design principles were contingent on audience, situation, and rhetoric
Audience and Rhetoric are the two multimodals we've studied this semester. It makes sense that design principles should match the audience views because those are the ones designs will appeal to.
One partici-pant who created a category for CRAP labeled it “A handy, oversimplified,arhetorial [sic], and now overused set of principles that involve only logos andthat do not address the affective elements of design at all
Wow this participant really disliked the concept of CRAP principles. I am not sure if they took the term literal or found a fitting definition for the word.
Second, I would havelittle control over who agreed to participate. The possibility for spam is alwayspresent with online media.
This is another disadvantage of the online approach. A six year old child could do the online card sorting or someone who has no idea of the concept. Hence results may be not applicable. Spam being the number one inaccurate result caused by a computer is another uncontrollable participant.
First, in a face-to-facecard sorting exercise, the researcher often observes the participant as he or shesorts the cards and uses the talk-aloud protocol to gather further informationabout participants’ thinking during the exercise.
This is one of the disadvantages of online card sorting. Things like body language and side conversation to collect more information is not present. Even though online is faster, the more personal interaction of the interview is taken out.
The primary advantage of this online approach was quick and efficient accessto participants
I concur with this statement that online processing is faster than one on one encounters. Card sorting online can be done by anyone any where, making the exercise more efficient.
Many of these texts explicitly use the termsprinciples of design,designprinciples,orgraphic design principlesto describe their collection of principles.
The word "principle" means foundations or beginning. I can understand why the author says any specific topic that has principles in front of it mean the collections of beginning rules or the basics.
Mark Monmonier’s How to Lie with Maps (1991)
This seems like an interesting book title. I won't mind reading a couple pages of this.
ou have been asked to evaluate a subordinate for possible promotion
If you get a five in this rating you are less likely to get the promotion. At my old job we had a six month employee evaluation similar to this grading scale. Your grading was based on every day performance, attendance, customer service, growth, speed and accuracy in completing tasks, etc.
manipulation of pictorial illustrations and the distortion of graphics areunethical.
I guess Photoshop is an unethical software! This explains why so much propaganda mislead voters and influenced them during election time. Editing pictures or distorting them to send a certain message to viewers is a method of unethical persuasion.
When Professor Dragga’s article was originally published in Technical Communication (1st Q 96), numerous typographical and substantive errors he identified in page proof were inadvertently not corrected. We regret the error.
Disclaimer alert. I like how the editor made it seem like the author had proof read his work before submitting. Well I can't be too hard on the author, after all there was no auto correct when this was written. That auto correct makes everyone seem like a spelling genus.
I examined and classified a total of 3,267 explanations, identifying nine categories
OMG!! That's a lot of data to examine. This must of been a very important observation for Sam to collect so much information.
consequence
Consequence means a result of an action. If consequences didn't exist there wouldn't be any point in writing anything. Usually consequences has a negative connotation but in tech writing consequence doesn't necessarily mean something good or bad.
Technical Communication, Third Quarter 1996
This article was publicized two years after I was born! I wonder if there are any recent scholarly resource on ethics of technical writing. In comparison to twenty years ago, how has the analysis of tech writing change? Has the demand for a tech writers gone up or down? Those are questions I would like to know the answers to.
The writer’s only job was composing words. Graphic artists did the illustrations, and compositors and editors designed the pages. Today, more and more often, the technical writer is a technical communicator, choosing the typography and graphics as well as the words
In the past writers and graphic designers had separate roles that never crossed paths. Now in the modern era it's becoming more and more beneficial for both to be well versed.
national survey of technical communicators and technical communication teachers regarding their perspectives on the ethics of various document design scenarios
Every time I see a question on a job application about "ethics" rating 1 to 5 or highly agree to highly disagree I immediately get annoyed. I'm not sure if they are trying to trick the applicant because I'm pretty sure everyone wouldn't answer 100% truthfully in fear of not getting the job.
