• Time Required
• 6–8 hours, including reading time

This module focuses on the research you will conduct for your Recommendation Report. We will spend three week focusing on your primary research and secondary research. As part of your research, you will compose two documents:

• A description of a design concept
• Instructions for how to analyze each page of your website

By the end of the module, you should have begun your secondary research by examining design concepts and created a draft of your Design Description.

Connections to the Recommendation Report

The primary and secondary research you conduct will support your report in these ways:

• The research will be used throughout your report, as appropriate to explain and support your recommendation.
• The Design Description will explain a design concept in the Methods section of your report.
• The Instructions will be described in the Methods section of your Recommendation Report, to explain your analysis process.
• The Instructions will be included as an Appendix in your Recommendation Report.

 

What You Will Learn & Practice

• How to analyze your audience and purpose so that you can choose supporting material that is convincing to your readers and decide the best way to present information clearly and effectively. [CLO 1]
• How to find and evaluate ethical evidence in secondary sources, such as books, articles, podcasts, and videos, and through primary research, such as observation, inspection, experiment, and interview, that supports your position. [CLOs 2 & 3]

 

Activities to Complete

📚 To Read This Week

• Markel & Selber, Chapter 6: “Researching Your Subject”
• Markel & Selber, Chapter 20, “Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions,” pp. 561–569
• Markel & Selber, Chapter 11, “Designing Print and Online Documents,” pp. 280–294
• Documentation and Citations for Your Projects (Visit the links on this page for additional information)
• Professional Design for Descriptions
• Design Description Criteria

📝 To Write This Week

• Talk about the reading in Chapter 06 Review.
• Begin your secondary research on Design Concepts, using information in Chapter 11 of Markel & Selber and the list of sources on the Design Description Assignment to get started.
• Compose a draft of the Design Description Assignment.
• Complete the Introducing Your Design Description activity to gather details for your Design Description.
• Assess yourself with the Design Description Self-Check to see your progress.

💬 To Discuss This Week

1. Check in with your Accountability Group, according to the agreement that you have made.
   • Be sure that group members understand that Feedback Discussions have no grace period.
   • Remind your group that Work Logs have a 5-day grace period and must be submitted by February 16.
2. Post any Questions about the Recommendation Report or Questions about the Design Description that you have (optional). You can check these Discussions for answers as well.
3. You can participate in either Feedback Discussion, depending upon when you have a draft ready to share. Remember that if you post a draft, you will assigned two drafts to add feedback to.

   Design Description Feedback Discussion

   • Follow the directions in the Design Description Feedback Discussion to share what you have created with the class for peer feedback. Your draft is due by 11:59 PM on Friday, February 11. There is no grace period.
   • After peer review partners are assigned (Saturday, February 12), read drafts from your classmates and offer feedback on how to revise. Feedback is due by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, February 16.

   Second-Chance Design Description Feedback Discussion

   • If you need more time to write your Instructions draft, follow the directions in Second-Chance Design Description Feedback Discussion. Your draft is due by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, February 16. There is no grace period.
   • After peer review partners are assigned (Thursday, February 17), read drafts from your classmates and offer feedback on how to revise. Feedback is due by 11:59 PM on Monday, February 21.

📓 To Track This Week

• Track and reflect on the work you have done for the week in your Work Log for the Week of 02/07, reviewing the Weekly Work Log Guidelines if needed.

 

 

Image Credit: All She’s Armed With Is Research. by Markus Binzegger on Flickr, used under a CC-BY 2.0 license.