Course Policies

Instructor: Quinn Warnick, Ph.D.
Course Location: 118 Trustee Hall
Class Hours: T/Th 12:30–1:45 (Section 1) or T/Th 2:00–3:15 (Section 2)
Dr. Warnick’s Office: 211 Premont Hall
Office Hours: M/W 9:00–12:00, or by appointment
Office Phone: 485-4622 (Leave a detailed message if I don’t pick up.)
Email: This is the best way to reach me. See instructions on the Contact page.

ENGW 2329 Overview

The primary objectives of Information Design are (1) to introduce you to the concepts of visual rhetoric and information architecture, and (2) to help you incorporate these concepts into your writing practices. This class is unique among courses in the English Writing and Rhetoric major in that we will spend most of our time designing words rather than writing them. (You will, of course, have plenty of opportunities to write about the things you have designed.) Over the course of the semester, we will explore how typography, color, paper (or screen) size, and other factors influence the effectiveness of print and online documents. You will learn a new vocabulary that will enable to you talk intelligently about visual rhetoric. You will scour campus and the city of Austin for examples of good and bad documents, then you will make bad documents good and good documents better. You will work with your classmates to negotiate competing notions about what complex documents should look like and how they should function. Along the way, you will compile your best work into an electronic portfolio, which will serve as the foundation for the ENGW portfolio you will submit before graduating from St. Edward’s.

Required Textbooks and Materials

  • Kimball, Miles A., and Ann R. Hawkins. Document Design: A Guide for Technical Communicators, 2008.
  • Lupton, Ellen. Thinking with Type (2nd edition), 2010.
  • A USB drive for storing electronic files.
  • A Google (or Gmail) account for submitting work through Google Docs.
  • Approximately 100 sheets of paper for printing course readings and your assignments.

Course Objectives

By the end of the semester, you should be able to:

  • understand the role of visual rhetoric in persuasive communication.
  • explain the relationship between the written and visual components of print and online documents.
  • distinguish between effective and ineffective visual documents.
  • employ thinking, composing, and designing strategies that produce successful professional documents.
  • implement principles of effective document design in preparing documents.
  • participate in the collaborative planning and executing of a project.
  • use various software programs to enhance your documents.

Class Attendance and Participation

You will complete much of your work for this course in small groups, and I expect you to fulfill your fair share of group work and interact courteously with your peers at all times. Most of our class sessions will be conducted in discussion/workshop format, and many of these workshops cannot be “re-created” outside of class, so regular attendance and active participation are essential to your success. My attendance policy is simple: you may miss three classes (for any reason) without penalty. Each additional absence (for any reason) will lower your course grade by 5%, and six or more absences may result in a failing grade for the course. Because our time in class is limited, promptness is important. Each tardy (arriving late or leaving early) will count as 1/2 of an absence. If you are late for class, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have not been marked absent.

Software and Technology

One aim of this course is to increase your electronic literacy. Hence, many of your assignments will be submitted electronically, either through the course website or using Google Docs. In addition, the major assignments will require you to use, at minimum, word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation programs. If you are not comfortable with these programs, you may need to spend additional time outside of class reviewing online tutorials or seeking help from the Instructional Technology office on campus. Our course will meet regularly in a computer lab, which will provide opportunities to learn from and share with your peers. However, you will not be able to complete all computer work in class, so you will either need your own computer or arrange to use one of the on-campus computer labs. In addition, you will need to check your email regularly to receive important announcements and to participate in an ongoing dialogue with your classmates. Please note that neglecting the technological components of this class will have a significant detrimental effect on your grade, so if you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed by technology, come see me during office hours before a small issue becomes a big problem.

As you complete assignments for this class, be sure to save all your work, both print and electronic. Do not discard any drafts, notes, papers or research materials until you receive a final grade for the course. In addition, be sure to save your work regularly in multiple formats (print and electronic) and multiple locations (computer, flash drive, Google Docs, EdShare). Computer problems are a part of modern life, and a crashed computer or a lost flash drive is not a valid excuse for a late paper.

Grading and Evaluation

Four major projects will constitute the bulk of your grade for this course. In addition, several smaller assignments and regular participation in class discussions will influence your final grade. Major assignments will be penalized 10% for every class period they are late. You must complete all major assignments to receive a passing grade at the end of the semester. Shorter assignments will normally be worth 10 points, and all short assignments will be averaged together. Because these short assignments relate directly to the topic of discussion each day, they will receive no credit if they are turned in late.

