Glossary
UW Bothell Course Descriptions
UW Tacoma Course Descriptions
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Course Descriptions |
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Detailed course offerings (Time Schedule) are available for
To see the detailed Instructor Class Description, click on the underlined instructor name following the course description.
T C 100 Introduction to Technical Communication (5)
Topics may include: virtual communities, human-computer interaction, web design, usability testing, visual design, and others. Explores course content through individual and group hands-on projects. Offered: A.
T C 231 Introduction to Technical Writing (3)
Principles of organizing, developing, and writing technical information. Report forms and rhetorical patterns common to scientific and technical disciplines. Technical writing conventions such as headings, illustrations, style, and tone. Numerous written assignments required. Required for all engineering majors. Prerequisite: either C LIT 240, both ENGL 104 and ENGL 105, ENGL 111, ENGL 121, ENGL 131, ENGL 182, ENGL 197, ENGL 198, ENGL 199, or ENGL 281. Offered: AWSpS.
Instructor Course Description:
Karen E. Kasonic
T C 310 Introduction to Communication Design (5) Turns
Functions of, and relationships among, major software tools in the context of common technical communication design problems. Students practice explaining and justifying design solutions in terms of key features and user characteristics. Offered: A.
T C 317 Survey of Usability Research Techniques (5)
Introduces usability research methods used in the product-development process; contextual inquiry, surveys and interviews, focus groups, user profiling, usability testing, cognitive walkthroughs, heuristics, and others. Offered: Sp.
T C 318 Survey of User Experience Design (5)
Provides a project-based introduction to the user interface design process and is oriented toward practical methods for approaching a design problem. Focuses on developing conceptual designs based on user need. Offered: Sp.
T C 319 Survey of Concepts in Human-Computer Interaction (5)
Studies the social, cognitive, behavioral and contextual aspects of information systems and informational dimensions of the human-computer interface, and other user-centered design concepts. Surveys research literature of human information behavior, as well as ethical standards. Offered: W.
T C 333 Advanced Technical Writing and Oral Presentation (4)
Emphasis on the presentation of technical information to various audiences. Style of writing required for proposals, reports, and journal articles. Oral presentation principles, including use of visuals, as well as organizing and presenting an effective talk. For engineering majors. Prerequisite: T C 231. Offered: AWSpS.
Instructor Course Description:
Colin E Birge
Karen E. Kasonic
T C 400 Scientific and Technical Communication (5) Kasonic, Kolko
Principles and practices of writing to communicate scientific and technical information to a variety of readers, including the expert, general scientific and technical reader, manager, and general public. Examines research and issues in the TC field including social contests and environments (legal, ethical, cultural). Required of technical communication majors. Prerequisite: T C 231. Offered: A.
Instructor Course Description:
Karen E. Kasonic
T C 401 Style in Scientific and Technical Writing (5) Spyridakis
Grammatical structures and stylistic strategies within specific professional contexts. Achieving clarity and conciseness through word choice and placement, using a variety of sentence structures for appropriate emphasis, handling details, establishing effective tone. Required of technical communication majors. Prerequisite: T C 231. Offered: A.
Instructor Course Description:
Jan Spyridakis
T C 402 Scientific and Technical Editing (5) Farkas, Kolko
Editorial responsibilities and practice in the communication of scientific and technical information; the editor's role both as editor and as supervisor of publication groups. Addresses managing collaborative teams and basic XML concepts and metadata. Required of technical communication majors. Prerequisite: T C 400 with a minimum grade of 3.0; T C 401 with a minimum grade of 3.0. Offered: W.
Instructor Course Description:
David K. Farkas
T C 403 Publication Project Management (3) Plumb
Responsibilities and practice in managing publication projects in scientific and technical organizations. Project design, coordination, production, and evaluation, including planning, organizing, staffing, and directing. Required of technical communication majors. Offered: Sp.
T C 407 Software User Assistance (5) Farkas
Concepts and skills for preparing manuals, online help systems, performance-support systems, and other forms of locally stored and Web-based software user assistance. Includes principles of human-computer interaction, usability evaluation, and the software-development process. Students create both end-user and developer documentation. Prerequisite: T C 310. Offered: Sp.
