Instructor: Tabitha Dillard

Instructor Information:

I am Mrs. Tabitha Dillard, and I will be your online instructor for this course. In addition, I teach high school English at Ingomar Attendance Center in New Albany, MS, where I have been for 16 years. I have a total of 12 years teaching experience.

I have a Master of Education Degree in English from the University of Mississippi. I have been happily married for 20 years and have two children, Lindsey and Josh.

Contact me with any questions or concerns you might have at tcdilla1@olemiss.edu. I look forward to working with you.

Contact Information:

If you have questions concerning the content of the course, you may contact the instructor directly using the email link on the main Lessons page or in the "Communications & Tools" tab. NOTE: Replies to your emails will go to your go.olemiss.edu email account, so be sure to check it frequently.

Course Description:

Regardless of what you plan to do with your life, writing well will be a vital part of your professional success. This course focuses on writing in a professional manner for professional audiences. These skills apply to acquiring, keeping, and succeeding in the “real” world.

Our first areas of focus will be acquiring a professional position with a concise résumé and cover letter followed by formal thank you letter. The remainder of the course will focus on keeping and succeeding in a professional position with formal e-mail correspondence, proposals, presentations, instructions, reviews, and reports. The result of this class will be confidence and competence in professional settings.

Required Textbook:

No textbook is required--all materials are included in the course itself. Students should be sure to read all attached documents in the lessons.

Course Objectives:

Click this Course Standards link for a full list of the standards covered in this course.

Course Outline:

This course consists of 11 instructional units. NOTE: you must pass the Syllabus and Orientation Quiz for the course materials to appear on the Lessons page.

Units

Reading Assignments

Due for Grades

Pacing guide 
to complete the course in a traditional school year

Syllabus and Orientation folder. NOTE: Once you complete the syllabus and orientation quiz, the rest of the lessons will become available to you.

Syllabus quiz, Introduce Yourself discussion board, Course pre-test

Week 1

1

Introduction to Technical Writing

Memo quiz and activity, style and tone activity, on-the-job quiz

Week 1

2

Grammatical Review

• Commas
• Items in a series
• Hyphens
• Major Mechanical Errors (MMEs)
• Capitalization
• Rules to Remember
• Discriminatory
• Formal and Informal Language

Grammatical review mini quizzes, discriminatory language activity, formal and informal language activity

Week 2 & 3

3

The Writing Process – Editing and Revision

Editing and revision quizzes

Week 4

4

Employment Documentation

• Resumes
• Reference Page
• Cover Letter

Resume activities and quiz, reference page activity, employers memo and cover letter activities, employment documentation final draft

Weeks 5-6

5

Individual Research Report & Thank You Letters

Project report memo, citation activity, individual research report, thank you letter activity

Week 7

6

Formal E-mail Correspondence

Email revision activity and formal email activity

Week 8

7

New App Proposal

Proposal quiz, new app activities

Week 9

8

New App Instructions Presentation

Instructions quiz and activity, new app presentation activities

Week 10

9

New App News Release

New app news release activities

Week 11

10

Reviews – Website, Product & Novel/Movie

Review content and format quiz, features and benefits activity, website effectiveness review, product functionality review, novel/movie review

Week 12

11

Controversial Issue Research Project

Brochure quiz, considering both sides activity, persuasive techniques quiz, progress report memo, informative brochure, persuasive presentation, research project final draft

Weeks 13-14

The 10-minute Post-test is in the Final Exam folder and must be completed before the final exam will appear.

To be completed before scheduling your final exam.

 Week

Proctored comprehensive exam covering the entire course. Complete all previous assignments before taking this exam. Any assignments not completed before the exam is taken will receive a grade of zero.

Proctored Test

 Week

Grading Scale:

93 - 100% = A
85 - 92% = B
75 - 84% = C
70 - 74% = D
Below 69% = F

The grading format is as follows:

Minor Grades: 50% (Quizzes and first drafts) 
Major Grades: 30% (final drafts, prospective employers memo, formal email activities)
Final Exam: 20%