Weighted Assignments

Major units and shorter assignments will be weighted as follows:

  • Unit 1 (Poster Redesign): 10%
  • Unit 2 (Visual Identity Package): 15%
  • Unit 3 (Document Makeover): 20%
  • Unit 4 (Electronic Portfolio): 25%
  • Exams: 20%
  • Short Assignments and Class Participation: 15%
  • TOTAL: 100%

Grading Scale

All major assignments will be evaluated on the following scale:

  • A: 90–100
  • B: 80–89.99
  • C: 70–79.99
  • D: 60–69.99
  • F: 0–59.99

Final grades will follow this same scale. Please note that St. Edward’s does not use a +/- grading scale and I do not round up when calculating final grades.

Grading Criteria

All major assignments will be evaluated using the following criteria:

A — Superior Accomplishment. Shows excellent analysis of the assignment and provides an imaginative and original response. Successfully adapts to the audience, context, and purpose of the assignment. Contains no mechanical errors and requires no revisions. The assignment is ready to be presented to the intended audience.

B — Commendable. Shows judgment and tact in the presentation of material and responds appropriately to the requirements of the assignment. Has an interesting, precise, and clear style. Contains minor mechanical errors and requires revision before the assignment could be sent to the intended audience.

C — Competent. Meets all the basic criteria of the assignment, and provides a satisfactory response to the rhetorical situation. There is nothing remarkably good or bad about the work, and equivalent work could be sent to the intended audience following revisions to the organization, style, or delivery of the assignment.

D — Needs Improvement. Responds to the assignment, but contains significant defects in one of the major areas (communicability and organization; content and development; style; grammatical conventions and mechanics). The assignment could not be presented to the intended audience without significant revision.

F — Unacceptable. Provides an inadequate response to the assignment or shows a misunderstanding of the rhetorical situation. Contains glaring defects in one or more of the major areas (communicability and organization; content and development; style; grammatical conventions and mechanics). The assignment could not be presented to the intended audience.

Eliminating Distractions

Technology will play a big role in this class, both as a topic of study and a means by which we will complete our work. However, technology can also create temptations that many students find irresistible. As a result, I have developed a simple technology policy: Cell phones (including texting), MP3 players, and other handheld devices should never be used during class. If you bring a laptop or tablet to class, please use it only for class-related purposes. Checking email or Facebook, instant messaging, web surfing, etc., not only distracts you (meaning you will be less able to participate meaningfully in our class discussions), it also distracts anyone around or behind you. If you seem distracted by what’s on your screen, I will ask you to put your laptop away. I suspect that many of you, like me, suffer from Technology Distraction Disorder,TM so it may be best to avoid any potential problems by leaving your technological devices in your bags or pockets during class.

Disability Accommodations

If you have a medical, psychiatric, or learning disability and require accommodations in this class, please let me know early in the semester or as soon as you are eligible. You will first need to provide documentation of your disability to the Student Disability Services Office, located in 155 Moody Hall in Academic Planning and Support Services.

Academic Integrity

The Student Handbook states the following:

St. Edward’s University expects academic honesty from all members of the community, and it is our policy that academic integrity be fostered to the highest degree possible. Consequently, all work submitted for grading in a course must be created as a result of your own thought and effort. Representing work as your own when it is not a result of such thought and effort is a violation of our code of academic integrity. Whenever it is established that academic dishonesty has occurred, the course instructor shall impose a penalty upon the offending individual(s).

In a writing course, violations of this Academic Integrity policy typically take the form of plagiarism. I do not tolerate plagiarism in any form, and I am exceptionally skilled at identifying plagiarized work. If you submit plagiarized work in this course, you will receive an automatic 0 on the assignment. Depending on the severity of the plagiarism, you may also fail the entire course. In addition, I will report the incident to the Office of Academic Affairs.

Plagiarism occurs when a writer, speaker, or designer uses someone else’s language, ideas, images, or other material without fully acknowledging its source by quotations marks, in footnotes or endnotes, and in lists of works cited. Occasionally, students will unintentionally plagiarize material because they have failed to keep track of their sources as they acquire them. You can avoid this problem by keeping detailed records of your research activities in this class.

As a professor, my academic integrity obligates me to report all cases of plagiarism (regardless of the circumstances) to the university. If you have any questions about plagiarism and how it relates to your work, please talk to me before you turn in an assignment. Once plagiarized work has been submitted for a grade, I have no choice but to enforce this policy.

Syllabus and Important Dates

Our syllabus will evolve as the semester progresses, based in part on your interests and the needs of the class. However, you will always have several weeks’ notice before major deadlines, and every Friday I will update the class website with details about the coming week. You can always find the latest version of the syllabus right here on the class website.