Continuing Lect. 4 (Technical Report)

Continuing Lect. 4 (Technical Report)

III. General Characteristics of Technical Reports • Graphics. • Factual detail: your report should be detailed and factual. (Why?) • Information sources. • Documentation (also called citation): When to use it? • Realistic audience and situation: the report must be defined for a real or realistic group of readers who exist in a real or realistic situation. (Can students invent an audience? Why? What does the audience have to be? )

III. General Characteristics of Technical Reports • Headings and lists. • Special format. (Like what? Is there a set standard or not?) • Production: type or print out your technical report neatly. (Is it acceptable to have hand-written technical report? What’s about using of taped graphics?) • Length: The minimum length is as follows: 8 double-spaced typed or printed pages using one-inch margin, counting from introduction to conclusion. There is no real maximum length.

Lecture 5 (Instructions Report)

I. Writing Instructions • Definition of Instructions. • Instructions are some of the worst-written documents you can find. • Good instruction writing requires some techniques plus: • Clear, simple writing • A thorough understanding of the procedure in all its technical detail. • Your ability to put yourself in the place of the reader. • Your ability to visualize the procedure in great detail when your read your instructions. • Testing your instructions on the kind of person you wrote them for.

I. Writing Instructions • When you write instructions, you may include some common elements in technical writing such as descriptions, definitions, comparisons….etc. • Check out some examples of instructions online.

II. Some Preliminaries • At the beginning of a project to write instructions, determine the structure or characteristics of the particular procedure you are going to write about. • Audience and situation. • Number of tasks: How many tasks there are in the procedure you are writing instructions for.

II. Some Preliminaries • Preliminaries: introductory steps • Procedure: The whole set of activities your instructions are intended to discuss. (Ex. operating a microwave oven) • A task: is a semi-independent group of actions within the procedure. ( Ex. Setting the clock on a microwave oven, setting the power level….etc)

1. step procedure 2. step One task 3. step 4. step • A procedure can contain one task (Changing the oil in a car contains only one task) • One task includes few steps >> number the steps.

1.step 2.step phase procedure 3.step phase One task phase phase phase 1.step 2.step 3.step • One task includes many steps (assembling a kids’ swing set) >>> group similar and related steps into phases ( setting up the frame, anchoring the thing in the ground, setting up the box swing…) >> start numbering the steps at each new phase. • A phase: A group of similar steps within a single-task procedure.

Semi-independent task Semi-independent task procedure Semi-independent task Semi-independent task A procedure can contain semi-independent tasks ( using a microwave oven contains many semi-independent tasks like setting the timer, setting the clock, cleaning and maintaining the microwave… etc.)

II. Some Preliminaries • Best approach to the step-by-step discussion: how to focus your instructions: on tasks or on tools. • Task approach: See the example. • Tools approach: See the example • Sometimes instructions using a tool approach are hard to make work. (Why) • Sometimes instructions using a tool approach are preferable.

II. Some Preliminaries • Groupings of tasks. Sometimes we list tasks. However, sometimes we must group many tasks so that readers can find individual ones more easily. • Examples of common task groupings in instructions: See examples.

III. Common Sections in Instructions • Don't assume that each one of them must be in the actual instructions you write. • Don’t assume that they have to be in the order presented here in this lecture. • Don’t assume that these are the only sections possible in a set of instructions. • Schematic view of instructions.(Example)

A. Introduction Plan the introduction to your instructions carefully. Make sure it does any of the following things (but not necessarily in this order) that apply to your particular instructions: • Indicate the specific tasks or procedure to be explained as well as the scope of coverage (what won't be covered). • Indicate what the audience needs in terms of knowledge and background to understand the instructions. • Give a general idea of the procedure and what it accomplishes. • Indicate the conditions when these instructions should (or should not) be used. • Give an overview of the contents of the instructions. Now remember: you may not need all of these elements, and some of them can combine neatly into single sentences. The introduction ought to be brisk (active and energetic )and to the point .

General warning, caution, danger notices • Instructions often must alert readers to the possibility of ruining their equipment, screwing up the procedure, and hurting themselves. • instructions must often emphasize key points or exceptions.

B. Technical background or theory. • After the introduction, of course, you may need a discussion of background related to the procedure. • Found in certain types of instructions reports. • Use this section only if readers need to understand some general concepts or theory before they can follow the instructions. • For certain instructions, this background section is critical—otherwise, the steps in the procedure make no sense. (see the examples) • Use heading for this section.

C. Equipment and Supplies • Equipment means tools; supplies means consumables. • Notice that most instructions include a list of the things you need to gather before you start the procedure. This includes equipment, the tools you use in the procedure and supplies, the things that are consumed in the procedure. • Examples of equipment and supplies. • In instructions, these typically are listed either in a simple vertical listor in a two-column list. • Use bulleted list. • Use the two-column list if you need to add some specifications to some or all of the items—for example, brand names, sizes, amounts, types, model numbers, and so on. • Use heading for this section.

