Toscano- (English Studies-) Centered
Topics for IRA Essays
IRA-Career Essay
After you've read Alan Cooper's The Inmates are Running the Asylum, I know you'll have an opinion or two about his view of the IT world, a world all of us inhabit and some of us think we run. As you read this book, I want you to think about how the information could be useful for your career or career path. You might not be able to claim Cooper directly is useful, but he may be indirectly useful by getting you to think about what your future may hold. After you've finished the book (and I'm giving you lots of time to read this book), I want you to write an essay, a career-oriented essay inspired by Cooper.
All essays are meant to be at least five
pages in a normal typed, double-spaced format. All should have
a title other than, "The Inmates are Running the Asylum Essay." Also, all
essays should be well written, unified, coherent documents nearly free of
mechanical, logical, or structural errors (representative of appropriate
upper-level college writing). See the Assignments Page for more detail.
"Important" IRA Topics to
Discuss
Just like the programmers--those
insensitive beings Cooper talks about in his book--the following list of paper
topics would be the English-centric equivalent to looking at the world
from one's own technical perspective...
Below are possible paper titles for
the English-centric reader and page numbers proving the thesis...what's a
thesis? Something you want to propose...
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Goodbye Technical Writers
Page 53: Demise of the 21st-Century technical writer
Page 230-233: Technical writers can become interaction designers
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No one fetishizes grammatically
correct sentences
Page 157: hygienic goals are like grammar and (not always) effective
communication; grammatically correct sentences are often prerequisites to
effective communication but don't motivate communication
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Video Games can Make Users
Struggle and they're fun...spreadsheets and desktop publishing shouldn't make users struggle
Page 161: It's important to hide "stuff" to make a game enjoyable
Games have to have rules (Juul, p. 36)
Games have to have player effort (Juul, p. 36)
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Computer Literacy is a Vague,
Ineffective Goal
Page 242: The myth of computer literacy being a 21st Century Goal
The "computer literacy" phrase is ineffectual in describing what appears to be behind the spirit of such a phrase--people should know how to use technology, specifically, computer technology. I often hear the term "critical thinking" being used in educational circles without the speakers really knowing what they mean by the phrase. If one cannot define his or her teaching goals, spouting "critical thinking" as a goal is really just an empty, unreflective pedagogy.*
Why privilege "computer literacy" if
technology is obtuse and not made with users/consumers in mind?
Questions to ask Youself for your IRA-Career Essay
The following questions are to help you think about directions for your essay. I normally wouldn't agree with giving so many guidelines because I don't want you to think that you have to respond a certain way. However, I understand that there are different (non-English major) backgrounds in this class, so I provide questions and topics to help you conceive of a topic.
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How does Cooper work in the larger scheme of the world? For instance, is he being realistic in his approach or assumptions?
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What about Cooper's philosophy relates to the technological world you inhabit and/or career identity to which you aspire?
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How does Cooper speak to your career path or career assumptions/understanding?
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Does he describe a culture to which you aspire, or is he constructing a context that you question?
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Do your experiences in the computer programming world match his assumptions? -or-
Do your experiences as users match his assumptions?
The above questions are for guidance only--you don't have to follow them for your essay. I would like this to be career related, but that's broadly defined: your career, your future career, your idea of a career, technology and careers, etc.
*For the record, my totally hermetic definition of "critical thinking" is to have students become culturally aware individuals who knowingly (as opposed to passively) operate within our hi-tech, post-industrial society.
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