Instructor Course Description:
David K. Farkas
T C 408 Public Documents: Proposals, EISs, Assessments (3) Bereano
Analyzing special documents of public character: proposals, EISs, questionnaires, technology assessments. Understanding socio-political milieu in which they are planned, organized, written; the specialized audiences (e.g., agencies with their missions, guidelines, constituencies; citizen groups; commercial interests) they serve. Documents, the decision-making process. Offered: odd years; Sp.
T C 411 Visual Media in Technical Communication (5) I&S/VLPA Williams
Use of visuals in print and electronic communication. Topics include vision, perception, comparison of text and visual media principles for the selection and use of visual media, information graphics icons, page and screen design typography, and color. Offered: W.
T C 412 Print Production (5) Sauer, Williams
Introduction to print production for technical communicators. Topics include digital pre-press, printing, binding, and finishing. Offered: Sp.
Instructor Course Description:
Kelly R Showalter
T C 415 Production Editing (4) Williams
The editorial role in the preparation of text and visual materials for production. The editor's responsibilities and prerogatives as they relate to those of other professionals in the production phase of the publications field.
T C 422 Style in Technical Writing (3)
Grammatical structures and stylistic strategies. Achieving clarity and conciseness through word choice and placement, using a variety of sentence structures for appropriate emphasis, handling details, establishing effective tone.
Instructor Course Description:
Jan Spyridakis
T C 435 Introduction to Content Management (3)
Principles and practices of building, managing and using content management systems in the technical communication workplace. Examines both the intricacies of collaborative workflow technologies and the organizational contexts that surround them.
T C 436 Design and Authoring of CAI (3) Winn
Introduction to the design of computer-assisted-instructional programs. Types of learning, characteristics of effective instruction. Students design and produce CAI programs using authoring systems for computers. Offered: jointly with EDC&I 436; A.
Instructor Course Description:
David J Unruh
T C 437 Web Design and Web Publishing (5) I&S/VLPA Farkas
Design principles and skills including navigation, functional design, visual design, and content development. Includes the ongoing process of Web publishing. Addresses societal issues pertaining to the Web and Internet. Students build a website and plan for ongoing Web publishing. Prerequisite: T C 310. Offered: W.
Instructor Course Description:
David K. Farkas
T C 438 Web Technologies (5)
Markup languages and styles, JavaScript, Flash, Photoshop, and the fundamentals of digital sound and video. Includes an introduction to server-side technologies. Students expand their existing design skills to encompass the use of these Web technologies. Prerequisite: T C 310; T C 437. Offered: Sp.
Instructor Course Description:
James G. Prekeges
T C 455 User Interface Design (4) Furness
Design oriented to cover fundamentals of user interface design; models on human computer interaction, software psychology, input devices, usability, cognitive and perceptual aspects of human-computer interaction, advanced interface, and research methodologies are discussed. Offered: jointly with IND E 455; A.
Instructor Course Description:
Thomas A. Furness
T C 461 Japanese for Technical and Business Professions I (5) VLPA Kato
Strengthens knowledge of grammar and vocabulary and applies this to basic technical business communication situations. Covers cultural concepts underlying these situations. Reviews authentic materials on technology-related topics. Teaches skills to analyze sentence structure for accurate interpretation. Lab work required. Placement test before admission. Offered: A.
T C 462 Japanese for Technical and Business Professions II (5) VLPA Kato
Covers the functional/situational conversation skills necessary in technical and business communication situations, plus the cultural concepts underlying these situations. Reviews skills (such as prediction) for more effective reading and improves skills for analyzing complex sentence structure. Additional grammar, vocabulary, and kanji are introduced. Lab work required. Prerequisite: T C 461. Offered: W.
T C 463 Japanese for Technical and Business Professions III (5) VLPA Kato
Covers the functional/situational conversation skills necessary in technical and business communication situations, plus the cultural concepts underlying these situations. Further improves skills introduced in previous courses and reviews skills for understanding inter-sentence structure. Additional grammar, vocabulary, and kanji introduced. Lab work required. Prerequisite: T C 462. Offered: Sp.
T C 493 Senior Study (5)
Integration of knowledge and skills acquired during major program into one paper or project. Offered: AWSpS.
