English 3153 Instructor: Dr.

Will Kurlinkus
E-Mail: wkurlinkus@gmail.com
Technical Writing (June 5-Aug 1) Office Hours: Upon Request

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

Goals 1. Application Packet: 20%

Learn to produce technical communication genres, 2. Instructions Set: 20%

Learn to respond to the rhetorical situations of professional settings, 3. Grant: 20%

designing documents in specific ways for specific audiences,
4. Usability Test: 25%
Learn the basics of scannable document design,
Learn to translate technical information to non-technical 5. Forum Participation/Small
audiences, Activities: 15%
Learn how to run a usability test and research users,
Learn to work, write, and present collaboratively. Email Policy
Forums and Late Work
I will check and respond to emails
Participation is vital to your ability to understand course materialyou will once a day at 1PM. You can expect
participate in this course as if it were on a MWF schedule as seen in the feedback around that time. So,
course schedule. Each weeks work will be released Saturday at noon. please do not worry if you dont
receive a response quickly if you
Forums: You will be required to participate in 2 forums a weekresponding
send an email at 5pmI will respond
to reading questions, activities, and your colleagues. Forum responses are
the next day at noon.
due by 5PM the day they appear on. If they are not received by WF noon,
you will receive no points. 3 to 4 discussion leaders will be assigned at the
time each forum question is posted, and they will be expected to respond Other Expectations
to 3 other students. These responses will be due by noon the next day, if
they are not posted the discussion leader will receive no points. Peer Review: If you dont submit a
draft for peer review 2% off your final
Late Work: All major assignments are due Mondays at midnight. For each
grade. If you dont return your 2
day assignments are late they will receive a 5% deduction.
commented on drafts back on time
for peer review 2% off your final
Access
grade. You will be assigned peer
Students requiring academic accommodation should contact the Disability review partners. All peer review
Resource Center for assistance at http://www.ou.edu/drc/home.html Any drafts are due Thursday by 5pm
student who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully comments are due back Friday by
demonstrating his or her abilities should contact me personally ASAP so we
7pm.
can discuss accommodations to ensure full educational opportunities.

Technical Writing (June 5-Aug 1) 1



Introduction
M 6.5 1. Read Welcome to English 3153, watch video, take intro quiz.
2. A School of Visual Arts Grad Remakes the Pill Bottle
3. Listen to the following: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/08/14/340351393/when-
patients-read-what-their-doctors-write
4. The University of Maryland just released a report on its incredibly irresponsible chocolate milk research
5. Italian Scientists Sentenced to 6 Years for Earthquake Statements - Scientific American.

Homework: Respond on the discussion forum to the readings. What do they teach you about the
importance of technical communication? About the responsibility of scientists to be good communicators?

Unit 1: Application Packet
W 6.7 1. KolinGetAJob.pdf
2. Emails 1: How to Email - The Atlantic - The Atlantic.pdf
3. Emails 2: New Series: The Art of the Email
4. Emails 3: https://www.sitepoint.com/how-to-streamline-email/

Homework: Find 2 job/internship ads that you might apply to and make a t-chart for each. Post it to the
discussion forum.

F 6.9 1. Chapter 8 (read all sections of this online resume chapter
2. https://www.fastcompany.com/3052371/a-former-google-recruiter-reveals-the-biggest-resume-
mistakes
3. Student examples that I commented on
4. Student Examples for you to Grade.

Homework: Grade Student Resumes

M 6.12 1. Chapter 9 (Read only the sections on cover letters)
2. Student Examples: with my comments
3. Student Examples for you to grade.

Homework: Grade student examples and post your comments for each in the discussion forum.

W 6.14 1. KolinInterviewing.pdf
2. https://www.levo.com/posts/12-tips-to-get-hired-as-a-recent-graduate
3. https://www.aol.com/article/2011/08/19/3-crucial-career-fair-tips-for-college-students/20021243/
4. http://www.resumeok.com/49-job-interview-questions-and-answers/
5. https://www.levo.com/posts/5-things-you-must-do-to-follow-up-after-an-interview

Homework: What advice have you been given about job interviews in the past? Have you ever been on a
job interview? What was it like? What kind of questions were you asked?

F 6.16 Draft Due: Peer Review
All peer review drafts are due Thursday by 5pmcomments are due back Friday by 7pm.

Unit 2: Instruction Set
M 6.19 [DUE]: Assignment 1 to Canvas by midnight.
1. Anderson Textbook Reading
2. Follow this origami instruction set to create a paper balloon
3. student example 1

1

Homework: Grade both the origami balloon instructions and student instruction set according to the
guidelines in the book chapter and my powerpoint. Give me several bullet points describing what you like
and what improvements can be made.

W 6.21 1. Maker Culture

2. Makerspaces and Morality - The Atlantic.pdf
3. Student Example 2

Homework: Find, photograph, describe and post an example of a bad instruction set in the wild. What
makes it so bad?

