Flexible Online Delivery for ENGL 301 (Technical Writing)

ENGL 301 (Technical Communication) is required by several programs and taken by students from across UBC. Within the flexible learning mandate, the online version is an important resource for students in professional programs: many need the course but are not on campus full time. The online ENGL 301 designed in 2004 is now egregiously outdated, offering no content on electronic communications or online media. We seek to redevelop 301 so that it can offer students cross-disciplinary writing skills that are transferable beyond the university.

In operational terms, the redesign allows for an immediate doubling of the course cap from 20 students to 40 per section as a result of its innovative integrated assignment structure, with student writing teams for multiple-draft writing in which peer evaluations are themselves assessed as a measures of technical communication; this online platform will form the basis of future blended-delivery sections. Finally, we will also pilot using TAs in designated roles, potentially allowing section caps to be increased again to 60.