Tech Biz Writing

Fashion dictates most things, and educational training material is no exception. Many training courses these days appear in the form called the Programmed Learning Package (PLP). This may be a mixed-media collection, containing audio-visual material: a CD ROM, video/DVD, audio cassette etc. At the other end of the scale — and depending on the subject matter — it may come as a simple book or booklets, structured for layer-type or reinforcement learning.

Essentially, the aim of these packages is to administer a measured quantity of information in fixed units, related to time. Reinforcement is achieved by certain repeating techniques, gradually refining the data into a number of key concepts.

The whole package is usually presented in a way that prevents even the most attention-span-challenged student from becoming bored, and confers a pleasant sense of progress having been made at the end of each lesson. Bite-sized chunks are the order of the day.

A technical writer may be called upon to design and write PLPs, especially training material for engineers, or health and safety courses. These all have their own special methods. Here we will concentrate on the general concept and construction of such packages.

As for most tasks, the writer will follow a number of well-defined steps in designing his course. These will include:

1. Learning objectives of the course
For example, on completion the student should be able to
* write a technical document to specification
* prepare camera-ready copy on paper, or finished copy on disk
* proof-read, as required
* amend copy, as needed
2. Aids required
These might include, textbook, book of worked exercises, cassette tapes etc.
3. Course coverage
The course will teach, for example
* concepts of technical authorship
* how to present a technical document
* the writing and production of handbooks
4. Purpose
The purpose of the course may be to prepare the student for a career, or an examination.
5. Students and pre-knowledge
Continuing with our example, the course may be designed, as is the present one, for student with some technical ability and knowledge of English, who wish to write as a career, or produce the occasional technical document.
6. Course method/methods of study
The course could be linked to a series of lectures or demonstrations, or it may be intended for self-study.
7. Course organization
Authors will probably find that their material falls naturally into a certain number of lessons. In the world of the PLP, these may be referred to as modules or units. Each lesson may contain
* reading material
* reading from other reference sources, such as online text or CD ROM
* a series of exercises relating to the reading phase and aimed at reinforcing the assimilated information, and/or assessing progress
* additional exercises presenting unfamiliar aspects of the principles learned — perhaps a number of practical problems
8. Outline of each lesson
At this stage, enough material should be available to allow a breakdown of the content of each lesson, and some indication of the time needed to complete it. For example
Lesson 1: Introduction to the course objectives — methods used and supporting material. Study time 1 hour.
9. Define learning objectives of each lesson
The learning objectives are usually placed at the head of each lesson to give the student an indication of what is required. This may just be the heading itself.
10. Course length
A calculated estimate of the course length is made for courses which are time-critical, i.e. where an exam is involved. Home-study courses are usually the exception to this.

This step-by-step approach to the designing of a learning package can be similarly extended to the individual lessons. For example

Lesson 2
Introduction to the products of a technical writer. What authors do, and how they go about the work.
1 Overall view. A general section encompassing the whole field to be studied in the lesson.
2 Learning objectives. An assessment of what the student should achieve at the end of each lesson.
3 Materials required. Props or other items; consumables
4 Time required. The time estimate for the average student to complete the lesson.
5 Body of the course. The main body of information
6 Summary of key concepts. Basic elements of the material
7 Review exercises. Exercises reviewing the foregoing information
8 Case studies. Exercises presenting different facets of the material such as might be encountered in real life. The Harvard Business School’s famous case study method is a good example of this technique.
9 Link to next lesson A lead-in to the next section will maintain the continuity and draw the student on.

These are the essential elements required for the construction of PLPs or any form of technical training material. We branch out now for two crucial aspects of PLPs: the audio-visual presentation (AV), and the educational textbook.

Next: 10. Technical Presentations.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 24th, 2006 at 7:25 pm and is filed under Technical Writing, Business Writing, Publishing, Syntagma Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.