13 Weekly postings to WebCT tracks

130 points

Post your thoughts on one of the track topics each week. Also respond to at least one person's posting each week.

Theory research paper

250 points

10-12 pages
single spaced

We will cover the following theoretical perspectives in class as they relate to technical communication and information design: logical positivism, humanism, social constructionism, cultural studies. We will just scratch the surface of these perspectives and we will not discuss other possible theoretical approaches.

This assignment calls for you to extend your research into theoretical approaches and pick a research question or topic that is interesting to you relative to information design. You can deepen your understanding of the theories discussed in class or relate them to another body of theory that you explore.

This research paper should demonstrate your understanding of the theoretical perspective(s) being discussed, as well as relate the perspective(s) to an issue in information design. You should also compare and contrast author's theoretical points of view relative to your issue.

I will describe this assignment more fully as we discuss it in class.

Explanation of your class project in relation to a theoretical framework

150 points

4-6 pages
single spaced

This assignment asks you to relate your own work in this class to a theoretical perspective that helps you to understand and anayze your design practices in a larger context than your individual work.

Assignment should describe the information design question/issue you'll be addressing through your project.

Your explanation should demonstrate your understanding of the theoretical perspective(s) and how it/they help to explain the impact of your work in a larger context or how your work reflects cultural values.

You should describe your expectations at the beginning of the project for how theoretical perspectives will relate to your project and help you to explain the theoretical underpinnings of your practice. Your understanding of these theoretical perspectives may change over the course of your project, as you put them into practice. Describe this evolution in your understanding as your project progressed.

3 Project progress reports

60 points

1 page each

T 3/30

T 4/13

T 4/27

These reports should provide enough information for someone not working on your project to understand what's going on and your status with the project.

Each report should have the following sections: Accomplishments, Problems, Plans.

3 Responses to progress reports

60 points

Th 4/1

Th 4/15

Th 4/29

This assignment asks you to respond to another person's progress report and to their work on their project. The point of this feedback is to help the other person do better with your help than possible without your help. You need to be specific in your responses and maintain a positive working relationship. Use good management skills here. Respond to issues such as these:

• Is the project on track for completion on deadline?
• Did the writer provide enough detail for you to fully understand what's been accomplished? If not, what don't you understand?
• Can you help with the problems? What might you suggest to help address past or upcoming problems?
• Do the plans for the next reporting period sound feasible? Do you have enough detail to understand what will be done?
• Do you see any issues that the writer hasn't identified that need to be addressed in this project?

Class project

200 points

Your project should include two outcomes:

• the deliverable for your client
• an analysis paper exploring the information design questions and issues you dealt with in the process of completing your deliverable

Your papers should include the following elements:

• a description of your project and client (audience/purpose analysis)
• a brief description of the process you undertook to meet your client's needs
• what information design issues you addressed in the process of completing your project
• how you addressed these information design issues and why you chose these approaches
• what you learned about information design from your project and how you might foresee applying this knowledge in the future

Reflection on course

50 points for attending and participating in face-to-face evaluation session 4/22

Assignment will be written from entire class as a team

This assignment asks you to think about what happened in class, what you learned, and how the class was structured. In specific, address these topics in a coherent narrative (not a bulleted list):

• Describe your activities in class.
• What went well? What didn't go so well? Why?
• What did you learn that you would like to do again in the future?
• What did you learn that you wouldn't like to repeat in the future?
• What worked well about this class for you? What should I do again in future classes?
• What didn't work so well about this class for you? What should I change in the future and how might I change/improve it?