Page 1 CHANGINGMINDS:TECHNICALCOMMUNICATION LMC3403Secti onL Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Literature, Media, and Communication Fall term 2015, 3 credits, prerequisite: ENGL 1102 (or equiv.) Course web site: http://rhetoricked.com/teaching/lmc3403lf2015/Instructor: Brian N. Larson, 316 Skiles, BLarson@GATech.edu Office hours: Mondays, 3:00-4:00; Wednesdays, 1:00-2:00; Fridays, 1:00-2:00 Syl l abusat August 12, 2015 Cont ent s Course overview .................................................................................................................................. 1 Equal opportunity and accessibilityand mental health services ........................................................ 2 Succeeding in this class; student writing support ................................................................................ 3 Required texts and materials ............................................................................................................... 3 Assignments, grades, and absences ..................................................................................................... 4 Student conduct and related matters .................................................................................................. 7 Instructor information ......................................................................................................................... 8 COURSEOVERVIEW Learni ngobj ect i ves Disciplinary,technical,andprofessionalcom-munication(DP&TC)involvesaneffortto change the minds of audiences. The goal of the communicatoristoaffectthebeliefs,goals,or actions (which themselves are controlled by the audiencesmind)oftheaudience.Effective DP&TCthusrequiresthecommunicatorto knowthemindoftheaudienceandthento changethemindoftheaudienceethicallyto achieve the communicators goal. LMC 3403 expands the competencies students developedinEnglish1101and1102,withan emphasisoncommunicatinginscientific,busi-ness,andtechnologicalfields.Practicallyevery employerineverysurveyinanyprofessional field(includingengineering)emphasizesthe needforemployeesandteammemberstobe abletocommunicateeffectively.Thatmeans analyzingrhetoricalsituations(includingtrying toreadtheaudiencesmind)tocreatedocu-ments, presentations, and visuals that are acces-sible, comprehensible, and usable. ThiscourseadherestotheWritingandCom-municationProgramsgoaloftrainingstudents inW.O.V.E.N.communication:WrittenOralVisualElectronicNon-verbal.Students thus learn to create workplace communications ranging from traditional print documents, such as reports, proposals, and memos, to electronic forms,suchasemailandwebsites.Whenstu-dentscompletethecourse,theywillhave learned how to evaluate and respond to a varie-tyofcomplexcommunicationsituationsin professional settings. Page 2 Studentswhocomplete thecoursesuccessfully should be able to: 1.Discover(or invent) and adapt to the needsoftheaudiences of DP&TC. 2.Articulaterhe-toricalanalysesof communicationsitua-tions,multiplepurpos-es,andpotentialaudi-ences for communication (including global audiences). 3.Conductempiricalresearchtoascertain thestatesofmindofaudiences,including usertesting,andtoinformandsupport your analyses of rhetorical situation. 4.Revise and edit your work and that of your classmatessothatyourcommunications areenergetic,stylisticallyappropriate,and grammatically correct. 5.Accountforethicalimplicationsoftech-nical and professional communication. 