Course Objectives
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Professional Writing Course Objectives

The Professional Writing Curriculum Review Committee has approved the following common course objectives for the PW core courses (required of all majors): English 3302, English 3304, English 3330, English 3331, English 4322. Students should also refer to the briefer university catalog description of these courses.

English 3302 (Business and Technical Writing)

• Research, design, create and prepare informal and formal documents suitable for the workplace
• Balance visual and verbal elements of communication in documents and oral presentations
• Use current technology to search for and report information.
• Edit documents for correctness
• Respond usefully to others' writing

English 3304 (Advanced Business and Technical Writing)

• Without models, create documents that include varying levels of complexity
• Participate in a forum for examining the rhetorical traditions and visions of the profession
• Hone the follow report writing skills: problem/data analysis and representation, consideration of readers, argument development, and project management
• Conduct and evaluate research, incorporating appropriate technology and working with primary sources as well as SMEs
• Review and implement current trends in technology and technical communication, writing for both print and electronic environments

English 3330 (Desktop Publishing)

• Learn design and production skills on the computer utilizing desktop publishing software
• Acquire an understanding of design and production of communications (brochures, newsletters, fliers, FAX transmissions) used in business and industry through practice in producing these materials
• Learn the theoretical framework for preparing documents that are appropriate for and appealing to various target audiences
• Improve verbal and visual communication skills by engaging in hands-on projects

English 3331 (Advanced Desktop Publishing)

• Refine design and production skills on the computer (utilizing Adobe PageMaker, Macromedia Freehand, and supporting software)
• Expand knowledge of the kinds of communications used in business and industry and practice in producing these kinds of materials
• Extend knowledge of theoretical frameworks for preparing documents that are appropriate for and appealing to the various target audiences

English 4322 (Editing, Rewriting, and Copyreading)

• Set and appropriately carry out objectives for substantive, stylistic, and copy editing of printed and electronic documents
• Work with sensitivity to language and graphic presentation appropriate to documents' audience and purpose
• Develop an understanding of editing and its role in document development, publication, and use
• Use stylebook and handbook conventions appropriate to documents edited
• Increase mastery of style, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and spelling