T C 495 Professional Practice (3-10, max. 10) Williams
Supervised internship in a publications organization approved by the faculty adviser. A minimum of one internship is required of students majoring in technical communication. Credit/no credit only. Offered: AWSpS.
T C 496 Directed Research in Technical Communication (1-5, max. 10)
Students, working in teams under the supervision of individual faculty members, review relevant literature, pose research questions, design and conduct studies, and present the results in papers prepared either for submission to a professional journal or for presentation at a professional conference. Credit/no credit only. Offered: AWSpS.
T C 497 Study Abroad: Technical Communication (3-5, max. 15)
Upper-division technical communication courses, for which there are no direct University of Washington equivalents, taken through the Department of Technical Communication's Study Abroad Program. Offered: S.
T C 498 Special Topics (1-5, max. 15)
Special topics in technical communication to be offered occasionally by permanent or visiting faculty members.
Instructor Course Description:
Charles R. Sheaffer
T C 499 Special Projects (1-5, max. 10)
Individual undergraduate projects in technical communication. Offered: AWSpS.
T C 501 Theoretical Dimensions of Technical Communication (4) Coney, Sauer
Theories and research drawn from a variety of fields that inform such topics as the historical and social context of technical communication, the aims of technical discourse, readability, invention and audience, audience analysis, technical style, and graphics. Prerequisite: admission to an engineering master's program or permission of instructor. Offered: A.
Instructor Course Description:
Mark R Zachry
T C 502 Empirical Traditions in Technical Communication (4) Williams
Introduction to empirical traditions that inform research and practice in field of technical communication. Topics include epistemological assumptions underlying empirical research, empirical methods, and survey of results of empirical research on effects of text and visual media on comprehension, recall, and performance. Prerequisite: graduate standing or permission of instructor. Offered: Sp.
Instructor Course Description:
Jennifer A. Turns
T C 505 Computer-Assisted Communication (4) Kolko
Explores computer-assisted communication from three perspectives: (1) cultural roles of communication technologies; (2) relationships between communication and information including information technologies in the workplace, academe, and other settings; and (3) application to design including models for audience analysis, task analysis, and cognitive systems engineering. Prerequisite: graduate standing or permission of instructor. Offered: Sp.
Instructor Course Description:
Beth E Kolko
T C 509 Writing the Scientific Article (3) Haselkorn, Illman
Examination of principles and practice of writing research manuscripts, articles, abstracts, and oral presentations. Detailed examination of scientific publication process includes issues of style, organization, and ethics. Students draft, critique, and revise their own manuscripts and learn to review the manuscripts of others. Offered: Sp.
Instructor Course Description:
Deborah L Illman
T C 510 Information Design (4) Farkas
Examination of the design principles and procedures underlying the creation of both print and electronic information presentations. Topics include: print vs. electronic media, designing for the page and screen, information topologies, and hypermedia. Seminar includes a design project. Prerequisite: T C 501 or permission of instructor. Offered: A.
Instructor Course Description:
David K. Farkas
Susan Mings
T C 511 Visual Media in Technical Communication (5) Williams
Use of visuals in print and electronic media. Topics include vision, attention and perception, semiotics, depiction, information graphics, icons, typography, and principles of page and screen design. Offered: W.
Instructor Course Description:
Thomas R Williams
T C 512 International Technical Communication (4) Spyridakis
Examines theory, research, and practice in the internationalization and localization of paper and electronic documents. Topics include cultural models and schemata, contrastive rhetoric, controlled languages, translation, visuals, and usability testing. Prerequisite: graduate standing or permission of instructor. Offered: W.
Instructor Course Description:
Jan Spyridakis
T C 515 Ecological Information Systems (4)
Introduction to cognitive work analysis framework. Prepares for active role in design and evaluation of information systems. Familiarization with basic concepts of cognitive systems engineering and practice in field study, data analysis, and transforming field findings into requirements for the design of an information system. Offered: jointly with LIS 515.
T C 516 Research Theory and Application in Technical Communication (4) Spyridakis
Introduction to research methods in technical communication. Students examine the relationship between theory and research, hypothesis testing, experimental designs, modes of observation, sampling, validity, and data analysis and interpretation. Prerequisite: introductory statistics course. Offered: Sp.
