Technical Writing

Mer331 LabProf Anderson

How well you communicate is important

• Successful engineers spent 25% of work week writing– Richard M. Davis, Technical Writing: Its Importance in the

Engineering Profession and Its Place in the Engineering Curriculum, AFIT TR 75-5 (Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, 1975).

• Professional engineers found writing their most useful subject in college– Dean John G. Bollinger, “Alumni Survey Results,” Perspective

(Madison: College of Engin. U. of Wisconsin, Summer 1994), p. 2.

• Recruiters claim that engineers need more work on their writing– Virginia Tech, College of Engineering, “Summary Report of

Employer Focus Group” (October 2000).

How well you communicate is

important

• UNION COLLEGE Alumni claim it as one of the most important things in their jobs…

99% An ability to communicate effectively

91% An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering

91% An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams

83% An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility

80% An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data

78% An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems

65% An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability

*Percent of respondent ratings of Extremely or Very Important (2010 ME Alumni Survey)

Engineers are called upon to communicate in many different situations (AUDIENCE)

specifictechnicalaudiences

non-technicalaudiences

generaltechnicalaudiences

What:ReportsArticles

ProposalsWeb Pages

Where:Conferences

LecturesMeetingsPosters

• Coming up with a set of rules to handle every situation is difficult (but not impossible!)

• Analyze each situation and decide upon the best way to communicate in that situation

Technical writing differs from other kinds of writing

1. Subject Matter 2. Writing Constraints

audience

purpose

occasion

2. Purpose of Writing

To inform

To persuade

4. Writing Style

In scientific writing, the most important goal of language is precision--a goal that poets sometimes subordinate for the sake of rhythm. (Alley, 1996)

Three aspects of writing affect the way that readers assess your documentsContent: the message given

Style: the way you communicate the content to the reader. Style comprises structure, language, and illustration.

Form: the appearance of the writing (grammar, punct-uation, usage, spelling, and format)

Hierarchy of writing

Don’t equate a small aspect of form such as using a contraction with a serious mistake in content such as leaving out important information, or style, such as not emphasizing the most important result.

Advice for writing a good lab

Step 1: In the Lab

1. Do the lab work carefully. Good answers start with good data.

2. Keep good lab notes. You never know what will be important to remember later.

3. Check your data before you leave the lab. It’s much easier to repeat measurements while the experiment is set up!

Step 2:Get to know your data

1. Understand the technical aspects of the experiment and how to reduce the data

2. Understand the uncertainties and limit-ations of the measurements

3. Look at the data in MANY different ways (plot things like measurement versus time, etc.)

4. Ask yourself questions about the data5. Listen to what the data is trying to tell

you!

Step 3: Identify your audience and primary message

1. AudienceWho they are? What do they know? Why they will

read this? How they will read this?2. What does your audience need to get out of this

document? • Information/data/specific result• Recommendations

3. How can I help them get what they need from this document?• Organization, Figures/Illustrations

4. Is there anything I want to tell them? Will they care?

Step 4: Figure out what you need to include in the report

• Brainstorm: Make a list of everything that you need include in the report but don’t evaluate or organize, just let it all flow out

• Evaluate: Check the list - is everything there that needs to be there? Are there things that do not need to be there?

Step 5: Organize Ideas•Format often provides a rough outline•Review the purpose for each section

in your outline or format– what is an introduction for, what is an

abstract for, etc. (see course web page)Step 6: Write a Draft•work section by section

– don’t worry about redundancy (yet)•Free write … get it all your ideas

down, don’t try to make it perfect

Step 7: Set it Aside

•The importance of this step cannot be over emphasized!

•Your brain thinks that the way it wrote it is the right way. (that’s why it wrote it that way) … give it a chance to forget.

•This is why you can’t write a great lab the night before it is due!

Step 8: Proofread / Edit / Revise

•Note: These are 3 different activities•Are there mistakes? Can sentences

be improved? Can the organization be improved? Is the emphasis correct? Do figures/tables work well to present the data and back up any conclusions? Etc.

•Tips: Read it backwards, don’t count on spell check, have someone else read it, use a style manual

And finally….

•Put it aside, Proofread/Edit/Revise•Put it aside, Proofread/Edit/Revise•And so on….it can always be

improved

Some Good References:• Course Webpage – review

format!• Writing Guidelines for

Engineering and Science Students http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/

• Labwrite (a website designed to help you improve your writing): http://labwrite.ncsu.edu/ (we will use this in lab). The Craft of Scientific Writing,

Michael Alley3rd edition (Springer-Verlag, 1996)