Note: The information below is outdated and represents my final project as an MTPW student several years ago. Please see NU's official pages for current information on the Master of Technical and Professional Writing and other graduate programs.
This introductory course is designed to help students increase their ability to communicate scientific and technical information to a variety of audiences. Assignments provide practice in the different aspects of the technical communication process: analyzing the project and the audience, gathering information, organizing, designing layout and graphics, writing, editing, and testing. Students have a chance to try writing several forms of technical communication: proposals, memos, reports, and oral presentations. Students should plan to take this course as early as possible in their graduate studies.
In this course students research a variety of topics which are germane to teaching, corporate training, and improvement of one's own technical writing skills. Students have the opportunity to explore the obvious sources of information available to scientific and technical communications, including online databases, conventional printed sources, and personnel. Students should plan to take this course as early as possible in their graduate studies.
Unites theoretical approaches to technical writing in a systematic framework of discourse and discipline. To differentiate the "aesthetics" of technical writing from other forms of discourse, students critically analyze professional writing strategies, basing their analyses on current theory and research. Students focus this theory-in-practice by investigating applications in industry.
As professionals in business and industry, writers must be able to adapt their language for a variety of purposes and audiences. Such control of language requires a thorough understanding of the elements of style and grammar as they pertain to readability theory, communication ethics, and language liability. Increasingly, writers, editors, and other communication specialists are held liable for the nuances of corporate language. A thorough grounding in issues of advanced style and grammar is indispensable for professional writers and editors. This course provides students with the opportunity to explore stylistic choices and their possible ramifications, and the opportunity to grapple with grammar issues.
Introduces students to the ideas and scholarship of the major periods of rhetorical development, from the Classical period to the present day, from the Sophists to Foucault and beyond. The course emphasizes rhetoric as philosophy and as applied science. It allows students to explore the definition of "rhetoric" in ways most meaningful to their individual interests.
Explores various philosophical issues inherent in the practice of technical communication. Taking the position that writing is a political act, students consider the questions of ethics and values likely to arise for technical communicators in the course of their work. Readings for the course lay an interdisciplinary foundation for exploring these questions, drawing on the principles of philosophy, semantics, rhetoric, pragmatics, and psychology. The goal of the course is to prepare students for long-term careers as humanists in a technological environment.
Discusses management styles and strategies for effectively managing people in a technical publications environment. Considers theoretical and practical applications for managing technical publications from inception to production. Group activities and case studies are used to apply concepts to the workplace. Group project required.
Explores marketing writing from the point of view of a writer in a corporate agency setting. Topics include press releases, press backgrounders, brochures, advertising copy, copy platforms, and direct mail. The course emphasizes developing practical, real-world solutions to marketing communication problems.
Introduces biomedical writing to students who already have basic skills in technical writing and who might want to specialize in medical writing. It surveys several of the major formats of medical writing, with an emphasis on the primary research paper published in peer-reviewed medical or scientific journals. The course also covers other formats, which include (as time permits) review articles, case reports, meeting reports, meeting abstracts, editorials, book reviews, patient-education materials, documentation for the pharmaceutical industry, documentation for medical devices and instruments, and public relations and marketing materials. Guest speakers as appropriate.
Offers an interactive approach to the communication needs and special audiences associated with the financial industry. Its purpose is to enable the non-financial professional writer to develop proficiencies in creating documents to inform the financial community. Course assignments focus on the core elements of financial writing: analyzing the current financial environment and its diverse audiences, planning communications for professional and non-professional investors, communicating with analysts and executives, evaluating document effectiveness, and revising ineffective documents. Students have the opportunity to consider the communication needs of brokers, analysts, business owners and investors, bankers, and shareholders, and to practice the written formats upon which these audiences depend.
Offers a proactive approach to proposal writing for both public and private sectors. Course assignments focus on the core elements of the proposal writing process and offer students the opportunity to create technical, management, and cost proposals.
Introduces the language, style, and basic concepts and processes of science. Covers the scientific method, experimental designs, and the measurement and reporting of data. Gives students who are seriously interested in writing about science some familiarity with the scientific process and appropriate scientific language, regardless of the student's background in science. Helps students understand source materials, establish credibility with scientists, and properly represent scientific content. Course is appropriate for students interested in writing about any scientific subject in any format for any audience.
In this course, students have the opportunity to write and edit professional quality computer documentation. The course focuses on techniques for creating readable hardcopy documentation, including attention to formatting, graphic desing, and text organization. Beginning with basic instruction sets, the assignments increase in difficulty, preparing the students to develop a user's guide as the major project for the class. The documentation process entails completing a thorough needs assessment, audience analysis, documentation plan, and documentation test.
This course is designed to provide technical and professional writing students with the ability and understanding necessary to make effective professional presentations. The course surveys oral communication skills and compares them with written and other communication skills.