6.Visuallydesigncommunicationsusing principlesofpagedesign,including graphics. Workl oadandcal endar PursuanttoGeorgiaTechpolicyandyourin-structorsexpectations,ifyouareatypical student,youshouldexpecttospendanaver-ageofsixhoursperweekonthiscourseout-sideofclasstoperformsatisfactorily.Ifyou expectahighergrade,youshouldinvestmore time. Seethecoursewebpageforthecoursecalen-dar,whichisalwayssubjecttochange.Your instructorwillusuallydiscussanyschedule changesinclassandwilloftensendanemail alerting students if there are changes. EQUALOPPORTUNITYANDACCESSIBILITY ANDMENTALHEALTHSERVICES Equi t y, di versi t y, equalopport uni t y, andaf f i rmat i veact i on TheInstituteandyourinstructorwillprovide equalaccessto,andopportunityin,programs andfacilitieswithoutregardtodifferences amongpeoplethatincluderace,color,creed, religion,nationalorigin,gender,age,marital status,disability,publicassistancestatus,veter-anstatus,sexualorientation,orgenderidenti-tiesandexpressions.Formoreinformation, please consult Institute Diversity. Di sabi l i t yaccommodat i ons The Institute is committed to providing quality educationtoallstudentsregardlessofability. Determiningappropriateaccommodationsisa collaborativeprocess.Youmustregisterwith theOfficeofDisabilityServicesandprovide documentationofyouraccessibilityneedsin ordertoreceiveaccommodation.Disability Serviceswillusethisinformationtodetermine appropriateaccommodationsforyouinapar-ticularcourse.Formoreinformation,please refer to the Office of Disability Services. Ment al heal t hservi ces Asastudentyoumayexperiencearangeof issuesthatcancausebarrierstolearning,such asstrainedrelationships,increasedanxiety, alcohol/drugproblems,feelingdown,difficulty concentrating,andlackofmotivation.These mentalhealthconcernsorstressfuleventsmay leadtodiminishedacademicperformanceand mayreduceyourabilitytoparticipateindaily activities. Georgia Tech offers a broad range of confidential mental health servicesthrough the Counseling Center. Imagecour tesyfl i ckr. com/ phot os/ ni ckwebb ( Creati veCommonsl i cense)Page 3 SUCCEEDINGINTHISCLASS; STUDENTWRITINGSUPPORT Thefollowingtipsmayhelpyousucceedin this class. Do the assignments as instructed! Well always discusstheminclass,andusuallytherewillbe a detailed description of the assignment on the course web page. Getitdown,t hengetitright!Manystudents strugglewithwritersblockandothermala-dies of the pen. Writing based on outlines and accordingtoacarefullyconstructedplanis great.Butifyouarehavingtroubledeciding wheretostart,juststartbywritingsomething. Dontworryaboutthedetailsororganization. Afteryouhavewrittenawhile,lookbackat whatyouhavedoneandtrytoimposesome structure on it, keeping in mind the end, which is to do the assignment as instructed. If you are still struggling, share what you have written with yourinstructorandoneofyourteammates, and they will respond with ideas. Keepup!Donotallowyourselftofallbehind onreadingsandassignments.Severalofthe assignments are part of large projects, so if you getbehind,youwillnotenjoythebenefitsof your peer review sessions, and your grades will bereducedifyouturnassignmentsinlate. Your group will be relying on you to contribute fullytoitsefforts,andyoucantdothatifyou allowyourselftofallbehind.Youwillalsobe gradedonclassparticipation,sodonotfall behind on readings.Helpeachother!Youmayalwaystalkto classmatesandpeerreviewersabouttheas-signmentstogetideasandinsights.Ifyourun intoproblems,askthemforhelporclarifica-tion.Besuretomakeyourselfavailableto them, too: respond to classmates requests and peer-review their drafts promptly.Call on your instructor! Your instructor is your guide for this course. You should always expect your instructor to give you candid and respect-fuladviceaboutanyproblemyoufaceinthis class.Studentscangetone-on-one-consultationson anycoursepaperorcommunicationprojectat the Communication Center. See its web site for detailsaboutlocations,appointments,and online consultations. Imagecourt esyf l i ckr. com/phot os/el l f (Creat i veCommonsl i cense)REQUIREDTEXTSANDMATERIALS Youwillneedaccesstorequiredtexts,com-putersoftware,andotherresourcestocom-plete your work in this class successfully. Bri ngt oeverycl ass. . .You should bring the following to every class: 1.The required textbook. 