Narrative
Need to be addressed and learners to be served.
The purpose of this project is to develop an online business writing course. The scope will entail developing one section of the course initially while adding more sections as the interest and need develops. The primary target audience for the course will be students enrolled in academic programs in business and technology throughout the state for whom a business writing course is a requirement. A secondary target audience will include individuals (not currently enrolled in a college/university) in the workplace who desire to take an online business writing course to improve their communication skills and opportunities for professional advancement.
Rationale for choice of course and technology to be used.
One of the goals of English 420 always has been to offer instruction in business writing in the context of exposing students to the latest computer technologies that they would encounter in the workplace. Such an approach has included routinely incorporating word processing, computer graphics, and presentation software into the course. In the last few years, this approach has extended to include researching information via the World Wide Web, holding class discussions/conferences via e-mail and newsgroups, and even writing documents for the Web. Since computer technology has become an integral part of the course by assisting students in locating information and communicating with each other, it is only logical that it now can become a useful vehicle for delivering the course to students throughout the state.
The primary technology to be used for delivering this course will be the Internet/Web. The course will have a Web site that features:
- Description of the course, course policies, schedule, assignments.
- Writing samples and other supplemental materials.
- Direct links to the resources of online writing labs as well as the opportunity to receive online tutorial assistance from writing tutors on our campus.
- Access to a class newsgroup for class discussions and e-mail accessibility to the instructor.
English 420 typically features a high degree of interactivity among students and between the instructor and students. The reason is twofold: pedagogically such an approach not only reinforces course content, especially among students who lack strong study skills, but also mirrors the experience of writing in the workplace where writing is often a collaborative act. The primary goal in developing English 420 as an Internet/Web course is to use the resources of the Internet in ways that maintain and enhance this level of interactivity and support for student learning.
Institution's capacity and commitment to the course-development project.
Purdue Calumet has a strong commitment to the development of Internet-delivery courses and continues to support such courses on a long-term basis. Currently, the institution supports several Internet-delivery courses in Information Science and Computer Programming and a technical writing course through the English Department and will continue to support Internet-delivery as an efficient and attractive mode for delivering course instruction to students. Many students today work part- or full-time and some quite frequently work "swing shifts," forcing them to drop courses during the semester due to the time constraints of work. Thus, Purdue Calumet strongly supports courses that are not "time-bound" and provide a viable educational alternative to students.
Instructional design plan.
The plan for transforming English 420 to an Internet-delivery course will involve six stages of development:
- Preview existing examples of online business writing courses.
- Convert existing course content to the Web.
- Develop new course content that incorporates informational resources available on the Web.
- Train writing tutors to offer students online writing tutorial assistance.
- Develop the course Web site.
- User test the site.
Preview existing examples: One of the main objectives of this project is to develop an online business writing course that provides for the same level of interaction and collaboration the student would experience in the classroom. Lacking such a feature, the course would become simply a repository of materials for self-paced study. Although the highly motivated, academically well-prepared student would benefit, for the majority of learners the course would be a disaster. Researching existing online writing courses is one effective way of studying past approaches to see what can effectively be incorporated into this present course. Examples can readily be found through such sites as The World Lecture Hall at the University of Texas.
Convert existing course content: This phase of the project involves reviewing existing course content and determining how or if it will lend itself to presentation via the Web. Current cases and exercises will have to be evaluated in terms of their transferability. Supplemental online materials will need to be developed in some instances to substitute for face-to-face classroom discussion and lecture. New texts in the field also will need to be evaluated for their suitability to such a course.
Develop new course content: One of the biggest advantages to the online format is the opportunity to exploit the rich informational resources of the Internet/Web. As such, extensive research of relevant resources will need to be completed and decisions made as how best to incorporate these resources into the curriculum.
Train writing tutors: Since some students who enroll in English 420 require writing tutorial assistance, those students in an online business writing course who are unable to attend a writing center at their location also need equivalent online assistance. The plan for this course is to designate and train existing writing tutors who would be available to tutor students asynchronously via e-mail. Although these tutors will have had previous training in face-to-face writing conferencing, the transition to an asynchronous environment is much more problematic. Research has indicated that it is more difficult to assess students' understanding of material via asynchronous tutoring because of the lack of visual cues, such as body language and gestures, which may indicate understanding of concepts. Additionally, when untrained tutors communicate via written comments (as in e-mail), they tend to "overwrite," resulting in overloading students with too much information rather than focusing on several central issues. Given these constraints, writing tutors would have to be "retrained" accordingly.
