OWL Assignment

Beginning with the second week of class, you will be engaged in research and preparation for the OWL (online writing lab) assignment.  Completing this assignment will be reflected in most of the course work for English 393.

For example, you will be asked to conduct extensive primary and secondary research to prepare for constructing the OWL.  That research will be used in the construction of the web site and in the analytical report.

Research:

Interview questions and teams will form on the second day of class, Tuesday 9/7.  Research questions (surveys and interviews) and task assignments are due Tuesday 9/14.  (see Burnett Chapters 6 and 7 for guidelines).  You may conduct interviews and surveys in teams or individually.  See the web assignment for ideas about who you will need to contact.  You will be given the following class days to conduct research:

            9/9; 10/14; 11/11

The lab will be open on those dates, but we will not meet as a class.  You should schedule interviews during those class times.

Assignments:

Assignments 2, 4, 5,and 6 are all related to the OWL assignment.

For Assignment 2 you will work collaboratively with the English 394 class to create and publish, online, an OWL web site, specific to the needs of the UMBC student community.

For Assignment 4, you will write an expanded definition of a topic related to the OWL.  It might be of OWL, assistive technology, technological literacy, copyright online, hypertext, computer-assisted writing, listserve—any topic related to and supporting the development of the OWL.

 For Assignment 5, you will choose an audience connected to the development of the OWL and write a proposal for the analytical report.  For example, some of you will write to me, as the chief decision maker in approving the final product.  Some may write to an administrator proposing the development and support of the OWL at the institutional level or for funding support of the OWL.  Some may write to Ms. Hickernell the coordinator of our Writing Center; others to a member of the Writing and Rhetoric faculty; others to technical support folks; others to stakeholders external to our campus.  Creating the prototype is just the first of many phases if the OWL is to succeed in serving the UMBC student population.  You will be using the research you gather (for the web site construction) to inform you as you define an audience whose support is central to the continued success and maintenance of the OWL.  Your proposal will recommend a plan for that audience member’s involvement and support of the OWL.

For Assignment 6, the analytical report will disclose your findings and follow through on the recommendations made in the proposal.   This document is a culminating paper and, importantly, an individually graded assignment, intended to balance the collaborative grade given for the web site assignment.