2.Yournotesonrequiredreadingsthein-structor provides in PDF form. (You need not print the PDF, though you may find it helpfultobringaprintoutorelectronic copy of the PDF file.) 3.Something to write with and on for in-class activities. (This could be paper and a writ-ing utensil or an electronic device.) Text s The text for this course is Alred, G. J., Brusaw, C.T.,&Oliu,W.E.(2015).Handbookof Technical Writing (11th edition). Boston: Bed-ford/St.Martins.(Youmaybeabletousethe Page 4 10thedition,buttheinstructorcannotbesure that the content is not different.) Yourinstructorwillassignarticlesandother materials available in PDF form or on the web. Comput ersof t wareandhardware Topermitstudentstoexchangeassignments andmarkupeachotherswork,youshould submitalldocumentsasMicrosoftWordor, forpresentations,MicrosoftPowerPoint,files. If you do not use these software packages, you maysubmitdocumentsinPDFform.Note thatyourinstructordoesnotnecessarilysanc-tion or endorse Microsoft or its productsthey aremerelythemostwidelyused.Youmust have the most recent version of Adobe Reader (or an equivalent application). Adobe Reader is available for free download. Youmusthaveaccesstoapersonalcomputer capable of running the required software appli-cations.Studentscanusetheirowncomputers or the Institutes public computer labs.Coursewebsi t eandT- Square Yourinstructorwillthecoursewebsiteto managescheduling,readings,andassignments andtokeepyouinformedaboutallcourse matters.WewillalsouseT-Squareandother sites as necessary. Ot hermat eri al s Youshouldbudgetasmallamountofmoney (lessthan$50)forpurchaseofothermaterials thatyoumayneedforperformanceofclass assignments.Thesemightincludecopying, presentationmaterials,etc.Ifyouchooseto print readings provided in electronic form, you shouldconsiderthecostofprinting(bothto yourself and to the environment). Imagecourt esy f l i ckr. com/phot os/NCDOTCommuni cat i ons (Creat i veCommonsl i cense) ASSIGNMENTS, GRADES, ANDABSENCES Thissectionpro-videsbasicinfor-mationregarding assignmentsubmis-sion,peerreview, andworking groups. Herearebriefde-scriptionsofthe components.Coursegrade component s Thefollowing componentswilldeterminestudentsfinal grades, and the weight that each has in the final grade is set out in Table 1: Assi gnment 1: Li t eracynarrat i ve. In this assignment,studentsdescribetheirhistoriesas communicators,includingtheircommunica-tionseducationandexperiences.Thisisas-signmentisnotgraded,butitmustbesubmit-ted to pass the course. Assi gnment 2: Genreanal ysi smemo.Students identify two genres of communication fromtheirowndisciplinesofstudy(engineer-ing,business,etc.)orfromtheirjobs.Students explainhowtherhetoricalsituationstowhich thosegenresrespondmotivatesimilaritiesand differencesbetweenthem.Theinstructorwill provideextensivefeedbackandatentative gradeonthisassignmenttoacquaintstudents with grading standards for the course. Students who wish to do so will be allowed to revise and resubmit the assignment for a higher grade. Assi gnment 3: Usabi l i t yassessmentreport . Each group of students writes a report including a usability assessment of the assembly instructions for a consumer product distributed worldwide. The assessment is based on empir-Tabl e 1:Assi gnmentwei ght s i nfi nalgrade 0%Assignment 1: Literacy narrative.10%Assignment 2: Genre analysis memo.15%Assignment3:Usabilityassessmentre-port.30%Assignment 4: Final project portfolio. 10%Assignment 5: Classroom presentation. 15%Reading quizzes. 20%Group work and participation. 