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Time
10 - 20 hours
Module Description
This optional module is intended to provide students with experience in preparing written technical descriptions and written reports. The module offers students opportunities to explore reports in different disciplines so they can experience th e range of reporting they might be called upon to undertake in various academic, vocational, or personal situations.
Purposes
Foundational Objectives
Specific Learning Objectives
Suggested Topics
Technical Articles
Various Types of Reports
Designing Reports
Suggested Resources
Teacher Information for Module 5
This section includes information that may be of use to teachers selecting Module 5. However, teachers should keep in mind that the information provided here is basic; that the field of communication is an evolving one; and that new resources, including multimedia resources, will continue to become available. For more information on researching, organizing, and presenting written material, teachers should refer to the English language arts bibliography for grade 11. In addition, they might wish to consult with people who work in the field of communication in their own community.
For writing technical articles and reports, students should do the following, as appropriate to their writing task:
| Note: It is not intended that the information here be taught routinely, outside of the context of students' communication experiences. Many of the articles and reports discussed in this module are employment related. It is important that teachers ensure the module is relevant to students' lives. Studies might be connected to part-time jobs the students have or to students' career interests. It is not important that all types of reports and articles listed in the guide be covered. |
Technical Articles
Articles differ from other forms of technical writing in the following ways:
Technical articles are written to:
As articles are written to inform, the writer must have something to say that has not been said before. The topic must be of interest to a reasonable number of readers. Possible sources of topics for technical articles include:
Evidence presented in technical articles can come from:
Technical Description
Technical description provides readers with accurate details regarding a subject's physical features, composition, and appearance. Occasionally, a technical description will be a complete document in itself (e.g., an encyclopaedia, certain types of technical handbooks). More often, technical descriptions become separate sections in longer documents such as the following:
Articles and brochures, especially those of a scientific or technical nature, often include descriptions of sites, mechanisms, or natural phenomena to enable readers to understand the subject better.
Readers of reports generally need descriptions of locations and equipment before they can make decisions.
Both consumers and retailers need descriptions of products. Consumers need descriptions to make purchasing decisions, and retailers need them so they can advise their customers.
Consumer instructions manuals usually include descriptions that are helpful to readers in locating parts. Technicians need descriptions (e.g., of machinery parts) to help them locate problems and make repairs. Operators of equipment need descriptions of that equipment to assist them in understanding the operational procedures.
In planning a description, writers should consider which subjects readers need described, the types of information readers need, appropriate language and detail, and helpful graphic aids.
As articles are written to inform, the writer must have something to say that has not been said before. The topic must be of interest to a reasonable number of readers. Possible sources of topics for technical articles include:
Technical Reports
A report is "an objective, organized, presentation of factual information that answers a request or supplies needed data" (Pickett & Laster, 1996, p. 305). Reports vary in length, complexity, and formality depending on the audience and the purpose.
An informal report is a document containing two to five pages of text, not including attachments. An informal report is still a neat report, written in a format that suits the circumstances and the intended reader, and written to create the impression that valuable information is being presented. Informal reports sometimes take the format of a letter or memorandum.
A formal report is often bound and is generally ten or more pages in length. It usually includes the following separate parts: cover, title page, letter of transmittal, table of contents, abstract and/or executive summary, introduction, discussion sections, conclusion, recommendations, bibliography, and appendices.
Report Design
The writer should always create an outline for the main body of the report, stating the focus, purpose, background information, introduction, body, conclusions, recommendations (if applicable), and supporting information.
Types of Reports
The following are common types of reports:
Teachers and students may know of other reports as well. Reports students read and write may be connected to studies in other subject areas (e.g., field trip report in science) and to students' extracurricular activities (e.g., volunteer activity report at a day care centre).
Suggested Activities for Module 5
This section includes brief descriptions of activities that teachers can use for this module. The activities are suggestions only, and teachers should adapt and add other activities appropriate for their students and teaching styles.
| Note: Teachers should take care to introduce all activities within the context of their applicability to effective communication in personal life, work, and lifelong learning. Activities and projects should be relevant to students' lives, and whenever possible students should create their own scenarios for communication projects. Mini-lessons related to module content and language processes should be taught to individual students, small groups, or the whole class as demanded by need. |
Activity: Workshopping
Have students find an ad, letter to the editor, or very short article in the newspaper, TV guide, etc. Place students in small workshop groups (four or five students). Ask students to workshop the pieces they have selected and then rewrite them based on the other students' comments.
From an activity such as this, the teacher can determine what experience the students have with workshop groups and how much time they need to spend teaching the writing process and workshop methods.
Activity: Writing
Have students write a brief report (less than a page) of an event that occurred in their school or community. Have them work through the steps of pre-writing, drafting, revising, and sharing or publishing. Again, this activity will tell teachers how much experience their students have with the writing process.
Activity: Style Guides
In small groups, have students obtain and examine various style guides. The purpose is to have students understand that various fields (e.g., social science, natural science, humanities, business, government) have different style guides for publishing articles. A visit to the class by someone who uses style guides on a regular basis might be useful.
