ENGL 235: Technical Writing

The following is a description of ENGL 235: Technical Writing

Course description

An introductory course in communicating information about technical subjects within a work setting. Students write reports, instructions, summaries, e-mails, and memos; develop audience awareness skills; develop skills in document layout and design, including Web design; and collaborate in a group project.

Course outcomes

Students who earn a 2.0 or higher will be able to:

• Develop a sense of how purposes, audiences, situations, technologies, and methods affect writers’ and users’ perceptions of written documents.
• Implement and demonstrate theories of document design (e.g. format, layout, graphics) in course projects.
• Understand the recursive nature of writing process in terms of researching, drafting, reviewing/testing, editing, and revising.
• Develop strategies for written and/or oral communication with peers, instructors, users, and/or clients that foster mutual respect and responsibility, including peer review and usability testing.
• Implement and evaluate a range of research methods and information resources to develop and produce ethically responsible professional documents.
• Create effective arguments in professional documents using discursive and visual information.
• Demonstrate awareness of how various media genres and technologies affect and are affected by users and readers and, thus, are integral to the writing process.
• Use and adapt various technologies, including MS Word, to produce attractive, persuasive, professional documents.