Texts & Materials

• Words into Type. Skillin and Gay 

Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN: 0-13-964262-5

• The Subversive Copy Editor: Advice from Chicago (or, How to Negotiate Good Relationships with Your Writers, Your Colleagues, and Yourself) (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) Carol Fisher Saller

Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0-226-73425-0

• The Mayfield Handbook of Technical &Scientific Writing, Perelman, Paradis, and Barrett (bundled inside our course)
  
  
• You must have a jump/thumb/external drive to house your course work.

Course Objectives

1. To demonstrate proficiency in advanced technical communication situations. (Yep, that's right, ADVANCED; if you haven't had an introduction to technical writing course, you aren't ready for this.) 
   
   
2. To acquire the full range of editing, including copyediting, sentence-level editing, and substantive editing (macro- and micro-level editing). 
   
   
3. To consistently apply the process of document composition, including invention, arrangement, style, and delivery. We will really sharpen our focus on technical writing style. 
   
   
4. To write and edit technical documents, focusing on the features of effective written communication (content, organization, format, style, visuals, and grammar). 
   
   
5. To demonstrate increased proficiency with the technologies affecting writing and editing.

Course Requirements and Expectations

• If you have special needs because of learning disabilities or other kinds of disabilities, you should contact Dr. Mary Ann Lipford, ADA Compliance Coordinator, Administration Building -Room 239 on the Tarleton State University campus in Stephenville, TX (254) 968-9373. 

 
• The primary components of the course are presented in our face-to-face class meetings and also Web-based. You should check the course pages regularly. If you don't have access to a computer with an Internet connection at home or work, you will need to use the General Access Lab in the Business Building or the Computer Resource Center in the Library. Remember, one of the goals of the course is to familiarize you with the technologies affecting writing and editing. If you are a newbie to the Internet, e-mail, and word processing, you will need to let me know so I can direct you to the appropriate support services. 

 
• You must have your university e-mail account activated. You will need this account, not a commercial e-mail account you may already have, for our class communications.

• Class attendance is a required part of the course. If you have verifiable and legitimate reason for missing class, let me know; if not, don't. I will consider special cases as long as you keep up with the online components of the course. When it comes to workshops at the end of the semester, you have to attend class to make a passing grade on the Editing Assignment. 

 
• I will give daily grades based on the Learning Activities for each unit, the unit Evaluations, and required Discussions Board posts. You cannot make up daily quizzes or daily work done in class. Generally speaking, I have posted deadlines for Learning Activities work, Evaluations work, and Discussions Board posts. Your responsibility is to keep up with these assignments. 

 
• Your grade will be made up of the following components:

• I will accept no late work on daily exercises nor give any makeup quizzes, regardless of your excuse. You must have a completed manuscript ready for writing project conferences and the peer review to make a passing grade on the primary writing project. You must also meet the deadline for the edit review assignment to make a passing grade.

Benedda Konvicka Office: Humanities 336
Office Phone: 968-9286
Office Hours: M—Th 12:30—2:30
e-mail: bkonvicka@tarleton.edu
http://online.tarleton.edu/bkonvicka/3103
http://online3.tarleton.edu