100%TOTAL Page 5 icaldatagatheredinclasssessions.Students willidentifystrengths,weaknesses,orbothof the existing instructions, suggest improvements, ifnecessary,andidentifyareaswherefurther researchmightbenecessary.Eachmemberof the group also writes an email to the instructor assessingtheperformanceofeachmemberof thegroup,includingaself-evaluation.Theas-signmentreceivesagroupgrade,withthe gradesofindividualspotentiallyvaryingupor down depending on the evaluations of peers. Assi gnment 4: Fi nal proj ect port f ol i o.Thefinalprojectrequireseachstudenttosub-mit a portfolio consisting of the following com-ponentsbasedonaprojecttheinstructoras-signs to the whole class: Audienceanalysisofatechnicalcommu-nicationartifacttheinstructoridentifies. Thisrequiresstudentstoresearchexten-sively. Usability assessment of the artifact. Redesign or reconception of the artifact. Letter to the organization that sponsors the artifactattachingthepreviousthreecom-ponents,explainingtherationaleforthe redesignorreconceptionoftheartifact, andproposingthatthesponsoringorgani-zation adopt the redesigned version of the communication. This is NOT a group project; each student will prepare her own communications; there will be a great deal of sharing of information and peer review,however,duringtheprocess.Draftsof thesecomponentswillbedueatintervalsover thelastseveralweeksofthecourse.Thefinal portfolio of them will be due two weeks before finals week. The instructor will return students portfoliostothembythebeginningofDead Weekwithextensivefeedbackandatentative grade; students who wish to improve the tenta-tivegrademayreviseandresubmitbythe Wednesday of finals week. Assi gnment 5: Cl assroompresent at i on.Uptofivestudentswillgivepresentationson each of five different days in the second half of thesemester.Eachstudentwillregisterforthe dateonwhichshewishestopresentonafirst-come,first-servedbasis.Itmaybetemptingto sign up for the last slot, but the grading will be toughest for those who come last. Readi ngqui zzes: Theinstructorwillgivea readingquizatthebeginningofclassbetween sixandtentimesduringthesemester.Your grade for this assignment is the mean score for allthequizzesafterthelowestgradeis dropped.Referencetotheinstructorsreading questionswhenyouaredoingreadingswill likely ensure that you do well on the quizzes. Groupworkandpart i ci pat i on: Inthis course,asinmanyenvironmentsinbusiness and the professions, you will be held accounta-blefortheeffortsyoumaketoensurenotjust yourownindividualsuccess,butalsothesuc-cessofyourteamasawholeandoftheother individualsintheteam.Assignment3isthe onlyprojectwherestudentswillbegradedon workproductcreatedasagroup.However, throughoutthesemester,studentswillworkin theirgroupstosupporteachothersresearch andcommunicationefforts.Participationin class discussions is also a way that students con-tributetothelearningoftheirpeers.Those efforts,includingthequantityandqualityof peerreviewfeedback,sharingofresearchdis-coveries,contributionsduringclass,etc.,will make up a group work and participation grade. Assi gnment submi ssi on Allassignmentsmustbeprofessionallypre-sented,spell-checked,grammar-checked,and proofed.Inordertoreceivecreditforthis course,youmustturninallrequiredassign-ments, whether they are graded or not.You must turn assignments in on time. See the course web site for the assignment schedule. If youturnassignmentsinlatewithoutmaking arrangementsinadvancewithyourinstructor, you will forfeit the following points: Forassignmentslessthan7dayslate,10 points(allassignmentsaregradedona 100-point scale). Forassignmentsatleast7daysbutless than 14 days late, 20 points. Forassignments14daysormorelateno credit. You will fail the course. Page 6 Ifthereisapotentialthatyouwillfaceaper-sonal challenge during the term that may affect yourparticipation,talktoyourinstructoras soonasyourealizeit.Donotwaitformatters to get out of control. Your instructor may grant extensions to due dates for good reasons if you speak to him in advance! Gradi ngandt ranscri pt s Thegradingpolicyinthiscourseconformsto Instituteguidelines.ThereforeaCisequiva-lenttobasicfulfillmentofrequirements;to achieveagradehigherthanaCastudent mustperformbeyondthebasicrequirements. Pleasekeepthefollowingscaleandcriteriain