Technical Writing
Course aims
The course develops technical writing skills necessary to communicate information gained through a process of technical or experimental work. The course highlights the factors that determine the degree of technicality of the language and concepts involved. Students will learn how to write different technical reports, e.g., laboratory reports, research reports, design and feasibility reports, progress reports, consulting reports, etc. The course also approaches several language, structure, style, and content issues that they can encounter while reporting the results of their research.
Target group
Doctoral students, young researchers
Prerequisites
B1/B1+ (level of English)
Course content
Module I: From Start to Finish
This module will help students acquire knowledge about technical writing, which deals with complex topics in precise ways. The module covers issues related to workplace research that students will have to conduct as a technical writer. Regardless of which technique students use, their challenge will be to sort the relevant information from the irrelevant, and the accurate from the bogus. The module focuses on audience, purpose, and measures of excellence in technical documents. In addition, students will learn what it means to be a good technical communicator.
Module II: Organizing the Information
In this Module, students will learn how to use visuals to communicate a large amount of information quickly and efficiently. The Module provides general guidelines for using graphical tools that students can use to design visuals with the output process of the report in mind. In addition, students will learn how to define a term using various techniques of extended definitions. The Module also provides guidelines for effective planning of technical report writing.
Module III: Researching Your Subject
This module will help students develop an enhanced understanding of such types of technical documentation as feasibility and recommendation reports, instructions as well as laboratory research. The module covers issues related to various types of academic and workplace research. The focus is on acquiring the best available information – the most accurate, most unbiased, most comprehensive, and most current.
This module will help students acquire knowledge about technical writing, which deals with complex topics in precise ways. The module covers issues related to workplace research that students will have to conduct as a technical writer. Regardless of which technique students use, their challenge will be to sort the relevant information from the irrelevant, and the accurate from the bogus. The module focuses on audience, purpose, and measures of excellence in technical documents. In addition, students will learn what it means to be a good technical communicator.
Module II: Organizing the Information
In this Module, students will learn how to use visuals to communicate a large amount of information quickly and efficiently. The Module provides general guidelines for using graphical tools that students can use to design visuals with the output process of the report in mind. In addition, students will learn how to define a term using various techniques of extended definitions. The Module also provides guidelines for effective planning of technical report writing.
Module III: Researching Your Subject
This module will help students develop an enhanced understanding of such types of technical documentation as feasibility and recommendation reports, instructions as well as laboratory research. The module covers issues related to various types of academic and workplace research. The focus is on acquiring the best available information – the most accurate, most unbiased, most comprehensive, and most current.
- Elena Bazanova, PhD, associate professor
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia
