Brooklyn College: |
To earn a Brooklyn College Technical Writing Certificate, you must take 8 of the following courses. We've built a lot of flexibility into this program. For example:
When you are ready, return to the Brooklyn College Technical Writing Certificate Program overview.
| TW100: Grammar, Usage, Mechanics for Technical Writers
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This course includes quick reviews of grammar, usage, and punctuation as well as the basics of document content, organization, and transitions. During this course, you write several short documents. With your instructor's agreement, you can any standard word-processing software that you prefer. This course includes studies in Joseph M. Williams' excellent Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. If you are proficient at the "basics" covered earlier in this course, you can spend most of your time on this book, which is valuable to even the most experienced of professional writers.
Note: Contact Brooklyn College about taking another course in place of TW100. (we offer a free diagnostic and writing sample to help you decide.) |
| TW101: Technical Writing Fundamentals
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This course is an introduction to the format, writing style, content, and organization common to technical writing as it is practiced in the technical-publishing industry. In this course, you write a number of short writing projects in which you practice headings, lists, notices, tables, highlighting, and other format and style common to technical writing. With your instructor's agreement, you can use any standard word-processing software that you prefer.
Note: This course is required—no substitutions. |
| TW102: Graphics for Technical Writers
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Learn important skills for handling graphics in your technical documents. These skills include screen-capturing, cropping and sizing, changing graphic file format, positioning and anchoring, combining, adding text labels to, and optimizing images. In this course, you must purchase or make arrangements to access a graphic-editing application such as Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Gimpshop, or Inkscape. Brooklyn College's own online Photoshop course is a recommended prerequisite but not required.
Note: This course is required—no substitutions. |
| TW103: User Guides and FrameMaker
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In this FrameMaker user-guide course, learn the structure and design of user guides as well as how to create a fully "automated" book using FrameMaker. You will have to purchase or make arrangements to access a reasonably current version of FrameMaker.
Note: Take either TW103 or TW109—or both. If you take both, you can substitute for TW100, TW106 or TW110. |
| TW104: Technical Documentation with XHTML and CSS
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Create Web sites for technical documentation using XHTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) tags as well as Web-development tools such as Macromedia Dreamweaver that are in demand by employers. Learn how to separate document structure from document format and revise deprecated HTML in legacy documents.
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| TW105: Online Helps and RoboHELP
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After TW104, you are ready to take a course in developing online helps. You must purchase or make arrangements to access a reasonably current version of RoboHELP. (Also, you may be able to make arrangements with the instructor to use some help-authoring tool other than RoboHELP.) In this course, you develop online helps for a small computer application or component.
Note: You can take some other course in the place of this one, but be aware that employers often require online-help authoring skills and sometimes specifically RoboHelp. |
| TW106: Researched Technical Reports and Proposals
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Write technical reports and proposals based on careful audience analysis and information research. With your instructor's agreement, you use can any standard word-processing software that you prefer. You will also convert one of your reports using presentation software such as Microsoft's Powerpoint and another report using portable document software such as Adobe Acrobat. You must purchase or make arrangements to access reasonably current versions of Powerpoint, Acrobat, or other software that provides these functions.
Note: You can take some other course in the place of this one. |
| TWI07: Indexing
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Review essential functions of back-of-the-book indexes;
practice brainstorming, rough-drafting, revision, and finetuning techniques for indexes; develop indexes for one or more brief technical documents; practice indexing in applications such as Microsoft Word and Adobe FrameMaker.
Note: This is an alternative course you can take in place of TW100, TW106, or TW110. |
| TW108: Technical Editing
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Explore technical-editor roles; practice copymaking, copyediting, proofreading, and comprehensive editing (substantive editing); edit online documents and graphic-design features; review documents electronically; create style sheets and style guides; and write edit-review summaries.
Note: This is an alternative course you can take in place of TW100, TW106, or TW110. |
| TW109 User Guides with Microsoft Word
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Create book-length technical documents with Microsoft Word: create automated tables of contents, indexes, table and figure numbers, and cross-references; use fields for other numbering streams; learn other Word features for increased productivity and rapid updating. You must purchase or have access to a reasonably current version of Microsoft Word.
Note: Take either TW109 or TW103—or both. If you take both, you can substitute for TW100, TW106 or TW110. |
| TW110: Starting a Technical-Writing Career
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In this final course, you learn about finding technical-writing jobs, negotiating permanent or freelance contracts, building a portfolio, creating a good resume, understanding organizations and processes as a technical writer, working as a member of a development team, staying on top of the profession, being an active and contributing member of the profession, and other such topics. You interview a practicing technical writer, build a resume and portfolio, search for jobs, and other such activities.
Note: You can take some other course in the place of this one. To take this course, you must have completed all other requirements. |
| TW113: Business Communications
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Practice business correspondence delivered through common media (business letters, memos, e-mail, and reports), across organizational hierarchies (work associates at lower, same, and higher organizational levels), and based in typical situations (good news, bad news, policy and schedule changes, information requests, reprimands, rationales, denials, and other tricky business-communication situations). Emphasize clear, tactful, succinct, direct, well-structured writing that gets the job done.
Note: This is an alternative course you can take in place of TW100, TW106, or TW110. |
| TW999: Special Topics in Technical Communication
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The instructor and one or more students develop a customized course that focuses on a topic not offered in the Brooklyn College Technical Writing curriculum. Special topics can include other software applications, other technical-communication genres, other documentation methods, and other documentation projects. Students may use the course to research and write about technical-communication issues, or as a means of getting editorial assistance on individual writing projects. Note: With instructor approval, this course may be counted toward earning the certificate. |
Information and programs provided by hcexres@io.com.