Course Plan for Brochures Assignment
and Related Assignments
Client:
Teacher:
Semester:
Unit length:
Morrison Elementary School (now Clemson Elementary School)
Summer Smith
Spring 2001
Entire semester
Assignment overview: Student teams wrote brochures to introduce and promote the environmentally friendly
innovations incorporated into the new Clemson Elementary School building and grounds. For example, the
school is heated and cooled by a system of geothermal wells. Teams researched the innovations and the school’s
needs, wrote proposals to the client about the content and design of their brochures, and wrote and designed the
brochures. Then, they submitted the brochures to the Technical Editing class (also taught by Summer Smith that
semester) for editing. When the edited brochures were returned, the students revised them before submitting them
to the client.
Stages of the Project
(from handout given to students on first day of class)
Preliminary Research Report
Before you plan the content, organization, and design of the document you will write for your client, you will
need to understand its audience, the client’s expectations, and the available resources you can draw on for
research on the topic. Your team will investigate these factors and write a report on your findings.
Proposal
Your team will write a proposal to convince the client that the document you plan to write will alleviate its
audience’s problem. You will present research to support your understanding of the audience’s needs, and you
will explain your plans for your document in detail. You will also include a work plan that will guide your efforts
throughout the rest of the semester.
Progress Report
In order to offer useful suggestions to your team, I need regular updates on your team's work (just as a manager
would in the workplace). During the semester, you will write a progress report on behalf of your team. You will
need to gather information from your team members, select the most relevant information, and present the
information in an organized, persuasive manner via email.
Final Product
Your team will be responsible for researching, writing, and revising the document you propose to produce for
your client.
Revised Final Product
After your team completes its best work on the document for the client, you will submit it to my Technical
Editing (English 495/695) class. A team in that class will offer you suggestions for improving the document.
You will revise your document accordingly before submitting it to the client.
Collaboration Portfolio
As a team member, you will make phone calls, write e-mail and paper memos, conduct interviews, participate in
meetings, and communicate in other ways with me, your team, and people outside this class. Keep records of all
phone conversations and copies of all memos, e-mail, minutes, notes, and other correspondence. At the end of
the semester, you’ll turn in an organized portfolio of these materials to document your role in the collaborative
effort.
Course Syllabus
1.2.4
Introduction to Morrison project
Jan 11
16
18
23
25
Introduction to course and Morrison project.
Writing in the workplace. The rhetorical situation. Matching audience and purpose.
PREPARTION: Read textbook, pages 10-24 and 37-47.
Audience: needs, attitudes, and knowledge. Developing questions about Morrison project.
PREP: Read chapter 3.
Guest speaker: Dr. Gina McClellan, Associate Professor of Parks, Recreation and Tourism
Management and Coordinator of the Morrison Outdoors project.
Preliminary research report assignment. Progress report assignment. Group formation options.
PREP: Read pages 477-484.
Team-building
Jan 30
Feb 1
Group formation. Collaboration strategies. PREP: Read chapter 5.
Role of correspondence in successful collaboration. Collaboration portfolio assignment. Creation of
team evaluation form. PREP: Read pages 580-598.
Preliminary research
Feb
6
8
13
15
Interviewing: collecting information about your Morrison project.
PREP: Schedule interview(s) for February 7, 8, 9, or 12. Read pages 241-248.
Writing sections of reports. Signaling organization to readers. NOTE: Group progress report due
Friday, February 9.
Writing introductions of reports. Giving credit to sources. Workshop on section.
PREP: Bring draft of at least one section of your research report. Read pages 206-215.
Draft workshop. [attendance required]
PREP: Bring copies of a complete draft of your
preliminary research report.
Planning your final product
20
22
RESEARCH REPORTS DUE. Proposal assignment. Problem statement workshop.
Goals and structure of proposals. PREP: Read pages 546-555.
27
Persuasion: strategies for building credibility and convincing readers. Problem section workshop.
PREP: Write a draft of the problem section of your proposal. NOTE: Group progress report due
Wednesday, February 28.
Persuasion, continued.
Mar 1
6
Draft workshop. [attendance required]
PREP: Bring copies of a complete draft of proposal.
Producing your final product
1.2.4
cont.
Mar 8
13
15
20, 22
27
29
Apr
3
5
10
*11*
PROPOSAL AND TEAM EVALUATION FORMS DUE. Workshop on next steps.
Research and planning.
Visit from Dr. McClellan to give feedback on proposals. NOTE: Group progress report due Friday,
March 16.
SPRING BREAK
Document design: relations between text and visuals.
Document design: designing text and headings. Creating emphasis and consistency with design.
PREP: Bring draft of a section of final product. NOTE: Group progress report due March 30.
Workshop on introductions. Making audience-based decisions about style. PREP: Bring draft of
introduction of final product.
Working with editors. Editors’ roles. Editors’ needs and schedules. NOTE: Group progress report
due today, April 5.
Draft workshop. [attendance required] PREP: Contact editors to provide answers to their questions.
FINAL PRODUCT DUE BY 4 PM. Deliver three copies to my office. One copy will be given to
your editors at 9:30 AM on April 12.
Refining your final product
12
Developing a consistent design for all of the class’ final products. Preparation for meeting with
editors about editing plan. PREP: Bring five copies of your final product.
17
19
Developing a consistent design, continued. PREP: Meet with your editors on April 17 or 18.
Applying the agreed-upon design to your final product.
24
Distribution of edited documents. Workshop. [attendance required] PREP: Meet with editors on
April 24 or 25, as arranged.
Workshop. Wrap-up.
26
30
REVISED FINAL PRODUCT AND COLLABORATION PORTFOLIO DUE BY NOON. Deliver
three printed copies of final product and one disk copy of final product to my office. One printed
copy and the disk copy will be given to Dr. McClellan.
1.2.4
cont.