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Click here to go to Blackboard
Syllabus
Assignments
Assignment 1 - Planning memo
Assignment 2 - Proposal presentation
Assignment 3 - Chart or graph
Assignment 4 - Draft of analytical report
Assignment 5 - Presentation of findings/recommendations
Discussion Board Prompts
Module 2 - Ethics response
Module 3 - Peer review of Project 1
Module 4 - Research topic ideas
Module 5 - Proposal and presentation ideas
Module 7 - SurveyMonkey
Module 8 - Career Expo
Module 9 - Analytical report discussion
Module 10 - YouTube
Module 11 - Low tech visual aid
Module 13 - Social media project proposal
Module 14 - Online identity
Projects Instructions
Project 1 - Resume and cover letter
Project 2 - Analytical report
Project 3 - Social media project
Readings
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Syllabus
Course site and instructions (skim)
"Why are communication skills important?" video (9:45M)
King's "What Writing Is" p. 103-107
Purdue OWL's "Memos (Audience & Purpose, Parts, Format, Sample)"
Purdue OWL's "Audience Analysis Overview" -
Your own sources that define the following terms (ethics, teleological, deontological, Kantian ethics, utilitarianism) - click here for a place to start
Markel's "An Ethical Imperative for Technical Communicators" article - print for class -
Resume advice
video (3:07M) from the California Institute of
Technology
Project 1 - resume and cover letter instructions
Peer review workshop instructions
The "Career Development" links (skim) on the Resources page
Purdue OWL's "Resume Workshop" article
Resume advice podcast (11:07M) from Monster.Com - interview with Scott Bennett, author of The Elements of Resume Style by clicking here.
Purdue OWL's "What is a Cover Letter?" article
Cover letter advice video (1:46M) from the California Institute of Technology
Cover Letter Checklist (PDF) handout
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Project 2 instructions
UMass Boston's "Analytical Papers" article (a brief overview defining what an 'analytical paper' is)
CriticalThinking.org's "Defining Critical Thinking" article
Assignment 3 - Proposal Presentation
American Association of Colleges and Universities' "Critical Thinking Value Rubric" article (just skim rubric, pg. 2)
"Critical thinking skills – Important, potentially life changing" blog by a 'career coach'
About.com's "Use the Web to Find Research Paper Topics" article
A few of these links -
Assignment 2 instructions
McMurrey's "Online Technical Writing - Proposals" article
Pajares's "The Elements of a Proposal" article
Purdue OWL's "Annotated Bibliographies" article
Reynolds's Presentation Tips site
Reynolds' "How to Design & Deliver Presentations" handout
Six Minutes sample slides.
TED Talk "Alexis Ohanian: How to make a splash in social media" video (4:27M)
Lessons from TED: 5 Simple Tweaks site
"Visual and Creative Thinking: What we learned from Peter Pan and Willy Wonka" slide presentation
"Thinking Visually" slide presentation
"Healthcare Napkins All" slide presentation and 1st Place Winner of 2009 World's Best Presentation Contest
Tim Berners-Lee: The year open data went worldwide video (5:34) -
A good book
A good movie -
Purdue OWL's "What is Primary Research and How Do I Get Started?" article
Purdue OWL's "Creating Good Interview and Survey Questions" article
NYTimes "Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age" article
SurveyMonkey site (skim for activity)
Summarizing, quoting, paraphrasing handout
Citing an interview handout -
University of Idaho's "Graphic Aids: Using Figures to Present Data" article
Bates College's "Almost Everything You Wanted to Know about Making Tables and Figures" article
Examples of graphs and charts from the US Energy Information Administration site -
University of Berkeley's "How to Write an Abstract", a brief article with many sample abstracts (skim the samples)
Report introduction format (PDF) worksheet with information on required subsections for your analytical report
Conclusions and Recommendations worksheet -
The Resources sections: Analytical Report, Technical Assistance, Language and Style (skim)
"List of Internet phenomena" on Wikipedia (skim) -
Report Editing Checklist (PDF) handout
Numbers and Abbreviations in Technical Style (DOC) handout
OneLook Dictionary and Reverse Dictionary site (skim) -
"A Nobel prize winner’s view on slides versus ‘chalk and talk’" blog entry
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Instructions for Project 3
Your choice of articles and resources that define social media by clicking here - pick two credible sources and read
"3 Necessary Conditions for Human Cooperation" blog
"Lessons Learned from the 'Best Job in the World' Campaign" blog
"Campaign case study of 'Best Job in the World'" video (5:03M) above
Constant Contact's "Social Media Done Right" video (1:17M)
Dan Greenberg's "The Secret Strategies Behind Many 'Viral' Videos" article and his follow up note
Optional - Julian Smith's "25 Things I Hate About Facebook" video (4:10M) below
Optional - N. Ellison, C. Steinfield, and C. Lampe's "The Benefits of Facebook '‘Friends:’' SocialCapital and College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites" research article
Optional - Ethan Zuckerman's "Mobile Phones and Social Activism" article -
NYTimes.com "Is your online identity spoiling your chances?" article
Cathy Vu's "Job Hunting? Learn How to Manage Your Online Identity" article
Ian Smith's "Preserving Your Job and Reputation in an Internet Era" article
Boris Epstein's "Do You Pass the Social Media Recruitment Test?" article
Thomas Claburn's "Google Suggests Googling Yourself" article
TAT Mobile's "The Future of Screen Technology" video (2:18M) - Excerpt from Sagan's "The Pale Blue Dot"