Undergraduate Courses
General Information
- All courses require students to select writing projects based on their own major.
- All courses require completion of ENGL 1301 and 1302 before enrollment.
- English 2311 counts toward a student's 12 hours of English General Degree Requirement.
- Some courses require prerequisites, as indicated below.
- The upper-division courses and 2311 are taught in networked computer classrooms. The computers offer access to the Internet and the library catalog for research.
Concepts and Methods Emphasized in all Courses
- Understanding documents as tools of solving workplace problems
- Analyzing audiences, needs, and constraints
- Gathering information through secondary and primary research
- Writing as an expert to someone who knows less: responsibilities, strategies
- Writing for efficient reading and use
- Using information ethically
Courses
| Offered | Course |
| Spring Summer Fall, ES | 2311 Introduction to Technical Communication Prerequisite: ENGL 1301 and 1302. Introduction to patterns of writing used in reports and letters for business, industry, and technology. |
| Fall | 3362 Rhetorical Criticism Prerequisite: Junior standing. Introduction to methods of rhetorical criticism; the nature, scope, and function of rhetoric, classical and modern theories of rhetoric; practice in applying critical methods to discursive and non-discursive artifacts. |
| Spring Summer Fall | 3365 Report Writing Prerequisite: Junior standing. Preparation of professional and academic reports and publications through the use of communication analysis. |
| Fall ES | 3366 Style Prerequisite: Junior standing. Investigation of the varieties, characteristics, and function of prose style in technical and professional writing. |
| Fall | 3367 Usability Testing Prerequisite: ENGL 2311 or 3365. Principles and techniques of testing online and print documents, using video and digital equipment, with emphasis on rhetorical effectiveness and usability of graphics, text, and format. |
| Spring | 3368 Web Design Prerequisite: ENGL 2311 or 3365. Principles and techniques of designing usable Web sites, with emphasis on needs assessment, information architecture, and navigation |
| Spring | 3369 Information Design Prerequisite: ENGL 2311 or 3365. Principles of design, visual rhetoric, and visual communication; application of those principles in document design. |
| TBA | 4365 Special Topics Prerequisite: ENGL 3365 or consent of the instructor. Development of complex documents, such as manuals, proposals, and newsletters. May be repeated once for credit when topics vary. |
| Spring | 4366 Technical and Professional Editing Prerequisite: 6 hours of 3000-level English courses. Methods of editing and publishing in business, science, technology, and the professions. Practical experience with editing reports and publications produced in the university and community. |
| Every other Fall | 4367 Developing Instructional Materials Prerequisite: 6 hours of 3000-level English courses. Preparation of instructions for complex procedures with focus on task and user analysis, organization, format, and usability testing. |
| Fall | 4368 Advanced Web Design Prerequisite: ENGL 3367, 3368, or 3369. Advanced study of content design for database web sites using interactive design using single-sourcing and programming technologies. |
| Every other Fall | 4369 Interaction Design Prerequisite: English 3367, 3368, or 3369. The study of information gathering for design of efficient user interaction with software and hardware through adaptive interfaces, dynamic text structures, and single-sourcing methodologies. |
| Fall Summer Spring | 4378 Internship in Technical Communication Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing, declared specialization in technical communication and approval of the director of technical communication. Supervised work in technical communication. Requires a portfolio and research paper. |
| Every Spring | 4380 Professional Issues in Technical Communication Prerequisite: Senior standing, declared specialization in technical communication, and one ENGL 4000-level course or approval of the Director of Technical Communication. Advanced study of trends in technical communication, application of theory in a community service-learning project, and preparation of a professional portfolio. |