Module Overview for Week of April 22: User Manual, Part 1

Overview

If you have ever purchased a coffeemaker, microwave, vacuum cleaner, or other appliance, you will have noticed that it came with a user manual, user guide, or owner’s manual. That manual provided you with a part-by-part overview or description of the object and instructions or directions on how to use it.

Technical descriptions identify visually the key components or parts of an object, but also define those parts and explain how the object might work. They normally include one or more images of the item, with the individual parts labeled. 

Instructions explain step-by-step how to use an object.

This major writing project focuses on combining technical descriptions and instructions into a single document—a user manual.

At the end of this module, you will have prepared a user manual that is well-developed in terms of content, effectively organized, and designed in a user-friendly manner.

Objectives for this Module

After completing this module, you will be able to

• Analyze the rhetorical situation and determine the appropriate audience or users of written communication, considering the needs of global audiences and people with disabilities. [CLO 1]
• Conduct research appropriate to workplace problem solving, such as literature review, evaluation of online resources, interview, and site inspection. [CLO 2]
• Interpret research findings with understanding of ethical and human implications. [CLO 3]
• Use conventions of various workplace genres, such as proposals, instructions, correspondence, reports, and slide decks, with understanding of how the genre conventions can be used as heuristics and as principles of arrangement. [CLO 4]
• Collaborate with classmates in planning, researching, writing, revising, and presenting information. [CLO 5]
• Apply principles of effective visual design for print and electronic presentation, including hierarchical, chronological, and spatial arrangements. [CLO 6]
• Identify and apply the principles of effective style in the composing of usable, reader-centered written communications. [CLO 7]

Note that you can find the full text of the Course Learning Objectives on the Syllabus.

Readings for the Week of April 22

1. User Manual: Assignment
2. Markel & Selber, Chapter 20: “Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions”
3. Daily Discussion Posts (DDPs)
   • #WeekendWatch: Writing Instructions (available 4/20)
   • #TuesdayTutorial: Examining a Technical Description (available 4/23)
   • #WednesdayWrite: Writing Superlatives (available 4/24)
   • #ThursdayThought: Survival Instructions for the Zombie Apocalypse (available 4/25)
   • #FridayFact: Lists Make Instructions More Readable (available 4/26)

Activities for the Week of April 22

Daily Discussion Posts Activities
(85 minutes—5 posts @ ~15 minutes each plus self-assessment @ ~10 minutes)

• Contribute to any or all of the following Daily Discussion Posts (DDPs) in Canvas)
  • #WeekendWatch: Writing Instructions (available 4/20)
  • #TuesdayTutorial: Examining a Technical Description (available 4/23)
  • #WednesdayWrite: Writing Superlatives (available 4/24)
  • #ThursdayThought: Survival Instructions for the Zombie Apocalypse (available 4/25)
  • #FridayFact: Lists Make Instructions More Readable (available 4/26)
• Complete the DDP Self-Assessment for the Week of 04/22 to report the work you did and record your score (100 points). Be sure to read the self-assessment at the beginning of the week so that you understand the expectations.

Writing Activities
(~6 hours, including time to research and write)

• Complete the any or all of the following Major Writing Project activities (400 points total).
  • These activities contribute to the User Manual project:
    • User Manual: Choose a Topic and Generate Ideas (50 points)
    • User Manual: Complete an Audience Profile Sheet (50 points)
    • User Manual: Rough Draft (300 points)

• Complete the Writing Activities Self-Assessment for the Week of 04/22  to report the work you did (other than the rough draft) and record your score. I will grade your Rough Draft submission, according to the expectations listed in the assignment.

Extra Activities
(As desired, time varies for the extra activities)

• Complete the Readings Quiz.
  • This quiz covers the readings shown above and is designed to assess your familiarity with concepts you will need to know to produce deliverables for this module. The quiz is the following:
    • 20 Markel, Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions (100 points)
• Participate in the extra activities, if desired, and report your work in the Writing Activities Self-Assessment for the Week of 04/22:
  • User Manual: Presenting Clear Instructions (50 points)
  • User Manual: Shower Door Installation Exercise (50 points)
• Ask any questions about the course in the General Q and A Discussion (0 points) in Canvas.
  • Check the General Q and A Discussion for answers before posting.
  • Asking a question is not required. Use the Inbox tool in Canvas for questions about grades or personal information that should not be shared with the class.

Photo credit: Lego promotional 40049 - mini Sopwith Camel by InSapphoWeTrust on Flickr Links to an external site., used under a CC-BY-SA 2.0 license.