mind: A90-100-Representsachievementthatis outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements B80-89-Representsachievementthatis significantlyabovethelevelnecessaryto meet course requirements C70-79-Representsachievementthatmeets the course requirements in every respect D60-69-Representsachievementthatis worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the course requirements Foradditionalinformation,pleasereferto Georgia Tech rules and regulations. Yourinstructorhasmorethan25yearsofex-perienceasaprofessionalandtechnicalcom-municator.Becausethiscourseemphasizes workplacecommunications,hewillapplythat experience,usingthefollowingguidelinesin assessing grades for communication projects: AAnemployerwouldbedelightedtosend ordistributethisdocumentbecausethewriter has exceeded expectations by producing a par-ticularlywellwritten,complete,creative,and audience-specific solution to a problem. BAn employer would be comfortable send-ingordistributingthisdocument.Itmeetsthe needsoftheaudienceanddoesnotcontain any serious problems. CAnemployerwouldbereluctanttosend ordistributethisdocumentbecauseofone major problem or several minor ones. DAnemployerwouldnotsendordistrib-utethisdocumentbecauseithasmorethan onemajorproblemorfailsonnumerous groundstoaddresstheaudienceorasolution to the problem. FAnemployerwouldrealizethewriter missedthepointoftheassignmentandthe companys standards of excellence. Incompl et es: Agradeofincomplete(I)is givenonlyinagenuineemergency,andgener-ally only for work that is due during the last two weeksofthecourse.Thestudentmustmake writtenarrangementswiththeinstructorforan incompleteaccordingtoproceduresprovided by the Institute. Gradi ngDi sput es: Ifyoubelieveyourin-structorhasgivenyouanunfairorinappropri-ategradeonanassignment,youmaydispute the grade by writing a memo to your instructor explaining why you believe you deserve a high-ergrade.Writethememoandsendittoyour instructoratleast48hours,butnomorethan 14days,afterreceivingthegradetowhichyou object. If you object to your final course grade, you may appeal it any time during the following termpursuanttothepoliciesoftheSchoolof Literature, Media, and Communication. Absencepol i cy Thiscourseisasmall,discussion-oriented class.Forthisreason,yourattendanceinclass andparticipationindiscussionsfactorsignifi-cantly into your grade.Missing the equivalent of one week or more of classwithunexcusedabsenceswillresultina lowergrade.Missingtheequivalentofthree weeksormorewithunexcusedabsenceswill result in failing the course. Students will not be penalized for absence dur-ingthesemesterduetounavoidableorlegiti-matecircumstances.Suchcircumstancesin-cludeverifiedillness,participationinauthor-izedintercollegiateathleticevents,subpoenas, juryduty,militaryservice,bereavement,and religious observances. If you are in doubt, con-sult the instructor. Astudentwhoisabsentforanyreasonisre-sponsibleforallmaterialandactivitiesmissed Page 7 inclass.Studentsmustcheckwiththeinstruc-tor to make arrangements.Students are responsible for coming to class on time.Tardinesswillbeconsideredequivalent tounexcusedabsence.Inaddition,astudent whoisunabletofunctionadequatelyinclass (e.g.,fallingasleeporattendingwithoutappro-priatematerialsorassignments)maybecon-sidered to have an unexcused absence. STUDENTCONDUCTANDRELATEDMATTERS Instructorsareresponsibleformaintaining orderandapositivelearningenvironmentin the classroom.St udent conduct codeandbehavi or AsastudentattheInstitute,youareexpected toadheretotheStudentCodeofConduct. Notethattheconductcodespecificallyad-dressesdisruptiveclassroomconduct.Itpro-videsthat[s]tudentswhoengageinanyacts thatresultindisruptionofaclassmaybedi-rectedbytheinstructortoleavetheclassfor the remainder of the class period. Studentswhosebehaviorsuggeststheneedfor counselingorotherassistancemaybereferred