![[PukiWiki]](image/pukiwiki.png "[PukiWiki]")
WRTG 393 students,
Welcome to the class! Please introduce yourself to the rest of the class. You might state your major (if you have one), why you are taking WRTG 393, and any other interesting details you would like to share.
Thanks
Hello everyone,
My name is Yuji Shimojo and I'm 28. I am from Okinawa, Japan and just moved to Tokyo three months ago. I used to study Information Engineering at University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, but I dropped out of the college 6 years ago. While in the college, I had lived in San Jose, California for 6 months for an internship. I'm currently majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Business Administration.
Yuji
WRTG 393 students,
In this discussion topic, we will discuss what technical writing is. Please answer the following questions. Feel free to interact with your classmates on their answers as well.
1. From your own experience, please provide a definition of technical writing. You may use the information in Unit 1 of your textbook to help you in constructing your definition if you would like to.
2. Read over pages 129-131 of the article by Kitty Locker, “Will Professional Communication Be the Death of Business Communication?” The article is in the eReserves section of your class. To access the article, please take the following steps:
How does Locker distinguish technical writing from business writing? Write a couple of sentences or so in your response to this question.
3. Read over pages 325-3236 of the article by Mark Gellis, “Autobiographical Writing in the Technical Writing Course.” The article is also in the eReserves section of your class.
How does Gellis distinguish an essay from a report or a proposal? Write a couple of sentences or so in your response to this question.
4. In your life, have you written any documents that might be labeled technical writing? If so, what did you write?
5. In your life, have you had to read or work through a piece of technical writing that you found problematic? If so, what was the document, and why was it problematic to work with?
1. From your own experience, please provide a definition of technical writing. You may use the information in Unit 1 of your textbook to help you in constructing your definition if you would like to.
Because I work in the IT field, technical writing I come up with is to write software documents such as software requirements specifications (SRSs), software design documents (SDDs), software test specifications (STSs), and software development plans (SDPs). In my opinion, when you write such documents, it is very important that you define who readers at first. Even if you write instructions and procedures on how to do something in detail, if your document have an entirely different expectation for your readers, it makes no sense.
2. How does Locker distinguish technical writing from business writing? Write a couple of sentences or so in your response to this question.
According to Locker, K. O. (2003), business communication has only its own concerns, insight, and identity. It focuses on persuasion and context. In contrast, Technical communication focuses on exposition and explanation.
3. How does Gellis distinguish an essay from a report or a proposal? Write a couple of sentences or so in your response to this question.
According to Gellis, M. (2011), essays are subjective, and are written not only to explain, but express, entertain and reveal the author's personal interaction with the subject. They will do more than simply give you a set of observed facts and objective conclusions.
On the other hand, reports are objective, analytical, and purely referential. They are written from one professional to another, and have the aim of achieving a profession-related goal.
To me the most interesting Gellis's description for comparison between reports and essays are that reports are written for people who need the information, whether or not they want it; in contrast, essays are written for people who want the information, whether or no they need it.
4. In your life, have you written any documents that might be labeled technical writing? If so, what did you write?
I usually write up SDDs, STSs, and SDPs according to SRSs from customers. A SDD includes E-R diagrams (ERDs), architectural context diagrams (ACDs), sequence diagrams (SDs), and data flow diagrams (DFDs), etc.. A STS includes test cases of black box and white box testing and the results. A SDP includes organizational charts which describe the project team and external entities or stakeholders with roles and responsibilities, work breakdown structures (WBSs), and risk management plans, etc..
5. In your life, have you had to read or work through a piece of technical writing that you found problematic? If so, what was the document, and why was it problematic to work with?
Sometimes I face problem with a SRS which our customer wrote. The problem is that the SRS doesn't say anything about the objective or the project goal. Since software engineering is a tool to solve some kind of problems, we can find what the problem really is, and provide a solution to solve it to achieve the goal; however, if the goal is unclear, we can hardly provide it.
WRTG 393 students,
This task is designed to help prepare you for the first writing assignment, the technical description
At the top of the Content area for Week 1, you will see two items:
Please peruse those two webites. The hybrid car website has a Flash as well as an html version you can explore.