F 6.23 1. User persona

2. The Design of Everyday Things
3. Start to fill out this user-persona template, which is required for the instruction assignment.

Homework: Choose an instruction set topic and post it to the forum. Describe why you believe this will be
a good topic for a technical instruction set. Begin to fill out this worksheet. I won't collect it but it will help
you complete your instruction set.

M 6.26 1. Visual Hierarchy 1: http://gibbon.co/c/e14983c1-54fd-4945-9c3e-c433074da086/on-visual-hierarchy
2. Visual Hierarchy 2
3. Illustrations in Technical Writing:
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Professional_and_Technical_Writing/Design/Illustrations

Homework: Evaluate the visual design of the following examples. What could be made more clear?
1. https://mi-od-live-s.legocdn.com/bigdownloads/buildinginstructions/4503825.pdf
2. https://i.stack.imgur.com/O7mFt.jpg
3. StudentSample3.pdf

W 6.28 What are the Pros and Cons of Each of these instruction sets.
1. Dummies: http://www.dummies.com/personal-finance/how-to-change-your-cars-oil/
2. Pennzoil: http://www.pennzoil.com/en_us/education/know-your-oil/changing-your-own-
oil.html#iframe=L3NvcHVzL3Blbm56b2lsLzIwMTZuZXdzbGV0dGVyLz9sb2NhbGU9ZW5fdXM=
3. Instructables: http://www.instructables.com/id/OilChange/?ALLSTEPS
4. Wikihow: http://www.wikihow.com/Change-the-Oil-in-Your-Car
5. Lifehacker: http://lifehacker.com/how-to-change-your-cars-oil-1598482301

F 6.30 Draft Due: Peer Review
All peer review drafts are due Thursday by 5pmcomments are due back Friday by 7pm.

Unit 3: Grant Application Unit

M 7.3 [DUE]: Assignment 2 to Canvas by midnight.

1. Grant Writing Made Easy Workbook: Statement of Need
2. Statement of Need Professional Example
3. Statement of Need Student Example

Homework: Choose the problem you want to address, write a two-sentence statement of need, and give
me a bulleted list of quotes, facts, and statistics you need to gather to prove your need.

W 7.5 1. Grant Writing Made Easy Workbook: Research
2. Reading on Research: How to Do Research
3. Research Professional Example
4. Research Student Example 2

2

Homework: Is there anyone else already working on your problem. Find one person/organization who
has already begun solving your problem and tell me what they have done.

F 7.7 1. Grant Writing Made Easy Workbook: Research
2. Research Professional Example
3. Research Student Example
4. Professional Proposal 2

Homework: In a sentence a piece, describe three activities that can be done to solve your problem. Who
would help do them? What expertise do you need? What equipment?

M 7.10 1. Grant Writing Made Easy Workbook
2. Professional ExamplePreview the documentView in a new window
3. Student Example
4. Logic Model Example 1

W 7.12 1. Grant Writing Made Easy Workbook
2. Professional Example
3. Student Example

F 7.14 Draft Due: Peer Review
All peer review drafts are due Thursday by 5pmcomments are due back Friday by 7pm.

Unit 4: Usability Test
M 7.17 [DUE]: Assignment 3 to Canvas by midnight.
1. http://mashable.com/2011/04/10/5-web-design-mistakes/#IKyF2IIiLuqp
2. https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/02/9-common-usability-blunders/
3. https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/10/15-common-mistakes-in-e-commerce-design-and-
how-to-avoid-them/
4. Rocket Surgery. Steve Krug: 13-37.

Homework: Find a poorly designed website (not just ugly but difficult to complete basic tasks) that you
will usability test in this unit put a link and description of its poor design in the forum. Use this worksheet
Preview the documentView in a new windowto begin thinking critically about your site.

W 7.19 1. Rocket Surgery. Steve Krug: 39-50, 102-110
2. Student Example

Homework: Begin to write the first half of your usability proposal. Fill in the following check sheet:
checksheet.

F 7.21 1. Rocket Surgery. Steve Krug: 50-90.
2. Task Scenarios for Usability Testing.pdfPreview the documentView in a new window
3. Student Example

Homework: Begin writing your 2 scenarios for 4.1. Look to Krug for your scripted intro (pp. 147 onward)
and homepage tour.

M 7.24 1. Introduction to Lab Reports
2. Student Example 1: Part 1
3. Student Example 2: Part 1

Homework: Test your website and begin your report. You can easily write several sections of your lab
report (introduction, method, and conclusion) before you even test your user.

3

W 7.26 [DUE]: Assignment 4.1 to Canvas by midnight.
1. Usability Reports vs. Lab Reports
2. Student Example 1: Part 2
3. Student Example 2: Part 2

F 7.28 Finish Your Project

M 7.31 Finish Your Project

Final Report Due: August 4