Instructor Course Description:
Jan Spyridakis
T C 517 Usability Testing (4) Ramey
Discusses the human-computer interface (HCI) as the communicative aspect of a computer system. Analyzes usability issues in HCI design, explores design-phase methods of predictability, and introduces evaluative methods of usability testing. Prerequisite: substantial experience with computers and graduate standing, or permission of instructor. Offered: A.
Instructor Course Description:
Emma J Rose
Judith A Ramey
T C 518 User-Centered Design (4) Turns
Explores the user-centered design paradigm from a broad perspective, emphasizing how user research and prototype assessment can be integrated into different phases of the design process. Students learn to think like a user-centered designer and carry out activities that are key to user-centered design. Offered: jointly with IND E 545; W.
T C 520 Technical Communication Systems (4) Haselkorn
Emphasizes the role and function of communication as a key to understanding organizational frameworks and managerial practices. Traditional and innovative approaches to viewing and managing technical communication. Roles, responsibilities, impact of technology. Offered: W.
T C 521 Seminar: Current Issues in Technical Communication (1-2, max. 3)
Presentations on current issues in technical communication. Credit/no credit only. Prerequisite: T C graduate student status or permission of instructor. Offered: AW.
Instructor Course Description:
Judith A Ramey
T C 523 Seminar: Issues in TC Scholarship and Professional Activity (1, max. 3)
Exploration of advanced issues in technical communication scholarship and practice. Credit/no credit only. Prerequisite: TC PhD student status or permission of instructor. Offered: AWSp.
T C 537 User-Centered Web Design (5) Farkas
Theory and practice of the user-centered web development process. Principles and processes for documenting and implementing various development stages, including requirements analysis, user needs analysis, information architecture, prototyping, mockups, and production.
T C 561 Advanced Japanese for Technical and Business Professions 1 (4) Tsutsui
Focuses on reading skills (e.g., vocabulary, phrases, grasping main ideas and paragraph structure) and familiarizes students with Japanese web sites and web reading tools. Students also develop the skills necessary for giving oral reports on technical/business articles. Teaches skills for writing summaries. Prerequisite: T C 463. Offered: A.
Instructor Course Description:
Michio Tsutsui
T C 562 Advanced Japanese for Technical and Business Professions 2 (4) Tsutsui
Further develops reading skills. Students read more extensively, expand their technical/business vocabulary, and improve skills for grasping main ideas quickly. Students also improve oral skills for report giving and discussion and writing skills for emails and summaries. Lab work is required. Prerequisite: either T C 561, T C 495, or T C 601.
T C 563 Advanced Japanese for Technical and Business Professions 3 (4) Tsutsui
Integrates the reading, oral, and writing skills acquired through the first-year and second-year technical/business Japanese sequences. Students work on research projects, give formal presentations, and submit project reports. Substantial individual readings are involved as well as individual conferences with the instructor on research methods, readings, and report drafts. Prerequisite: T C 562. Offered: Sp.
T C 596 Directed Research in Technical Communication (1-5, max. 10)
Students, working in teams under the supervision of individual faculty members, review relevant literature, pose research questions, design and conduct studies, and present the results in papers prepared either for submission to a professional journal or for presentation at a professional conference. Credit/no credit only. Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Offered: AWSpS.
T C 597 Approaches to Teaching Technical Communication (1-2, max. 2) Kasonic
Readings in pedagogical theory of technical communication and discussion of practical applications. Credit/no credit only. Prerequisite: concurrent teaching appointment or permission of instructor. Offered: AWSpS.
Instructor Course Description:
Karen E. Kasonic
T C 598 Special Topics (1-5, max. 6)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
T C 599 Special Projects (1-5, max. 5)
Written report required. Prerequisite: permission of graduate adviser or committee chair. Offered: AWSpS.
T C 700 Master's Thesis (*)
Prerequisite: permission of thesis adviser. Offered: AWSpS.
T C 800 Doctoral Dissertation (1-10)
Credit/no credit only. Prerequisite: permission of thesis advisor. Offered: AWSpS.
