Course Details

Course Information Package

Course Unit TitleTECHNICAL REPORT WRITING
Course Unit CodeAEEE299
Course Unit Details
Number of ECTS credits allocated3
Learning Outcomes of the course unitBy the end of the course, the students should be able to:
  1. Develop concepts and skills of Technical Writing. Expand existing knowledge of writing. Construct a framework to begin the writing process. Identify different frameworks depending on the type of academic manuscript.
  2. Clarify the ethics behind technical writing. Acknowledge presented work, sources and understand plagiarism in all of its forms.
  3. Categorise the different types of academic manuscripts. Clarify the different purposes they serve and develop capacity to write one.
  4. Expand knowledge on the structure of an academic manuscript. Determine the function and the information conveyed in each part of the manuscript.
  5. Compare the vast amount of information available. Evaluate useful information. Illustrate good organisational skills for sorting and using information.
  6. Analyse the purpose of a style guide and how it helps to write a report in a professional manner. Apply the Departmental Style Guide and the information it conveys. Use the Style Guide effectively.
  7. Identify property rights in computer software and ethical issues of software piracy. Develop own ethical frameworks for Computer/Information Professionals. Familiarise with project proposals and project reports. Develop capacity to write a project proposal and reports. Analyse the work carried out in an academic manuscript.
  8. Explain the concepts of oral presentations and how information is conveyed. Summarise information to only necessary and important statements.
Mode of DeliveryFace-to-face
PrerequisitesNONECo-requisitesNONE
Recommended optional program componentsNONE
Course Contents

Introduction to Technical Communication: The need of Technical Writing. Development of concepts and skills of Technical Writing. Development of semantic information and structure. The ethics behind technical writing. Using sources and understanding plagiarism in all of its forms.

Technical Report Writing: The different types of academic papers and their application. Building a strategy of organising ideas, processing them and presenting them to a targeted group. Report readability. How the structure, format and contents of a report should be organised. Report writing. Organisation of the report structure. Chapters. Contents of each chapter. References

Basic Principles in Technical Writing: Correct use of grammar. Use of passive and active tense, Past and Present tense. Common Errors/Problems. Homonyms words, misused words, punctuation. Representation of numbers/numerals, fractions, decimals, units of measure and equations in a report.

Oral Presentation: Purpose and applications. Organisation and structure. Chapters and their contents. The use of bullet points, figures and graphs. Timing, speed, attention span, personal approach, good visual aids (PowerPoint), logical sequence, practice, answering questions.

Writing an email: Email types, Structure, recipient sender information, subject line. Links and attachments. Contents of an email, salutation, paragraphs, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, electronic signature. Format. Rules and things to avoid.

Writing a Letter: Types of letters. Strategy. Letter components, recipient sender information, addresses, dates, salutation, paragraphs, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, signature. Basic letter formats.      

Recommended and/or required reading:
Textbooks
  • Carrie Hannigan, Carrie Wells, Carolyn Stevenson, Tanya Peterson, Diane Martinez, “Technical Writing: A Resource for Technical Writers at All Levels”, Kaplan Publishing, 2008.
References
  • Gary Blake, Robert W Bly, “Elements of Technical Writing”, 1st Edition, Longman Publishing Group, 2000.
  • Thomas E. Pearsall and Kelli Cargile Cook, “ The Elements of Technical Writing”, 3rd Edition, Longman Publishing Group
Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Students are taught the course through lectures (2 hours per week) in classrooms or lectures theatres, by means of traditional tools or using computer demonstration.

Auditory exercises, where examples regarding matter represented at the lectures, are solved and further, questions related to particular open-ended topic issues are compiled by the students and answered, during the lecture or assigned as homework.

Topic notes are compiled by students, during the lecture which serve to cover the main issues under consideration and can also be downloaded from the lecturer’s webpage. Students are also advised to use the subject’s textbook or reference books for further reading and practice. Tutorial problems are also submitted as homework and these are solved during lectures or privately during lecturer’s office hours. Further literature search is encouraged by assigning students to identify a specific problem related to some issue, gather relevant scientific information about how others have addressed the problem and report this information in written or orally.

Students are assessed continuously and their knowledge is checked through assignments.

Students are prepared for final exam, by revision on the matter taught, problem solving and concept testing and are also trained to be able to deal with time constraints and revision timetable.

The final assessment of the students is formative and summative and is assured to comply with the subject’s expected learning outcomes and the quality of the course.
Assessment methods and criteria
Assignments60%
Final Exam40%
Language of instructionEnglish
Work placement(s)NO

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