This course focuses on writing a professional article suitable for publication in either a scientific or a technical journal/magazine. The workshop format provides opportunities for extensive drafting, editing, and peer critiquing, as well as a forum for discussion of stylistic techniques. While writing their own articles, students examine published scientific articles and major journals to evaluate professional standards. The course may include guest lectures by scientific and/or technical journal editors and authors of recently published articles.
Explores the fundamentals of editing and pplies them to the specific situations of scientific and technical writing. Students experience the challenge of editing inherently complex material for a variety of audiences. The course also examines the role of the editor, the analysis and critiquing of manuscripts and online documentation, the editorial process, basic editorial services (including developmental, organizational, content, copy, and production editing), human factors and globalization issues, visual impact in communication, and editorial techniques for working with authors.
Offers a theoretical and applied approach to the study of corporate communications. Its purpose is to consider what functionally diverse business professionals do as they go about the work of framing problems, communicating wiht internal and external associates, and documenting their work. Course assignments link the challenges and opportunities of corporate writing to three domains of learning: the instrumental--focusing on the skills and techniques of effective business writing; the dialogic--planning strategies based on corporate culture and context; the self-reflective--considering the larger issues of motivation, authority, and trust as aspects of managing by communicating. Students have the opportunity to consider the historical and contemporary contexts of corporate communications and to practice the formats of letters, memos, short reports, and an analytical report. Additionally, students are expected to supplement selected documents with appropriate graphic aids and oral presentations. At least one document involves cross-cultural communication.
This course involves working on the VAX computer terminals in the campus labs. Covers introductory topics of Pascal such as basic data types, loops, decision statements, arrays, files, and user-defined data types such as records, sets, and enumerated types as well as the structures of procedures and functions. Grades are based on weekly programming assignments and two tests. Course is designed for technical writers and is inappropriate for math or engineering majors.
Designed to teach the basic concepts of C to students in the MTPW program. Topics covered include use of the vi editor, data types, assignment statements, looping, conditional statements, functions, arrays, structures, pointers, and operations on bite.
Introduces students to the principles of online documentation written by technical writers: error messages, HELP messages, online reference guides, and tutorials. Also explores the many tools available to technical writers through their use of the computer in the writing process. Discussions and demonstrations cover the techniques as well as the principles of online documentation design, production, and evaluation, with emphasis on current technologies and software. The problem of matching form and style to audience within the scope of the computer terminal screen receives special attention.
Introduces students to the fundamentals of graphic design and communication. Topics covered include designing for different media types, typography, layout principles, page design, the creative process, and desktop-publishing tools. The course format includes lectures, discussions, workshops, and student presentations. Assignments provide students with real-life design problems; for the final course project, students design a new publication with a partner from class.
This course is an advanced workshop in biomedical writing. During the course, each student works on and completes one paper in one of the following formats: a review article, a textbook chapter, part of a course in continuing medical education, a module for a training program on a drug or medical device, or, with approval, some other tutorial or review format. Each student chooses a topic of interest in medicine, submits a proposal, writes a complete first draft, participates in an author-editor review session, and submits the final draft. Students are also required to give one talk which covers the substance of their topic as well as their methodology.
Introduces technical and professional writers to the process of instructional design, associated literature, and the discipline in general. The premise for the course is that technical and professional writers (and teachers of technical and professional writing) may sometimes be called on to apply principles of instructional design to their work, as in designing tutorials or online training. Students write a needs assessment, write an outline of a course and associated lessons plans, and design and deliver at least one instructional module. Students also have the opportunity to develop informed opinions about journals and magazines discussed in class, learn to value and promote the role of instructional design in organizations, and develop and discuss opinions concerning different theories and methods of instructional design.
The course introduces students to writing for computer-based multimedia projects. Working on teams with illustrators, programmers, and instructional designers, writers must be aware of the requirements and constraints of multimedia design elements and technology. Topics include: defining multimedia, planning a multimedia project, multimedia design elements (text, graphics, animation, sound, video, interactivity, navigating online materials), and authoring environments. Assignments include analyzing published multimedia works, writing audio scripts, developing video storyboards, and creating a multimedia project on the Macintosh using Hypercard.
To succeed as a technical communication professional in the 90s and beyond, you must be able to contribute to the "bottom line"--product sales. This requires your becoming an integral and significant part of product development. This course helps you assess and assert the maximum need for the professional writing services in any product development cycle. You will learn a new holistic paradigm that redefines the term "user interface" to include any information that impacts a customer/user. The course is taught as a seminar which should benefit experienced and beginning writers, as well as aspiring documentation managers.
The Final Project consists of three parts: a professional level document, a journal, and a portfolio. Students present these three pieces to their three-person defense committee for a two-hour oral examination of these materials. Students should choose a Final Project Advisor and two other defense committee members before registering for English 3604 Final Project during their final quarter of degree work.
Course evaluations are available for students in 406 Holmes. This office is open late at least one day a week. Contact Kathryn Goodfellow for current hours.
28 May 1996
9 August 2001