Activity: Questionnaire
As a small group activity, have students brainstorm to select a research topic of interest and of relevance to the majority of group members. Then, have them create a questionnaire to be used in a survey which would enable the group members to gather information from a large number of people. Some guidelines follow:
Students may wish to collect samples of actual questionnaires and study the formatting. As a follow-up to creating a questionnaire, ask students to write the accompanying letter or memo which will explain the purpose of the questionnaire and encourage people to respond.
Activity: Evaluating Sources
Have students choose a topic on which they would be interested in writing a report. Ask them to find two books and two journal articles they might use for their research.
Have them evaluate each of the materials. They should consider:
Have students choose which of their sources they believe will be the best and explain why. They could either write this in a paragraph to be handed in, or present to a small group.
Activity: Exploring Organizational Patterns
Ask students to think of a task which they have done often (e.g., making lunch, driving a car, doing the family wash, changing a tire). Have them free-write directions for this task, assuming that their reader has never done it and needs very specific instructions. Then, have them select two different possible patterns of development for organizing the information needed to complete the above task. They should explain why they chose these two patterns, why they are appropriate, and how the information would be organized under each.
Activity: Strategies for Beginning and Ending
Have students find and skim a technical article in a field in which they are interested. Have them carefully examine its beginning and ending. Ask them to determine what strategies the writer chose in writing both the beginning and the ending of the article. Ask students: "Were the writer's choices good ones in your opinion? Why or why not? What did the writer accomplish in creating the beginning and ending?" Do they see any ways they might use the same strategies in their own writing?
Activity: Technical Article
Have students write an article designed for a trade journal in their field of interest. They should begin by researching such journals and examining their contents, and they should obtain a style guide appropriate to that journal. They should include illustrations and other graphics as appropriate. They should identify the journal and include a copy of the journal's style guide or requirements for authors.
Activity: Positive Attributes in Technical Writing
In this activity, each student's task will be to write a description of another student's current part-time job or recent summer job. The purpose of the activity could be to put a booklet together for future high school students interested in possible work experiences.
As a whole class, generate a list of the kinds of information that would be most helpful in the description (e.g., location, salary, hours of work, responsibilities, skills required, special uniform and/or equipment involved). Also, construct a reader analysis checklist (readers will be students like themselves).
Students will pair up; each will interview the other to determine the relevant details concerning the other student's job. Then, each will organize the job information collected (placing the information in the proper categories) and write a draft of the other's job description. (If there are students who do not have part-time or summer jobs, consider adding a section on other student activities. For example, some students might be heavily involved in amateur sport or music activities.)
Next, each student will assume the role of the other's supervising director or manager. Students will read each other's drafts, checking to see if the drafts are: correct, complete, orderly, accurate, useful, direct, smooth, and brief. Each student (manager) will make suggestions for revision.
Students will revise their drafts according to suggestions made by their "managers". Students will submit to the instructor their first drafts, their notes from their "management review", and their revised drafts.
As a follow up, students might consider putting their pieces together into a handbook for other students. If they do this, they should focus on making it accessible and "user friendly."
Activity: Small Group Evaluation of Page Design
Students will work in groups of three or four. Each group will locate an example of technical writing (from the library or other source), such as a company's yearly report or a training manual. Each group will then:
Activity: Instruction Manuals
In groups of three to five, have students study an instruction manual or an assembly manual (perhaps several could be brought to class and the group could choose to work with one). Examples include:
Have the group go through the instructions step by step, putting an item together or learning how to complete a process. Be sure the entire task will not take any longer than 25-30 minutes, and that the group chooses a task for which the necessary equipment is available to them.
A group leader should assign various tasks (e.g., someone to read the instructions, someone to record the group's problems, perhaps someone to record the group's conversations on audio tape). When the task is complete, the group should plan both an oral and written report of their experiences, particularly noting any problems which were encountered and why. If the group feels that changes in the instructions would make the task easier, they should write out and demonstrate them.
Activity: Visual Aids in a Written Document
Have students create an appropriate visual aid to accompany any written document that they are working on or have prepared for this class, or any other class, following guidelines for creating effective visual aids.
Activity: Activities Report
Have students prepare an activities report related to a school or extracurricular activity in the past week.
Activity: Progress Report
Have each student prepare a progress report of his or her individual educational program at school to date. Students should design their report for presentation to parents. The report will likely include: required courses taken and those remaining to be taken, electives taken and remaining to be taken, total credit hours transferred from other schools, additional credits, withdrawals, incompletes, marks, major area of interest and possible career development, extracurricular activities, and accomplishments.
Activity: Investigative Report
Have students prepare an investigative report on a subject that is a major concern in the community. Consider a fairly complex problem that will require a gathering of facts from printed sources. Also, have students plan to interview at least two people for information or opinions. Subjects for this report might be:
Consider publishing the students' reports in a special school publication.
Activity: Investigative Report
Have students imagine that they work for a private investigation agency. In pairs, have students role play a scene in which a client comes to an investigator with a problem. Have them reverse roles, so that each student ends up with a problem to investigate. Some examples might include:
Each student then prepares a report for the client with the results of the investigation. They might include drawings, videos, or Polaroid photographs. Remind students that, although they can have fun writing up their imaginary investigations, they should fulfil the requirements of writing a good report. A Sample Checklist for Report Accuracy.