D. Discussion of the steps • Use heading for this section. • Start with an introductory paragraph about the tasks or phases that will be discussed. • Then include individual sections on each of the main task or phase. Do not forget to include a heading for each individual task or phase. There are several things to keep in mind when writing the steps: • The structure and format of those steps. • Supplementary information that might be needed. • The point of view and general writing style.

1.Structure and format: • Normally, we imagine a set of instructions as being formatted as vertical numbered lists. • There are some variations, however, as well as some other considerations: • Fixed-order steps>> Definition >> Use vertical numbered lists • Variable-order steps>>Definition>> Use bulleted lists • Alternate steps>> Definition>> Use bulleted lists with this type, with OR inserted between the alternatives, or the lead-in indicating that alternatives are about to be presented. • Nested steps>> Definition>> In this case, you indent further and sequence the substeps as a, b, c, and so on. • "Stepless" instructions>> Some situations must be so generalized or so variable that steps cannot be stated.

2. Supplementary discussion: • When to use it? • Give examples. • The problem of using supplementary discussion. • How to avoid the problem?

3. Writing style: • Notice how "real-world" instructions are written—they use a lot of imperative (command, or direct-address) kinds of writing; they use a lot of "you." • You want to get in your reader's face, get her or his full attention. For that reason, instruction-style sentences sound like these: "Now, press the Pause button on the front panel to stop the display temporarily" and "You should be careful not to ...“ • Some writing style problems involve using the passive voice in instructions, using the third person and leaving out articles “a, an, the.” They are all wrong. (See examples)

IV.Graphics in Instructions • Graphics are crucial to instructions. (Why) General guidelines for graphics: Use graphics whenever they would normally be necessary (photocopies work just fine for our purposes as long as you cite your source). Always discuss (explain) graphics in nearby text preceding the graphic. Don't just throw a graphic out there unexplained.

Make sure your graphics are appropriate to your audience, subject matter, and purpose—don't zap beginners with advanced, highly technical graphics they can't understand. • Intersperse graphics and text on the same page. Don't put graphics on pages by themselves; don't attach them to the end of documents. • Use figure titles for graphics. Cross-reference all graphics from the appropriate text. In the cross-reference, give the figure number (figure title and page are optional), indicate the subject matter of the graphic, and provide explanatory information as necessary.

Indicate the source of any graphic you have borrowed—this includes tables, illustrations, charts, and graphs. Whenever you borrow a graphic from some other source, document that fact in the figure title. • Make sure graphics fit within normal margins—if they don't, enlarge or reduce the copies. Leave at least 2 blank lines above and below graphics.

V. Format in Instructions • Headings. Use a general heading for the actual instructions section, and subheadings for the individual tasks or phases within that section. There are many types of headings, such as: • First-level heading. • Second-level heading. (Use it for the project) • Third-level heading.

A. First-Level Headings First-Level Headings Follow these guidelines for first-level headings: • Make first-levels all-caps. • Use Roman numerals with first-levels. • Either underline the words but not the Roman numeral, or bold the entire heading including the Roman numeral. • Make first-levels centered on the page. • Start a new page whenever you have a first-level heading. • Begin first-levels on the standard first text line of a page. • Leave 3 blank lines between first-levels and the first line of text.

B. Second-Level Headings Follow these guidelines for second-level headings: • Make second-levels headline-style caps. • Underline or use bold on second-levels. • Do not include outlining apparatus such as "A." or "B." or "1." or "2." with second-levels. • Make second-levels flush left. • Leave 2 blank lines between previous text and second-levels. • Leave 1 blank line between second-levels and the following text.

C. Third-Level Headings Follow these guidelines for third-level headings: • Make third-levels sentence-style caps. • Underline or use bold for third-levels (but don't underline the period). • End third-levels with a period. • Do not include outlining apparatus such as "A." or "B." or "1." or "2." with third-levels. • Indent third-levels 5 spaces (or the standard paragraph indentation). • Do not make third-levels a grammatical part of sentences that follow. • Use the standard spacing between paragraphs for paragraphs that contain third-levels.

Lists.Similarly, instructions typically make heavy use of lists, particularly numbered vertical lists for the actual step-by-step explanations.Simple vertical lists or two-column lists are usually good for the equipment and supplies section. In-sentence lists are good whenever you give an overview of things to come. • Special notices.In instructions, you must alert readers to possibilities in which they may damage their equipment, waste supplies, cause the entire procedure to fail, injure themselves or others—even seriously or fatally. Companies have been sued for lack of these special notices, for poorly written special notices, or for special notices that were out of place.

Guidelines for Specific Types of Notices: • Why to use them? • What to use specifically? • Note: When to use it? (See an example) • Warning: When to use it? (See an example) • Caution: When to use it? (See an example) • Danger: When to use it? (See an example) • Don't use a danger notice when a warning is more appropriate. • use notices in a consistent way throughout a report. • Do not create your own notices, such as putting "Important:" in place of "Warning."

IV. Revision Checklist for Instructions • As you reread and revise your instructions, watch out for problems. (See page 13) • An example of instructions reportis on my website. Note: Study both the lecture’s sheets and this presentation. The presentation alone is not enough.

Continuing Lect. 4 (Technical Report)