Then examine the following two reading texts. The first one is available through eReserves
“Writing Descriptions” by Mike Markel
You can access the document by taking the following steps:
Technical Description: What Does it Look Like? By David McMurrey
Please respond to this discussion topic by answering the following question:
'How do the two technical descriptions—the one on hybrid cars and the one on laser printers—apply the strategies given by either Markel or McMurrey?
Please select at least one of the technical descriptions and at least one of the two authors, Markel or McMurrey, and write one paragraph analyzing how the technical descriptions do or do not apply the strategies the author(s) mentions. You can write 100-150 words.
Both the two technical descriptions give an introduction or an overview, discuss the parts or characteristics, and use graphics and headings, which McMurrey. mentions in Contents and Organization of Descriptions and Graphics and Format in Descriptions. Also, both clearly show Markel's objects, mechanisms, and processes.
The difference between the two technical descriptions is that the description of laser printers give its background as introducing the first laser printer invented by Gary Starkweather and explaining how it works, although the description of hybrid cars don't do so.
On the other hand, the hybrid cars' description gives more detailed illustrations. In addition to clearer the shape and the dimensions, it provides graphics showing different views and step-by-step illustrated instructions, which Markel mentions in Providing Appropriate Detail.
WRTG 393 students,
One of our writing assignment (WA #2) involves writing an instruction manual. This discussion topic is designed to help you prepare for that assignment.
Please peruse the following web pages. They are linked to above, at the top of this week's content.
1. Imagine you are helping write an instruction manual for UMUC students on how to access their classes in LEO. How might you revise the following sentences if they were proposed for an instruction manual?
The user should log into the LEO system
The class will be on the right-hand side. You have to click on the class to access it.
The class will appear in your interface. You will need to select whatever menu item you want to access in order to access it.
2. Please comment on any piece of advice given in these websites. Write a sentence or two describing the advice and what the chapter noted about it. Try to comment on a section of the chapter that one of your classmates has not commented on yet.
I really agree with the advice given in Wikibooks about the idea that reader can locate steps quickly and easily. I like the example of instructions on how to change engine oil in the Instructions by McMurrey because the number of steps you need to follow is clearly written in the title. I believe readers want easily to estimate how much time they need to complete the steps at first.
WRTG 393 students,
The following discussion topic is designed to help you prepare for writing assignment #2, the instruction manual. Directions for that writing assignment can be accessed by clicking here.
To complete this discussion topic, please do the following:
Watch the following video, which is sort of an instruction manual on the Kindle Fire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEOLIF5qKZA&feature=youtu.be
Then answer the following questions or complete the following tasks.
1. The author of this manual does not define any terms. What terms might need to be defined to a user who is not at all familiar with the Kindle and who may never have purchased a electronic book? Please note that I am not asking you to define any terms. However, I am asking you to identify what terms might need to be defined.
2. The author begins immediately with the instructions. He does not start off with an introduction to the device or an explanation of why one would want to know how to use the device.
Please write a one-paragraph introduction that might be suitable for the Kindle Fire.
WRTG 393 students,
The following task is designed to help you become familiar with UMUC’s Information and Library Services. Completing this exercise might help you get started on developing a topic for the white paper.
Please watch library tutorial #1. The tutorial is linked to at the top of the list of Content items for this week.
The tutorial is designed to demonstrate some searching strategies when finding articles through OneSearch, a research tool that allows you to search on many databases at one time.
After you have watched the tutorial, please complete the following tasks. Post your responses to this conference thread.
Let us assume you work for a company that is hiring more and more employees of the millennial generation.
Your supervisor has asked you to conduct research on issues regarding employees from the millennial generation. For example, she mentions that millennial individuals may have different expectations of the work environment from those of workers from older generations. In addition, she mentions that millennials have different habits with regard to their use of technology than workers from older generations exhibit.
The instructions you have been given by your supervisor are quite broad. But let us assume that this is the directive you have been given.
For this reason, you will conduct a very general search on millennials and their work or technology habits. You are not quite sure how to focus the topic, but you know that you would like to pursue this general topic and focus it later.
1. Search on some terms and find four articles on this topic. Your search can be quite broad at this stage. Try to use some search phrases that require that you use quotation marks, as the video demonstrates.
