1. CPIT 221 Technical Writing
Ghada Amoudi
Fall 2011

2. Outline
Contact
Introduction

3. Contact information
Office: 2-161
Office hours: Sat: 11-12, Sun 9-12, Wed 10-11

4. What is CPIT 221? Communication is your only way to convey information
Let’s discuss some examples of communication in our everyday lives…
Driver changing lanes
Miscommunication in planes
Miscommunication about Islam

5. Technical Writing: What is It?
Technical writing is the presentation of information that helps the reader solve a particular problem.
Technical communicators write, design, and/or edit proposals, manuals, web pages, lab reports, newsletters, and many other kinds of professional documents.
Every profession has its own special specialized forms of writing. Police officers, lawyers and social workers all write specialized reports -- and someone has to learn, perform, critique, and teach each one. Every major politician hires staff members to design, administer, and analyze surveys -- and to write the secret reports that get leaked to reporters. Somebody has to design tax forms and the accompanying instruction books, assembly instructions for toys, and scripts for product demonstrations or multimedia presentations.

6. Goal
To clearly communicate a select piece of information to a reader for a particular purpose in such a way that the subject can readily be understood.
While technical writers need to have good computer skills, they do not necessarily have to write about computers all their lives.
"Technical" comes from the Greek techne, which simply means "skill".

7. Characteristics
The general characteristics of technical writing may include:
objective point of view
clear, concise language
accurate information
uncomplicated structure
logical order
identified audience

8. Uses Technical writing appears in Papers Progress report Manual
evaluation forms and questionnaires
Business letters CV
Presentations
and descriptions of the design and features for new products.

9. Course scope Remember that this is a course in technical communication
Communication you do as a professional
The course concentrates on formal writing, but insha Allah we will also look at
Presentation skills
Job skills

10. Tentative schedule
I. Job Skills (1 week) 1. Resume/CV and Cover Letter 2. Interviews II. Writing Process (8 weeks) 1. Preparation 2. Research & Referencing 3. Organization 4. Draft Midterm 5. Revision

11. Tentative schedule continued…
III. Report Components (1 week)
1. Report Supplements
2. Layout and Design
3. Visuals
IV. Presentations (1 week)

12. Textbook
Alred, G., Brusaw, C., and Oliu, W., Handbook of Technical Writing. New York, St. Martin’s Press, 2009.
Journal articles, memos, s

13. Course Assessment Evaluation Method Weight Topic Question 5% Proposal
Outline
Draft
Final Report
10%
Presentation
Resume/CV & Cover Letter
20%
Midterm
Final Exam
100%
By the end of the course: Final productSSS