Brooklyn College TW106 Researched Technical Reports and Proposals: Schedule

TW106: Researched Technical Reports and Proposals
Schedule Page

Although most of the links have been removed, the following course schedule gives you an idea of what we'll cover in this course. (Remember that this is an 8-week course.) When you are ready, return to the Brooklyn College Technical Writing Certificate Program course listing.

This is your main working page for TW106: Researched Technical Reports and Proposals in Brooklyn College's Technical Writing Certificate program. Use this page to find out what to name your files, see when projects are due, go to the online textbook and resources for this course. See the syllabus links following the schedule for information about objectives, required and recommended books, grades, and other resources. (Exact units and sequence of units may vary slightly from instructor to instructor and semester to semester.)

On all quizzes, please select Brooklyn College as instructor.

This course starts mmddyy.

Your instructor is instructor_name at instructor_email.

Click the units you've completed and then press Send at the top or bottom of this page. Remember that this tracking chart is for your convenience; the instructor uses other information to determine whether you've done adequate study to pass this course. If you mistakenly mark a unit as completed, contact your instructor (or just wait until you've actually completed it.)

Check	Project (Use these links to see project details.)	Due date	File names/comments	Completed
	Technical reports Learn about the range of technical reports, their typical contents, and the purposes, audiences, and situations that they serve.	mmddyy	Take the online quizzes for this unit.
	Formal technical report: start-up Get started on your formal technical report, due toward the end of this course. Identify a real or realistic situation and audience needing a report, find information sources for the project, narrow and outline, and get going!	mmddyy	Take the online quizzes for this unit. Your writing project for this unit is to fill out an online memo describing your report project. Your instructor will review this memo, may request a revision, and will include your grade on this memo as part of your final grade.
	Proposals Plan and write a proposal in which you propose to the write the report project you developed in the preceding unit for a real or realistic business professional situation.	mmddyy	Take the online quizzes for this unit. Name the writing project for this unit yourname_proposal1.doc if you use Word; .wpd if you use WordPerfect; and so on. If you revise, change 1 to 2. Send this project as an e-mail attachment to your instructor.
	Page design: review Review the standard design guidelines for headings, lists, notices, tables, figures, cross-references, and highlighting. (This is a quick review of material covered in depth in TW101: Technical Writing: Fundamentals. You can still access all the same study materials.)	mmddyy	Take the online quizzes for this unit.
	Information research and documentation Learn some strategies for gathering information for a report project and methods for citing the sources of the information you borrow and use in such projects.	mmddyy	Take the online quizzes for this unit.
	Recommendation reports Plan, research, and write a brief recommendation report in which you compare two or more options and recommend one for a real or realistic business professional situation.	mmddyy	Take the online quizzes for this unit. Name the writing project for this unit yourname_recomm1.doc if you use Word; .wpd if you use WordPerfect; and so on. If you revise, change 1 to 2. Send this project as an e-mail attachment to your instructor.
	Presentation software: reports Learn the basics of presentation software (such as Powerpoint), and then convert your recommendation report into a Powerpoint-style presentation and redesign it for that medium.	mmddyy	Name this project yourname_present1.ppt if you use Powerpoint. If you revise, change 1 to 2. Send this project as an e-mail attachment to your instructor.
	Progress reports Study the purpose, contents, and structure of progress reports, and then write such a report addressed to the real or realistic recipients of your formal technical report.	mmddyy	Take the online quizzes for this unit. Name the writing project for this unit yourname_progress1.doc if you use Word; .wpd if you use WordPerfect; and so on. If you revise, change 1 to 2. Send this project as an e-mail attachment to your instructor.
	Formal technical report: finish-up Review the guidelines on content, organization, format, headings, lists, tables, mechanics, and packaging for formal reports, and then produce the final copy of your report.	mmddyy	Take the online quizzes for this unit. Name the writing project for this unit yourname_techrep1.doc if you use Word; .wpd if you use WordPerfect; and so on. If you revise, change 1 to 2. Send this project as an e-mail attachment to your instructor.
	Acrobat PDF conversions: technical reports Convert one of the reports you write in this course to a portable document file (PDF) using, for example, Acrobat.	mmddyy	Name this project yourname_pdf1.PDF if you use Acrobat. If you revise, change 1 to 2. Send this project as an e-mail attachment to your instructor.
Note: All work in this course must be complete no later than mmddyy.

Syllabus

Objectives

Learn the common structure, audiences, and business professional contexts of technical reports.
Learn the standard design, format, and style of technical reports.
Write one or more technical reports using real or realistic contexts as well as standard design and structure.
Apply standard guidelines for headings, lists, tables, and illustrations to your technical reports.
Learn how to redesign print-based reports for presentation software (such as Powerpoint).
Learn how to convert print reports to portable document files (PDFs created by software such as Acrobat) and make necessary modifications for the online medium.

Books

There are no required books for this course; readings are available online. However, you might consider referring to these:

McMurrey, David A. Online Technical Writing. Free!
Mayfield Handbook of Technical and Scientific Writing. Also free!
McMurrey, David A. Power Tools for Technical Communication. ISBN 0-15-506898-9. An enhanced formally published version of the online textbook listed above.
Alred, Gerald J, Charles T. Brusaw, Walter E. Oliu. Handbook of Technical Writing, any recent edition. St. Martin. A good reference tool to have in your library.

Grades

A: All projects completed and approved by your instructor.
B: All projects completed and approved by your instructor except for the presentational-software and portable-document software projects.
C: All projects completed and approved by your instructor, except for the presentational-software and portable-document software projects and the progress-report project or the recommendation-report project.

Contact your instructor concerning credit for projects you have completed but are still not approved by the time the course is over.

Resources

TECHWR-L articles. Lots of articles on all aspects of the field.
Writer Write. Plenty of good articles!
Technical Writing, Help Authoring Tools, Jobs, and More. Good general collection of links and articles.
computerjobs.com: Technical Writer Jobs. Good resource links also.
EServer TC Library. Super collection of links related to all aspects of this field.

Table of contents for the Online Textbook.
Policies for courses in the Brooklyn College Technical Writing Certificate program.
Online Technical Documentation site search facility.

Course Evaluation

Use the course evaluation form to give your opinions on the effectiveness of the study materials and organization of this course. (This evaluation is strictly optional, strictly voluntary.)

Information and programs provided by hcexres@io.com.