Technical Genre Report
Engl 308
Spr 2003

The Technical Report is likely the most common genre of writing that Technical Writers do on a regular basis. Still, though, this is a widely varied genre, incorporating many styles, formats, goals, effects, audiences, and subjects. Since many of you are working on different projects, I will focus this assignment on what is required without much use of examples.

The requirements of this assignment are to:

• identify a problem in a "technical" field that may be solved with or by technical writing or documentation.
• generate materials for solving this problem based upon your research in the field, experience and learning in document design, and your learning in this class.
• test your materials and provide evidence for their effectiveness.
• discuss the positive and negative implications of your materials if adopted to solve the problem(s) you've identified.

So, in a sense, this is still a proposal, even though you have done a considerable amount of work. This is the case because most often, technical writers are not managers or policy makers but have been asked to recommend particular documents or courses of action. Have you seen the commercial where the two consultants pitch an idea and laugh uproariously when asked to implement it? Above all, you must be convincing through the documentation of your research and your evidence for your materials' effectiveness given the problem that you have identified and set about solving.

Your final report should be approximately 10-12 pages long, should include your materials as well as your discussion of the problem, its context, and your attempt to resolve it. Your report should be professionally bound and include a cover page, table of contents, and a works cited page. Any graphics or materials that you include should be effectively introduced, incorporated, and discussed in your report. Please refer to the readings in the course schedule for more specific recommendations on formatting and appearance.

Some possible grading criteria include:

• How well has the writer identified and researched a "technical" problem and a solution?
• How appropriate are the materials to the chosen audience? Are the choices represented by format and content effective? Are those choices documented effectively in the report?
• How thorough and complete is the report? Are the conclusions well documented and supported with significant evidence? Are they convincing? Is there a clear description of the audience, sample group, and the methodology of testing?
• Are there major oversights or errors that have been missed in the generation, revision, and testing of the materials? the report?