Module Overview for Week of April 27: User Manual, Part 2

This is Week 14 of the course.

Overview

During this second week of working on your User Manual, you should spend your time writing, aiming to have a final, finished draft by the end of the week. At the end of this module, you will have prepared a user manual that is well-developed in terms of content, effectively organized, and designed in a user-friendly manner.

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Objectives for this Module

After completing this module, you will be able to

• Analyze the rhetorical situation and determine the appropriate audience or users of written communication, considering the needs of global audiences and people with disabilities. [CLO 1]
• Conduct research appropriate to workplace problem solving, such as literature review, evaluation of online resources, interview, and site inspection. [CLO 2]
• Interpret research findings with understanding of ethical and human implications. [CLO 3]
• Use conventions of various workplace genres, such as proposals, instructions, correspondence, reports, and slide decks, with understanding of how the genre conventions can be used as heuristics and as principles of arrangement. [CLO 4]
• Collaborate with classmates in planning, researching, writing, revising, and presenting information. [CLO 5]
• Apply principles of effective visual design for print and electronic presentation, including hierarchical, chronological, and spatial arrangements. [CLO 6]
• Identify and apply the principles of effective style in the composing of usable, reader-centered written communications. [CLO 7]

Note that you can find the full text of the Course Learning Objectives on the Syllabus.

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Readings for the Week of April 27

1. Review the readings from Module 13 as needed
2. Daily Discussion Posts (DDPs)
   • #WeekendWatch: Sequence or Separate Tasks? (available 04/25)
   • #TuesdayTutorial: Adding Visuals to Your User Manual (available 04/28)
   • #WednesdayWrite: Completing Your SPOT Survey (available 04/29)
   • #ThursdayThought: The Workplace Hates Exclamation Points (available 04/30)
   • #FridayFact: You Need Effective Strategies for Dealing with Deadline Stress (available 05/01)

 

Activities for the Week of April 27

Daily Discussion Posts Activities
(85 minutes—5 posts @ ~15 minutes each plus self-assessment @ ~10 minutes)

• Contribute to any or all of the following Daily Discussion Posts (DDPs) in Canvas)
  • #WeekendWatch: Sequence or Separate Tasks? (available 04/25)
  • #TuesdayTutorial: Adding Visuals to Your User Manual (available 04/28)
  • #WednesdayWrite: Completing Your SPOT Survey (available 04/29)
  • #ThursdayThought: The Workplace Hates Exclamation Points (available 04/30)
  • #FridayFact: You Need Effective Strategies for Dealing with Deadline Stress (available 05/01)
• Complete the DDP Self-Assessment for the Week of 12/02 to report the work you did and record your score (100 points). Be sure to read the self-assessment at the beginning of the week so that you understand the expectations.

Writing Activities
(~6 hours, including time to research and write)

• Complete the any or all of the following Major Writing Project activities (600 points total).
  • These activities contribute to the User Manual project:
    • User Manual: Final, Finished Draft (500 points)

• Ask any questions about the course in the General Q and A Discussion (0 points) in Canvas.
  • Check the General Q and A Discussion for answers before posting.
  • Asking a question is not required. Use the Inbox tool in Canvas for questions about grades or personal information that should not be shared with the class.

 

 

Photo credit: mam10 by zaphad1 on Flickr Links to an external site., used under a CC-BY 2.0 license.