Keywords: collaboration, teamwork, communication, proposal, memo, progress reports, presentation, problem-solving, design
Course outcomes addressed: Analyze the audience, purpose, and context of technical communication projects, including cultural and ethical considerations; create technical documents of varied genres to solve practical problems; write effective technical prose; create documents and graphics using principles of effective information design; collaborate on technical communication projects; critically evaluate and choose technologies and tools that are appropriate for technical communication projects.
CP3 Reminder Video (in-class explanation):
Michelle to add video after lecture
In this unit, you will solve a number of complex problems. You can choose to concentrate solely on a team project, where you will work together to solve issues related to a realistic case study. A high-fidelity website will be part of your team solution, although you can choose to develop other materials to address the issue. Alternatively, you can choose to complete a condensed version of the team website project while working independently on an instructional guide for iFixit.com.
The options in this unit are designed to allow those who enjoy website design and marketing to take their design and prototyping skills to the next level while allowing students who prefer instructional design (or who are motivated by creating a product that will be published live online) to concentrate on improving their instructional writing abilities. Both projects require project management and collaboration skills.
Both projects will require you to write proposals, progress reports, text content, and presentation materials.
Both as a student and as a professional in the workplace, learning how to collaborate well with others and how to work as a team member is an essential skill. Working together with your team to propose solutions, to vet various ideas, and to co-author and co-design documentation will allow you to learn and practice new skills and technologies. These skills are not limited to the classroom, as there may be instances where your leadership skills, collaboration skills, and problem-solving skills will aid in you in becoming a better professional, regardless of the field you’re in.
In this project, your 3-4 person team will act as a consulting firm working to solve the problems of a fictional company described in the case study you select from the options below.
Note: Pay particular attention to the "Situation" section of each case study. Also, there is a section at the end of each case study that describes the typical hiring requirements for a job in the company's industry. This is only for students who might be interested in that information and may not necessarily pertain to the actual solution.