I considered the explanations important because I wanted to know not only what people would do in a given situation, but why
The "why" is always a thought provoking word. We can always say yes or no but to explain our answer shows the true motive behind an ethical or unethical decision. I sometimes find it difficult to explain my why when being interviewed.
ability to design information gives the technical communicator a new rhetorical power and imposes new ethical obligations on using that power.
The client a technical writer is working under may provide strict guidelines on how to organize or change information to fit the clients ideal wants. Once a technical writer receives that power he/she can decide if they want to follow instructions form the client. An example of a rough technical communicator is Edward Snowden, because he decided to break the ethical code of silence to leak classified information.
Different citation styles, like MLA and especially APA, have different requirements,so it's important to follow these closely
Even though MLA and APA look different they both have specific requirements which set them apart. Header, margin, and indentation are just a few to list.
Venn diagrams use circles or arcs to show how one thing intersects or overlaps withsomething else. They are also used to show relationships, commonalities anddifferences.
Over lapping circles of the Venn diagram show inclusions and exclusions of certain things.The closer you get to the middle, the more characteristics are shared.
Flowcharts include visual illustrations and arrows to show how a process unfolds over time
Flow charts are very resourceful but I prefer making a word web to organize my ideas/thoughts. The first time I saw a flow chart was in my computer information systems class when I were learning about the supply chain model.
tone and style of the type reinforces the message of your content
Tone was a concern that came up while I was working on my service learning project. We were torn between trying to decide if the website should cater to a more business side of view or display the more underlined cause.
Use bold and italic for special purposes, such as to emphasize heading or wordsused in special senses
Bold means to stand out and be obvious to viewers in the writing sense but also as a person. I use bold font in most of my writing for titles or sub headings. Subconsciously when I see bold writing in my text book or wherever I know it is important.
Maps are visual illustrations of a physical space
I like this definition of maps! When I think about the word map, I imagine visual directions that lead you to a specific destination.
Tables are visual displays of data and enable readers to compare information and quickly view findings
The table is meant for readers to quickly locate what they're looking for. Now I understand why in elementary school we were instructed to study the multiplication table. Understanding the relationship between the Y and X axis, makes finding the solution to multiplication problem much easier.
This document, however, tells the audience - even before they begin reading thetext - that this is some sort of letter produced by someone at Purdue University.
Format is everything when it comes to writing. This is a prime example when talking about letter heading. Being a technical writer, proper paper formatting makes a big difference in how someone's writing is perceived.
we now have the capability to present information and persuade using textand visuals together in word processing programs, slide presentations, and dynamicposters, we must be able to wield textual and visual messages effectively.
When I read this I thought about the saying "a picture is worth a 1000 words". Having both the image and the words we don't have to guess or assume what the author is trying to convey.
Writers are now called upon to communicate with wider audiences incontexts beyond the walls of the classroom - on the Web, in student-producedmagazines and ezines, and in service learning project
I agree with this point. As technology evolves the different platforms to display a writer's work becomes vast.
Each team will be working on a different set of issues and deliverables for their client
Different set of deliverables??? Is the memorandum of understanding mandatory?
Fair use was created as astatutory guideline for effectuating the balance required to enable constitutionalgoals in the intellectual property clause, including support of education, a publicdomain, and free speech
Again "Fair use" doesn't sound so fair because it's under government regulation.
This distinctive feature of the U.S. approach to copyright pro-tection correlates directly with the need for access to information as a basis for sup-porting democratic dialogue
Anything dealing with the US government will always have an ulterior motive.
In the workplace, they often develop documents that lead or guidethrough instruction and documentation; they produce structures such as reportforms for medical, insurance, and governmental treatment of the public that im-pact the way we interpret information that could affect our quality of life; and, asresearchers, they develop work that analyzes and critiques the impact of any num-ber of forms of communication,
The workplace terms and conditions are so damn long, I don't think anyone ever reads all of it before starting.
