145-211 Technical Writing

100 points at any level

The subject introduces students to the basic principles of technical communication. It is designed to enable students studying in a range of scientific, technical, humanities and social science fields to apply their existing skills and knowledge to technical communication contexts. Content covers the challenges of technical communication, such as writing for the needs of varied readers, displaying information visually, and designing documents that help readers to use and understand information. Ethical, legal and cross-cultural aspects of technical communication will be covered. Students will learn about and produce standard types of technical documents such as proposals, instructions and reports. The collaborative nature of technical writing will be stressed in classwork and assignments. On completion of the subject, students should be able to analyse the requirements of technical communication situations, gather and present data and design documents that are suited to the needs of their readers.

Written work totalling 4000 words, comprising a team project to produce the written text, visuals and mock-up design for a set of instructions (group work, 2000 words), a team oral presentation of the instructions (group work, 500 words), a report for decision-making (individual work, 1500 words), and classwork and homework portfolio (individual work, hurdle requirement to be eligible for assessment).

• M M Lay et al, Technical Communication. 2nd edn, McGraw Hill, 2000.