|
Students in the master's degree program choose from the following campus-based, online, and hybrid courses the semesters they are offered:
IDC 6001
Technical Writing and Editing
3 credit hours
Overview of technical writing and editing. Emphasis on drafting
and editing many documents that reflect the variety of writing
done in the field of technical communication. Both experienced
and inexperienced writers will benefit from this course, which
must be taken the first semester of enrollment in the master's program.
IDC 6002
Information Design
3 credit hours
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6001, IDC 6030
Study of the main design elements in information products
with an emphasis on rhetorical and theoretical underpinnings
for design decisions. Students work on designing and redesigning
products in various media. Should be taken as soon as possible after admission.
IDC 6005 Visual Thinking
3 credit hours
Course examines principles of effective visual communication. Students analyze visual artifacts, select visual representations for key concepts, and identify appropriate visual forms for different information structures.
IDC 6010 Writing Across Media
3 credit hours
Course examines rhetorical, structural, and stylistic requirements of various communications media. Topics include writing for the Web, narrative design, and document engineering.
IDC 6030
Foundations of Graphics
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: IDC 6001
An introduction to the fundamental elements and principles of
graphic design and application of these concepts to page design and layout.
Study of elementary color theory. Introduction to production techniques and
current software applications. This course is double-listed for both undergraduate
and graduate students. Graduate students will be required to complete additional
work that emphasizes theory and research over application. Thus they must demonstrate
a higher level of learning than undergraduates. Students who took TCOM 4030 Foundations
of Graphics as undergraduates must take IDC 6040 Applied Graphics as their required
graphics course instead of IDC 6030.
IDC 6035 Information Graphics
3 credit hours
Process and product of visual representation and display of information utilizing advanced techniques to produce infographics. Must have working knowledge of PhotoShop and Illustrator.
IDC 6040
Applied Graphics I
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Students develop competency in raster-based digital image editing for information design and technical communication. Students complete practical graphics projects using typography and digital illustrations.
IDC 6041 Applied Graphics II
3 credit hours
Students develop competency in creation of vector-based graphics for information design and technical communication. Students complete practical graphics projects for business, industry, and education.
IDC 6045
Foundations of Multimedia
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
A study of the foundations of multimedia including theory,
planning, scripting, storyboarding, and production. Students
will submit research work on the theory of multimedia. This course
is double-listed for both undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate
students will be required to complete additional work that emphasizes
theory and research over application. Thus they must demonstrate a higher
level of learning than undergraduates. MSIDC students who took TCOM 4045
Foundations of Multimedia as undergraduates may not count IDC 6045 for credit
toward their graduate degree.
IDC 6050 Applied Multimedia
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001, IDC 6030, and IDC 6045
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Study of specific applications of multimedia in technical and
professional communication, education, marketing, and training,
including authoring for webpages. Projects emphasize hypermedia,
hyperlinks, and interactive design for use in technical manuals,
proposals, informational kiosks, marketing presentations, resumes,
and electronic information systems.
Back to top
IDC 6060
International Technical Communication
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Survey of the major issues that affect technical communication
from a global perspective. Topics may include cultural influences
on communication, challenges associated with technical translation,
differing uses of graphics, communicating within multinational organizations,
and theoretical issues related to international communication.
IDC 6070
User Documentation
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Introduction to the process and principles of writing manuals,
with emphasis on user manuals. Students write and produce all
or part of a manual. Course includes study of structured writing.
Course also includes discussion of (1) production issues and (2)
theory relevant to designing usable and readable manuals. This
course is double-listed for both undergraduate and graduate students.
Graduate students will be required to complete additional work that
emphasizes theory and research over application. Thus they must
demonstrate a higher level of learning than undergraduates.
MSIDC students who took TCOM 4070 User Documentation as undergraduates
may not count IDC 6070 for credit toward their graduate degree.
IDC 6080
Professional Oral Presentations
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Course designed to enhance students' presentation skills
in a technical and business environment. Students practice
various speech types such as briefings, interviews, formal
technical presentations, panels, and impromptu presentations.
Course also includes an overview of communication theory as it
applies to oral presentations.
IDC 6090
Medical Communication
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Course examines the scope of medical communication, with
emphasis on opportunities for technical communication professionals.
Students will analyze, edit, and revise various medical document types,
such as medical research abstracts, patient education materials, professional
medical training documents, medical advertisements, and pharmaceutical package inserts.
Students will independently study medical terminology and develop a portfolio of
medical writing samples.
IDC 6110
Communications Project Management
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Course introduces and applies the literature, tools, and
techniques of professional project management. Includes major
online course elements. Students will choose a project in technical
communication and apply the major phases of project management: definition,
planning, execution, and closing. Topics of emphasis include communication
skills, project management software tools, and project team dynamics.
IDC 6120
Usability Testing
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Study of the relevant research and practical application
of usability testing as part of product development. Includes
strategies for planning, conducting, and analyzing a test.
Teams will perform tests and report results from an actual test
in a usability lab.
IDC 6130
Online Documentation
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Study of the design and development of effective online Help systems and
Web-based documentation. Presents principles of usable online information
design, task-based user analysis, and advanced tools and technologies for
developing and delivering online information products, including single-sourcing,
SGML, and XML. Students design and develop an HTML Help system. Instruction
will be provided in the use of RoboHelp and alternative HTML Help authoring tools.
