Write Stripes

Don't forget about Blog postings! I forgot about Blogs ALLLLL the time! Also, pick a group that you are going to have a lot of faith in because you do everything in the class pretty much with your group members. Luckily, my group worked out so well and proved to be an opportunity to make some great new friends!

Technical Writing Honors students for next semester-
BE FLEXIBLE! That is my main piece of advice for this class. It is quite different from most classes you will have taken at Clemson, especially if you are in the science field. Our class was a diverse group, but we were all overachievers, since it was an Honors class. It was hard for all of us to work together at some points because we all had our own ideas and plans. The schedule changes frequently, so be prepared for that. The most important advice really is to RELAX and BE FLEXIBLE!!!

I say, do not forget your deadlines. When you're working with a team, you'll seem like a real jerk if you complete your part of an assignment late. Further, the project may not get done on time if one part is tardy, and if it is completed, someone else will have to bust their tail to do it.

I agree with what a lot of others have said; be prepared to work in groups and be ready to get to know your group really well. I met a great group of people in this class and really enjoyed doing work in a group with all of them. I would also tell future students to throw their expectations out the window. I expected a lot more individual writing projects, like our first assignment. I also expected a set format for each project, which was never the case. I think that the course was actually structured a lot more like the work place.

First piece of advise: take everything you expect to do in a tech writing class and throw it out the window. This is a different kind of class...not that that's bad. But be prepared to work, and have the responsibility placed on your shoulders to do most of the work without a lot of direction or supervision. Kind of like a real job. Go figure.

My biggest piece of advice is pay attention to your deadlines! It may be extremely easy to ignore other team members who are asking for materials, but they cannot complete their work without your help -- and they're not the ones who are going to pay for it -- you will. So keep track of what you're doing, and make sure that you stand up to your part of the bargin.

Advice to students taking this class in the future... Make sure that you pick a good group of folks to work with at the beginning of the semester, you will be working with them a lot (special thanks to my group, they have all been great). Be prepared to work on multiple projects at the same time and to be periodically in a state of confusion about what is due when. It all works itself out. Lastly, don't fret about how big and involved some of the projects seem when you first start them, you will have ample time and help completing them, and you will learn a lot of applicable things.

I would advise them to keep up with there work. Since you have to balance a lot of projects at the same time, if you wait until the last minute you will end up staying up all night and not producing high quality work. This class teaches you a lot about what a real work environment will be like. You are expected to balance different tasks at the same time. Also, you learn a lot about team work. Make sure you get along with your team and always pull your weight. Just do your work and you will be fine.

All I have to say is pretty much what everybody else has said. This class was more independent than any other class I have taken at Clemson. If you want to slack off then you can, but it will catch up with you. If you work hard and try to stay on top of things as they come in the class is really not as bad as it may seem in the beginning. There is a lot of group work. When I say a lot, I mean a lot. There are only a few times in the semester when the assignments being worked on are not in a group environment. This is also a motivation to work hard because not only is your grade effected by the work that you do, but your group's grade is effected as well. We stayed in the same groups for the entire semester and you learn to work well with the people you are around. Just do the work and enjoy the experience.

My advice is to be prepared to go beyond what you think a technical writing class would entail. I definitely did not think that I would be researching the political campaign and making promotional materials for the geology department when I signed up for a technical writing class. You have to keep an open mind because you will definitely get more out of it than you expect. I have never had a class that has prepared me to enter the real working world as much as this class has. Also, even though there is a large focus on group work and group projects in this class, there is a good deal of individual responsiblity, within those group projects as well as on other assignments. Be prepared to work, but if you keep on top of things and you don't let things pile up, it won't be as bad as it may appear to be in the beginning.

Lets see, some advice i might give to the students is to just keep up with the projects. Some of them overlap, so just make sure you remember so you can get them done on the due date. Also, use class time to your advantage. You can get a lot done. Also, it is really nice because that is a time that all your group members are around (cause it is sometimes hard to find good times out of class that you all can meet). But, don't stress, you can get it all done. Enjoy!

I will tell you to be ready for real world writing. Everything you do in this class is in a business style. Your projects, your proposals and your finished memos. The writing is rarely for only the teacher. We did projects geared toward the entire student body as well as specific audiences such as the Clemson Geology department. These projects are for use in real life and not just to turn in and forget about. Be ready to work hard and be a team player. Almost everything in this class is in a team setting. Make sure you divide things up so that you take advantage of everyone in your group's unique skills, this will make your life so much easier. And, enjoy the class. You will learn things that you can actually use, whether it be simply writing in a business format or perfecting your resume and how you search for a job.

To students taking this class next semester - it is a lot more work than you would think. Even as an honors student, I found it trying to conduct all the different projects at the same time for this class and then try to keep up with my other classes. There is a lot of group work and a need to step up and take control of certain aspects of the project that you would excel at. Every group member has different expectations and you need to be able to compromise on certain aspects to fulfill the projects. The class defintely covers a variety of technical writing situations and applies "real world" experiences on a grade scale.

For future students taking this course, I would suggest being prepared to do lots of group work! I enjoyed working with my group because everybody was really friendly and motivated, but some people aren't so open to group work, so I would definently advise that people be ready for that. Also, be ready to do some technology intensive work with computers and web pages. Also, for people that like service projects, you'll like this class! There's lots of that. And I really liked working on projects for "real" people and purposes, not just merely preparing an assignment for a teacher.

Last Blog Post for the Semester:

What advice would you give to the next students taking this course? (Note: they will actually see this--this isn't just a hypothetical.)