Você está na página 1de 4

Module Three

Due: 9 February by 11:59pm Points: 20 Weight: 12% Readings -Chapter 12 Summary of Responsibilities -Complete revised graphics (task one) and reection memo (task two) and submit to Module 3 dropbox in Blackboard as one PDF document by due date. Detailed Description of Responsibilities Task One: Revised Graphics The gist of this module is that you are evaluating and then re-creating existing graphics made in a spreadsheet program. This module is very situational. That is, you need to imagine yourself as operating in the following scenario: The National Highway Trafc Safety Administration (NHTSA), under the U.S. Department of Transportation, carries out safety programs focusing on improving the safety performance of motor vehicles and motor-vehicle equipment. The NHTSA also conducts research on driver behavior, vehicle use, and highway safety. You work in the documentation group for the Research and Development (R&D) program at the NHTSA. The R&D program provides scientic evidence to support the NHTSAs safety initiatives. You help R&D scientists prepare documents reporting the results of research and crash investigations. Often, the scientists rst opportunity to present their ndings is at various professional conferences. The scientists use spreadsheet programs to create the graphics they need for their presentations and conference papers. Recently, some scientists have retired and been replaced by new hires. Your boss, Elsa Beardsley, has asked you to help some of the new scientists: I want you to work with Dana Shapiro, Megan Hamilton, and Allison Yamamoto. All three of them are preparing papers for the 20th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles in Nagoya, Japan. Specically, Id like you to review their graphics. You ask Elsa why she thinks they need help with their graphics. Theyre all good researchers, she replies. However, when they report their ndings, they dont always choose the most appropriate kind of graphics. They also unnecessarily complicate their graphics by adding a bunch of chartjunk. The spreadsheet

application gives them too many choices when it comes to selecting a type of graphic or modifying a graphic, but the program doesnt offer them any help in choosing what kind of chart works best for different kinds of information and readers. Dana Shapiro and you are good friends, so you decide to stop by her ofce rst. Dana shows you three graphics (Documents 12.112.3) that she is planning to use in her conference paper. She also shows you the spreadsheet data she used to create each graphic.

Document 12.1: Vertical Bar Graph

Document 12.2: Combination Bar and Line Graph

Document 12.3: Pie Chart

Dana tells you that the Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles brings together about 1,000 representatives from government agencies, industry, and safety advocacy groups worldwide to discuss research ndings and advanced technologies related to vehicle safety. Her paper reports on the development phase of the NHTSAs research program on improved frontal protection. Specically, her research assesses the crash conditions that result in the highest number of injuries/fatalities to drivers with air bags. What are you trying to convey in each gure? you ask. In this rst gure, Dana explains, I want to show the distribution of frontal crashes into three different crash modes. In the second gure, Im showing how the presence of air bags affects drivers risk of sustaining serious or fatal injuries in four body regions. I want to show that arm injuries are slightly more likely with air bags than without them, but that lower-extremity injuriesthe type that often lead to lifelong disabilitiesare lower with air bags. In the last gure, I just want to show the average number of moderate lower-extremity injuries occurring annually to frontseat occupants in air-bag-equipped vehicles in our data set. I want to communicate the scope of the problem. I want people to know that an average total of 17,669 lower extremity injuries occur annually in frontal crashes involving air-bag-equipped vehicles. What type of injuries are tib.plat and tib.shaft? you ask. Theyre both types of injuries to the tibia, the lower leg. Thanks. Ill take a look at these more closely and get back to you later this week.

So, as you envision yourself in this situation, your task is clear: revise the graphics so as to honestly, effectively, and clearly represent the information trying to be communicated. Use the scenario described above and the ideas presented in chapter 12 as your guide. All three graphics must be revised by using the spreadsheet software available to you (Excel, Word, Numbers, Pages, etc.). There are Tech Tips throughout the chapter to help you along with the technical components of the module (e.g., p. 326). Here are some questions to get you thinking about your revisions (this is not an exhaustive list): -do the type of graphics match the purpose (Table 12.1, p. 319)? -do the graphics contain any chartjunk (Figure 12.1, p. 308)? -do the graphics match the audience (p.310)? -is color used effectively? -should the graphics include any screenshots or pictures?

In addition, you should consider the questions that consist the Writers Checklist on page 344. Task Two: Revisions Rationale The second part of this assignment requires you to compose an accurately formatted memo addressed to Dana in which you explain your revisions to her. Organize the memo however you wish (e.g., by theme, aspect, graph number) but your writing must be specic. Do not just state what you changed but, more importantly, state why you made such changes. Your memo must be informed by the principles and concepts outlined in chapter 12 of your textbook; your memo must also be at least 750 words long.

Você também pode gostar