Technical Report Writing

Technical Report Writing

Course Outline

Working Architects, Engineers, and many Consultants in other fields who are called upon to write technical reports for non-technical audiences will find this course of help and, it is hoped, interest. This six hour online course is designed to reinforce the main ideas needed to produce reports which can be read, and used, by a wide audience. This course includes useful tips, tricks and techniques for improving your writing skills.

The student is required to take a multiple-choice quiz at the end of this course.

Learning Objective

At the completion of this course you will have gained some useful tips, tricks and techniques for improving your writing skills. Whatever the subject, this course is predicated on the belief that technical reports need not be deadly dull, poorly organized, or uninviting to the reader. More than that, the author also believes that anyone can create a well-written, interesting report through the thoughtful application of the principles presented here.

Course Introduction

Key aspects of writing a technical report include:

Designing your Report so that it will reach, and move, your intended audience.
Identifying your primary and secondary audiences and their needs.
Writing clear, concise purpose statements.
Tips and Tricks for cloning reports, organizing for easy reading, and illustrating to save time and space.
Computer aids for Report production that make an impression and make you look like you worked a lot harder than you did.
Integrate CAD, graphics, desktop publishing, web based sources for additional impact.

Course Content

CHAPTER 1........ Introduction

CHAPTER 2........ Audience Analysis

CHAPTER 3........ Report Purposes

CHAPTER 4........ Data Gathering

CHAPTER 5........ Report Organization

CHAPTER 6........ Textual Report Elements

CHAPTER 7........ Graphical Report Elements

CHAPTER 8........ Writing Style, Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling

CHAPTER 9........ Appearance Elements

CHAPTER10....... Putting It All Together

The course content is also presented in a PDF file (1.3 MB) Technical Report Writing for your convenience.

Please click on the above underlined hypertexts to view, download or print the documents for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Course Summary

Engineers, Architects, Contractors and others are often called upon to write technical reports for non-technical audiences. This course provides an orderly approach to such assignments based on the premise that your design skills can be applied with equal effectiveness to writing tasks. Clear, concise and easily read and understood reports can be designed. This course will help you do that.

Related Links

For additional information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:

Tenlinks.com
Technical Writting
Construction Specifications Institute

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDHonline.com or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered professional engineer. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.