDF download of textbook used at Univ. of Vermont, 2002) at this link.

Course Lectures & Content

INSTRUCTIONS: Lectures consist of a spoken audio recording in MP4 format and a set of PowerPoint slides. It is important to download both files and listen to the spoken audio as you see the slides on your computer (the audio includes cues for advancing from one slide to another.

To hear MP4 files on a Windows computer, download free Quicktime player here. Alternatively, you may use the free VLC Media Player, to be found here: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/. Then, each week, right-click on the PowerPoint link, choose SAVE TARGET AS, and download to your computer desktop. Do the same with the MP4 link. Open the PPT file first and then the MP4 file. As you listen to the MP4 audio, you will hear cues to advance to succeeding slides. If you lack PowerPoint on your computer, you may download a free PPT viewer here. You should save all lecture files in the same ENC_4931 folder in which you keep your written assignments and emails related to the course. Also, back-up this folder regularly onto external media such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, or online archive. This folder will contain the core of what you are paying for and learning in this course -- treat it accordingly.

DO NOT TRY TO HEAR THE MP4 FILE AS A STREAMING AUDIO OVER THE INTERNET -- IT MAY BE INTERRUPTED.

IMPORTANT: Listen to and take notes on lectures as they are posted -- they provide essential information needed to perform assignments successfully. You must read the PowerPoint slides and hear the audio recording simultaneously. If you are unable to hear a lecture, contact the instructor immediately. Beginning with the Week 2 lecture, send me an email (by the deadline stated in the syllabus) noting the code words mentioned in the audio recording. Failure to do so will result in penalty to your final semester grade.

Lectures will be posted on or before Saturday for the week in question, beginning Jan. 10, 2009. Please do not ask for a lecture to be posted in advance. They are custom-prepared every semester.

Lectures to be posted here

Useful Links on Technical Writing

Wikipedia article on Technical Writing (useful overview)

Cooperative Library for Tech Communicators

Society of Technical Communication (STC)

STC Suncoast Chapter (Tampa)

Online Technical Writing Textbook

Being Fluent with Online Technology (online book)

Writing Guidelines for Engineering & Science Students

National Science Foundation Guide to Proposal Writing

Guidelines for Technical Writing (Ohio University)

Great Technical Writing (Even If You’re Not a Great Writer)

Usernomics: Technical Documentation

Creativity in Science and Engineering

How to Write a Master’s Thesis in Computer Science

Engineering Communication Program (Univ. of Toronto)

Writing in Science and Engineering (PDF format)

Geeks: How to write for a non-technical audience

Why Are So Many Knowledgeable People Such Bad Technical Writers?

Putting the Writer Back Into Technical Writing

Conciseness Is Key to Good Technical Documentation

Car Rental Economics (example of technical article)

New Analysis of Asteroid Impact

Edward Tufte: Visual Display of Information (Summary)

Technology for Professional Writers (Utah State Univ. online course)

Technical Writing Certification (JER Online)

Writing Correctly and Creatively

USF Sarasota-Manatee Writing Resource Center

Online Grammar and English Handbook

Using Pronouns Clearly

God Save the Subjunctive!

Purdue Univ. Online Writing Lab (OWL)

Technical Writing Style

American Heritage Reference Collection

Language Errors to Avoid (Roberts)

Websites for Students of English as Second Language

Web Resources for Communication Skills

Ideas to Ponder

Technical writing may literally concern life-and-death decisions, as anyone who has read emergency instructions -- in an emergency -- knows.
Who makes a better technical communicator -- a technically trained person who must learn how to write, or a writer who must learn a technology?
How does a writer balance the need for technical accuracy and completeness with the need for conciseness and clarity?
Technology changes all the time, but an ability to use language clearly, concisely, accurately, and creatively (if learned and practiced correctly) stays constant.