Students entering the course without basic HTML knowledge will be expected to learn
the basics of HTML on their own. This course is double-listed for both undergraduate
and graduate students. Graduate students will be required to complete additional work
that emphasizes theory and research over application. Thus they must demonstrate a higher
level of learning than undergraduates.
IDC 6135
Website Design
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001, IDC 6030, and one of the following: IDC 6005, IDC 6180, IDC 6010, IDC 6040
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Advanced theoretical study and application of best practices for
the design and delivery of information on the World Wide Web. Students
learn the fundamentals of HTML, use of HTML authoring tools, Web content
writing and editing, page layout, design of Web graphics and multimedia elements,
and website architecture and content management. Students work individually and
in teams to design and develop websites. Some classroom instruction is provided
in basic HTML and XHTML coding, the composition of cascading style sheets, and
the use of Dreamweaver and FrontPage. Course includes a theory and research component.
IDC 6140
Instructional Systems Design
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Course introduces and applies the literature, tools, and techniques
of systematic instructional design. Includes substantial online course elements.
Students will study major models of instructional design and apply them to develop
and refine a unit of instruction. The course addresses the literature and theory
underlying formal instructional development—particularly cognitive psychology—and
provides practice in goal analysis, team instructional development, formative evaluation,
and evaluation.
IDC 6145
Performance Technology
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Course introduces and applies the literature, tools, and techniques of performance
technology. The performance technologist analyzes and solves human productivity and
efficiency problems in the workplace. Students will examine major models of performance
improvement, and adapt and apply them to simulated corporate productivity challenges,
and to real opportunities in their own work experience. This highly participatory course
is a natural complement to graduate courses in instructional design and instructional
technology.
Back to top
IDC 6150
Marketing Communication
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Course examines those aspects of technical communication that include advertising,
brochures, catalogs, press releases, and other means of marketing in both print and
other media. Includes analysis of webpages and the uses of the World Wide Web for
marketing purposes.
IDC 6155 Online Instructional Development
3 credit hours
Course explores online instructional development and deployment in higher education and corporate arenas, adressing issues of pedagogy, current and emerging technologies, marketing, design, and evaluation.
IDC 6160
Rhetoric: History, Theory, and Practice
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Course introduces rhetoric as the relationship between thought and expression.
Explores connections between rhetoric and writing, between a public act and a
personal thinking process, by examining classical and contemporary accounts of
rhetorical history and theory. Students apply theory to their own writing as
they explore the relationship between writers, readers, and subjects and the range
of options available to communicators. This course is double-listed for both
undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate students will be required to complete
additional work that emphasizes theory and research over application. Thus they must
demonstrate a higher level of learning than undergraduates.
IDC 6170
Video Production
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
Introduction to the role and use of video production for technical and professional
communication. Topics include scripts, storyboards, shot selection, continuity,
lighting, sound, in-camera editing, and fundamental post-production techniques.
Students complete at least two assigned videos as individual or team projects.
This course is double-listed for both undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate
students will be required to complete additional work that emphasizes theory and research
over application. Thus they must demonstrate a higher level of learning than undergraduates.
MSIDC students who took TCOM 4170 Video Production as undergraduates may not count IDC 6170
for credit toward their graduate degree.
IDC 6180 Information Architecture
3 credit hours
Course examines key concepts involved in communicating information in complex Web environments. Topics include audience analysis, organizational schemas, labeling, and navigation.
IDC 6901-6903
Special Topics
variable credit–1 to 3 hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
A course on a special topic of Importance and relevance to the field of technical and professional communication not covered in the graduate curriculum. Offered when needed.
IDC 7503
Independent Study
3 credit hours
Prerequisites: IDC 6001 and IDC 6030
Co- or Prerequisite: IDC 6002
A directed study for a graduate student who wishes to pursue a special interest
in technical and professional communication not covered in the curriculum. The
student submits to the IDC Graduate Program Coordinator a proposal that clearly defines
the course of study and the benefits to be obtained. The proposal must be submitted at
least one semester prior to registration for independent study hours. Once the proposal
is approved, the student is assigned a faculty advisor and registers for 3 credit hours.
For more information
on the Independent Study, see the Student Guide to the Independent Study.
IDC 7601-7603
Master's Internship
variable credit–1 to 3 hours
Prerequisites: Completion of 27 hours of IDC coursework
or consent of the department chair, confirmation of approved internship
Course provides student with hands-on experience in technical communication
in a professional environment. Work should be typical of technical communicators.
Work may be either an extended project or a variety of shorter assignments.
(Total of 6 hours of Master's Internship required.)
For more information
on the Master's Internship, see the
Student Guide to the
Master's Internship.
IDC 7801-7803
Master's Thesis
variable credit–1 to 3 hours
Prerequisites: Completion of 30 hours of IDC coursework
or consent of the department chair, approval of thesis proposal
Intensive research project that results in a formal written thesis. Usually
flows from an area of interest discovered by the student in early stages of the
MSIDC program or through work experience. Thesis
work will be closely supervised by the student's advisor. Students may enroll for a
maximum of 3 hours per term for thesis credit, with exceptions at the discretion of the
department chair. (Total of 6 hours of Master's Thesis required.)
For more information
on the Master's Thesis, see the
Student Guide to the
Master's Thesis.
The
English, Technical Communication, and Media Arts Department is a part of
Southern Polytechnic State
University and can be contacted at
TCOM@spsu.edu.
1100 South Marietta Parkway
Marietta, GA 30060-2896
| 