totheircollegeofficeortheCounselingCen-ter.Studentswhosebehaviormayviolatethe StudentCodeofConductmaybereferredto the Office of Student Integrity. Useof personal el ect roni cdevi cesi n t hecl assroom Youarefreetouseelectronicdevicesofall kindssolongastheydonotmakesounds,or causeyoutoexhibitbehaviorsormakenoise, thatwilldisrupttheworkoftheinstructoror other students. Prohi bi t edacademi cconductTheInstitutesCodeofConductdefinespro-hibitedacademicconduct,whichincludes, amongotherthings,plagiarism.Plagiarism, representingsomeoneelse'sintellectualwork asyourown,canresultinagradeofFforthe assignment,andmayresultinagradeofFfor the course. Plagiarism can include submitting a paper: written by means of inappropriate collabora-tion.(Note:Someoftheworkinthisclass requirescollaboration;yourinstructorwill makewhenyoucanandcannotcollaborate on a project.) writtenforanothercourse,unlesssubmitted with permission of both instructors. purchased,downloaded,orcutandpasted from the internet. that fails to properly acknowledge its sources through standard citations. If you have any questions about plagiarism, ask your instructor. Academi cf reedomand responsi bi l i t y AcademicfreedomisacornerstoneoftheIn-stitute.Withinthescopeandcontentofthe courseasdefinedbytheinstructor,itincludes thefreedomtodiscussrelevantmattersinthe classroom.Alongwiththisfreedomcomes responsibility.Studentsareencouragedtode-velopthecapacityforcriticaljudgmentandto engageinasustainedandindependentsearch fortruth.Studentsarefreetotakereasoned exceptiontotheviewsofferedinthiscourse and to reserve judgment about matters of opin-ion,buttheyareresponsibleforlearningthe contentofanycourseofstudyforwhichthey are enrolled.1 Theinstructortakesconcernsaboutacademic freedomseriously,andthereareindividuals andofficesavailableforhelp.Contactthein-structor,theChairoftheSchoolofLiterature, Media,andCommunication,youradviser,or the Institutes Ombuds Program.

1 Language adapted from the American Association ofUniversityProfessors"JointStatementonRights and Freedoms of Students." Page 8 INSTRUCTORINFORMATION Images: 46yearsof dorky(court esyof vari ousphot ographers, al i veanddead) Cont act i nf ormat i on Bri anN. Larson, J. D. , Ph. D.YoumaycallmeBrianorbyanyotherre-spectfulname,andIprefermasculinepro-nouns.Pleaseletmeknowwhatnameand pronouns you prefer me to use for you.The best ways to contact me: Email: BLarson@GATech.eduExpect my response within 24 hours, though I may respond quickly saying it will take me longer to give you a full response. Of f i cel ocat i on 316 Skiles 686 Cherry St.Atlanta, GA 30332 Personal background I'm a researcher, teacher, and until very recent-lyapracticinglawyer.Asascholar,I'minter-estedinrhetoricandthelawandinthecrea-tion, reception, and interpretation of legal texts; asateacher,inhelpingstudentsdevelopthe skills to communicate with impact; as a lawyer, in digital media, copyright, trademark, internet, and antitrust matters. Mycareerasacommunicatorhasspanned threedecades,includingstintsaspresenta-tion/graphicdesignerforaninternationalcon-sultingfirm,communicationsdirectorfora tradeassociation,presidentofaninformation technology company, and lawyer.IliveinAtlantawithmyspouse;werelocated here in summer 2015. Soci al medi aandl et t ersofref erence IhaveaTwitteraccount(@Rhetoricked),and studentsarewelcometofollowmethere, though I usually do not tweet about class mat-ters.Iwillinglyconnectwithcurrentstudents on LinkedIn (and if you ask, Ill give you feed-back on your profile). I usually do not friend formerstudentsonFacebookorelsewhere unlesstheyhaveactuallybecomepersonal friends. Iamhappytoprovidelettersofreferencefor students.Ifyouthinkyoumaywantmetodo soaftertheendoftheterm,pleaseletme knowduringtheterm;Iwillaskyourpermis-sion to retain copies of your work and my grad-ing notes about you in my personal files to use when responding to reference requests.