COMM 310 group

COMM 310 User Guide Assignments 2014

You will create two related group assignments, submitted several weeks apart. See the Course Syllabus for due dates.

You should use your Group Forum to communicate with each other as you prepare these assignments. That way, each group member’s contribution will be apparent to all group members—and to me, of course… 

Remember that I should receive only one completed assignment file from each group.

User Guide CMAPP Analysis As part of your preparation for your User Guide assignment (see below), you will undertake a CMAPP analysis. (See Chapter 2 of your textbook.) A properly formatted copy of that analysis constitutes this first assignment. Although I set no length requirement, it is unlikely that this assignment need exceed two word-processed pages. (Don’t forget accessibility, as discussed in Chapter 3 of your textbook.)

Particulars 1. At least three relevant items for each of the five CMAPP constituent elements. 2. Both questions and answers, formatted for easy understanding, for each element. 3. Parallel structure for all answers. ( Note: Lack of parallel structure will result in the imposition of only ½ of the normal “particulars penalty”. If you’re unsure of the meaning of “parallel structure”, pages 248–249 of your textbook offers some information. You will find more detailed explanations at, for example, https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/623/01/, or in any standard English grammar text.

Don’t forget to review the User Guide CMAPP Analysis Grading Sheet, also in this folder.

UserGuideAssignments.docx v14/04 © DIWIS 2014

User Guide Recall that this assignment derives from the User Guide CMAPP Analysis assignment, but is separate and is submitted later. See your Course Syllabus for the due date.

It, too, is a group assignment.

Scenario Overview You may invent any relevant details you require.

You (your group) are part of a consulting firm that has contracted with Fraser River College (FRC), a local, small, private, post-secondary institution, to produce a comprehensive Software User Guide (SUG) for FRC faculty. Faculty offices are equipped with computers running Microsoft Office 2010 on Windows 7. However, although most faculty have been using Windows applications for some time, they are “beginners” with regard to MS Office.

Scenario Assumptions 1) This assignment represents only a part of the entire FRC SUG; it should enable faculty

to do the following: a) using an Excel template to which FRC faculty have access (you must decide, and

indicate, how this access will be granted), generate a standard Excel spreadsheet, and enter into it relevant student data;

b) using a Word template to which FRC faculty have access (again, you must indicate how), create a form letter (a standard Word document) to send students their final grades. For illustration purposes, they will work with a course called COMM 04;

c) associate (for a Microsoft Word mail merge) the Word document (the form letter) with the spreadsheet, and create and save—as a separate file—the mail-merge letters to send to the students;

d) understand how to apply the COMM 04 scenario (#a through #c) to analogous Word and Excel files.

2) I am providing “products” that you might wish to use in developing your User Guide, since, in a sense, much of your task is to generate the “instructions” that would lead to versions of those products. The attached zip archive, UserGuideFiles.zip, therefore, contains the following: a) Fraser River College Letterhead Template.dotx

This is a functioning Word 2010 template. You might want to take note of its formatting for styles, as well as other features.

b) FraserRiverCollegeFinalMarksLetter.docx This is a sample Word file comprising a form letter for a mail merge to students. Note that the merge codes shown are not active fields—they are for illustrative purposes only: this Word file is not associated with any data file.

c) FraserRiverCollegeLogo.jpg This is the graphic used to create the logo used in the letterhead. I provide it in case you wish to use it elsewhere.

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d) MicrosoftAcademicGradebookTemplate.xltx This is a copy of an Excel template obtained from Microsoft at http://office.microsoft.com/en- us/templates/results.aspx?qu=academic%20gradebook&ex=1&origin=FX10275528 5&queryid=1161ef6d-8c04-48ed-858c-57e2bbd8256d#ai:TC102808628| Though you do not require it directly for this assignment, it might be of use to you in understanding how I created # h) and # i), below.

e) FRCGradingSheet-PointsTemplate.xltx This is an Excel 2010 template, created by modifying file # d). You may wish to use it as your Excel template.

f) FRCGradingSheet-COMM 04.xlsx This file illustrates the result of entering the student data into the spreadsheet “blank” provided in file # e), above. It is a standard Excel 2010 file.

g) Word-Excel 2010 Merge Problem.pdf This file alludes to a problem with the numbers resulting from merging a Word 2010 file with an associated Excel 2010 file, and offers a relatively simple solution. You might find it useful in the creation of your User Guide assignment.

3) The segment of the SUG that constitutes this assignment must allow faculty to: a) enter data (for example, the “sample data” provided) into the Excel template and

save the standard Excel spreadsheet file; b) enter the COMM 04 grade sheet information into the Word template and save the

document file; c) associate the Word file with the relevant Excel spreadsheet data; d) generate the merged file (letters to the individual students) and save—not print— it; e) perform analogous tasks for other courses at FRC.

Notes 1. Both Microsoft and third-party vendors have produced sets of instructions that would

help you learn to do the tasks reflected in your User Guide Assignment. Should you consult such sources, be careful to avoid any possible appearance of plagiarism. In this light, you will find it useful to ensure that your User Guide material be tailored to the CMAPP specifications of the scenario I have set.

2. You are producing a user guide for novice users of MS Office. 3. Your submission does not represent a complete or autonomous User Guide; it is meant to

be one small segment of the whole.

4. I cannot specify the length of your submission, except to cite my customary injunction: it should be as long as necessary and as short as possible.

5. While preparing your User Guide assignment, you should also examine the User Guide Assignment Grading Sheet.

6. If you decide to create screen captures and do not yet have an effective utility, you might consider IrfanView, available through http://www.irfanview.com. I suggest you download both IrfanView and the Plugins; install IrfanView and associate it with common graphic files; then install the Plugins. I have found it to be a versatile program with a relatively shallow learning curve. (Unfortunately, it does not seem to available for Macs.)

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