Course Goals

1. To prepare you to identify communication problems and state them as research questions or hypotheses as the first step in primary research
2. To provide you with the skills, strategies, and knowledge to help you understand what is needed to take a problem from concept to plan to development
3. To develop skills that will enable you to work effectively with team members in a user-centered design environment (e.g., human factors, marketing, information development, programming, graphic design)
4. To help you to understand communication research methods and give you practice in exploring information resources and evaluating studies
5. To review, as needed, techniques and strategies involving secondary research in communication

 Course Calendar

This class is web-based. However, you are always welcome to "talk" with me about class readings and projects: face-to-face in Bate 2149, by phone, or electronically (by email or instant messaging).

Links (and url's) are fragile and sometimes transient items. If you have difficulties accessing any links in this syllabus, please let me know in a professional manner so I can fix it.

Week	Lectures to Read	Other Readings	Project Due
1-8/23+	Start-up activities: 1st or 2nd Semester and 3rd+ Semesters	Overview of 7730 (6730): "Issues," secondary research	By Sunday noon, 8/29, if needed, submit or update fact sheet & biography. {These documents are part of the start up activities.}
2-8/30+	What is original research? Research Methods	Overview of 7730 (6730) continued CR Ch. 2 and sample case studies CR Ch. 3 and sample ethnographies	Discussion begins [This week, discussion will be instructor-led.]
3-9/06+ (labor day: 9/6)	Research Methods (ctd.)	CR Ch. 4 and sample surveys CR Ch. 5 and sample quantitative-descriptive studies	Discussion [This week, discussion will be instructor-led.] Consider: what problem will you investigate? First, you need to review published literature about that  topic. Review Proj 1: click here . Review Proj 2: click here .
4-9/13+	Research Methods (ctd.) Role of literature reviews in research articles	CR Chs. 6-7 Collect and begin to read secondary research related to the topic(s) that you plan to research for your project.	Discussion Leaders: Raby, Wade
5-9/20+	Research on Reading Engaging Readers	CR Chs. 8-9	Discussion Leader: Woods
6-9/27+	Problem Solving	HF Ch. 1 and 5 Make an appointment to talk with me (f2f or phone) this week about your project!	Discussion Class members post proposed problem/research Q/research methods for peer/instructor review Review Proj 1: click here. Review Proj 2: click here.
7-10/04+	Accessing Information Impact of Poor Design	HF Ch. 6 and 10	Discussion Leader: Dawyot
8-10/11+	Forming User Partnerships Learning from Readers	HF Ch. 8; CR pp. 278-280	Discussion Leader: Sheth
9-10/18+ Fall Break October 16-19 ... enjoy :-)
10-10/25+	Presenting Information	HF Ch. 11	Discussion Leader: Fair Project 1 due: midnight, Sunday, October 31
11-11/01+	Designing and Developing Content The Role of Type and Space (PDF)	HF Ch. 12	Discussion Leader: Lee
12-11/08+	Building Action Structures	HF Chs. 7 and 9	Discussion Leader: Barwick
13-11/15+	Interplay of Words and Pictures	HF Ch. 2 and Appendix A	Discussion Leader: Herndon
14-11/22,23		Schedule time to meet with me (f2f, phone) this week or next to discuss your project
Thanksgiving Break November 24-28 ... enjoy  :-)
15-11/29+	Usability (User Centered-Design)	CR Ch. 10-11
16-12/06+	Classes end 12/08/2004		Project 2 due: midnight,  Thursday, 12/09/2004 All work due by 12/09/2004

 Texts and Bibliography

Click on any title below to go directly to AddAll.com for comparative shopping and cheap ordering!

REQUIRED:
Coe, Marlana. Human Factors for Technical Communicators . NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996. (HF)
Lauer, Janice M. and J. William Asher. Composition Research: Empirical Designs. Oxford University Press, 1988. (CR)

OPTIONAL:
MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing

NOTE: You may order the Lauer & Asher text from the ECU campus bookstore by clicking on this link . However, you will probably have to order Coe from AddAll.com or another source.

 Course Projects and Evaluation Process

Table 1: Projects and Values			Table 2: Letter Grade
Project	Points		Letter Grade	Points
1: Planning an Original Research Agenda	100		A	276-300
2: Developing an Appropriate Research Treatment, Methodology, and Analysis	100		B	246-275
3: Discussion	100		C	210-245
Total Possible Points	300		F	0-209

At the discretion of the instructor, other evaluative assignments may be made at any time during the term.