We analyzesocietally affected communications and critique their sources, effects, and potentialmeanings for our students, for workplace technical communicators, or for society atlarge.
Sounds like technical writers just became top critics
So, as an enabler of speech, the First Amendment supports access to informa-tion; a general, content-neutral restriction on access could be less stringently inhib-ited. But where content-based speech is concerned, the First Amendment is strictlyenforced; attempts to restrict content-based speech are strictly scrutinized
So basically what I got from this is you can say whatever you want when it comes to producing content. Donald Trumpt does a good job of doing this.
Thus, on the one hand, the copyright’s structurefunctions as a general restriction on publishing and disseminating another’sworks⎯a content-neutral restriction. On the other hand, quoting another’s work asa basis for criticism, or outright copying of another’s work as a means for parody(by its nature, a content-based commentary), is allowable as a means to supportspeech as a basis of democratic interaction
According to this if I quote another's work I can bypass copyright regulations.
Constitution’s intellectual property provision clearly statesthat a copyright term must be limited
I learned about limited copyright terms in my business administrartion class. These limits can last as long as the life of the author if i'm correct.
Users and producers has a resemblance to consumers and suppliers. As a technical writer you are in charged of balancing both sides which makes copyright infringement that much risky.
The Framers of theConstitution created a structure in the intellectual property provision that prioritizesthe advancement of learning and knowledge creation over its secondary, supportivepurpose: to benefit the author. To provide a benefit to the author merely creates anincentive for authors to expend energy to create new work. Note that U.S. copyrightdiffers greatly from that of moral rights, which is the adopted structure in Europeanlaw, based on the concept that creators have an absolute right to benefit from theirwork and that their right comes from a special moral requirement.
I didn't know that the main reason for copyright laws was to promote advance learning and knowledge creation. In agreement with the statement above, there would be no reason to create something if everyone else could just take credit for it unless it's copyright protected.
Technical communicators will also have an interest in understandingthe capacity for legal use of others’ materials in their processes of developingworkplace communications
I really like this statement because it gives insight on limitations of technical writer.
The authors introduce an alternative posi-tion, one in which the technical communicator is a contributorto meaning-making, enabling the technical communicator toassume the status of an author
Hmmm sounds like our class project for Georgia Child Care Association.
It isimportant to hold students accountable for unethical anddishonest actions in the classroom, but also to allow roomwithin policies for the gray areas that exist between copy-ing and theft.
Classroom peer editing let's students prevent what may be a case of plagiarism before a teacher makes the final decision
. It is only byincreasing dialog among instructors and industry profes-sionals who rely on such composing models that we canbetter understand the need to move beyond the seeminglyuniversal rule of “do not steal” to more context-contingentunderstandings of the concept of plagiarism
Usually the best ways to solve problems is to talk about them. Expressing feelings or concerns through words is a way of showing concern of an issue.
In support of these classroom activities and textbook revi-sions, academic units that offer technical communicationclasses should consider reviewing existing plagiarism pol-icies or drafting new policies that explicitly address theconflicts between academic and workplace contexts.
Dr. Wharton said we will go over these policies so we can be aware of do's and don'ts of a tech writer.
The second assumption that I’d like to address that appearsoften in technical communication textbooks is the sugges-tion that using the Internet for writing has a causal rela-tionship to plagiarism
All I can say about this is Wikipedia. When I was younger using Wiki for looking up information was the go to site. As I got older I learned Wiki allowed people to edit information on their site, which made the content some what untrustworthy.
For instance, as advised in the fifthedition ofTechnical writing: Process and productby Ger-son and Gerson (2006), “Donotplagiarize.Plagiarismisthe appropriation (theft!) of some other person’s words andideas without giving proper credit”
All authors should give credit where it's due. Listening to a song the other day I realized the artist stole the beat from another artist's original song. This made me skeptical of the music industry as a whole.