Develop the course Web site: When all the materials have been assembled, they will need to be presented to students via a Web site that students can easily navigate. Preliminary plans for such a site include:
- Course description, policies, etc.
- Week-by-week syllabus with links to course content, assignments, a class newsgroup for class discussions, and e-mail links to instructor and writing tutors.
- Links to supplemental information available on the Web including instructional materials from online writing labs.
- Technical support--informational documents explaining how to access the newsgroup, send/receive mail, etc.
User test the site: A key component to the successful development of any online materials is usability testing. The plan for this project is to user test the course materials with students currently enrolled in English 420, since these students would be representative of the students who would eventually enroll in the course. Such user testing will prove invaluable in terms of indicating how well students are able to understand course materials, navigate their way around the Web site, and how quickly they are able to adapt to using the technology. Information culled from these user tests will indicate whether revisions need to be made to current materials and/or if additional instructional materials need to be added to the site.
Course evaluation plan.
The main focus of course evaluation will be anonymous student evaluations of course content, delivery, course materials, and instructor performance. Specifically, these evaluations will attempt to elicit to what extent students felt course goals/objectives were met, what they perceived to be advantages/disadvantages of such a delivery method, how appropriate/helpful online course materials were, and how effective and accessible they felt the instructor was. These evaluations will take the form of not only a final, comprehensive evaluation of the course, but also somewhat more informal, ongoing evaluations of individual assignments as they are completed. Results of these evaluations will be made available for publication to interested institutions and parties throughout the state.
Plans for peer review.
Feedback will be solicited from colleagues at institutions throughout the state by publishing the results of this current proposal. Locally, the course will be reviewed after each offering by the English department's business/technical writing committee. The committee, which is responsible for courses in professional writing, will consider the effectiveness of the course, whether the course has met and continues to meet the instructional objectives of English 420, and whether modifications should be made to the course.
Project schedule.
This project will run from April until the beginning of August. The course will be offered Fall 1998. The following timeline details the different stages of the project:
April- May 1998: -- Begin development of course. Review existing online writing courses and plan course content. May - July 1998: -- Develop course homepage and transfer materials to the Web. Arrange for and train writing tutor(s) for course. User test the course Web site. August 1998: -- Offer course. December 1998: -- Evaluate effectiveness of course and make revisions for next semester.
Key course development personnel.
I will be responsible for developing and teaching the course. My background includes extensive experience in computer-assisted writing instruction, Internet-based course content and delivery, and a research interest in computers and writing (see Appendix).
Budget Narrative
DATE: 11/10/97
TO: Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System
FROM: Dennis H. Barbour, Head, Department of English & Philosophy
Purdue University Calumet
Appendix:
Summary of Faculty Member's Experience
Mark Mabrito
Associate Professor of English.
I have been a member of the Purdue Calumet faculty for nine years. During that time I have taught courses in business and technical writing, including English 420 every semester. My contributions to the business/technical writing program include having developed/taught eight new courses in areas such as Web page design, specialty professional writing courses for engineers and accountants, and a technical writing course taught via the World Wide Web. This latter course is the first and currently only Internet/Web course offered by the English department. Within all the writing courses I teach, I consistently use Internet-based information sources, a class newsgroup, and some form of e-mail exchange among students. I also am well versed in designing materials for the Web and currently teach a course in this area as part of the professional writing program.
Additionally, I have taught courses in professional writing and computers and writing for fifteen years. Since teaching my first computer-assisted writing course in 1984, I continually strive to find ways to use computer technology to enhance writing instruction. My main interest has been in using computer technology as a tool for extending communication in the classroom. This professional interest led me to develop one of the earlier applications of distance education via a computer network in a writing classroom in 1987, when I developed a writing course partially taught using e-mail via a VAX computer system at the University of Illinois--Chicago. Since that time and since the subsequent development of the Web, I have experimented frequently with approaches that integrate network technology in the writing classroom. I further combine this teaching interest with one of my research interests in understanding how computer technology can be used successfully when teaching "high-apprehensive" writers.
This interest has led to various research studies and publications in the area, some of which include:
"Email Discussion Groups: An Opportunity for Discourse Analysis." Business Communication Quarterly 58.1 (1995): 52-57.
"Computer-Mediated Communication and High-Apprehensive Writers: Rethinking the
Collaborative Process." Bulletin of the Association of Business Communication 55.4
(1992): 26-31.
"Real-Time Computer-Network Communication: Case Studies of Business Writing
Students." Journal of Business and Technical Communication 6.3 (1992): 316- 336.
Electronic Mail as Vehicle for Peer Response: Conversations of High- and Low-
Apprehensive Writers." Written Communication 8 (1991): 508-531.
