CPIT 221 Technical Writing Ghada Amoudi Fall 2011

Outline Contact Introduction

Contact information Office: 2-161 Office hours: Sat: 11-12, Sun 9-12, Wed 10-11

What is CPIT 221? Communication is your only way to convey information Let’s discuss some examples of communication in our everyday lives… Driver changing lanes Miscommunication in planes Miscommunication about Islam

Technical Writing: What is It? Technical writing is the presentation of information that helps the reader solve a particular problem. Technical communicators write, design, and/or edit proposals, manuals, web pages, lab reports, newsletters, and many other kinds of professional documents. Every profession has its own special specialized forms of writing. Police officers, lawyers and social workers all write specialized reports -- and someone has to learn, perform, critique, and teach each one. Every major politician hires staff members to design, administer, and analyze surveys -- and to write the secret reports that get leaked to reporters. Somebody has to design tax forms and the accompanying instruction books, assembly instructions for toys, and scripts for product demonstrations or multimedia presentations.

Goal To clearly communicate a select piece of information to a reader for a particular purpose in such a way that the subject can readily be understood. While technical writers need to have good computer skills, they do not necessarily have to write about computers all their lives. "Technical" comes from the Greek techne, which simply means "skill".

Characteristics The general characteristics of technical writing may include: objective point of view clear, concise language accurate information uncomplicated structure logical order identified audience

Uses Technical writing appears in Papers Progress report Manual evaluation forms and questionnaires Business letters CV Presentations and descriptions of the design and features for new products.

Course scope Remember that this is a course in technical communication Communication you do as a professional The course concentrates on formal writing, but insha Allah we will also look at Presentation skills Job skills

Tentative schedule I. Job Skills (1 week) 1. Resume/CV and Cover Letter 2. Interviews II. Writing Process (8 weeks) 1. Preparation 2. Research & Referencing 3. Organization 4. Draft Midterm 5. Revision

Tentative schedule continued… III. Report Components (1 week) 1. Report Supplements 2. Layout and Design 3. Visuals IV. Presentations (1 week)

Textbook Alred, G., Brusaw, C., and Oliu, W., Handbook of Technical Writing. New York, St. Martin’s Press, 2009. Journal articles, memos, emails

Course Assessment Evaluation Method Weight Topic Question 5% Proposal Outline Draft Final Report 10% Presentation Resume/CV & Cover Letter 20% Midterm Final Exam 100% By the end of the course: Final productSSS