A Performance Summary will be provided when each project is returned. If you have any questions about the evaluation of your work, contact the instructor at your earliest convenience. Projects may not be resubmitted for further review.

 Course Procedures

Project Submission

Quick Summary

• Due dates on Class Calendar
• Restricted to 1750 to 3500 words (which is approximately 3.5-7 pages) of serif 11 point type, space and a half, one inch margins (NOTE: Project 2 can be longer to accommodate accompanying documents such as surveys, questionnaires, etc.)
• Rich Text Format file
• File name: your code name + project number + .rtf (for example, kitty1.rtf where kitty is your code name, 1 is the project number, and .rtf is the extension designator)
• Attach file to an email message sent to your instructor's campus email account: [ henzeb@mail.ecu.edu ].

Detailed Explanation

All projects are due by midnight on the day indicated in the Class Calendar. If a project cannot be completed on time, contact the instructor before the due date to request an extension.

NOTE: the Class Calendar indicates a date near the end of the term on which ALL papers MUST be submitted so that I can grade them in time to submit a final grade. Become familiar with that date!! Students sometimes find it necessary to request an "incomplete" for a course; I will consider such requests on a case by case basis. Contact me as early as possible if you think that you will need to take an incomplete.

Exclusive of any cover page (no cover page is required) and supporting references or appendices, Project #1 should be 1750-3500 words, set with a standard formal serif typeface (Times, Times New Roman, Palatino, etc.) in 11 point type size; other sizes and typefaces may be used for headings and other emphasis techniques. Space and a half all text and leave a one-inch margin. Other formats may be used with your instructor's approval. Project #2 has the same requirements as Project #1, except that it will be longer because it will include attached measuring instruments such as surveys, rating scales, questionnaires, etc.

Projects should be submitted in Rich Text Format (RTF). Name each submission in an identifiable manner. Typically, use a code name that you give me at the beginning of the semester, followed by the number of the project (1 or 2), followed by a suffix indicating the filetype. For example, if your code name is kitty and you were submitting project 1, you would name the file kitty1.rtf.

You are responsible for the readability and accessibility of electronic files. Do NOT compress any electronic files. Send file as an email attachment to your instructor's campus email address. When I receive your file, I will reply immediately to confirm receipt. If you do not receive this confirmation within a day or two, check with me to ensure that I have received your file.

Project Resubmission

Projects may NOT be resubmitted to improve an original evaluation. However, if I discover, during the process of evaluating a project submission, that completing this initial evaluation will result in a numeric grade of less than B quality work, your paper will be returned to you unevaluated with my comments up to that point.

You may then elect either to revise the project based upon these comments or to ask me to complete the evaluation without revision. During this process, the project will NOT be assessed any penalty points for lateness.

The best procedure for avoiding the need to edit an already submitted project is to discuss your project with me as it develops. You should feel free to communicate with me about your project while you are preparing it. I will not "pre-grade" a project, but I will answer questions about specific concerns or problems that you are encountering in your work. Please be sure to provide as much detail as possible about your project and your specific concerns so that I can offer you good advice!

 Course and University Policies

Attendance

Since this is an electronic course, we will NOT hold regularly scheduled classes. However, I do expect everyone to take an active role in all online discussions during the term. Your regular participation in discussions, and your level of involvement in the work of the class, will be considered when I assign final course grades.

Access to Resources

Some links on this website access resources outside of the East Carolina University community. These resources have been selected for their educational value and their use does not imply endorsement of any products, services, or opinions found in these resources. Further, neither East Carolina University nor any faculty member assumes any responsibility for either the content or the accessibility of these resources.

Academic Honesty

In this course, plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty, as well as unacceptable behavior, will be treated based on the East Carolina University Code of Conduct. If you are ever in doubt about what counts as plagiarism or academic dishonesty, ask.

East Carolina University and the Americans with Disabilities Act

East Carolina University seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students requesting accommodations based on a disability must be registered with the Department for Disability Support Services located in Brewster A-117 ((252) 328-6799 (Voice) / (252) 328-0899 (TTY)).

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