Technical Writing – Term 2 TTh 9:30 a.m.
Dr. Gisèle M. Baxter
NOTE: This course will be Web-oriented: it will be fully online and delivered through Canvas. This status differs from that of courses developed by CTLT and offered through Distance Learning. It also retains a registration cap.
Now with added grammar! While 301 is not a course in remedial grammar, this section will provide online Canvas-based writing resources and a series of workshops, designed to help identify writing and proofreading problems, and to provide strategies to address them.
English 301: Technical Writing examines the rhetorical genre of professional and technical communication, especially online, through analysis and application of its principles and practices. You will produce a formal report, investigating resources and/or concerns in a real-life community, as a major project involving a series of linked assignments. This project will involve the study (and possibly practical application) of research ethics where human subjects are involved (e.g. in conducting surveys or interviews).
Think of this course as an extended report-writing Boot Camp: intensive, useful preparation for the last phase of your undergraduate degree, as you start applying to professional and graduate programs, and for the years beyond of work and community involvement. Technical Writing is closed to first- and second-year students in Arts, and cannot be used for credit towards the English Major or Minor.
Course Text:
- Lannon et al, Technical Communications, 8th Canadian Edition, Pearson, 2020. (This is only available as an e-text on Pearson’s Revel site; I’ve ordered access cards through the UBC Bookstore.)
This course will proceed in a fully online form, using Canvas and a combination of synchronous (short live lectures and workshops) and asynchronous (notes, links, discussion forums, slides) materials. I will make sure that the full course is accessible to all students.
Please keep checking this post for updates concerning the course, its texts, and its requirements.