This Autumn Quarter, WRD 204 Technical Writing is returning to help students learn how to develop documents for technical workplaces. Taught in person at both the Lincoln Park and Loop campuses, or as an online asynchronous course, WRD 204 is sure to fit into your schedule and provide useful knowledge.
I interviewed Professor Allison Pelletier, who teaches an online async iteration of the course, to learn more about WRD 204 and what it offers—especially for WRD majors. I also checked in with two WRD majors, Amber Corkey and Jillian Muncaster, to share their perspectives as to how the course benefitted them as students and budding professionals.
What are the course outcomes and learning objectives?
Professor Pelletier shared, “WRD 204 is centered on exploring how technical documents address the needs of varying user groups, how those user groups engage with documents, and how this usage differs based on the expertise, backgrounds, and goals of users. We aim to understand the functions of different genres of technical documents by examining their characteristics and rhetorical situations. We discuss how to adapt writing effectively across diverse contexts, specifically looking at language’s role in accessibility and the integration of visual elements to enhance usability. Students develop skills in crafting professional, usable documents with brevity, clarity, and formatting while practicing the kind of constructive feedback exchange that is valued in technical workplaces.”
Why is this course useful for WRD majors?
Professor Pelletier provided a strong basis to why WRD majors should take WRD 204. She said, “WRD 204 is valuable for WRD majors because of its practical applications across industries. Technical writing builds upon WRD students’ ability to adapt their writing style to different genres. Learning how to write in technical workplace genres, which exist in fields like technology, healthcare, engineering, finance, and more, offers a sense of versatility in writing proficiently and broadens career prospects. Technical writing focuses on developing skills to communicate complex information clearly and effectively to a variety of readers. In our current professional landscape, where concise and precise communication is important, this skillset is highly sought after.”
Corkey expanded by drawing on large-scale lessons, adding “the most valuable lesson [from WRD 204] was writing in a simple way and to a wide audience.” Muncaster, in turn, focused on the definitive hard skills, saying, “I learned extensively about SEO and creating/editing informative infographics.”
Responding to how the lessons from WRD 204 transferred to their professional plans, Corkey shared that, “in any job, there’s a lot of procedure to learn, and technical writing is vital to documenting that procedure and creating legacy documents.” Looking specifically at her future plans “to go into something involving editing,” Muncaster elaborated that “this class gave me valuable information for tackling revision across various fields.”
What is your inspiration for teaching this course?
Professor Pelletier described that her inspiration for teaching the course was grounded in her education here at DePaul. She shared, “I was inspired to teach Technical Writing after I became a technical writer myself. After receiving my MA in WRD, I began teaching first-year writing and also took on a role writing technical documentation. In this role, I discovered how challenging yet valuable it is to adapt complex content to make it accessible and usable for diverse audiences. This inspired me to grow my teaching practice in the same direction, and I began teaching WRD 204. It is incredibly rewarding to see students from a variety of degree programs learn to consider the needs, goals, and experiences of their intended readers and write documents that illustrate these considerations. Knowing that these skills have such practical applications in a variety of fields is also inspiring: Even if my students do not go on to be technical writers, the skills they learn in WRD 204 will be pivotal to communicating in their future professions.”
“Knowing that these skills have such practical applications in a variety of fields is also inspiring: Even if my students do not go on to be technical writers, the skills they learn in WRD 204 will be pivotal to communicating in their future professions.”
Professor Pelletier
How is the course structured?
Professor Pellletier explained that the course assignments are scaffolded to build upon each other through four multi-week modules. With two of the major assignments sequenced, students have the opportunity to draft their final work in stages. The coursework culminates in a final project modeled after projects students might see in a technical workplace.
She shared, “My goal in structuring this course is to make sure each module has a clear practical application as well as adaptability so that students from a variety of programs can clearly visualize using the skills we discuss in their future work.”
What major assignments can students expect to complete?
Professor Pelletier continued explaining that the course has four major assignments. Beginning with User Profiles, students start off by thinking about the needs and goals of diverse audiences interacting with documents. They then continue onwards to writing a Technical Description, involving simplifying a complex subject for readers of various backgrounds and knowledge levels. Then, the class moves on to writing instructions so that students can develop their ability to write in the specific tone and style of conveying steps in a process. The course concludes with students writing a professional Blog Post or recording a Webinar. Pelletier shared, “this final project gives students the opportunity to take on the role of an “expert” or teaching professional within their field of interest.”
Who else should take this class and why?
Professor Pelletier concluded, “I think any student who wants to grow in their communication skills would benefit from taking WRD 204. Technical writing requires a skillset that is different from other kinds of writing, like academic research writing, argument writing, or creative writing, because of its focus on general utility and accessibility. Students will likely encounter some sort of technical writing in their future professions, and this course will help to equip them for that.”
“More specifically, any student who plans to go into a field that requires them to communicate intricate or complicated information could benefit from taking WRD 204. The skills we go over in this class will help students to prioritize audience and clarity in their writing, and these abilities are both marketable and transferable across academic and professional contexts.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When asked if they would recommend WRD 204 Technical Writing to other WRD majors, Corkey and Muncaster shared a resounding “yes!” Corkey explained, “I highly recommend it. It’s really nice to be exposed to writing in different contexts. It reinforced the value of writing skills in all fields, and I think it has improved my awareness of the audience and simplicity in my writing.”
WIth course enrollment now open for Autumn Quarter, be sure to add WRD 204 Technical Writing to your list. WRD majors in particular will greatly benefit from the technical lessons and skills developed through the course.