Activity: Equipment Evaluation Report
Have small groups of students prepare an equipment evaluation report of a set of sports equipment in the school (e.g., football equipment, volleyball equipment) or of equipment in another department of the school (e.g., industrial arts, biology). They should conduct interviews with appropriate people (e.g., team members, coaches, teachers, students) to help them determine the condition of the equipment.
Activity: Archival Data Report
Ask students to assume they (or their parents) have just taken out a new insurance policy on their house against theft and fire. Have students prepare a full description (archival data report) of their room and its contents to keep on file as a record of what was insured in case of a loss. This report will be filed away in a safety deposit box for reference in case it is needed at some future time.
Activity: Trip Report
If a number of students are going on a trip or excursion (e.g., museum, drama festival, sports trip, yearbook seminar) have them plan on writing a trip report when they return. They will do the necessary preliminary planning of a trip report before their departure, to enable them to record the necessary information to bring back with them.
Activity: Writing Technical Descriptions
Give students the following scenario: Appliances for You Inc. needs descriptions of its small home appliances for use in its booklet of instructions to purchasers. Besides the operating instructions, the company needs a description of the appliance and its components for its customers' information.
Have each student choose a small home appliance such as a mix-master, hair dryer, or coffee maker and write a technical description of it for inclusion in the booklet. Students should include operating instructions as well.
Activity: Incident Report
Ask each student to bring an article from the newspaper which describes a crime that has been committed (car theft, bank fraud, vandalism, etc.). Have the students imagine that they are the first police officers on the scene. They must write an incident report, describing what happened, who was interviewed, and what action is being taken.
Activity: Incident Report
Give students the following scenario: They work in a large office building. There has been an incident in which an elevator stalled between floors because it was carrying too much weight. Several people were in the elevator, in addition to a trolley carrying some heavy equipment being delivered. When the elevator stalled, the people inside discovered the emergency phone was out of order, and they were trapped for over an hour. One person panicked and fainted. The person is now threatening to sue the building owner.
Have each student write an incident report. They should:
Activity: Reading Technical Documents
Have each student locate a technical document in his or her field of interest (e.g., a report, an article, a set of instructions) to read through for understanding. As this reading takes place, the student will keep a running commentary (or complete a checklist) of his or her reactions, thought processes, successes, areas of difficulty, and conclusions. The commentary/checklist may be recorded in a written manner or on an audio cassette. A sample recordkeeping form is shown here.
| Note: Teachers should conclude each module with discussion or other reflective activity that encourages students to make and understand connections between the module and communication in people's personal lives, work experiences, and lifelong learning. |
Sample Checklist for Report
Accuracy
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Content and Writing Style ____ The report addresses a realistic problem ____ The report addresses a significant problem ____ The report contributes to the solution of the problem ____ The report is free from awkward constructions and choppy sentences ____ The report is direct in style and approach (verb oriented, concise) Format ____ A cover sheet is present and properly formatted (if a cover sheet is required) ____ The necessary elements of the report are present and properly located ____ Plain white paper is used ____ Margins (top, bottom, and side) are present and spaced correctly ____ Page numbers are present ____ Headings and subheadings are present and used correctly ____ Sufficient graphics are included (e.g., lists, tables, diagrams, illustrations ) Organization ____ Sections and subsections are in the proper order ____ Sections and subsections are properly balanced ____ Sections and subsections are organized internally ____ The report contains no unnecessary sections or subsections ____ The report follows the general guidelines for its type Usage and Mechanics ____ Each page is free from spelling and typographical error ____ Each page is free from problems with punctuation ____ Abbreviations and capitalization follow conventions ____ All verbs agree with corresponding subjects ____ All pronouns agree with corresponding antecedents ____ Headings, subheadings, and listed items are grammatically parallel ____ The report is free from dangling modifiers Comments:
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(Adapted from Stratton, 1984, pp. 21-22)
Sample Recordkeeping Form: Reading
a Technical Document
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Document Title and Author: ___________________________________
Purpose The author's purpose in writing this document is: ___________________________________
My purpose in reading this document is: _________________________________________
Previewing The table of contents tells me: ________________________________________________
Introduction (notes): _______________________________________________________
First few paragraphs (notes): _________________________________________________
The most useful section of the document for my purpose is : __________________________
Other notes:
Reading the Document Questions I asked and connections I made between my questions and my purpose in reading: Question 1: ______________________________________________________________ Connection to my purpose: __________________________________________________
Question 2: ______________________________________________________________ Connection to my purpose: __________________________________________________
Points needing clarification: __________________________________________________
Possible discussion points: __________________________________________________
Paraphrasing of the most important passage in the document: _________________________
Unfamiliar words and their dictionary definitions: __________________________________
Follow Up Additional points I noticed after re-reading (e.g., sections that became clearer, logic of sequence):
Questions that remain unanswered: ____________________________________________
Sources I might go to for answers: _____________________________________________
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