Our field has wrestledwith the concept of the “author” and its implications forestablishing our status as professionals in industry
Not all authors compose original content. Some authors take things learned from prior knowledge and put it into their work. I wonder if that is plagiarism to some extent?
As technical communicators find themselves workingacross international contexts, they recognize that under-standings of what constitutes originality and ownership oftexts is culturally dependent
I agree 100% with this statement. Different cultures have different understandings and ways of acknowledging ownership.
Turnitin.com and other “pla-giarism detection technologies” has created a culture offear among student writers who understand that such tech-nologies may be used for policing their writing practices.
"Turnitin.com" has become a faster more convenient way for teachers to check for plagiarism among students. I remember my English 1 teacher threatened to fail me because she thought I plagiarized but "turnitin.com" had my back.
Instructors and uni-versity administrators tell them that they must follow pla-giarism policies or risk earning failing grades or beingexpelled from the university.
A constant warning on every syllabus students receive at the beginning of all classes. The same warning can be most likely found under academic honesty policy.
Instructors of technical communication are uniquely positioned to engagestudents with concrete problems in local workplaces and community settings.
This engagement of concrete problems is done by asking thought provoking question, which make the student provide a deeper analysis of the problem. It's not enough to provide a "yes" or "no"answer for a solution to a problem
2010 Gulf oil spill are noteworthy in thisregard: that is, because they are so complex in their causes and effects, theycannot necessarily be “solved” in any simple sense of the term
The complexity of this problem causes a chain reaction which effects the whole world not only the gulf. Gas prices start to increase and oil miners have to find new resources of oil
we are reinforcing practical wisdom that ideally translates intoprudent social action
Wisdom= Spark in taking action.Once you understand the savarity of the problem it becomes harder to ignore.
“If we hope to instill in our students a sense of responsibilityto be active citizens and advocates for social change,” she suggests, “we mustshow them that their civic engagement can be applied beyond the classroom”
Wow this is so true. Now I understand why we are going to have real life clients in this class! https://alexandragetsreal.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/shitgotreal.jpg
The structure of this article is as follows. First, I briefly review scholarshipthat has theorized the concept of wicked problems in social theory anddesign studies; second, I show how I applied a wicked problems frameworkin a technical writing course I taught during Fall 2010; and finally, I offer somesuggestions for developing this approach and applying it toward other topicsand social issues.
Overall skeleton of this article. Pretty much enough said
hemorrhaging of oil into the Gulf ofMexico can be traced to faulty technologies
Interesting. In the medical sense hemorrhaging is a term used to described mass amounts of blood loss but here it's used to describe the catastrophic oil spill
Overall this article is about how real life problems affect everyone else indirectly or directly. Wickman used the example of the Gulf oil spill to cover many avenues of wickedness. It was explained that the ruptured well of the Gulf was unpredictable and unpreventable means of other problems that arise from offshore drilling. Part of the article that caught my attention was when Wickman made clear that in class learning and experience can be used in the real world. It's true that as a student we're taught to study for a grade and not understanding. This article allowed me to realize that sometimes a solution to a problem doesn't necessarily fix the greater issue but temporarily corrects an unintended accident.
the deathsof 11 rig workers; millions of gallons of oil being released into the Gulf of Mexico;an untold amount of toxic chemicals being used to disperse the oil
Just a few of the consequences reported to the media. I wonder if there was more than 11 deaths????
Environmental catastrophes like the 2010 Gulf oil spill are noteworthy in thisregard: that is, because they are so complex in their causes and effects, theycannot necessarily be “solved” in any simple sense of the term.
I like how the article compares the unique thinking or day to day world issues to the 2010 Gulf oil spill. As stated the problems are so complex they cannot necessarily be fixed in one action
Training programs provide people with new or improved skills, making them more employable and their organizations and products more efficient and safe.
This is interesting. It's always good to prep the workforce
Communicating by using technology, such as web pages, help files, or social media sites.
This is very true. Communication through the virtual media!!