Assignments
This page provides an overview of the work that contributes to your final course grade, and connects you to descriptions for those projects and workshops through the links below. (Note that no descriptive detail appears on SVSU Canvas for any of these assignments.) I activate assignment pages as we need them, so do not worry if you cannot access all of the descriptions at the beginning of the semester.
Your course grade is computed from the points you earn on 3 projects and 11 workshops. Combined, these assignments total 1500 points.
You can read more about grading and what factors might influence your grade on the Policies page.
Projects
I use the term projects to categorize assignments that are significant undertakings, and that require development and refinement time that may span several weeks of the semester. You will complete 3 projects this semester that collectively contribute 1000 possible points to your course grade.
Each project description details several elements of the work, including design requirements, hints and tips, and submission guidelines. Use the links below to access those descriptions.
- Community Connection (CC). 200 points. The CC project asks you to participate in relevant professional communities, and then present your experiences in a digital report. The CC project is challenging because it requires you to identify, join, and monitor professional communities so you can be prepared to discuss how these experiences might fuel future professional participation.
- Who Am I? (WAI). 200 points. The WAI project asks you to explore the knowledge, values, and problems that motivate you professionally. The WAI results in a video or vid series that explores elements of the identity you seek to project to colleagues and prospective employers. The WAI is challenging in that it pushes you from introspection to professional expression.
- Professional Presence (PP). 450 points. The PP project communicates your expertise, credentials, experience, and overall professional readiness through appropriate digital documents: resumé, digital portfolio, and social media profile (e.g., LinkedIn). The centerpiece of the PP is a portfolio that can anchor your digital presence for professional marketing and beyond. The PP challenges you to establish and control a narrative about your professional development, knowledge and abilities, and career goals.
Workshops
I use the term workshops to categorize assignments that are smaller scale than projects, work that can be completed in the space of a single class session, or within the space of a single class week. The concepts, strategies, and practices examined through workshops build and reinforce your working knowledge for the course. You will complete 11 workshops this semester that collectively contribute 550 possible points to your course grade.
Each workshop description details several elements of the work, including design and discussion requirements, and submission guidelines. Use the links below to access those descriptions.
- Knowledge Inventory. 50 points. Reflection on your professional knowledge and abilities relevant to technical communication and information design.
- Who Am I?. 50 points. Exploration of potential anchors and markers for professional identity.
- Who Do I Want to Be?. 50 points. Further exploration of potential anchors and markers for professional identity.
- Community Connection. 50 points. Beginning of an on-going search for professional communities that offer meaningful sense of community.
- Reflection 1. 50 points. You reflect upon the opportunities and obstacles that correspond to the crafting of a strong professional identity.
- Toolkit Exploration 1 & 2. 50 points each. You work to earn or hone professional knowledge of a professionally relevant information design tool.
- Scrum, Parts 1 to 4. 50 points. On-going report on work that supports your scrum team during the series of scrum events that define the end-of-semester run for the course.