Please write the topic on which you searched and the search terms you used to search on it.
2. In addition, for the four articles you found, please write titles of the four articles and the journals in which they appeared. You don’t have to cite anything in APA format, or anything of that nature. Just post the titles and the journal names.
I searched for "(("millennial generation" OR millennials) OR "generation Y") AND (work OR technolog*) AND (habit* OR custom* OR style)." I found the following four articles.
WRTG 393 students,
The following task is designed to expand your familiarity with UMUC’s Information and Library Service’s OneSearch function. Completing this exercise will also help you as you pursue the white paper assignment for this class.
If you would like to, please review the same video tutorial that you watched for our earlier exercise. The tutorial is designed to demonstrate some searching strategies when finding articles in the databases that UMUC subscribes to.
Please watch library tutorial #2. The tutorial is linked to at the top of the list of Content items for this week.
After you have reviewed the tutorial, please complete the following tasks.
1. Conduct a new search on a phrase related to the same topic on which you searched for the previous exercise. As the video demonstrates, make sure to use quotation marks around the phrase.
- How many search results do you get?
2. Then, following the instructions provided in the second video, focus your search by using the SU-subject terms option from the drop-down menu for one of the rows.
- How many search result do you find after limiting the search by using SU-subject terms ?
When I searched on my search terms: "(("millennial generation" OR millennials) OR "generation Y") AND (work OR technolog*) AND (habit* OR custom* OR style)," the number of search results was 1,678. When I did on the same terms by using the SU-subject terms option, the number of search results was 82.
WRTG 393 students,
The last writing assignment in our class will be a white paper. This discussion thread is designed to help you get started in thinking about this assignment.
Please watch the following video from the Purdue Owl. The video is entitled, “White Papers: An Introduction to the Genre and Its Expectations.”
The video is 9:44 long.
White Papers: An Introduction to the Genre and Its Expectations
After watching the video, please respond to the following two tasks.
1. Describe a possible white paper for an internal audience. You may consider your workplace or a community organization you belong to. What might be a possible white paper topic that could be written for this audience?
For example, let us consider an example of an individual named Arnold. He coaches soccer for his local soccer team. The soccer league does not have a Facebook page. He could write a white paper to the board of his soccer league discussing why social media presence might be helpful to the league and why Facebook in particular might be a form of social media the league should consider.
This would be an example of an internal audience, as Arnold is familiar with the individuals on the board, coaches for the league, and is involved in the organization.
2. Describe a possible white paper for an external audience. You may consider your workplace or any other organization.
For example, let us consider an example of a person named Sharon. She works for a company that has developed a new method of taking care of outdoor turf for athletic fields. She could write a white paper for athletic leagues in her area. The white paper might compare current methods of treating turf to the new method.
This would be an example of an external audience, as Sharon is not familiar with the individuals who will read her white paper, does not work for or volunteer for these athletic leagues, and is not involved in these organizations.
In this discussion task, you will consider your own work or community situation. What would represent an issue, problem, or development that you might respond to with a white paper to an internal audience? And what would represent an issue, problem, or development that you might respond to with a white paper to an external audience?
Whatever ideas you come up with in responding to this discussion thread, you are not bound to any of these ideas for your last writing assignment. The purpose of this discussion thread is to help you start your thinking process for the last paper.
WRTG 393 students,
The last writing assignment in our class will be a white paper. This discussion thread is designed to help you get started in thinking about this assignment.
Please watch the following video from the Purdue Owl. The video is entitled, “White Papers: An Introduction to the Genre and Its Expectations.”
The video is 9:44 long.
White Papers: An Introduction to the Genre and Its Expectations
After watching the video, please respond to the following two tasks.
1. Examine the following white paper by Adria Kline.
Of the various types of white papers the Purdue OWL lecture describes, how would you label this type of white paper? Why? Please write a short paragraph in giving your answer.
2. Then examine the white paper titled “Causality: School Libraries and Student Success (CLASS) by the American Association of School Librarians.
This white paper is available in the eReserves for this class. You can access the document by taking the following steps:
Of the various types of white papers the Purdue OWL lecture describes, how would you label this type of white paper? Why? Please write a short paragraph in giving your answer.
